Tuesday, December 3, 2013

News Alert: Oxytocin boosts social areas of brain in kids with autism, study finds

I promised to share more, when we got more news. Today we did, and here it is! 

For children with autism, a dose of oxytocin — the so-called "love hormone" — seems to fine-tune the activity in brain areas linked to social interactions, according to a new study.

Although the hormone didn't change children's social skills in the study, its boosting effect on the brain's social areas suggests that using oxytocin nasal sprays immediately before behavioral therapies could boost the effects of those treatments, the researchers said .http://www.nbcnews.com/health/oxytocin-boosts-social-areas-brain-kids-autism-study-finds-2D11674299   More.. News Alert, Part 2 – Hormone Oxytocin as a Treatment for Autism, the Cautions
 http://autismdaybyday.blogspot.com/2013/09/news-alert-part-1-hormone-oxytocin-as.html 

2 comments:

  1. I first read about this in 2007 and tried (in vain) to get our son's doctor to prescribe oxytocin. He said he would "look into it" but never did. Now, having read the entire article and another in the New York Times, I'm grateful. Also, I learned from an article in the NYT Science section that 14% of all humans have small pituitary tumors that can be "turned on" and grow much bigger with the help of hormones like oxytocin. This is a very serious problem as pituitary tumors can wrap around the optic nerve, causing blindness. As the pituitary gland is a master gland, a tumor that shuts it down will shut down a person's entire endocrine system, eventually causing death.

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  2. That is incredible important. I've posted pro's and con's I'm going to post your comment as a con..can yu send me a link to the NYT study?

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