Rearing an autistic child is among the challenges that few parents have to deal with but their love for their children is larger than their struggles. Do you know that aside from the family's love, oxytocin also known as "love hormone" may help improve the social skills of autistic children?
Oxytocin is a natural hormone in the human body that has been linked to social ties such as romantic coupling, or parent-child bonding, Philly.com reports. Oxytocin being linked to helping autistic children improve their social skills is promising.
Getting autistic children undergo a behavioral therapy is among the ways to help them but the process can be costly and time-consuming. However, good news to parents who have children with autism because it seems that there's now another option to help your kids.
According to UPI, young children with autism in a small study who were treated with synthetic hormone oxytocin showed an improvement in their social, emotional and behavioral issues. In fact, the said medication was considered to be the first effective drug treatment for social impairment associated with autism.
"The potential to use such simple treatments to enhance the longer-term benefits of other behavioral, educational and technology-based therapies is very exciting," said study co-author Ian Hickie, co-director of the Brain and Mind Center at the University of Sydney in a university news release.
The study involved 31 autistic children between 3 to 8 years old. The children received an oxytocin nasal spray twice a day for five weeks. Researchers found out that these children showed significant improvement socially and emotionally compared to kids who did not receive the same medication.
According to the researchers, they traced how oxytocin treatment improves the children's behavior and according to them it was due to the changes in the brain's social circuitry. The next step they are considering is to learn how oxytocin alters the brain wiring that changed one's social behavior and how oxytocin can be used as part of overall therapy for autistic children.
However, although oxytocin treatment is promising Dr. Andrew Adesman is warning parents to take this with caution because the benefits were not sustained when children with autism spectrum disorder switched to placebo. It's also uncertain if the benefits will be sustained or increased with a longer trial.
"Although parents of children with autism spectrum disorders may be tempted to ask their doctor to prescribe oxytocin nasal spray for their child, it should be remembered that some children did not tolerate this treatment and we need much more information about long-term benefits and safety before this can be recommended as a mainstream treatment approach," Adesman said.
The study is published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
For parents who find it challenging to explain autism to children, you can watch the video below to get an idea how.
