Brief reportOmega-3 Fatty Acids Supplementation in Children with Autism: A Double-blind Randomized, Placebo-controlled Pilot Study
Section snippets
Methods and Materials
The study protocol was approved by the institutional review board of the Medical University of Vienna, and written informed consent was obtained from a parent or guardian before enrollment. Study participants were recruited from 22 children and adolescents (mean age ± SD, 10.4 y ± 3.2) attending a specialized day care center for long-term treatment of autistic children; 81.9% were male. Mean length of center attendance at baseline was 7.4 (±3.3) years. All children met the DSM-IV criteria for a
Results
Thirteen (59.1%) of the 22 children who were screened for the intervention study met inclusion criteria for study participation. All of them were males. Those children were randomly assigned to receive either the experimental medication (n = 7) or placebo (n = 6). The mean age (±SD) was 10.5 (±3.2) years in the experimental group and was 12.1 (±2.7) years in the placebo group. One individual from the placebo group withdrew from the trial after 2 weeks because of gastrointestinal complaints and
Discussion
One to 3 g of EPA or up to 10 g/d of fish oil preparations (containing mixtures of EPA and DHA) have been beneficial in a range of disorders including schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, and dyspraxia (Richardson 2004). The present findings suggest that omega-3 fatty acids may also be an effective and well-tolerated treatment, in particular of hyperactive behaviors including disobedience, distractibility, and impulsivity, in children
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