article on vitamin/mineral supp effects
http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2431-11-111.pdf (full text copy) Effect of a vitamin/mineral supplement on children and adults with autism (This is an autism study, but behavior symptoms are charted and graphed, as are nutrient levels and biomarkers)
...Levels of biomarkers for the neurotypical controls were in good agreement with accessed
published reference ranges, which provided validation of the overall measurement methodology.
The average levels of vitamins, minerals and most amino acids for the autism group were within
published reference range for nutrients commonly measured in clinical care, but sometimes in
the lower or higher end of the reference range. The autism group had many statistically
significant differences (p<0.001) in their average levels of biomarkers compared to the
neurotypical group, including: Low levels of biotin, glutathione, S-adenosylmethionine (SAM),
plasma adenosine-5'-triphosphate (ATP), reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH),
reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), plasma sulfate (free and total),
and plasma tryptophan; also high levels of oxidative stress biomarkers and evidence of impaired
methylation (high uridine). A stepwise, multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated
significant associations between all three autism severity scales and several groups of
biomarkers, including vitamins (adjusted R2 of 0.25-0.57), minerals (adj. R2 of 0.22-0.38), and
plasma amino acids (adj. R 2 of 0.22-0.39). Thus, it appears that many of these biomarkers are
different in children with autism and significantly associated with variations in autism severity....
Conclusions:
Oral vitamin/mineral supplementation is beneficial in improving the nutritional and metabolic
status of children with autism, including improvements in methylation, glutathione, oxidative
stress, sulfation, ATP, NADH, and NADPH. The supplement group had significantly greater
improvements than did the placebo group on the PGI-R Average Change. This suggests that a
vitamin/mineral supplement is a reasonable adjunct therapy to consider for most children and
adults with autism.
Clinical Trial Registration Number: NCT0122519
The ingredients are listed- it isn't empower. Just skimming the article, I, noted they used methylated folate (folinic acid), no copper, not as much zinc, lithium orotate, CoQ10.
Note this account of one patient who was dropped from study:
1 participant was removed because their parent misunderstood the dosage and gave 10x
the specified dosage for the first two weeks. The child was receiving the real
supplement, and was doing very well with no adverse effects. They completed a
Parent Global Impressions-Revised form and reported some of the highest
improvements of any child in the study.
--
Darryl - parent volunteer, dad to
Levi, 12, stable using supps and diet exclusively since June 07. Previously treated and stable with med combo inc. lithium, 900mg seroquel, and small amounts of risperdal, luvox and focalin after being dx'd at age 3 1/2.
Thanks for this! When I get the chance, I'll spread this news!
--"Naomi"
ItsNotMental
Older dd: formerly(?) teen-onset bipolar (morphed into ultradian cycling): "Recovered" after over 13 years - stable off psych meds almost two years. Now fine on just diet changes and higher thyroid levels (after healing - addressing gut issues/Candidal overgrowth while using EMPowerPlus and other supplements). She added a little EMpowerPlus back on as a multivitamin simply because she feels better on it - gets sick less often.
Younger dd: formerly(?) Childhood-onset schizoaffective, TS, OCD, anxiety, PTSD, migraines. After over 15 years, is now "recovered" for almost 5 years after treating endocrine issues, food sensitivities, gut issues, sleep issues, nutritional/mitochondrial needs.
Wonder what vitamin they were using. I remember when I first told my daughter's symtoms on an Adhd forum, someone wrote that her daughter showed these symptoms and was later diagnosed bipolar. She had suggested supplements, one being True Hope but there was another that I can't recall the name of. I did look into it, & think I chose True Hope because it was less pills or less money, or actually most likely because the huge amount of help from people on this site. Maybe the study was using the other vitamin.