Research: Secretin Is an Ineffective Treatment for Pervasive Developmental Disabilities: A Review of 15 Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trials

Authored by Sturmey, P. in Research in Developmental Disabilities, Volume 26, Issue 1, p. 87-97, (2005).

Article summary (posted Oct 13, 2009):

Secretin therapy may result in short term improvement of language and social problems in children with autism.

Secretin is a hormone produced by the gastrointestinal tract that helps the body to digest food. Secretin has been proposed as a therapy to treat autism This review article includes 15 studies of secretin therapy for children with autism. All 15 studies were double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled. None of the studies showed that secretin therapy could help children with autism. Some of the studies showed that language and social skills did get better, but the improvements did not last long. Four studies said that secretin may help children with autism who also have gut problems, but the data in these studies were not strong.

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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, developmental disabilities, double-blind, gastrointestinal, gastrointestinal (GI) tract, hormones, language, placebo, review article, secretin, social problems, social skills groups, therapy, treatment
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