Hot bath helps children reduce autism symptoms

A new study by American scientists found that bathing in a hot tub for half an hour will help temporarily ease autistic symptoms in children.

Autism syndrome is becoming more and more popular and known in many countries around the world, including Vietnam. British statistics show that more than 1 in 100 children in the country have autism or a related disease such as Asperger's syndrome, a 10-fold increase compared to 30 years ago.

Autism symptoms are relatively different in each child. However, they often revolve around difficulties in social communication as well as the transmission of information, the emergence of repetitive, stereotyped and less exciting actions.

Patients are often treated through a combination of other speech, action and stimulation therapies. Although medication can control autistic symptoms such as aggression or hyperactivity, it is still an incurable disease.

In the experiment, autistic children soaked in hot tubs of 39 degrees C for about half an hour will temporarily become more sociable.

Researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine (USA) have thought of a new therapy after observing that, in one third of autism cases, disease symptoms have subsided when the child has a seizure. fever. To find out more, they asked 10 autistic children to take a hot bath in 2 different temperature ranges, then let their parents and doctors evaluate their behavior.

The team found that sitting in a hot tub of 39 degrees Celsius for half an hour has temporarily improved the ability of children with autism to communicate and reduce repetitive behavior. However, if the bath water is only 2-3 degrees cooler, the effect will no longer exist.

The team is currently considering whether higher bath water temperatures will bring similar positive effects. They found that it is possible that immersion in hot water triggered the immune system to overactivate the immune system.

In part 2 of the experiment, the researchers learned about the ability to soothe the over-stimulated immune system by parasitic worms in adult autistic patients. Every 2 - 6 weeks, 10 adults with autism are swallowed with thousands of worm eggs - which often cause poisoning in pigs, but do not cause disease in humans.

This anomalous treatment eventually yielded positive results: Adult autistic patients after treatment became more open, ready to embrace new experiences and focus less on repetitive things. more repeat. This is believed to be due to parasitic worms triggering the release of chemicals that reassure the immune system too excited.

Researcher Eric Hollander said more research is needed to validate the findings. However, families with autistic children can fully test hot baths to help improve autism in their children.