Zyprexa and Autism

Autism is a disability of the nerves, nervous system, and brain which causes children to not develop in some of the standard areas of communication. Children with autism are often non-communicative both verbally and non-verbally, they sometimes don't respond to their name or familiar people talking to them, they exhibit little to no emotions, and they don't engage in social interactions and activities such as playing.

The cause of this disease is not known, but it does affect four times more boys than girls. And it is said that one out of 150 people in the United States are diagnosed with autism each year. Some people feel there is a genetic link in autistic children, while others feel the problems are caused by environmental toxins. Treatments for the condition vary widely though, because each child is different and each case of autism is different too.

Some parents choose to use medications to help with certain aspects of autism, while others may choose more controversial or non-traditional methods of treatment instead. Still others may elect to try multiple treatments at the same time.

Some common treatments for autism include behavior modification therapy which trys to teach the child appropriate versus inappropriate behaviors through reward systems; physical therapy to help the child learn common things such as buttoning their own shirt; speech or picture therapy to help them be better able to communicate with people around them; dietary changes which attempt to eliminate potential allergy causing foods in the child; and nutritional supplement therapy which trys to help the childs body heal itself.

Medication wise, there are a variety of drug therapies used for children with autism. Antidepressant drugs for instance, may be used for autistic children who are not overly responsive, or have tantrums and agressive behavior.

A drug such as Zyprexa®, which is a brand name of olanzapine, is considered to be an Antipsychotic medication. This and other medications like it which are sometimes used for Autistic children, are designed to try to help reduce agressive behavior, and decrease hyperactivity. These drugs also help with withdrawal and other behavioral problems.

Side effects of medications such as Zyprexa® and others like it however, can be similar to the autistic behaviors which parents are trying to curtail. These side effects can include Anxiety, agitation, sleepiness, sleeplessness, sedation, dizziness and headaches.

Zyprexa is approved by the FDA to treat other specific mental disorders such as Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder. Using it to treat autism is considered an "off label" use to treat autism and various aspects of that disorder such as panic and anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, anger, uncooperativeness, and hyperactivity.

There have been no fully scientific double blind studies of the effectiveness of using Zyprexa® to treat various repetitive and problematic aspects of autism, but one open label study was done which suggests it is effective.

If you're interested in trying Zyprexa® to help treat some of the more problematic and exhausting behavioral issues autistic children can have, consider talking to your doctor about the full pros and cons of this particular medication, and try to determine if it may be something you'd like to try.