Antidepressants for autism patients not recommended for children
Published: August 09, 2010
A new health report published in www.sciencedaily.com says that the antidepressants that are given to the autism affected people cannot be recommended. The report comes from a study conducted by the Cochrane researchers and it states that there might be some benefits of these medicines in the adults with autism; these antidepressants can lead to serious consequences in children. The SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are prescribed to the autism patients, although they have not been approved by the authorities. These medicines are not approved for the children but are prescribed to others as they have an effect on serotonin. This chemical is released in the body and leads to some psychological processes.
According to www.physorg.com, the research was done on 271 patients and medicines like citalopram, fenfluramine, fluvoxamine and fluoxetine were evaluated. There was no evidence of benefits of these medicines on children but it showed a lot of harm. Two trials were also conducted on adults and some improvement in the symptoms was seen but the researchers think that this does not mean that the drugs should be recommended. Lead author Katrina Williams from University of South Wales said that “We can’t recommend SSRIs as treatments for children, or adults, with autism at this time. However, decisions about the use of SSRIs for co-occurring obsessive-compulsive disorder, aggression, anxiety or depression in individuals with autism should be made on a case by case basis.”
Posts you might also find interesting:
ContentCentral.com » Antidepressants for autism patients not recommended for children …
09. Aug, 2010
[...] Go here to read the rest: Antidepressants for autism patients not recommended for children … [...]