SUNDAY JANUARY 20 2002

 

      Spectrum: The way to treat autism?

 

      MARGARETTE DRISCOLL

      http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/article/0,,9005-2002032083,00.html

 

      When Zoe Morris’s four-year-old son Alfie was diagnosed as autistic,

she began to keep a diary: “He cannot speak other than ‘na’, which is no.

His eye contact is poor. He plays repetitively with Thomas the Tank Engine

trains.”

      For nearly two years, little changed. Alfie hardly slept, had frequent

screaming fits and would rock or spin for hours. Then last October his

mother tried supplementing his diet with fish oils, an “alternative” therapy

for behavioural problems.

 

      The effect was “amazing”, she says: “He was immediately much calmer. A

few days into the treatment he put himself to bed and slept, for hours. His

speech has improved no end.”

 

      The idea of fish-oil supplements to allieviate the symptoms of autism

and related conditions, like Asperger’s Syndrome, Attention Deficit

Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), dyspraxia and dyslexia has been gaining

currency among parents by word of mouth.

 

      Now it is to be tested, in a study funded by Durham local education

authority, the Dyslexia Research Trust, Oxford, and the Dyspraxia

Foundation. Starting next week, 120 children in the Durham area identified

as underachieving are to be given supplements of eye q, a commercial

preparation of refined fish oil, evening primrose oil and vitamin E.

 

      Fish oil contains high levels of highly unsaturated omega-3 fatty

acids, which are necessary for the brain to function properly. It is

believed that some people may be unable to metabolise these acids from food

(an inability aggravated by a generally poor diet).

 

      Recent research by Alex Richardson at Oxford University has

demonstrated that a disorder of fatty acid metabolism may be a factor in

predisposing to dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD.

 

      The Durham study will be a double-blind trial with half the children

(all are at mainstream primary schools) being given eye q and the other half

a placebo.

 

      Madeleine Portwood, senior educational psychologist at Durham

education authority, who is also chairwoman of the education committee of

the Dyspraxia Society, believes 20-30% of learning difficulties may be

rooted in omega-3 deficiency.

 

      Nobody suggests fish oil as a cure for dyslexia or the autistic

spectrum disorders, but it appears that it could calm symptoms and the

Durham trial may act as a spur to further research.

 

 

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