According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, there is no established medical treatment that cures autism. An article published in Autism Research Review International (2003;17(4):3,6) summarized testimony given to the U.S. Government Reform Committee on “The Future Challenges of Autism” by Bernard Rimland, PhD, founder of the Autism Society of America.
The Autism Society holds conferences where clinicians and researchers share emerging information on nutrition and other supportive approaches for children on the autism spectrum. Dr. Rimland noted that more than 20 studies have been published suggesting that supplementation with vitamin B6 combined with magnesium may be beneficial for some children with autism.
Additional research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2004;80:1611–1617) examined 20 children with autism and compared them with 33 healthy controls. The autistic children had lower levels of homocysteine and lower levels of several metabolites involved in methylation, including methionine, S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), cystathionine, cysteine, and total glutathione.
This finding is notable because vitamin B6 plays a role in methylation pathways. Eight of the autistic children were subsequently given nutrients known to support methylation, including 800 mcg of folinic acid and 1,000 mg of betaine (anhydrous trimethylglycine), taken twice daily. After three months, vitamin B12 injections were added. This intervention normalized some of the measured metabolites, though glutathione levels did not fully normalize.
Glutathione is a water-soluble antioxidant that plays a critical role in protecting cells from oxidative stress and in supporting the body’s detoxification processes.
