Complementary Alternative Medicine for Children with Autism: A Physician Survey

Some physicians may recommend complementaryalternative medicine (CAM) therapies for children with autism.

A survey was offered to 3,100 pediatricians and family medicine practitioners, and about 1 out of 5 responded to the survey (539 physicians). The survey showed that 49% of the doctors encouraged multi-vitamin therapy for children with autism. And 19 to 25% of them encouraged essential fatty acids (EFAs), melatonin, and probiotics as therapy for autism. Physicians discouraged parents from using some therapies. Therapies that were discouraged include chelation (61%), anti-infection treatments (57%), and secretin (43%). Many of the doctors (76%) also urged immunizations according to the recommended schedule. The authors said that doctors may want to ask families about therapies that families might be using, even if the parents do not bring up the topic.