Oxygen therapy benefit in autism

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7940149.stm

 

A decompression chamber may help children with autism, say researchers.

 

After 40 hours of hyperbaric treatment autistic children showed significant

improvements in social interaction and eye contact compared with controls.

 

The BMC Pediatrics study could not show if the results were long-lasting but

should prompt further investigation of the treatment, the US team said.

 

One theory is that oxygen can help reduce inflammation and improve flow of

oxygen to brain tissue.

 

Hyperbaric treatment - effectively giving high concentrations of oxygen at

increased atmospheric pressure - has been shown to have some benefit in other

neurological conditions such as foetal alcohol syndrome and cerebral palsy.

 

Some studies have looked at the treatment in children with autism but they have

not compared with a dummy procedure raising questions around a " placebo effect " .

 

In the latest study, carried out at six centres in the US, 62 children aged two

to seven with autism were randomly assigned to receive 40 hours of treatment

over a month with 24% oxygen at increased atmospheric pressure (1.3 atm) or

normal air in a slightly pressurised room (1.03 atm).

 

Children who received the treatment showed significant improvements in overall

functioning, receptive language, social interaction, eye contact, and sensory or

cognitive awareness.

 

In all, 30% in the treatment group were rated by doctors as " very much improved "

or " much improved " compared with 8% of those in the control group.

 

Overall, 80% in the treatment group improved compared with 38% of controls.

 

Behaviour

 

Study leader, Dr Dan Rossignol from the International Child Development Resource

Centre, in Florida, said the use of hyperbaric therapy for autism has been

gaining popularity in the US where parents can buy their own hyperbaric chamber

if they have a spare $14-17,000.

 

He said the findings would be quite controversial and he too was initially very

sceptical of the idea but was prompted to do more research after the treatment

showed benefits for his two sons who have autism.

 

" We're certainly not talking about a cure, we're talking about improvements in

behaviour, improving certain functions and quality of life.

 

" The next step is to try to find out which kids do respond, because it's an

expensive treatment - it may be that kids with more inflammation respond better.

 

" It would also be nice to know how long the treatment lasts, and the finding

needs to be confirmed. "

 

Richard Mills, research director at Research Autism, said this was the first

well-designed study looking at the therapy.

 

" We know this kind of therapy is useful in a number of neurological conditions

and that's been well established.

 

" What we don't know is how useful it is in autism, what we could be seeing is an

improvement in other neurological conditions that go alongside autism.

 

" We also don't know about long-term effects - it could be a transitory effect. "

 

Professor Philip James, an expert in hyperbaric medicine at the University of

Dundee, said the pressure used was no more than that used to pressurise an

aircraft cabin on the ground.

 

He added that oxygen was the " controller of inflammation " but also had other

effects on regulation of genes and tissue regeneration.

 

But even if proven, the treatment may not be for everybody.

 

" When you have any condition, there are people who have too much damage to get

better. "

 

" All the oxygen is doing is bringing things towards normal. "

 

 

 

 

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