Participant(s) With Autism and High Pain Tolerance Treated With High Dose Naltrexone

Overview

High dose naltrexone with response gauged by pain tolerance as measured by the cold pressor test may help treat autism.

Clinical Trial: Cause and Treatment of High Opioid Tone Autism Key Words: autism, neurobiological systems engineering, opioid tone, cold pressor time, clinical trial Abstract Introduction: Neurobiological systems engineering models are useful for treating patients. We show a model of "high opioid tone" autism and present a hypothesis about how autism is caused by administration of opioids during childbirth. Main Symptoms: Clinical diagnosis of autism in a 25 year old man was confirmed by a Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) self - rating of 79, severe, and a Social Communications Questionnaire (SCQ - 2) by the patient's father scoring 27. Cold pressor time is a measure of pain tolerance obtained by having the subject submerge their normal forearm in a painful ice water bath. Cold pressor time (CPT) was 190 seconds - unusually long, consonant with the high pain tolerance of autism. Therapeutic Intervention and Outcome Measure: Primary Outcome Measure is the Cold Pressor Time (CPT). At naltrexone 50 mg/day CPT fell to 28, repeat 39 seconds. Secondary outcome measures are Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and Social Communications Questionnaire (SCQ-2). SRS fell to 54 and SCQ - 2 to 9; both non - significant for autism. Change in relatedness was experienced ambivalently, understood as feelings never before experienced - causing pain. Non - compliance with naltrexone was followed by cutting open his palm and drinking alcoholically. Transference focused psychotherapy has helped him remain naltrexone - compliant while he works on issues of identity and relatedness. Conclusion: The model suggests studies that could be conducted to both prevent and treat this form of autism.

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