Lobotomy

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A lobotomy is a form of psychosurgery, also known as a leukotomy. It consists of cutting the connections to and from, or simply destroying, the prefrontal cortex. These procedures often result in major personality changes or even mental retardation. Lobotomies have been used in the past to treat a wide range of mental illnesses including schizophrenia, clinical depression, and various anxiety disorders. Since the development of such antipsychotic drugs such as Thorazine in the 1950s, lobotomies and other forms of psychosurgery have become generally obsolete.

Antioxidants; sources and health benefits

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Antioxidants are present in foods as vitamins, minerals, carotenoids, and polyphenols, among others.

Many antioxidants are often identified in food by their distinctive colors—the deep red of cherries and of tomatoes; the orange of carrots; the yellow of corn, mangos, and saffron; and the blue-purple of blueberries, blackberries, and grapes. The most well-known components of food with antioxidant activities are vitamins A, C, and E; β-carotene; the mineral selenium; and more recently, the compound lycopene.

While the body has its defenses against oxidative stress, these defenses are thought to become less effective with aging as oxidative stress becomes greater. Consumption of antioxidants is thought to provide protection against oxidative damage and contribute positive health benefits. For example, the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin engage in antioxidant activities that have been shown to increase macular pigment density in the eye.Antioxidants are also being investigated as possible treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Examples of Antioxidant Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamins Daily Reference Intakes*

Vitamin A 300-900 µg-d / Protects cells from free radicals / Liver, dairy products, fish
Vitamin C 15-90 mg-d /Protects cells from free radicals/ Bell peppers, citrus fruits
Vitamin E 6-15 mg-d / Protects cells from free radicals, helps with immune function and DNA repair/ Oils, fortified cereals, sunflower seeds, mixed nuts
Selenium 20-55 µg-d /Helps prevent cellular damage from free radicals/ Brazil nuts, meats, tuna, plant foods

From Food and Nutrition Board Institute of Medicine DRI reports and National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements
*DRI’s provided are a range for Americans ages 2-70.

10 Best Home Remedies for Diabetes

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Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism the way our bodies use digested food for development and energy. It is widely accepted as one of the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. It is connected with long-term complications that affect almost every part of the body. It is a chronic and progressive ailment that has an impact upon almost every part of life. Diabetes grows when the body can't use glucose properly

Insulin is a hormone that is essential to convert sugar, starches, and other food into energy. Insulin permits glucose to move from the blood into liver, muscle, and fat cells, where it is used for fuel. In diabetes, the immune system molests and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. When type 2 diabetes is diagnosed, the pancreas is frequently producing enough insulin, but for unidentified reasons the body cannot use the insulin effectively, a condition called insulin resistance.

Type of Diabetes

Type 1 Diabetes

The body stops producing insulin or produces too little insulin to regulate blood glucose level. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body's own immune system destroys theinsulin-producing cells of the pancreas (called beta cells).

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune illness. Type 1 diabetes grows most often in children but can occur at any age.

Type 1 diabetes comprises about 10% of total cases of diabetes in the United States. Type 1 diabetes is typically recognized in childhood or adolescence and can occur in an older individual due to destruction of pancreas by alcohol, disease, or removal by surgery or progressive failure of pancreatic beta cells, which produce insulin.

Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is gradually more being diagnosed in children and adolescents. Type 2 diabetes is more ordinary in older people, particularly in people who are overweight, and happens more often in African Americans, American Indians, some Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islander Americans, and Hispanics/Latinos.
The pancreas secretes insulin, but the body is partially or completely not capable to use the insulin. Type 2 diabetes is classically recognized in adulthood, generally after age 45 years. Type 2 diabetes is usually controlled with diet, weight loss, exercise, and oral medications

Here is a list of some best Home Remedies for Diabetes:-

Home Remedies for Diabetes

1) Most effective Home Remedy for Diabetes is Bitter gourd and proved helpful in controlling diabetes. For better results, the diabetic should take the juice of about four or five Bitter gourds each morning on an empty stomach.

2) Take juice of bilva and parijataka leaves in identical parts for natural remedy of diabetes.

3) Indian gooseberry, with its high vitamin C content, is measured important in diabetes. A tablespoon of its juice, mixed with a cup of bitter gourd juice, taken daily for two months, will rouse the islets of Langerhans, that is, the remote group of cells that secrete the hormone insulin in the pancreas. This mixture diminishes the blood sugar in diabetes. This is another effective Home Remedy for Diabetes.

4) The seeds of parslane are helpful in diabetes. A teaspoon of the seeds should be taken each day with half a cup of water for four to five months. It will boost the body's own insulin and help in curing diabetes.

5) Including grapefruit in the diet is an outstanding natural home remedy for diabetes.

6) Take two teaspoons of powdered Fenugreek seeds with milk. Two teaspoons of the seeds can also be consumed whole, every day.

7) The tender leaves of the mango tree are considered as good Home Remedy for Diabetes. An infusion is made by soaking 15 gm of fresh leaves in 250 ml of water overnight, and squeeze them well in the water. This filtrate should be taken every morning to handle early diabetes. As an option, the leaves should be dried in the shade, powdered and preserved for use when needed. Half a teaspoon of this powder should be taken two times a day.

8) The juice of Margosa is a cooperative natural home remedy for diabetes.

9) String bean pod tea is a superb natural Home Remedy for Diabetes and can be substituted for insulin.

10) Eat 10 fresh fully full-fledged curry leaves each morning for three months. It avoids diabetes due to genetic or heredity factors.
Author: Tom alter
Source: Free Online Articles from ArticlesBase.com

Alcohol Treatment Success

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If you are thinking about seeking treatment for alcohol problems, either for yourself or someone else, probably no question matters quite as much as the odds of any treatment being successful. The process is expensive - in time, money, and emotion - and as with any life-changing undertaking, it would be nice to know that success was likely.

Unhappily, despite wild claims to the contrary, "success" is hardly guaranteed.

Scan through treatment program web sites and literature and you would think that positive results were the rule. They aren't. Most clients will relapse within months, if not days, of ending treatment.

Problems with the advertising are nearly universal and the most common is the definition of "success." Press very hard and most programs will eventually admit that their numbers are based on things like: "client was not noticeably intoxicated while in residence," or "client completed thirty day stay," or "self-reports indicated" and so on. Additionally, most programs don't factor in clients who drop out or never report. Obviously, the numbers are skewed in every way possible to create the appearance of predictable and successful results.

Frankly, if all the research you do is to follow the revolving door relapses of celebrities through the most expensive programs, you will get a more reliable estimate of program effectiveness than you'll get from the hype.

When it's your problem - and time, money, and emotion - you might want to take a hard look and develop some realistic expectations. Leaving alcohol problems behind isn't a lot different than other major behavioral change and success involves similar processes.

You'll need good, comprehensive assessments of many aspects of your life so that contributing factors can be taken into account. You'll want attention paid to your strengths and interests because these are the things that will make change worthwhile. Focusing on a "disease" and a single fix is a recipe for relapse. So is quick. Firmly establishing real change takes a year or so - but that's far less than the often-prescribed "lifelong recovery."

Good counselors will also work with you to reach your goals, whether abstinence, moderation, or exploring what options are possible for you. Your goals. Not theirs. Again, whether you are modifying your alcohol use, losing weight, stopping smoking, or managing Type II Diabetes, the results will depend on your motivation and your investment, and, yes, in you developing and feeling that an altered life is more rewarding than the current one.

So, ask questions and dont be sucked in by hype and glib assurances. Don't fall for fancy addresses, gourmet cuisine, and astronomical bills. Look for settings and staff who reflect what you hope to attain. Are they listening? Do they hear, and care, about what you want? Is their assessment of your situation realistic?

There are no magic cures or easy fixes, but there are positive changes that lead to far better lives. Pick carefully when selecting guides to get you there.
Author: Edward Wilson
Source: Free Online Articles from ArticlesBase.com

Hoxsey Therapy; Public beware!

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Hoxsey Therapy is a fraudulent, pseudoscientific practice promoted as a cure for cancer. Also known as the Hoxsey Method, it is primarily practiced by the Bio-Medical Center in Tijuana, Mexico. The American Cancer Society has stated that "...There is no evidence that the Hoxsey herbal treatment has any value in the treatment of cancer in humans."[
The Hoxsey Method is an herbal cancer remedy that is not considered seriously by the American Medical Association. Harry Hoxsey, a vaudeville performer with no medical or scientific education, and a radio personality, Norman Baker, marketed a mixture of herbs in the 1920's with the claim of curing cancer. Hoxsey himself traced the invention of the treatment to his great-grandfather, who observed a horse with a tumor on its leg cure itself by grazing upon wild plants growing in the meadow. John Hoxsey gathered the herbs and mixed them with old home remedies used for cancer.
Treatment
Hoxsey herbal treatment includes a paste of antimony, zinc and bloodroot, arsenic, sulfur, and talc as external treatments, and a liquid mixture of licorice, red clover, burdock root, Stillingia root, barberry, Cascara, prickly ash bark, buckthorn bark, and potassium iodide for internal consumption.
In addition to the herbs, the Hoxsey treatment now also includes antiseptic douches and washes, laxative tablets, and nutritional supplements. A mixture of procaine hydrochloride and vitamins, along with liver and cactus, is prescribed.
During treatment, patients are asked to avoid consumption of tomatoes, vinegar, pork, alcohol, salt, sugar, and white flour products.
Controversy
Very little peer-reviewed research has been completed to study any claims of therapeutic benefits from the Hoxsey Therapy. Records from the Bio-Medical Center claim that the success rate of treatment is around 80%. A study by the Office of Technology Assessment found that some of the component herbs have anti-tumor properties. A non-peer-reviewed study found that biochanin A, found in red clover (an ingredient in the Hoxsey method), inhibits carcinogen activation in cell cultures in vitro.
The Hoxsey Method is not supported by the American Cancer Society or National Cancer Institute, as neither have found objective evidence that the treatment provides any tangible benefit to cancer victims. A controlled experiment using lab mice did not find any difference in tumor growth between untreated mice and those given the Hoxsey tonic. The FDA investigated 400 people claiming to have been cured by the Hoxsey method and found no indication that any had been cured by the mixture.

Side-effects
.The topical paste is highly caustic, and can burn or scar the skin.
The oral treatment can cause:
nausea
vomiting
diarrhea
anxiety
trembling
abdominal cramps
heart block
Pokeweed has caused deaths in children.
Red clover may increase the risk of bleeding for people who take anticoagulants. It also mimics the behavior of the hormone estrogen, and thus is unsuitable for women with estrogen-positive breast tumors.

Schizophrenia Treatment

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Schizophrenia is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental illness characterized by impairments in the perception or expression of reality, most commonly manifesting as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions or disorganized speech and thinking in the context of significant social or occupational dysfunction.

Treatment
The effectiveness of schizophrenia treatment is often assessed using standardized methods, one of the most common being the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS). As with many chronic illnesses, aiming for management of symptoms and improving function is more achievable than a cure. Treatment was revolutionized in the mid 1950s with the development and introduction of chlorpromazine
Hospitalization may occur, with severe episodes of schizophrenia. This can be voluntary or (if mental health legislation allows it) involuntary (called civil or involuntary commitment). Long-term inpatient stays are now less common due to deinstitutionalization, although can still occur. Following (or in lieu of) a hospital admission, support services available can include drop-in centers, visits from members of a community mental health team or Assertive Community Treatment team, supported employment and patient-led support groups.
In many non-Western societies, schizophrenia may only be treated with more informal, community-led methods. The outcome for people diagnosed with schizophrenia in non-Western countries may actually be better than for people in the West. The reasons for this effect are not clear, although cross-cultural studies are being conducted.
Electroconvulsive therapy is not considered a first line treatment but may be prescribed in cases where other treatments have failed. It is more effective where symptoms of catatonia are present, and is recommended for use under NICE guidelines in the UK for catatonia if previously effective, though there is no recommendation for use for schizophrenia otherwise.Psychosurgery has now become a rare procedure and is not a recommended treatment for schizophrenia.

Obesity Treatment

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Obesity Treatment
People with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of over 30 should be counseled on diet, exercise and other relevant behavioral interventions, and set a realistic goal for weight loss. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials by the international Cochrane Collaboration found that "exercise combined with diet resulted in a greater weight reduction than diet alone"
If these goals are not achieved, pharmacotherapy can be offered. The patient needs to be informed of the possibility of side-effects and the unavailability of long-term safety and efficacy data.
Drug therapy may consist of sibutramine, orlistat, phentermine, diethylpropion, fluoxetine, and bupropion. For more severe cases of obesity, stronger drugs such as amphetamine and methamphetamine may be used on a selective basis. Evidence is not sufficient to recommend sertraline, topiramate, or zonisamide.
In patients with BMI > 40 who fail to achieve their weight loss goals (with or without medication) and who develop obesity-related complications, referral for bariatric surgery may be indicated. The patient needs to be aware of the potential complications.
Those requiring bariatric surgery should be referred to high-volume referral centers, as the evidence suggests that surgeons who frequently perform these procedures have fewer complications.
Drugs
Much research focuses on new drugs to combat obesity, which is seen as the biggest health problem facing developed countries. Nutritionists and many doctors feel that these research funds would be better devoted to advice on good nutrition, healthy eating, and promoting a more active lifestyle.
Medication most commonly prescribed for diet/exercise-resistant obesity is orlistat (Xenical, which reduces intestinal fat absorption by inhibiting pancreatic lipase) and sibutramine (Reductil, Meridia, an anorectic). In the presence of diabetes mellitus, there is evidence that the anti-diabetic drug metformin (Glucophage) can assist in weight loss — rather than sulfonylurea derivatives and insulin, which often lead to further weight gain. The thiazolidinediones (rosiglitazone or pioglitazone) can cause slight weight gain, but decrease the "pathologic" form of abdominal fat, and are therefore often used in obese diabetics.

Bariatric surgery
Bariatric surgery is being used to combat obesity. The most common weight loss surgery in Europe and Australia is the adjustable gastric band where a silicone ring is placed around the top of the stomach to help restrict the amount of food eaten in a sitting. This surgery has been FDA approved in the United States since 2001 but has been being used in other parts of the world since the early 1990s.
It is considered the safest and least invasive of the available weight loss surgeries such as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RNY), biliopancreatic diversion, and stomach stapling (also known as "vertical banded gastroplasty", VBG). Unlike those more invasive techniques the band surgery does not cut into or reroute any of the digestive tract and is completely reversible. Removing the implant returns the stomach to its pre-surgical norm. All of these surgeries can be done laparoscopically. The more invasive of the surgeries usually bypass or remove some portion of the patient's intestines which causes malabsorption and dumping.

Cancer Treatments

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Experimental cancer treatments are medical therapies intended or claimed to treat cancer (see also tumor) by improving on, supplementing or replacing conventional methods (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy).
The entries listed below vary between theoretical therapies to unproven controversial therapies. Many of these treatments are alleged to only help against specific forms of cancer. It is not a list of treatments widely available at hospitals.
Angiostatic-based treatments
Every solid tumor (in contrast to liquid tumors like leukemia) needs to generate blood vessels to keep it alive once it reaches a certain size. Usually, blood vessels are not built elsewhere in an adult body unless tissue repair is actively in process. The anti-angiogenesis (angiostatic) agent endostatin and related chemicals can suppress the building of blood vessels, preventing the cancer from growing indefinitely. In tests with patients, the tumor became inactive and stayed that way even after the endostatin treatment was finished. The treatment has very few side effects but appears to have very limited selectivity. Other angiostatic agents like thalidomide and natural plant-based substances are being actively investigated.

Dichloroacetate (DCA) Treatment
Cancer cells generally use glycolysis rather than oxidation for energy (the Warburg effect), as a result of hypoxia in tumors and damaged mitochondria. The body often kills damaged cells by apoptosis, a mechanism of self-destruction that involves mitochondria, but this mechanism fails in cancer cells.
A study published in January 2007 by researchers at the University of Alberta, testing DCA on in vitro cancer cell lines and a rat model, found that DCA restored mitochondrial function, thus restoring apoptosis, killing cancer cells in vitro, and shrinking the tumors in the rats.
Bacterial treatments
Chemotherapeutic drugs have a hard time penetrating tumors to kill them at their core because these cells may lack a good blood supply. Researchers have been using anaerobic bacteria, such as Clostridium novyi, to consume the interior of oxygen-poor tumours. These should then die when they come in contact with the tumour's oxygenated sides, meaning they would be harmless to the rest of the body. A major problem has been that bacteria don't consume all parts of the malignant tissue. However combining the therapy with chemotheraputic treatments can help to solve this problem. Another strategy is to use anaerobic bacteria that have been transformed with an enzyme that can convert a non-toxic prodrug into a toxic drug. With the proliferation of the bacteria in the necrotic and hypoxic areas of the tumour the enzyme is expressed solely in the tumour. Thus a systemically applied prodrug is metabolised to the toxic drug only in the tumour. This has been demonstrated to be effective with the non pathogenic anaerobe Clostridium sporogenes.

Gene therapy
Introduction of tumor suppressor genes into rapidly dividing cells has been thought to slow down or arrest tumor growth. Another use of gene therapy is the introduction of enzymes into these cells that make them susceptible to particular chemotherapy agents; studies with introducing thymidine kinase in gliomas, making them susceptible to aciclovir, are in their experimental stage.
Telomerase therapy
Because most malignant cells rely on the activity of the protein telomerase for their immortality, it has been proposed that a drug which inactivates telomerase might be effective against a broad spectrum of malignancies. At the same time, most healthy tissues in the body express little if any telomerase, and would function normally in its absence.
A number of research groups have experimented with the use of telomerase inhibitors in animal models, and as of 2005 and 2006 phase I and II human clinical trials are underway. Geron Corporation, is currently conducting two clinical trials involving telomerase inhibitors. One uses a vaccine (GRNVAC1) and the other uses a lipidated drug (GRN163L).

Thermotherapy
Localized application of heat has been proposed as a technique for the treatment of malignant tumours. Intense heating will cause denaturation and coagulation of cellular proteins, rapidly killing cells within a tumour.
More prolonged moderate heating to temperatures just a few degrees above normal can cause more subtle changes. A mild heat treatment combined with other stresses can cause cell death by apoptosis. There are many biochemical consequences to the heat shock response within in cell, including slowed cell division and increased sensitivity to ionizing radiation therapy.
There are many techniques by which heat may be delivered. Some of the most common involve the use of focused ultrasound (FUS or HIFU), microwave heating, induction heating, or direct application of heat through the use of heated saline pumped through catheters. Experiments have been done with carbon nanotubes that selectively bind to cancer cells. Lasers are then used that pass harmlessly through the body, but heat the nanotubes, causing the death of the cancer cells. Similar results have also been achieved with other types of nanoparticles including gold-coated nanoshells and nanorods which exhibit certain degrees of 'tunability' of the absorption properties of the nanoparticles to the wavelength of light for irradiation. The success of this approach to cancer treatment rests on the existence of an 'optical window' in which biological tissue (i.e,. healthy cells) are completely transparent at the wavelength of the laser light while nanoparticles are highly absorbing at the same wavelength. Such a 'window' exists in the so-called near infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In this way, the laser light can pass through the system without harming healthy tissue and only diseased cells, where the nanoparticles reside, get hot and are killed.
One of the challenges in thermal therapy is delivering the appropriate amount of heat to the correct part of the patient's body. A great deal of current research focuses on precisely positioning heat delivery devices (catheters, microwave and ultrasound applicators, etc.) using ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging, as well as of developing new types of nanoparticles that make them particularly efficient absorbers while offering little or no concerns about toxicity to the circulation system. Clinicians also hope to use advanced imaging techniques to monitor heat treatments in real time—heat-induced changes in tissue are sometimes perceptible using these imaging instruments.
See also Photothermal Therapy.
Complementary and alternative cancer treatment
See main article: Alternative medicine
In the year 2000, the American Cancer Society published American Cancer Society's Guide to Complementary and Alternative Cancer Methods. There are over 200 substances and therapies in this book, and while there is a varying degree of success with each of the methods, it appears that some of the techniques will work at times, however no technique will work in all situations, which, practitioners claim, is similar to the success rate of conventional techniques. Many of these treatments are similar to ancient ways of dealing with disease. According to practitioners of such techniques, various options are available to anyone who wants this information, however, they caution that discretion is advised no matter what methods a person chooses to pursue.

Controversial therapies

Diet therapy
In the late 1940s, German-born physician Dr. Max Gerson proposed a therapy claimed to be successful in the treatment of advanced cancer, normalizing metabolism and helping the body's immune system act on cancer cells. It is a high potassium, low sodium (saltless) diet, with no fats or oils, and high in fresh raw fruits and vegetables and their juices. (See for instance the lecture, and the book A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases, by Max Gerson, M.D.) (ISBN 0-9611526-2-1). Other scientists give credence to published accounts of such treatments to suppress the growth rate of cancer, despite general disagreement on the underlying mechanisms: http://www.krysalis.net/cancer4.htm
As with Max Gerson, Johanna Budwig proposed another diet therapy claimed to treat cancer. Most oncologists have a belief that a diet alone cannot treat cancer. Reports of dramatic remissions as a result of the Budwig diet are anecdotal, and not supported by peer-reviewed research. (On the other hand, her diet is good from a nutritional point of view to counteract some side-effects of other treatments.) Some basic research on flax oil (preferred by Budwig) is available:

Insulin potentiation therapy
In insulin potentiation therapy (IPT), insulin is given in conjunction with low-dose chemotherapy. Its proponents claim insulin therapy increases the uptake of chemotherapeutic drugs by malignant cells, permitting the use of lower total drug doses and reducing side effects.
Some In vitro studies have demonstrated the principle of IPT .
The first clinical trial of IPT for treating breast cancer was done in Uruguay and published in 2003/2004. Insulin combined with low-dose methotrexate (a chemotherapy drug) resulted in greatly increased stable disease, and much reduced progressive disease, compared with insulin or low-dose methotrexate alone. Although the study was very small (30 women, 10 per group), the results appear to be very promising.

Autism Treatment

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Autism (also called autistic disorder, infantile autism, Kanner's syndrome or Kanner syndrome) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that manifests itself before the age of three years. Children with autism are marked by impairments in social interaction, impairments in communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior. These three characteristics reflect Leo Kanner's first reports of autism emphasizing "autistic aloneness" and "insistence on sameness".

Treatment
Early intervention is important. There is no single best treatment, but most children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) respond well to highly structured, specialized programs. A broad array of autism therapies have various goals, including improving health and well-being, dealing with emotional problems, overcoming difficulties with communication and learning, and improving sensory awareness. Among these methods, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has become widely accepted as an effective treatment for ASD.A 2005 California study found that early intensive behavior analytic treatment, a form of ABA, was substantially more effective for preschool children with autism than the mixture of methods provided in many programs.
Medications are sometimes used to treat severe behavioral problems associated with ASD. Many are prescribed off-label, which means they have not been officially approved by the FDA for this use; a child with ASD may not respond in the same way to these medications as typical children. An exception is risperidone, which was approved by the FDA in 2006 for the treatment of symptomatic irritability in autistic children and adolescents.
Many other therapies and interventions are available for autistic children, but few if any are supported by scientific studies.