BMJ 2002;325:1422 ( 14 December )

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Galantamine may be effective in treating autistic disorder

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

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 effects.2-4 We conducted a placebo controlled, double blind crossover randomised controlled trial investigating the efficacy of galantamine in autistic disorders.

The participants were 20 boys attending an outpatient clinic (mean age 7.4 (SD 3.2) years; mean intelligence quotient (IQ) 68 (11) on the Leiter international performance scale of the revised Wechsler intelligence scale for children). They were without medical or neurological illnesses, had autistic disorder diagnosed by ICD-10 criteria, had been unsuccessfully treated with methylphenidate, clonidine, desipramine, and neuroleptics for more than six . . . [Full text of this article]
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Relevant Article

Efficacy and safety of galantamine in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease: multicentre randomised controlled trial
Gordon K Wilcock, Sean Lilienfeld, and Els Gaens
BMJ 2000 321: 1445. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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