---
title: "Controversial Research: Two Drugs May Reduce Autism Symptoms"
description: "## Preliminary Results"
date: "2019-05-03"
modified: "2019-05-03"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/two-controversial-drugs-may-reduce-autism-symptoms"
categories:
  - "Brain"
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Neuroscience and Brain"
tags:
  - "autism"
  - "medicine"
  - "neuroscience"
  - "the digest"
---

# Controversial Research: Two Drugs May Reduce Autism Symptoms

![Research suggests that two drugs may improve communication skills in people with autism. But the seemingly-conflicting results mean more research is needed.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/two-controversial-drugs-may-reduce-autism-symptoms.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Shutterstock/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Preliminary Results

New experiments show that two drugs seem to improve the social and communication skills of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder, [according to *Spectrum*](<https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/ready-not-two-drugs-autism-edge-closer-clinic/>).

But scientists caution against treating recent studies as conclusive evidence that the drugs could help treat autism-related symptoms. It's a conflict that highlights, above all else, how autism is a complicated condition that warrants [rigorous study](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/autism-rates-rising>) before researchers make generalized statements about potential treatments.

## Opposite Effects

Both studies were published on Wednesday in the journal *Science Translational Medicine*. [One demonstrated](<https://stm.sciencemag.org/content/early/2019/04/30/scitranslmed.aat7838>) that men with autism who took a high dosage of the drug balovaptan demonstrated improved social and communication skills. Balovaptan lessens the effects of vasopressin, a hormone linked to social behavior, on the brain.

But paradoxically, *Spectrum* reports that the [other study showed](<https://stm.sciencemag.org/content/early/2019/04/30/scitranslmed.aau7356>) that a nasal spray of vasopressin improves the social skills of autistic pre-teens.

## Take Two

*Spectrum* reports that the science tying vasopressin to autism is conflicting, as different studies have linked both too high and too low a concentration of vasopressin with autism spectrum disorder, a discrepancy highlighted by the opposite effects of the two new studies.

The problem may come from the fact that the changes in social skills were evaluated by questionnaires — not nearly rigorous enough a measure to evaluate a new medication.

"The results of a small study can be deceptive," Lawrence Scahill, the clinical director at the Marcus Autism Center, told *Spectrum*. Scahill didn't contribute to either experiment. "And when you have this many outcome measures in a small study, some things are possible to turn up as statistically significant by chance."

**READ MORE:** [Ready or not, two drugs for autism edge closer to clinic](<https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/ready-not-two-drugs-autism-edge-closer-clinic/>) \[*Spectrum*\]

**More on autism spectrum disorder:** *[Injecting Fetal Brains With CRISPR Could Cure Genetic Conditions](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/injecting-fetal-brains-crispr-genetic-conditions>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)