Broccoli Compound Helps Treat Patients with Autism: Study

Compound in broccoli extracts improves social and behavioral symptoms in autistic patients, finds a study.

Broccoli may not be everybody's favorite vegetable but it sure can keep you disease free and healthy. Experts from the Massachusetts General Hospital for children discovered intake of the compound called 'sulforaphane', which is a phytochemical in broccoli,benefits individuals suffering from autistic spectrum disorder.

Their study involved 44 participants aged between 13 and 30 with behavioral disorder who were either given mild doses of sulforaphane according to their body weight or a placed on a placebo for almost 18 weeks. The experimenters used Social Responsiveness Scale and Aberrant Behavior scale to assess changes in their social behavior like level of dependency, sociability and calmness. In addition, the caretakers and family of participants were surveyed about physical behaviors like talking excessively or being prone to injuries and accidents. Volunteers who secured high rating in these traits exhibited severe symptoms of autism.

At the end of the study, it was observed subjects who received sulforaphane, experienced drastic improvements in social behavior. Their scores for autistic behavior declined by 34 percent. Almost 46 percent of participants reported having 54 percent improvement in aberrant behavior and 42 percent in verbal communication. But, one-third of autistic patients saw no difference after consuming the broccoli compound.

"We could tell who was on it and parents could too. here are several families who just can't stop praising it," said Andrew W. Zimmerman, study co-author and researcher from the Massachusetts  General Hospital, reports the Reuters.

Many autistic individuals were able to make eye contact and exhibited less self-injurious behavior. These effects diminished upon discontinuing the intake of broccoli supplements.

"None of the clinical trials have shown as significant of a change as this. The next thing we want to do is conduct this on younger children. We think this will have similar or better results on them," said Kanwaljit Singh, lead researcher and author at the Massachusetts General Hospital, reports the Fox News.

More information is available online in the journal Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.