By Trine Tsouderos and Patricia Callahan in the Chicago Tribune:

Autism researchers say their work is being taken out of context by doctors to promote alternative autism treatments, which are widely sought by desperate parents. Even though most physicians warn parents to stay away from unproven treatment methods, studies have found that up to three-quarters of families of children with autism try at least some unproven therapies.

Physicians and others, many of them affiliated with the organization “Defeat Autism Now!”, are promoting such unproven methods as intravenous immunoglobulin, testosterone inhibitors, hyperbaric oxygen treatments, and fatty acid therapy.

They say the methods are solidly based on science, “but the Tribune found otherwise after speaking with dozens of scientists and physicians and reviewing thousands of pages of research and court testimony,” Tsouderos and Callahan write.

Johns Hopkins neurologist Dr. Carlos Pardo, whose study is being cited as justification for the use of intravenous immunoglobulin and hyperbaric oxygen treatments, had warned doctors against just such an interpretation of his work. “People are abusing science for the treatment of autism,” he said.

Cambridge University autism researcher Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen, whose work has been cited to defend the use of a testosterone inhibitor on children with autism, said the idea of using the drug this way “fills me with horror.”

Experts said the treatments could lead to unexpected side effects that could be worse than the condition itself.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 11:42 am and is filed under autism, controversial procedures, NOT2BEMISSED, 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.