If your child has both FXS and ADHD, you're probably aware that the side effect of the normal medication for ADHD (a stimulant called Ritalin) can be worse than the problem it is supposed to treat. Those side effects include increased irritability, a decreased ability to verbalize communication, and social withdrawal.
ADHD and FXS
ADHD is a childhood disorder that can last into the adult years. It is seen in about 8% to 10% of children and usually starts before the age of seven. It makes it difficult for a child to focus his attention on a single task for very long. It can also make it hard for a child to sit still.
FXS is the most common known cause of autism. And since symptoms like difficulty verbalizing in order to communicate and social withdrawal can both already be problems for children with autism, many parents don't feel that treating FXS children with ADHD is worth the tolerating the side effects. That may soon change...
The LAC Study
A study that is set to be published in April in the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A looks at a potential new drug, called LAC, for ADHD and suggests "that LAC be recommended as a treatment of ADHD in FXS children."
LAC (the full name is L-acetyl carnitine) is an amino acid. The study that is about to be published was done in Italy by M. Giulia Torrioli and Giovanni Neri of the Università Cattolica in Rome. Torrioli and Neri conducted a rigorous study of 51 boys between the age of six and 12 with FXS and ADHD. They randomly assigned the study's subjects to groups and gave some groups LAC and some groups a placebo (a fake drug that has no real effect).
The study was carried out in eight different locations in Italy, Spain and France. An interdisciplinary team of doctors and psychologists evaluated the study's subjects at three different points of time during the study. The study was also a "double-blind" study. That means that subjects in the study didn't know whether they were receiving LAC or the placebo, and that members of the team of doctors and psychologists examining the study's subjects also didn't know who in the study was getting LAC and who was getting the placebo. The results of a study that is double-blind are usually considered to be more credible in the scientific community than a study that is not double-blind.
Benefits of LAC
LAC showed a number of benefits. Bottom line: the study showed that boys who got LAC saw reduced hyperactivity, increased attention, and no side effects, according to the study. And while the boys who got the placebo also show less hyperactivity, LAC's effect was significantly more positive. LAC also seems to have increased social ability.
LAC has been studied before, but this was the most scientifically rigorous study so far.
Greg Cruey - Greg Cruey is an educator and journalist. He works as an educational interventionist specializing in a small, rural school in Central ...
Join the Conversation