Research: Memantine as Adjunctive Therapy in Children Diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorders: An Observation of Initial Clinical Response and Maintenance Tolerability

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Authored by Chez, MG, Burton Q., Dowling T., Change M., Khanna P., and Kramer C. in Journal of Child Neurology, Volume 22, Issue , p. 574-579, (2007).

Article summary (posted Sep 6, 2007):

The Alzheimer drug memantine may help with language, behavior and self-stimulating behavior in people with autism.

Some doctors believe that the immune system of children with autism acts on the brain to stop nerve cells from talking to each other. This open-label study was designed to see if memantine therapy can help people (aged 2-26) with autism by helping those nerve cells talk to each other. The study did not have placebo controls and therefore could not control for any bias from the parents or doctors who were reporting on the patients. The study lasted 21 months and found that patients did better when they were treated with memantine. Memantine was given as an add-on therapy to whatever other therapies the children were getting and it did not cause any serious side effects.

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, control, drug, immune system, maintenance, Namenda (memantine hydrochloride), open-label study, parent, placebo, therapy
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