NAC and Autism Spectrum Disorders

An article by Kaycie Rosen Grigel in the September 2012 issue of the Natural Medicine Journal discusses the potential support NAC can offer for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).  The article is based on research that was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry in 2012.  The research found that dosing NAC for 12 weeks lead to a significant improvement in irritability and repetitive behaviour.  An improvement was also found in social cognition and autism mannerisms.  The improvement that NAC offers is likely linked to NAC's ability to modulate glutamate activity/transport in the brain which impacts cognitive development, memory, learning and level of excitability/irritability.  As well, it is possible that children with ASD have impaired antioxidant status, so the improvement that NAC offers is also likely linked to its ability to increase antioxidant capacity.