Can a generic drug designed to make chemotherapy work better benefit people with autism?

President Trump is touting an “amazing” drug — leucovorin — as “an answer to autism,” a broad range of conditions that affect how people learn, behave, communicate and interact with others.

A form of vitamin B9, also known as folate, leucovorin has been prescribed to protect healthy cells from the toxic side effects of chemotherapy, to enhance chemotherapy and to treat cerebral folate deficiency. 3

Folate is needed for brain development. Research has found that some children with neurodevelopmental disorders show signs of cerebral folate deficiency, a shortage of B9 in the brain.

“If you’re going to the doctor and looking for an autism pill, it doesn’t exist,” Dr. Richard Frye, a pediatri

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