Title : Dynamic treatment of autism by acupuncture with the integration of TCM and early intervention
Abstract:
Background: Research suggests that the prevalence of any complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) ranged from 28 to 95 percent. Special diets or dietary supplements were the most frequent CAM treatments. However, research on the benefits of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), especially acupuncture has been much less studied.
Aim/Purpose: This paper explores the integration of TCM with early intervention is a better way to improve the interpretation and treatment of autism. Besides early intervention and biomedical treatment, TCM is the ideal option to address the complex and dynamic nature of autistic symptoms.
Method: TCM understands the cause and symptoms of autism are closely related to the interaction among viscera systems, though the diseased area of autism is located at the brain. An evidence-based literature study was conducted via medical journals online.
Findings/Results: Distinguished from biomedicine’s reductionist approach, in which regards the deficiencies of chemical compound and the abnormalities in the brain cortex as the key factor of autism, TCM takes a holistic approach to consider the deficiency of kidney essence and the abnormalities of viscera as an integrated whole to contribute to autism. The literature review on clinical studies in children with ASD showed that acupuncture-treated groups have a superior improvement over behavioral therapy-treated groups or herbal treatment groups, and the combined group with both acupuncture and behavioral therapy has an even greater improvement than either acupuncture or behavioral therapy alone.
Conclusion: TCM takes entire body systems into consideration as the interactive cause of autism and dynamic treatment in a life cycle, not just the brain and certain dietary supplement alone. One case study demonstrated the integration of acupuncture TCM dietary therapy with early intervention can assist an ASD child in restoring normal development.
