Scientists have recently discovered a chemical compound that is found in broccoli to be a promising aid to young men who have autism.
Sulforaphane, a by-product of the natural chemical glucoraphanin which is present in cruciferous vegetables and the enzyme myrosinase, is found to be helpful in improving the social and behavioral symptoms in young men who have autism.
Dr. Kanwaljit Singh of the Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, lead researcher for the study, reported that his team recruited 44 young men, who are 13 to 27 years old and are diagnosed with moderate to severe autism.
Each respondent was placed in one of two groups where on group was given a daily dose of sulforaphane and the other given a placebo.
According to the data which the team gathered from reports made by the parents and caregivers of the boys who received their regular dose of sulforaphane, about two-thirds of the group showed positive improvements in terms of behavior and aptness to communicate. These boys have also shown less irritability and less frequency in performing repetitive behaviors. The remaining one-third of the group, however, did not show any improvement.
The group who were given placebo showed no apparent changes in their communication nor in their general social interactions. About 9 percent of this group, however, showed improvement in their behavior.
Since the stress brought on by fever to people with autism somehow allows a person to be better at eye-contact and communication, the researchers have eliminated the factor of fever in all of the respondents. This is as each one of them were closely monitored during the whole course of the study which lasted 18 weeks.
4 weeks after the boys' last dose of sulforaphane or placebo, their carers were once again surveyed for changes in their behavior. The common response was that the improvements that were once so apparent, especially among the boys who had positive results, have dwindled down.
In order to validate the findings of this current study's result, Dr. Singh and his team are looking forward to working with a more varied group of respondents which would include a wider range of age group and women.
