Research compares seizure treatments for children with autism
<p>Physicians will have a better guide for more effectively managing treatment of children experiencing seizures related to autism with the results of a study by researchers at Arizona State University and the University of Texas-Houston.<br /><br />From 25 to 35 percent of people with autism will eventually experience full-scale seizures. Many others will have seizure-like brain activity, in which there is no obvious effect on muscles but potential effects on brain functioning, such as temporary loss of attention.<br /><br />Little has been known about which traditional treatments for epileptic seizures and commonly used non-traditional alternative treatments are most effective for treating seizures or epilepsy specifically in children and adults with autism.<br /> <br />The new study provides insight into which treatments are most beneficial in such cases, says James Adams, a professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, one the ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.<br /><br />Adams conducted the research with Richard E. Frye, a physician specializing in child and behavioral neurology in the Department of Pediatrics at UT-Houston.<br /><br />The complete study is published in the medical journal BMC Pediatrics, and is available <a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2431/11/37/abstract" target="_blank">online</a>.<br /><br />Adams says the study “suggests that several non-traditional treatments, such as special diets – ketogenic, Atkins, and gluten-free, casein-free diets, in particular – are worth further investigation as supportive treatments” for managing the health of people with autism who suffer from seizures.<br /><br />Adams and Frye surveyed 733 parents whose children with autism experience seizures, epilepsy and/or seizure-like brain activity. They asked parents to rate the effectiveness of 25 traditional and 20 non-traditional medical treatments for seizures.<br /><br />The survey also assessed the effects – and side-effects – of those treatments. Overall, antiepileptic drugs were reported by parents to reduce the occurrence and severity of seizures but worsened problems with sleep, communication, behavior, attention and mood. <br /><br />Non-antiepileptic drugs were perceived to improve other symptoms but did not reduce occurrence of seizures or make them less severe to the same extent as the anti-epileptic drugs.<br /><br />Four anti-epileptic drugs – valproic acid, lamotrigine, levetiracetam and ethosuximide – were reported to most often reduce the number or lessen the severity of seizures, and on average have little positive or negative effect on other symptoms of autism.<br /><br />Certain traditional non-anti-epileptic drug treatments, particularly the ketogenic diet, were perceived to both lessen the number and reduce the severity of seizures and other symptoms.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Media contact:</strong><br /><a href="mailto:joe.kullman@asu.edu">Joe Kullman </a><br />(480) 965-8122 <br />Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering</p>