Claim: ‘Treatment offers ray of hope’

From the Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Journal Gazette:

An untested drug combination created by a Houston area dentist has ignited a controversy over the proper treatment of people with Down syndrome.

Some parents claim their children have shown improvement in behavior and intelligence by using a protocol developed by Teresa Cody, a parent of a child with Down syndrome.

But experts in the field are cautioning parents and medical professionals against using the protocol, which includes regular doses of Prozac, gingko biloba and other materials. The protocol has not been subjected to formal research scrutiny.

A broad coalition of leading groups and scientists has issued a statement saying there is no scientific evidence Cody’s protocol is either safe or effective for people with Down syndrome.

Among those signing the statement are the National Down Syndrome Society, National Down Syndrome Congress, Down Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation, William C. Mobley, director of Stanford University’s Center for Research and Treatment of Down Syndrome, and David Patterson of the University of Denver’s Eleanor Roosevelt Insitute.

Cody was featured in a documentary, “Changing a Mind.” Her organization is the Changing Minds Foundation.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 1:29 pm and is filed under controversial procedures, Down syndrome, research news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.