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Enzyme supplements for autism. Do they work?

07.04.2010 by Nestor Lopez-Duran PhD Category Autism, Treatments 7 Comments →

I support the development of experimental treatments that are grounded on theory as long as practitioners and researchers do not jump the gun and present the treatment as a validated and effective method before there is compelling scientific evidence that the treatment works. For this reason, I’m always excited when I see well conducted research studies of experimental treatments, as these studies help clarify whether such experimental treatments are effective or not. This week I was particularly excited when I read one study examining the effectiveness of an alternative treatment for autism disorder. Specifically, a study conducted in Australia examined the effectiveness of an enzyme supplement for the treatment of children with an autism. Read More



That Prozac coffee mug at your Dr.’s office

24.03.2010 by Nestor Lopez-Duran PhD Category All Posts, Medications 3 Comments →

A couple of months ago Newsweek magazine published an article questioning the science of mental health services, and in particular, clinical psychology. The article was based on an opinion piece published in the journal of the Association for Psychological Science, in which a team of clinical scientists promoted a new accreditation system for clinical psychology doctoral program, which would ensure that future clinical psychologists are trained as scientists who base their clinical decisions on scientific evidence rather than perceived ‘clinical expertise,’ ideology, or tradition. Some of you may have assumed that therapists practice within specific empirically supported guidelines.  Unfortunately this is not the case. Clinical psychologists, social workers, and other therapists have been notoriously resistant, and often hostile, to the adoption of new intervention modalities in response to scientific advances. In fact, many clinicians use therapeutic modalities that simply have no empirical support. Read More



Do Baby Einstein DVDs work? Exposing infants to educational dvds may affect their language development.

10.03.2010 by Nestor Lopez-Duran PhD Category All Posts, Development, Infants, Language, Parenting/Discipline 6 Comments →

A few weeks ago I wrote a study that showed that exposing premature babies to Mozart music may lead to metabolic changes that facilitate weight gain and better medical outcomes. That study is an example of one credible and positive outcome that came out of the “Mozart effect’ craze. Unfortunately, most of the other claims, such as that listening to Mozart improves intelligence, have been discredited. So today I’m discussing a similar fad: making babies watch “educational” dvds or movies. For example, an entire industry has been developed to provide ‘educational’ dvds designed for infants and toddlers, such as the Baby Einstein DVD series reduced and marketed by Walt Disney. These dvds are marketed as developmentally appropriate for young children and able to facilitate the development of various cognitive skills such as language. For example, the dvd Baby Wordsworth is supposed to help babies learn 30 English words using child-friendly scenes (e.g., puppets, etc). Read More



Autism: Environmental and Genetic? Clues from parental age.

03.03.2010 by Nestor Lopez-Duran PhD Category All Posts, Autism, Causes, Epidemiology 12 Comments →

The last issue of the prestigious Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry included a study that examined the role of parental age on the risk for autism among two very large nationally representative cohorts in two separate countries (Sweden and the UK). The basic question – whether the parents’ age impact the risk of having a child with autism – is not that exciting or innovative as several studies have shown that older parents, especially dads, are more likely to have children with autism. What was really interesting about this study is that it was conducted with an incredibly large numbers of twins, which can help us understand the association between parental age and the relative environmental vs. genetic contributions to autism. Read More



ADHD medications and school performance

24.02.2010 by Nestor Lopez-Duran PhD Category ADHD, All Posts 2 Comments →

I spent most of my Sunday afternoon reviewing and editing reports of child neuropsychological evaluations. Most of them were for children who came to our clinic for a comprehensive ADHD diagnostic evaluation. At the end of these reports we always include a large number of individualized recommendations for home and school accommodations and interventions. Within this list, we often, if not always, encourage parents to consult with their pediatrician or child psychiatrist regarding the appropriateness of medication for the treatment for their child’s ADHD. But such recommendation is only one of more than a dozen. In our approach to treatment, medication is one small component of a multi-pronged strategy. Why? Because medication alone is unlikely to be enough to help the child successfully navigate the multiple obstacles imposed by his/her condition. So I was not surprised when I read the results of one of the largest studies of community-based medication interventions for elementary school children with ADHD. The result? Medication alone works, but not as much as we’d like. Read More





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