Research: Children with Autism: Effect of Iron Supplementation on Sleep and Ferritin

Authored by Dosman, CF, Brian JA, Drmic IE, Senthilselvan A., Harford MM, Smith RW, Sharieff W., Zlotkin SH, Moldofsky H., and Roberts SW in Pediatric Neurology, Volume 36, Issue 3, p. 152-158, (2007).

Article summary (posted Apr 26, 2007):

Iron pills may help children with autism to sleep better.

Many children with autism have restless sleep. Since many children with autism only eat a few types of food, they also have low levels of iron. The authors of the study suspect that the diet of these children does not meet their needs for iron. This study was done to see if iron pills help children with autism sleep better. The study found that children given iron pills (approximately 3 mg of iron/pound of childâ??s weight per day) had higher blood levels of iron and more restful sleep.

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autism, diet, iron, pediatric, sleep, supplements
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