Rare Form of Autism may Have a Cure in Nutritional Supplements

Those who suffer from a very rare form of autism, with symptoms of autism and epilepsy, caused by lack of branched-chain amino acids in the body, may benefit with a treatment of a common nutritional supplement, a recent study has revealed.

Such victims have a rare genetic mutation which causes them to have abnormally low levels of essential nutrients called branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs).

During experiments on mice engineered to have the same genetic mutation, researchers found that a diet enriched with BCAAs helped completely reverse the symptoms of this rare form of autism.

The mice which did not receive this treatment continued to portray symptoms of epilepsy.

Researchers are not very clear if adding BCAA supplements to the diet of people with this particular form of autism will portray similar benefits.

Earlier research has shown that some types of autism are caused by metabolic abnormities and rectifying such abnormities can relieve symptoms.

Source: Medindia

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