Research: High-Dose Pyridoxine and Magnesium Administration in Children with Autistic Disorder: An Absence of Salutary Effects in a Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study

This article reports that children with autism taking a high dose of vitamin B6 and magnesium had no major side effects of the treatment, but also did not have improved behavior.

Several researchers have shown that children with autism can benefit from taking high doses of vitamin B6, sometimes combined with magnesium. The authors of this article wanted to determine whether this effect could be replicated in their laboratory. Ten children with autism (3-17 years old) were compared over time in their behavioral responses to treatment with either vitamin B6 and magnesium, or placebo. Vitamin B6 was given at 30 mg/kg body weight per day (about 545 mg for a 40-pound child), with a maximum daily dose of 1 gram. Magnesium was given at 10 mg/kg body weight per day (about 182 mg for a 40-pound child), with a maximum daily dose of 350 mg. Both supplements were taken over a 10-week period, then either continued for another 10 weeks or replaced with placebo. No differences in behavior were found over the treatment periods. However, the authors point out that because of the small number of subjects, the results do not indicate that vitamin B6 is not useful in the treatment of autism.