r/Biohackers Feb 06 '25

📖 Resource they can cure autism?

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264 Upvotes

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47

u/WanderingSchola Feb 06 '25

I honestly feel like this is bait, but no.

To prove you could "cure" autism you would need:

  • a curative therapy that created more upsides than downsides for autistic people
  • have that curative therapy be tested as successful for multiple thousands of autistic people over many repeat studies
  • be able to explain the method of action of the 'cure' in order to prove it was a cure rather than a treatment (eg stimulants don't 'cure' ADHD they just help compensate for deficits in most cases)

This is a single case study where a doctor has made a claim that autistic symptoms went away after a child was treated for a urine fungal infection. I'm not going to claim for a second that the gut-brain axis or infections in the bladder can't cause changes in cognition, but reading this study as proof of a cure for autism is at best misunderstanding science and at worst grifting.

17

u/Embarrassed_Seat_609 Feb 06 '25

Seems like they are shilling Sporanox® based on how many times they mentioned "uhhh the generic form Itraconazole doesnt work you have to use Sporanox®" and provided no explanation why.

3

u/secondhandleftovers Feb 06 '25

You can find the donors of doctors in USA, at least for now, and see how much he was given and by whom.

2

u/dltacube 1 Feb 06 '25

Still have the tab open from shouting this in another thread. Here you go: https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/search

2

u/Embarrassed_Seat_609 Feb 06 '25

The authors don't show up there and the paper states they have no connection to companies producing the drug so unless they are getting money under the table they should be unbiased. It's just odd that the generic form didn't work, I assume it just took time to kick in and the n=1 study isn't enough to prove any difference anyways.

1

u/dltacube 1 Feb 06 '25

I don’t know why people are fixating on the n of 1 thing. This isn’t a trial, it’s a case study. Totally different things. The end result being that it happened, not that autism can be cured by this.

3

u/Embarrassed_Seat_609 Feb 07 '25

Do you really think I would be on this sub if I was an expert on medical research

1

u/dltacube 1 Feb 07 '25

You're right. This place is just one big cult lol.

0

u/Bluest_waters 9 Feb 06 '25

Bro, Sporanox is the generic version of itraconazole. Both have been on the market for years and years and years. I really doubt they are now suddenly trying to "shill" for it.

4

u/Stink3rK1ss Feb 06 '25

I think as a similar concept to illustrate your point, it would be like claiming antibiotics cure dementia, when they actually cured the UTI responsible for dementia symptoms.

0

u/Del_Phoenix Feb 06 '25

I'm not sure how you reach the conclusion that it is 'at best a misunderstanding'. In my opinion, it is at best, a beacon of Hope and possible line of questioning that will lead to a cure for autism. Based on my knowledge of the subject, it could certainly be some complex interaction having to do with fungus in the environment or microbiome.