Research indicates that memantine, a drug initially developed to treat Alzheimer’s disease, holds promise for improving communication skills in teenagers with autism. While previous studies exploring memantine's efficacy for autism-related behaviors, such as difficulties with eye contact, hyperactivity, and understanding emotions, yielded mixed results, new findings present a more focused and encouraging perspective.

A recent study, conducted by scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and published in the journal JAMA Open Network, tracked dozens of US teenagers with autism. The researchers discovered that over half of the participants who received memantine, a medication known to slow brain decline and protect brain cells, experienced an improvement in their social communication skills. In stark contrast, only a fifth of those administered a placebo showed similar progress. Specifically, youths who received memantine had 4.8 times the odds of responding to treatment compared to the placebo group. Over a 12-week follow-up period, 56 percent of those given memantine saw "clinically significant reductions in social deficit severity," with roughly half exhibiting minimal to mild autism symptom severity. This was significantly higher than the 21 percent in the placebo group who experienced such an improvement.

Experts have suggested that these findings position memantine as a potentially "efficient treatment option" for a "substantial proportion" of autistic patients. However, they unequivocally stressed the critical need for further research to definitively confirm these observations and establish its widespread applicability.

Memantine, also known by its brand name Ebixa, functions by blocking the effects of the brain chemical glutamate. Glutamate is implicated in the development of dementia, and an excess of this chemical in the brain can lead to overexcited nerve cells, potentially causing symptoms such as headaches, muscle tightness, body weakness, and increased sensitivity to pain. A key distinguishing feature of the trial was the discovery that memantine was more effective in youths with autism who had "high glutamate levels." Since children with autism often exhibit higher glutamate levels, this suggests the drug could be most beneficial for those with more severe communication challenges linked to this neurochemical imbalance.

Despite these promising results, the scientists acknowledged several limitations within their study. They noted that "definitive conclusions regarding the efficiency of glutamate levels as a marker for the drug await larger controlled trials." Furthermore, the trial predominantly involved "White" teenagers, which means the findings may not be generalizable to other racial and ethnic groups. Crucially, the study also focused exclusively on teens with autism who did not have "intellectual disabilities," potentially limiting the representativeness of the findings for the broader spectrum of children with autism.

The potential for new treatments comes at a time when demand for autism assessments has soared, reaching record levels in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. NHS figures from December 2024 revealed that almost 130,000 under-18s in England were awaiting an assessment. This situation has been described by experts as an "invisible crisis," with healthcare services consistently struggling to meet the escalating demand. The Children's Commissioner previously warned that prolonged waiting lists effectively "rob" children of their childhoods. Autism, which is not a disease, is present from birth and exists on a spectrum, with individuals requiring varying levels of support, from little assistance to full-time care.