With no treatment for autism, parents are seeing a little ray of hope with a new drug called Secretin.

Secretin is the synthetic version of the gastrointestinal hormone that occurs naturally in the body. It was found when treating children with autism for gastrointestinal problems that their behavioral aspects improved. Miami Children's Hospital is one of 16 centers across the country involved in studies of this nature.

Study participants come in for injections every three weeks for five months, even though parents do not know if their child is getting the placebo or the Secritin, but some have seen an improvement.

For more information about the autism study log on to: www.repligen.com/News/phase3.html