London - Broccoli could hold the key to treating autism, a study suggests.
It found the chemical that gives the vegetable its distinctive bitter taste made teenagers and young men with the condition calmer and more sociable, with improvements in as little as four weeks.
The finding suggests it may be possible to create a pill that works on the underlying causes of autism for the first time. Existing drugs simply control symptoms such as aggression or hyperactivity.
Researcher Dr Paul Talalay, a professor of pharmacology in the US who studies herbal medicine, said: “It was a small study but the effects were very, very large.”
The excitement surrounds sulforaphane, a chemical produced when we eat broccoli. A total of 44 males with moderate to severe autism, aged 13 to 27, were given either a sulforaphane capsule a day or a dummy pill for 18 months. Behavioural assessments showed the chemical helped two-thirds of the volunteers.
By the end of the study, by researchers at the MassGen Hospital for Children and Johns Hopkins University in Boston, most had shown improvements in autistic symptoms such as difficulty with social interaction and repetitive behaviour.
The journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports that they were less irritable, had more energy, found it easier to communicate with others and were less likely to repeat the same mannerisms, although the effects began to wear off after the treatment was stopped.
Dr Rosa Hoekstra, an Open University lecturer, said the findings were intriguing but it was impossible to draw firm conclusions from such a small study. - Daily Mail