An inexpensive epilepsy drug can “switch off” autism, according to a new peer-reviewed study published Tuesday in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
Led by Dr. Moritz Mall from the Hector Institute for Translational Brain Research in Germany, researchers in the study found that the drug lamotrigine, which is sold under the brand name Lamictal, among others, was able to curb behavioral issues associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
First approved for use in the United States in 1994, lamotrigine is an anti-seizure, anti-epilepsy drug and is also used to stabilize mood in bipolar disorder.
It costs as little as $3 for 30 100-mg tablets and, according to a paper found in the National Library of Medicine, works by inhibiting “voltage-gated sodium channels, stabilizing presynaptic neuronal membranes” and “inhibiting presynaptic glutamate and aspartate release.”…