Testosterone-related treatment for autism stirs controversy
Testosterone-related treatment for autism stirs controversy
May 28th, 2009 by Valerie ChavezSome
parents see benefits from Lupron, a drug used to chemically castrate
sex offenders and for endometriosis and prostate cancer. But mainstream
experts condemn the protocol, marketed by 2 doctors.
parents see benefits from Lupron, a drug used to chemically castrate
sex offenders and for endometriosis and prostate cancer. But mainstream
experts condemn the protocol, marketed by 2 doctors.
Reporting
from Chicago -- Desperate to help their autistic children, hundreds of
parents nationwide are turning to an unproven and potentially damaging
treatment: multiple high doses of a drug sometimes used to chemically
castrate sex offenders.
The
therapy is based on a theory, unsupported by mainstream medicine, that
autism is caused by a harmful link between mercury and testosterone.
Children with autism have too much of the hormone, according to the
theory, and a drug called Lupron can fix that.
from Chicago -- Desperate to help their autistic children, hundreds of
parents nationwide are turning to an unproven and potentially damaging
treatment: multiple high doses of a drug sometimes used to chemically
castrate sex offenders.
The
therapy is based on a theory, unsupported by mainstream medicine, that
autism is caused by a harmful link between mercury and testosterone.
Children with autism have too much of the hormone, according to the
theory, and a drug called Lupron can fix that.
"Lupron is the miracle drug," said Dr. Mark
Geier of Maryland. He and his son developed the "Lupron protocol" for
autism and are marketing it across the country, opening eight clinics
in six states. But experts say the idea that Lupron can work miracles
for children with autism is not grounded in scientific evidence.
Four
of the world's top pediatric endocrinologists say the Lupron protocol
is baseless, supported only by junk science. More than two dozen
prominent endocrinologists dismissed the treatment earlier this year in
a paper published online by the journal Pediatrics.
Simon
Baron-Cohen, a professor of developmental psychopathology at the
University of Cambridge in England and director of the Autism Research
Center in Cambridge, said it is irresponsible to treat autistic
children with Lupron.
Geier of Maryland. He and his son developed the "Lupron protocol" for
autism and are marketing it across the country, opening eight clinics
in six states. But experts say the idea that Lupron can work miracles
for children with autism is not grounded in scientific evidence.
Four
of the world's top pediatric endocrinologists say the Lupron protocol
is baseless, supported only by junk science. More than two dozen
prominent endocrinologists dismissed the treatment earlier this year in
a paper published online by the journal Pediatrics.
Simon
Baron-Cohen, a professor of developmental psychopathology at the
University of Cambridge in England and director of the Autism Research
Center in Cambridge, said it is irresponsible to treat autistic
children with Lupron.
"The idea of using it with vulnerable children
with autism, who do not have a life-threatening disease and pose no
danger to anyone, without a careful trial to determine the unwanted
side effects or indeed any benefits, fills me with horror," he said.
Experts
in childhood hormones warn that Lupron can disrupt normal development,
interfering with natural puberty and potentially putting children's
hearts and bones at risk. The treatment also means subjecting children
to daily injections, including painful shots deep into muscle every
other week.
Geier, who is not board certified in any specialty
relevant to autism and the use of Lupron -- including pediatrics,
endocrinology, psychiatry and neurology -- does not dispute that his
protocol amounts to chemical castration.
So far, he and his son
David, who has a bachelor's degree in biology, say they have treated
about 300 autistic children and a handful of adults with Lupron; an
additional 200 people are being tested.
Several parents whose
children are on Lupron assert that it works, saying their children are
better-behaved and show cognitive improvement.
"It was an
obvious, undeniable result," said Julie Duffield of Carpentersville,
Ill., whose 11-year-old son has autism. "I wish you could see what he
was like before."
Experts said such beliefs are common among
parents who try alternative autism treatments. It's easy, they say, to
attribute normal developmental leaps to whatever treatment is being
tried at the time.
"It has become a cottage industry of false
hope, and false hope is no gift to parents," said Autism Science
Foundation President Alison Singer, whose daughter has autism. "A lot
of these therapies have no science behind them. You are using your
child as a guinea pig."
Mainstream science has yet to explain autism, a developmental disorder that impairs the ability to communicate and interact.
In
the absence of definitive answers, there has been a proliferation of
unproven treatments, including diets that eliminate wheat and dairy,
chelation drugs that leach metals out of the body and treatment in
hyperbaric oxygen chambers similar to those used for scuba divers with
"the bends."
A vocal minority of people believe vaccines are
to blame for autism, though numerous studies have failed to support any
of those theories. One of the most persistent puts the blame on
thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative once found in some childhood
vaccines but now included only in some flu shots or in trace amounts.
The
Lupron protocol adds a new twist to the thimerosal theory. According to
the Geiers, who filed for at least one patent on their therapy, many
autistic children have not only toxic mercury in their system, but also
high testosterone that causes early puberty.
The U.S. Food and
Drug Administration has approved Lupron to treat "precocious" puberty,
an extremely rare disorder that involves finding signs of puberty in
very young girls and boys. Lupron is also used to treat prostate cancer
in men, to treat endometriosis in women and to chemically castrate sex
offenders.
To treat an autistic child, the Geiers order $12,000
worth of lab tests, more than 50 in all. Some measure hormone levels.
If at least one testosterone- related level falls outside the lab's
reference range, the Geiers consider beginning injections of Lupron.
The daily dose is 10 times the amount American doctors use to treat
precocious puberty.
By lowering testosterone, the Geiers said,
the drug eliminates unwanted testosterone-related behaviors, such as
aggression and masturbation. They recommend starting children on Lupron
as young as possible. The cost of the Lupron therapy is $5,000 to
$6,000 a month.
Specialists in autism, hormones and pharmacology who are familiar with the Geiers' protocol said it cannot work as they suggest.
The
Geiers say mainstream medicine condemns them because of their vocal
stance that pediatricians, health officials and drug companies are
covering up the link between vaccines and autism.
LINK: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-na-autism24-2009may24,0,2754752.story
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