Study Suggests SSRIs May Lessen Adult Autism Symptoms
According to information discovered in a new study, SSRI medications like Prozac, Paxil and Celexa may help to lessen to the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder in adults. ASD is characterized by the repetitive and compulsive behavior that is often exhibited in autistic patients.
This newly-published study suggests that half of the autistic adults who took the SSRI Prozac showed a huge decline in their repetitive behavior. This study is claiming that SSRI medications (Paxil, Prozac) can do the same for adults that it does for kids with ASD. While Paxil wasn’t used for the purposes of this trial, it is an antidepressant medication that is much like Prozac.
“This medication improves one of the core symptoms of autism in adults, and this can make a big difference in their lives and the lives of their families," says Eric Hollander, MD, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, N.Y.
An older study (that was also monitoring SSRI use in treating autism), which was conducted by the same researchers who did this study, showed that SSRI antidepressant medications like Prozac or Paxil may help to reduce the repetitive behavior in kids, too. Some doctors are prescribing various SSRIs like Prozac and Paxil to autistic patients, but it may have some parents and caregivers worried since some of the side effects linked to those drugs include aggressive and even homicidal behavior in some patients. SSRIs like Paxil have also been known to be addictive and very difficult to be weaned off of, which could cause some behaviors in autistic patients to get worse.
In the end, the use of SSRIs like Paxil, Prozac or Celexa may prove to be more damaging than beneficial for some patients. For this reason, doctors should think more than twice before prescribing SSRIs.
