Boy With Autism Improves After Taking Antibiotics For Sore Throat
A boy with autism is said to shown significant improvements after taking amoxicillin for days to cure sore throat, Health Line reports.
The molecular biologist and medical venture capitalist, John Rodakis said he got inspired to probe more on the connection that may exist between gut bacteria and autism spectrum disorder (ASD)when he observed that his autistic son showed extraordinary changes like making eye contact, improvement on his speech and increased drive and energy after taking the prescribed antibiotics.
"I'm not advocating the use of antibiotics as a long-term treatment for autism, but I would like to see serious medical research into why some children seem to improve when taking antibiotics," Rodakis said.
Rodakis, who got an MBA in Harvard, published his thoughts on the possible links between gut bacteria and ASD in the Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease journal.
"I was determined to better understand this phenomenon because I believed that if we could understand the biological basis of his improvements, we might gain insight into how autism works and be able to help him," he said via Medical News Today.
According to Medical Express, Rodakis' discovery inspired him to link with the autism expert Dr. Richard Frye, head of the Autism Research Program at Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute. They formed a team that conducts researches and scientific conferences explaining the phenomenon.
Dr. Frye has acknowledged Rodakis' effort and discoveries in helping studies related to autism.
"Careful parental observations can be crucial. In science we take these observations, put them through the scientific method, and see what we find. This is what can lead to ground breaking scientific discoveries and breakthroughs in the field," Dr. Frye said.
Meanwhile, John Rodakis has established a non-profit organization, N of One: Autism Research Foundation. Last June, he and Dr. Frye's group sponsored the conference "The First International Symposium on the Microbiome in Health and Disease with a Special Focus on Autism" wherein proceedings were also published in the Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease journal.
