Researchers have found a drug that can help patients with
Fragile X syndrome, the most common cause of inherited
intellectual impairment (formerly known as mental retardation),
stay calm in social situations by treating their anxiety. Dr.
Elizabeth Berry-Kravis and her team found that a drug called
Arbaclofen reduced social avoidance and repetitive behavior in
Fragile X patients, especially those with autism, by treating
their anxiety. The drug increases GABA, a chemical in the brain
that regulates the excitatory system in Fragile X patients, who
have been known to have too little GABA to do the job otherwise,
causing their excitatory systems to "signal out of control" and
make them anxious. Such patients have been known to cover their
ears or run away at their own birthdays because they are
overwhelmed by the attention, but one trial participant said he
was able to enjoy his birthday party for the first time in his
life while he was on Arbaclofen, she said. "I feel like it's
kind of the beginning of chemothe