PLEASE NOTE that the study found that about 1/3 got better on Celexa AND that
about 1/3 got better on PLACEBO (sugar pills) so the idea that some are floating
in the Autism Community that its worth trying are just not supported at all by
these findings.

Celexa is in the SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) category of drugs
with Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil and others.

Please note - we screen EVERY child evaluated at our clinic for sleep
disturbances because research indicates that 50%+- of children on the Spectrum
have an undiagnosed sleep disorder.

-RWM
___________________________________________
Study Finds Antidepressant Fails to Treat Autism in Children, Gives Them
Nightmares

Monday , June 01, 2009

AP

An antidepressant that is among the most popular kinds of medicine used for
treating autism didn't work for most kids and caused nightmares and other side
effects, new research found.

Results showed risks with Celexa outweighed any benefits in the largest
published study of medication versus dummy pills for autism. That's according to
the lead author, Dr. Bryan King, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at
Seattle Children's Hospital and the University of Washington medical school.

The drug is not approved for treating autism. However, many doctors have
prescribed it, thinking it might help prevent repetitive behaviors such as
spinning, twirling and head-banging that are hallmark autism symptoms. Similar
antidepressants have been shown to help treat repetitive actions in people with
obsessive-compulsive disorder.

But in the autism study, Celexa worked no better than dummy pills. In fact,
compared with kids on placebo, those on Celexa were more than twice as likely to
develop repetitive behaviors, as well as other side effects including sleep
problems and hyperactivity.

Celexa is in a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitors, or SSRIs, which are among the most widely used medicines given for
autism.

The new research could "change this practice," said prominent Yale University
autism researcher Dr. Fred Volkmar. He commented in an editorial released with
the study Monday in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

The results echo a separate study reported in February that showed a low-dose
form of Prozac, another SSRI, also did not reduce repetitive behaviors in
autism.

The overall global market for drug treatment in autism is at least $2 billion
and SSRI antidepressants account for nearly 60 percent of that, the study
authors said.

Celexa's maker, Forest Laboratories Inc., issued a statement saying the company
"was not involved in this study and therefore cannot provide comment."

The National Institutes of Health paid for the research.

Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer of the advocacy group Autism Speaks,
said the new results underscore the difficulty in treating a condition with an
uncertain cause and symptoms that range from mild to severe.

"We are still so challenged to come up with medications that can address core
symptoms," she said, "largely because we still don't understand the biology of
autism."

The study involved 149 autistic children aged 5 to 17 who were randomly given
either up to 20 milligrams daily of Celexa for 12 weeks or dummy pills.

Doctors rated children's symptoms during treatment on a scale of 1 to 7, with
high scores reflecting worsening symptoms. The rating method allowed doctors to
evaluate improvements in repetitive actions and also other behaviors.

Only about one-third of children on Celexa showed substantial improvement; most
showed little or no improvement or got worse.

Celexa is among antidepressants labeled with a warning about the potential for
increasing risks for suicidal thoughts and behavior in children, but these
symptoms didn't occur in the study.

About one-third of children on dummy pills also improved. King said reasons for
that are uncertain. It could be they expected to get better with any kind of
pill â€" the well-known "placebo effect." Or it could just have been a
coincidence since autism symptoms tend to fluctuate over time.

That tendency might also explain why many kids on placebo also developed new or
worse symptoms, he said.

â€"â€"â€"

On the Net:

Archives: http://www.archgenpsychiatry.com

National Institute of Mental Health: http://www.nimh.nih.gov