Nicola McCaffrey

Publications (2)7.16 Total impact

• Source

  Available from: PubMed Central

  Article: A comparison of urinary mercury between children with autism spectrum disorders and control children.

  Barry Wright, Helen Pearce, Victoria Allgar, Jeremy Miles, Clare Whitton, Irene Leon, Jenny Jardine, Nicola McCaffrey, Rob Smith, Ian Holbrook, John Lewis, David Goodall, Ben Alderson-Day
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  ABSTRACT: Urinary mercury concentrations are used in research exploring mercury exposure. Some theorists have proposed that autism is caused by mercury toxicity. We set out to test whether mercury concentrations in the urine of children with autism were significantly increased or decreased compared to controls or siblings. Blinded cohort analyses were carried out on the urine of 56 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) compared to their siblings (n = 42) and a control sample of children without ASD in mainstream (n = 121) and special schools (n = 34). There were no statistically significant differences in creatinine levels, in uncorrected urinary mercury levels or in levels of mercury corrected for creatinine, whether or not the analysis is controlled for age, gender and amalgam fillings. This study lends no support for the hypothesis of differences in urinary mercury excretion in children with autism compared to other groups. Some of the results, however, do suggest further research in the area may be warranted to replicate this in a larger group and with clear measurement of potential confounding factors.
  PLoS ONE 01/2012; 7(2):e29547. · 4.09 Impact Factor
• Article: Melatonin versus placebo in children with autism spectrum conditions and severe sleep problems not amenable to behaviour management strategies: a randomised controlled crossover trial.

  Barry Wright, David Sims, Siobhan Smart, Ahmed Alwazeer, Ben Alderson-Day, Victoria Allgar, Clare Whitton, Heather Tomlinson, Sophie Bennett, Jenni Jardine, Nicola McCaffrey, Charlotte Leyland, Christine Jakeman, Jeremy Miles
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  ABSTRACT: Twenty-two children with autism spectrum disorders who had not responded to supported behaviour management strategies for severe dysomnias entered a double blind, randomised, controlled crossover trial involving 3 months of placebo versus 3 months of melatonin to a maximum dose of 10 mg. 17 children completed the study. There were no significant differences between sleep variables at baseline. Melatonin significantly improved sleep latency (by an average of 47 min) and total sleep (by an average of 52 min) compared to placebo, but not number of night wakenings. The side effect profile was low and not significantly different between the two arms.
  Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia 02/2011; 41(2):175-84. · 3.06 Impact Factor