Research: Low-Dose Naltrexone for Disease Prevention and Quality of Life

|

Authored by Brown, N., and Panksepp J. in Medical Hypotheses, Volume 72, Issue , p. 333-337, (2009).

Article summary (posted Jun 17, 2009):

Low-dose naltrexone may help increase social interactions and cheerfulness in some children with autism.

A dose of about 0.25 mg/kg naltrexone drug therapy every other day helped some children, and better social behaviors were seen on the days in between. The theory for how this works is that low-dose naltrexone increases production of opioids and dopamine activity in the brain, which can make the brain feel happier.

Links:

You can access the original abstract and the complete paper is sometimes available for free via Google Scholar (look for entries that say "PDF" or "HTML" on the right side of the page).
autism, dopamine, drug, Revia - Vivitrol (naltrexone), therapy
|