Targeted Nutritional Therapy

 

 

In recent years it has been suggested by a small number of people that young children with Down’s syndrome may benefit from certain targeted nutritional therapy programmes.  Whilst the Down’s Syndrome Association would welcome something of proven benefit, it is concerned that some of these programmes recommend drugs that are not licensed for use in children, or in individuals with Down’s syndrome, and also include the use of nutritional supplements in doses exceeding the maximum safe doses recommended by the Chief Medical Officer in the UK.  In addition, to date, no reliable trials have been carried out to demonstrate the benefit or otherwise of these treatments. 

 

For these reasons the Down’s Syndrome Association is not in a position to recommend these therapies.  However, it is currently supporting a large-scale, ethics committee approved UK trial of antioxidant and folinic acid supplementation to establish whether this supplementation provides any health and development benefits for young children with Down’s syndrome over and above the provision of a balanced and healthy diet.  

 

To find out more about this study, contact Jill Ellis on .