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Melatonin well-tolerated sleep aid in children with autism (2/13/2008)
Vanderbilt Sleep Disorders Center researchers are reporting that melatonin, an over-the-counter and relatively inexpensive dietary supplement taken for insomnia and jet lag, shows promise in treating children with autism who have difficulty falling asleep.
Beth Malow, M.D., associate professor of neurology and Kennedy Center investigator, and collaborators reviewed clinical data from Vanderbilt Associate Professor of Pediatrics Susan McGrew, M.D., that showed the dietary supplement was safe and well tolerated in her patients. The results are published in the February issue of the Journal of Child Neurology.
The study is the largest of its kind, looking at the medical records of 107 children with autism, ages 2-18, who had tried varying dosages of melatonin for insomnia. Twenty-five percent of parents reported they no longer had sleep concerns after using melatonin, 60 percent of parents reported the sleep problems had improved, 13 percent still had major concerns and only 1 percent (one child) had worse symptoms. Only three of the 107 children studied reported mild side effects.
"Although prospective trials will be needed to determine if melatonin is an effective sleep aid in this population, this study does support that it may be a reasonable treatment option in these children when administered under the care of a physician and combined with behavioral therapies for sleep," Malow said.
Autism Speaks, in conjunction with the Dana Foundation, is contributing $100,000 over two years to a prospective study led by Malow and McGrew. This study will follow how sleep patterns change in children with autism with the introduction of melatonin, as measured by parent reports and a method called actigraphy, which monitors sleep by tracking movements at night via a wristwatch-like device.
Although preliminary, so far all children completing the trial have had improved sleep, improved daytime behavior, and parents report that they are coping better with their child's autism.
"This has had a big impact on the family," Malow said.
In addition to McGrew, Malow's collaborators include Karen Adkins, R.N., CCRC, research nurse specialist and project manager; Wendy Stone, Ph.D., professor of Pediatrics and director of Vanderbilt's Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders; Lily Wang, Ph.D., assistant professor of Biostatistics, Suzanne Goldman, Ph.D., instructor in Neurology, and Courtney Burnette, Ph.D., assistant professor of Psychiatry.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Vanderbilt University
Comments:
| 1. |
KMC |
2/19/2008 2:23:50 AM MST |
I would like to thank you for a very informative post, and it was only earlier today that I read a blog post which made me aware of the use of melatonin as a sleep aid for autistic children. I am glad to see that the parents of children with such a debilitating illness can find some temperary relief, allowing the child and therefore themselves to sleep through the night. Lack of sleep causes negitive health effects for all children, such as obesity, but I can not imagine the effects sleep deprivation has on autistic children. As you may be aware, we live in a society where medication seems to be the quick solution to most problems, but I was pleased to see Beth Malow suggest that the melatonin treatment be occumpanied with sleep behavioral therapies. From the study led by Malow, you stated that three of the children reported mild side effects, what were the side effects and are they typical for melatonin use? It was recently brought to my attention that parents of nonautistic children were givening melatonin as a sleep aid to their children. I wonder if the melatonin has the same effect in both groups of children. I would like to know how the children's day time behavior changed, and are the hours of sleep a child gets correllated with the daytime behavior in all autistic children? The families of autistic children already deal with so much in terms of the child's care, I am curious to know if there are any documented long term effects that come with daily melatonin use? |
| 2. |
Cheryl Passe |
1/13/2009 12:28:04 PM MST |
I used melatonin on my child once, just last night, and he had the first night of uninterupted and restfull sleep in many months. My son has DS-ASD. He has been a tortured sleeper for years. I hope we have found some relief. I do not intent to use it every night. I guess not enough is known yet to do so. |
| 3. |
shely |
1/25/2009 9:29:13 PM MST |
Thank you. I have two autistic children and I wanted to find more info about Melatonin and if parents used it on autistic kids. |
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