Research summaries for autism therapy: drug

definition of drug: Chemical or medication that leads to changes in the body, usually with the goal of improving health. In some cases drugs can be abused, as in illegal drugs. Drugs include medications prescribed by medical professionals, as well as over-the-counter (OTC) medications.
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Gastrointestinal Symptoms in a Sample of Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Summarized Nov 4, 2010

Children’s GI problems appear less likely to respond to autism treatment and therefore GI symptoms may need to be considered and treated when creating a treatment plan for a child with autism.

The purpose of this study was to study the GI problems in a large sample of children with autism. The authors studied 172 children who entered two large-scale autism drug therapy trials. The groups (GI problems and no GI problems) were the same with regards to sex, race, special education placement, and family background. It seemed that those children who had more GI problems also had more behavioral problems. Children with autism and GI problems also had more social problems than children without GI problems.

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Management of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Primary Care, Summarized Oct 7, 2010

Effective medical treatment may allow a child with autism to respond better to educational and behavioral interventions as well as to other types of therapies.

Autism is a common, chronic disease and patients with autism require a medical home. Certain health factors may make autism worse and behavior worse. The purpose of this article is to describe how doctors can manage autism as a chronic disease. The main treatments for autism are behavioral and include applied behavior analysis (ABA). Drug therapy may be useful if target symptoms are severe and do not respond to behavioral interventions.

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Variables Related to Sleep Problems in Children with Autism, Summarized Sep 16, 2010

Children with autism often have sleep problems, and therapies such as behavior therapy (applied behavior analysis [ABA]) and melatonin may be helpful in treating these sleep problems.

The goals of this study were to see what types of children with autism also have sleep problems and to see how often parents of children with autism reported sleep problems. More than half of children with autism have parents who reported sleep problems. The study showed that many children with autism have sleep problems and that sleep problems are worse in children with more severe autism. Children who were on drugs (melatonin, clonidine, and diphenhydramine) to treat sleep problems had greater sleep problems than children who did not seek treatment.... Read more...

Aggression and Tantrums in Children with Autism: A Review of Behavioral Treatments and Maintaining Variables, Summarized Sep 9, 2010

A problem-solving approach that is combined with applied behavior analysis (ABA) may be helpful for children with autism who have tantrums and aggression.

This article reviews research-based treatments for tantrums, and describes the strengths and problems of each intervention approach. The most common treatment approach for problem behavior is ABA therapy that is skill building in nature. It appears that the use of functional assessment makes it more likely that the ABA therapy will work. Many of the treatment studies also taught the child how to communicate. The author notes that brain (antipsychotic) drugs are being used more and more often for younger and younger children.

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Synonyms for drug include: drug therapies, drug therapy, drugs
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