Abstract

PALACIO, Juan David. Pharmacological Treatment of Autism and Related Disorders. rev.colomb.psiquiatr. [online]. 2007, vol.36, suppl.1, pp.221-240. ISSN 0034-7450.

Introduction: The key symptoms of autism cannot be cured, but certain behaviors may be treated that interfere with educational programs and the attainment of skills or cause personal or family discomfort. Objective: To review the pharmacological treatment of some of these behaviors, such as aggression, anxiety, depression, hyperactivity and inattention, infl exibility and stereotypes in patients with autism and other pervasive developmental disorders. Method: First, certain issues pertaining pharmacological treatment in autism and related disorders are analyzed, then, the use of psychopharmacological agents for the most common chief complaints in psychiatry is reviewed. Finally, aspects such as safety and adverse effects of these medications in autistic patients are outlined. Conclusions: Although several studies support the use of pharmacotherapy in the treatment of behaviors related to pervasive developmental disorders, certain doubts arise concerning the safety and adverse effects of drug therapy, and also about the need of performing controlled double blind randomized studies with all of these medications.

Keywords : Autistic disorder; Asperger syndrome; aggression; anxiety; depression..

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