Wishful Thinking: Searching for the Magic Bullet for Autism
[Despite its title, this post is really a plug for education.]
As Dr. Robert B. Saper and colleagues at the Harvard Medical School wrote in the journal American Family Physician in 2004,
“Over-the-counter dietary supplements to treat [x] appeal to many patients who desire a magic bullet for [x].”
Jane E. Brody quotes Dr. Saper and his colleagues in an April 24th New York Times article, Weight-Loss Drugs: Hoopla and Hype. Dr. Saper was writing about weight-loss supplements whose packaging asserts that they are “‘Clinically proven to give you a better body without spending countless hours dieting or working out.’” The elevated, apparently “scientific” claims of such supplements—-their miracle results that proclaim they are the latest magic pill—recall the equally overstated, and equally, potentially dangerous claims made for nutritional supplements to “treat” autistic children, as well as other alternative therapies.
Some nutritional supplements used to (for instance) detoxify autistic children of heavy metals themselves contain mercury and lead. The April 23rd Chicago Tribune reports on a “long-shot therapy,” hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) that parents are willing to go to great lengths—mortgaging their homes—to try for their children. HBOT can cost $180 to $800 an hour; Club 166 has written a critique of HBOT that examines the science, or rather the “science,” behind it: “”Mild Hyperbaric Chambers” are expensive toys in the treatment of autism. ………….There is no science to support the use of HBOT [corrected 21:00 EST] in the treatment of autism at present, and the only study I see scheduled is likely flawed from the outset.”
As Brody notes, the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act in 1994 by the US Congress “permitted proliferation of supplements derived from natural products without first having to submit clinical evidence of their safety and effectiveness to the food and drug agency.” “Natural” weight-loss products are now produced from “herbal or other botanical ingredients like aloe, ephedra, fiber and green tea; minerals like chromium and pyruvates; amino acids; enzymes; and tissues from organs or glands.” But none of these are some literal “magic bullet” for losing weight any more than this product is. Similarly, nutritional supplements might alleviate, or might seem to alleviate certain physical symptoms in an autistic child, as might HBOT. But a child with certain physical ailments lessened is still a child needing to be taught, needing to be educated, needing to learn and there is no “magic pill” for teaching reading, arithmetic, or spelling.
“‘”The only effective treatment for autism is educational and behavioral treatment. The rest is just wishful thinking,’” Dr. Tina Iyama, professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is quoted in the Chicago Tribune article. And whether it’s weight-loss or autism treatments, wishful thinking and magic bullets (DMG, TMG, B-6, amino acids, chromium, coenzyme Q-10, etc.) can only go so far, vs. those three R’s of reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic.
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POSTED IN: Education, Health, Junk Science, Science
7 opinions for Wishful Thinking: Searching for the Magic Bullet for Autism
Harold L Doherty
Apr 24, 2007 at 5:57 am
“‘”The only effective treatment for autism is educational and behavioral treatment. The rest is just wishful thinking,’” Dr. Tina Iyama, professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is quoted in the Chicago Tribune article. And whether it’s weight-loss or autism treatments, wishful thinking and magic bullets (DMG, TMG, B-6, amino acids, chromium, coenzyme Q-10, etc.) can only go so far, vs. those three R’s of reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic.
I have also referenced the Chicago Tribune Article on my blog site and I support an evidence based approach to autism interventions; recognizing thought that evidence based standards are not simply the double blind 20 year studies which some anti-ABA extremists put forth as the only.
I believe you are over simplifying matters though when you reduce efforts to treat or cure autism as simply wishful thinking although that is an occurrence with many parents desperate for a cure for their children’s conditions. It is unwise to view treatment and cure issues from a static viewpoint. Research is ongoing, there appears to be an explosion of autism research, and neither you nor I know where that research will ultimately lead.
Absolutist dismissal of attempts to find cures or treatments for autism will continue to endear you to your neurodiversity readership but is really not an accurate portrayal of autism research possibilities.
Kathy
Apr 24, 2007 at 7:08 am
If Mark were cured of his autism, he wouldn’t be Mark anymore!
It’s part of him!
He is a happy little boy with a quirky sense of humor.
He is having educational and behavioural treatments that are helping him immensely..
That is enough for me.
“Don’t lets ask for the moon. We have the stars.”
That is how I feel I guess…
María Luján Ferreira
Apr 24, 2007 at 8:04 am
Hi Kristina
I have to disagree here
And whether it’s weight-loss or autism treatments, wishful thinking and magic bullets (DMG, TMG, B-6, amino acids, chromium, coenzyme Q-10, etc.) can only go so far, vs. those three R’s of reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic.
No, no wishful thinking and magic bullets; these are preconcepts of Dr Tina Iyama about what parents of autistic children like me approach to biomedical.She described only what She thinks is the reality, It is not MY reality or the reality of many many parents I know outside/inside USA. Having an autistic child with 45 medical conditions detected in my country properly- with no known genetic mutation assignable- and with confirmed immunological/gastrointestinal issues and toxic elements/essential elements imbalances she demonstrate a dispise that I can not understand by what biomedical approach is, mainly for my autistic child and HIS personal reality- beyond anything that she can write about what she thinks is biomedical and what is biomedical for parents- that is another world.
How many medical records of autistic children she checked? How many labs she visited and asked about procedures? How many correct testing and diagnostic procedures she revised?
I could say that magic thinking is to think that the only reality is those constructed in preconcepts from the own view of the reality, without the corroboration of data based on the answer of the questions I made above- enough deeply researched AND around the world (BTW, I did not see a DAN! doctor, nor once)
Such as with everything biomedical can be done excellent to really really bad, especially because of the status of the situation at the political/scientific/medical practice approach.
For my son, it is not a matter of faith; it is a matter of clinical facts. The lack of interest ( a true interest) about the whys of our elections as parents doing biomed is what I see more common. It is the assignation ” in advance” of being gullible, stupid and mislead ( by doctors or by labs-whatever the doctors and the labs AND THE COUNTRY) with the presumption of a total lack of scientific background per se. Not fair. Not true.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Apr 24, 2007 at 9:11 am
Harold, have your tried any biomedical treatments with your son or consulted any of those who promote such therapies? As you know, many behaviorists share Dr. Iyama’s views about the questionableness of such treatments (and have informed me of such when I have said that my son is on a special diet, for instance).
María, I would say that Dr. Iyama is quite absolutist regarding her view on biomedical treatments and I have met many behaviorists who would say exactly what she does. Another polarization to reconsider……… In the US, the promotion of alternative therapies for dieting is quite extensive (an understatement) and while the situation is not so extreme for autism treatments, one has only to read a catalogue for a purveyor of nutritional supplements to see multiple claims made for many substances, many of which are labels “clinically tested and proven.” Your nuanced and thoughtful approach is precisely the opposite of the kind of claims made for biomedical treatments regarding many health conditions in the US.
Kathy, I’ll take my shooting star anytime! He is forever endeared to my heart.
Phil Schwarz
Apr 24, 2007 at 8:55 pm
“There is no science to support the use of HBO in the treatment of autism at present”
Okay, Kristina, that does it! I’m canceling our cable TV service and investing in something more worthwhile! ;-)
Kristina Chew, PhD
Apr 24, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Then you won’t get to see the Sopranos!
Phil Schwarz
Apr 25, 2007 at 11:32 pm
Fuhgeddaboudit.
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