A Terrible Mystery

The ultimate goal of all the research is to find not just a cause but a cure. Early behavioral therapy can produce stunning results, and parents have embraced it--the intensive clinic at UCLA has an 18-month waiting list. Still, says Insel, "it's hard to imagine that with a disease this disabling there's been nothing but behavioral treatments." Although few drug companies conducted promising trials this year, researchers are studying the antibiotic minocycline, the maternal hormone oxytocin, the drug Ecstasy, and a host of other candidates. The NIMH has also just begun a trial of chelation, a process that draws heavy metals out of the body. The therapy is popular among parents who maintain that mercury from vaccines prior to 1999 plays a role in autism--despite scientists' assurances that it doesn't. "The hypothesis is difficult to support," says Susan Swedo, the NIMH's chief of pediatrics and developmental neuropsychology. "But the anecdotal evidence is overwhelming. If this works, I want to know why." Thousands of scientists, parents and patients do too.

© 2006