Access to the full text of this article requires a subscription or payment. Please log in or subscribe below.

  1. Helmut Niederhofer, child and adolescent psychiatrist (helmut.niederhofer@uibk.ac.at),
  2. W Staffen, neurologist,
  3. A Mair, neurologist
  1. Regional Hospital of Bolzano, Department of Paediatrics, Via L Boehler, 5, I-39100 Bolzano, Italy
  2. Christian Doppler Klinik, Department of Neurology, Ignaz-Harrer Strasse 79, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria

    EDITOR—Wilcock et al report galantamine to be an effective and well tolerated drug in Alzheimer's disease.1 The mechanisms of autistic disorders are not completely understood. At least one kind of autism (Heller's dementia) is clinically quite similar to Alzheimer's disease.

    No specific drugs seem to improve autism significantly. Desipramine, dextroamphetamine, clonidine, neuroleptics, and methylphenidate are reported to be only slightly effective but also to have possible severe adverse …

    Access to the full text of this article requires a subscription or payment

    Subscribe

    Article access

    Article access for 1 day

    Purchase this article for £20 $30 €32*

    The PDF version can be downloaded as your personal record

    * Prices do not include VAT

    Rapid responses

    THIS WEEK'S POLL

    BMJ most popular