A recent study suggests that a commonly used diabetes drug could inhibit the weight gain that children and teens with autism typically experience when they take two medicines that are designed to decrease their agitation.
Only two medicines are approved for decreasing distress among people with autism, and both of them have weight gain as a common side effect. Risperdal and Abilify help people with autism handle agitation, irritability and aggression; the two drugs are crucial when the patients don’t respond to other behavioral, non-drug therapy options.
Unfortunately, the weight gain side effect is troublesome for many patients as well as health experts, as there are additional health concerns associated with obesity. This is why the diabetes drugs, which reduce this side effect, are important signals of hope to the autism community.
"It's critically important that we investigate new ways to support healthy outcomes as early as possible for those who are on these medications," Evdokia Anagnostou, a pediatric neurologist and the study’s principal investigator and co-director of the Autism Speaks ATN at Toronto’s Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, said. "Use of antipsychotics to help manage irritability associated with ASD can sometimes be long-term, which means we need to provide families with solutions that support lasting optimal health in their children.”
