JERUSALEM, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli research has found that drugs for Alzheimer's disease can improve the language performance of children with autism, the Hebrew news website Walla reported on Thursday.
The research, headed by Lidia Gabis, director of the Child Development Center at Israel's Sheba Medical Center, showed a significant improvement in language comprehension after a six-month treatment of autism, especially among children aged from five to 10.
The experiment combined, for the first time, drug treatment and supplements alongside educational therapy.
Evidence has shown that in the brains of people suffering from autism, there is a relative deficiency of acetylcholine, a substance that helps in neuronal cell communication, which is also lacking in people suffering from Alzheimer's.
The researchers provided 60 people aged from five to 16, suffering from autistic impairment at all levels, with a combination of Alzheimer's donepezil medication and acetylcholine.
The idea is based on previous studies that have shown changes in metabolism in certain areas of the brain in children with autism.
