According to the FDA, there is no effective treatment for autism. An article published in Autism Research Review International (2003;17(4):3,6) recaps testimony given to the Government Reform Committee on “The Future Challenges of Autism” by Bernard Rimland, PhD. Dr. Rimland is the founder of the Autism Society of America. The society holds conferences where doctors and researchers meet and share progressive information about nutrition and other approaches to help autistic children. There are over 20 studies published showing that B6 given with magnesium is beneficial.
Other research appearing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2004;80:1611-1617) looked at 20 autistic children and compared them to 33 healthy children. The autistic children had lower levels of homocysteine and lower levels of substances that are the result of methylation (methionine, S-adenosyl methionine (SAM), homocysteine, cystathionine, cysteine, and total glutathione). This is interesting because B6 is necessary for methylation. Eight of the autistic children were then given supplementation of nutrients known to aid methylation, including 800 mcg of folinic acid and 1,000 mg of betaine as anhydrous trimethylglycine, 2 times daily. After three months they were given B12 injections. This normalized some of the levels, but not the glutathione. Glutathione is a water soluble antioxidant and necessary for removal of toxins from the body.
