The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants to study autism as a possible clinical outcome of immunization, as part of its newly adopted 5-year research agenda for vaccine safety, the agency said on its website.
The CDC will also study mitochondrial dysfunction and the potential risk for post-vaccine "neurological deterioration," and convene an expert panel on the feasibility of studying health outcomes such as autism among vaccinated and unvaccinated children.
The CDC plan adopts recommendations approved by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee of the US Department of Health and Human Services. It also comes one month after the federal government's leading autism body, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), signaled a shift in research priorities toward environmental triggers for autism, which the IACC said could include toxins, biological agents and "adverse events following immunization."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Immunization Safety Office Scientific Agenda indentified the need to research "Neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD)" as a possible clinical outcome of vaccination.
The plan also seeks to deternine if the mercury-based preservative thimerosal is associated with increased risk for "clinically important tics or Tourette syndrome." The CDC cited one study (Thompson, NEJM, 2007), which "found that increasing exposure to mercury from birth to age 7 months was associated with motor and phonic tics in boys," and added that "an association between exposure to thimerosal and tics was found in two earlier studies (Andrews, Pediatrics, 2004; Verstraeten, Pediatrics, 2003)."
And, noting that the IACC federal autism panel "suggested several studies including vaccinated versus unvaccinated children to determine if there are differences in health outcomes," the CDC said it will convene an "external expert committee to offer guidance on the feasibility of conducting such studies and additional studies related to the immunization schedule, including studies that may indicate if multiple vaccinations increase risk for immune system disorders."
Meanwhile, the IACC has signaled a shift in research priorities into the causes of autism, moving away from genetic studies in favor of investigating the interaction between genes and environmental factors, which it said could include toxins, biological agents and vaccines.
The IACC, among other things, helps direct millions of federal dollars into autism research. Until now, the IACC's updated strategic plan noted, "the majority of this funding (was) directed toward the identification of genetic risk factors (with) less funding and attention toward environmental research."
A number of environmental factors are now being researched, the IACC said, adding that, "Recent studies suggest that factors such as parental age and exposure to infections, toxins, and other biological agents may confer environmental risk. These findings require further investigation."
As for vaccines, "Numerous epidemiological studies have found no relationship between ASD and vaccines containing the mercury based preservative thimerosal," the IACC noted. "These data, as well as subsequent research, indicate that the link between autism and vaccines is unsupported by the epidemiological research literature. However, the Institute of Medicine report acknowledged that the existing population-based studies were limited in their ability to detect small susceptible subpopulations that could be more genetically vulnerable to environmental exposures."
There are several new research initiatives that the IACC has proposed, including:
And, the IACC once again took note that:
Although the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) stressed that the temporal occurrence of this regression and the immunization schedule is not evidence of a causal relationship, regressive autism warrants further research in rigorously defined subsets of ASD. In addition, the NVAC recommended that studies assess whether adverse events following immunization (e.g., fever and seizures) correlate with risk of ASD.
The strategic plan also renews the IACC's support for funding at least two studies "to determine if there are subpopulations that are more susceptible to environmental exposures (e.g., immune challenges related to infections, vaccinations, or underlying autoimmune problems)."
Autism has become a "national health emergency," the IACC added.
That federal panel, along with the CDC's Immunization Safety Office, HHS's National Vaccine Advisory Committee, and even the national Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) now all support further research into a possible association between autism and immunization.
For years, thousands of parents have been exhorting the government to study adverse events following immunization such as fever and seizures, in addition to mitochondrial impairment and "subpopulations that are more susceptible to damage from infections, vaccines and autoimmune disorders."
Perhaps now they may finally get their wish.
Ricki G. Robinson, M.D., M.P.H: World Autism Awareness Day: A Call to Action
Todd Drezner: Learning to Embrace Autism
Nadine Cerf-Bensussan1 & Valérie Gaboriau-Routhiau
"The mammalian intestine is home to a complex community of trillions of bacteria that are engaged in a dynamic interaction with the host immune system. Determining the principles that govern host–microbiota relationships is the focus of intense research. Here, we describe how the intestinal microbiota is able to influence the balance between pro-inflammatory and regulatory responses and shape the host's immune system.
We suggest that improving our understanding of the intestinal microbiota has therapeutic implications, not only for intestinal immunopathologies but also for systemic immune diseases."
http://www.nature.com/nri/journal/v10/n10/abs/nri2850.html
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Complexities of gut and immune system. Gastroenterologists have yet to fully understand the interchange between, bacteria , virus and vaccine.
doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2011.01.071
"Vaccines have non-specific effects (NSE) on subsequent morbidity and mortality from non-vaccine related infectious diseases. Thus NSE refers to any effect that cannot be accounted for by the induction of immunity against the vaccine-targeted disease. These effects are sex-differential, generally being more pronounced in females than males. Furthermore, the NSE are substantial causing greater than fifty percent changes in all cause mortality in certain settings, yet have never been systematically tested despite the fact that millions of children receive vaccines each year. As we strive to eliminate infectious diseases through vaccination programmes, the relative impact of NSE of vaccines on mortality is likely to increase, raising important questions regarding the future of certain vaccine schedules."
------------------------------------------
Randomized trials to study the nonspecific effects of vaccines in children in low-income countries.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20431383
"The Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) has led to large reductions in morbidity and mortality among children in low-income countries. .... EPI schedule may no longer be optimal because of changes in vaccines, programs, and epidemiologic circumstances. In addition, evidence has accumulated that some EPI vaccines may have nonspecific effects that increase or decrease mortality from subsequent infections with other unrelated organisms.....
Suggested clinical trials ...
"...early measles vaccination, and altered timing of DTP vaccination all have a high priority."
Advances in Neurobiology, 2011,
Genome-Wide Expression Studies in Autism-Spectrum Disorders: Moving from Neurodevelopment to Neuroimmunology
Roberto Sacco, Antonio M. Persico, Krassimira A. Garbett and Károly Mirnics
"Autism has long been thought to stem from abnormal neurodevelopment. Surprisingly, microarray-based genome-wide expression studies, involving either postmortem brain tissue or lymphoblastoid cell lines, provide converging evidence supporting prominent roles for the immune system in the pathogenesis of autism-spectrum disorders (ASDs).
In particular, bioinformatic analyses, employing biological databases and gene network prediction software, point toward the involvement of multiple genes interconnected in immune-related pathways.
Taken together, these findings suggest that a dysreactive immune process could derange neurodevelopment during critical periods in a large subset of children with autism. These conclusions are also supported by neuropathological and immunological studies, which are briefly summarized. "
http://www.springerlink.com/content/w742543471h51116/
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I don't know how far the pro vaccination lobby is falling behind in regards to keeping up with the latest developments in autism aetiology, but it would seem from recent responses quite some way ....
"these findings suggest that a dysreactive immune process could derange neurodevelopment during critical periods in a large subset of children with autism."
The questions then ...
What are those critical periods ?
What environmental triggers could activate a dysreactive immune process ?
How large is the subset of children with autism ?
How might the definition of 'autism' change ?
Association of autism with polyomavirus infection in postmortem brains
Carla Lintas, Laura Altieri, Federica Lombardi, Roberto Sacco and Antonio M. Persico
"Vertical viral transmission represents a nongenetic mechanism of disease compatible with high parent-to-offspring transmission and with low rates of disease-specific genetic abnormalities. Vertically transmitted viruses should be found more frequently in the affected tissues of autistic individuals compared to controls. "
"BKV, JCV, and SV40 combined are significantly more frequent among autistic patients compared to controls (67% versus 23%, respectively; P
"The SV40 replicates in the kidneys of monkeys without causing disease, but causes sarcomas in hamsters. It is highly controversial whether it can cause disease in humans since the virus may have been introduced into the general population in the 1950s through a contaminated polio vaccine. "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyomavirus
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"Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events, that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance, that are observed to occur together in a meaningful manner.
The concept of synchronicity was first described by Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung in the 1920s"
Wiki
My avatar .... The Red Book Carl Jung.
Maternal infection and immune involvement in autism
Paul H. Pattersona, Biology Division, California Institute of Technology
"Recent studies have highlighted a connection between infection during pregnancy and the increased risk of autism in the offspring. Parallel studies of cerebral spinal fluid, blood and postmortem brains reveal an ongoing, hyper-responsive inflammatory-like state in many young as well as adult autism subjects.
There are also indications of gastrointestinal problems in at least a subset of autistic children.
Work on the maternal infection risk factor using animal models indicates that aspects of brain and peripheral immune dysregulation can begin during fetal development and continue through adulthood.
The offspring of infected or immune-activated dams (mothers) also display cardinal (major) behavioral features of autism, as well as neuropathology (diseases of the nervous system) consistent with that seen in human autism.
These rodent models are proving useful for the study of pathogenesis (disease mechanism) and gene–environment interactions as well as for the exploration of potential therapeutic strategies."
*my brackets
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This review shows some additional evidence to support a very clear immune dysfunction.
There are a number of interesting points to this study including the use of animal models ...perhaps some using vaccines would be a good option for further exploration.
Now of course what they are hypothesising is that immune system dysregulation can begin before birth ... not that it does.
It suggests a vulnerable group of infants who may be contraindicated for vaccine.
The fact that sheldon is unable to acknowledge any research base outside of the construct MMR = Autism just indicates that the "Duhh" moment was his and his alone.
There are several quite reasonable hypotheses and areas of investigation that can be drawn from this study inclusive of a role for a variety of vaccines.
What it clearly indicates, which is oblivious to sheldon, is a clear and undeniable "environmental trigger" role.
The role of maternal antibodies that all infants possess and the why, that some children develop an inappropriate immune response, to this does not negate the role of vaccinations as a trigger.
As noted before in previous posts there is quite a complex aetiology that needs to be 'untangled' .....some people are not able to respond to complexity.
2) Mothers are now given flu vaccines at ALL stages of pregnancy, and the vast majority of them are given thimerosal-preserved shots. Thimerosal, as we all know, crosses the placenta.
My personal, non-commercial blog www.sheldon101blog.blogspot.com now features the transcripts of the disciplinary hearing of the man whose nonsense resulted in a lot of time and money wasted in research showing that vaccines do not cause autism.
If you think about it, it is hard for vaccines to cause autism as it is a strongly genetic condition with an environmental component before the child is born. Most experts agree that environmental conditions after a child is born do not cause autism .
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3558293
J Autism Dev Disord. 1986 Sep;16(3):369-75.
Onset at age 14 of a typical autistic syndrome. A case report of a girl with herpes simplex encephalitis.
Gillberg C.
PMID: 3558293
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1743418
Dev Med Child Neurol. 1991 Oct;33(10):920-4.
Autistic syndrome with onset at age 31 years: herpes encephalitis as a possible model for childhood autism.
Gillberg IC.
Department of Pediatrics and Child Psychiatry, University of Göteborg, Sweden.
Abstract
The author describes a previously healthy man who contracted herpes encephalitis at the age of 31 years, and over the following months developed all the symptoms considered diagnostic of autism. This case report casts doubt on the notion of autism as an exclusively developmental disorder. It is suggested that temporal lobe damage may cause autism in some cases.
PMID: 1743418
Acute encephalopathy followed by permanent brain injury or death associated with further attenuated measles vaccines: a review of claims submitted to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
Weibel RE, Caserta V, Benor DE, Evans G.
Source
Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation, National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, Health Resources and Services Administration, Public Health Service, Rockville, Maryland 20857, USA.
"To determine if there is evidence for a causal relationship between acute encephalopathy followed by permanent brain injury or death associated with the administration of further attenuated measles vaccines ...... the lead author reviewed claims submitted to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
This clustering suggests that a causal relationship between measles vaccine and encephalopathy may exist as rare complication of measles immunization. "
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Drilling down further into the report ....
"A total of 48 children, ages 10 to 49 months, met the inclusion criteria after receiving measles vaccine, alone or in combination."
"Eight children died, and the remainder had mental regression and retardation, chronic seizures, motor and sensory deficits, and movement disorders."
"The onset of neurologic signs or symptoms occurred with a nonrandom, statistically significant distribution of cases on days 8 and 9."
"No cases were identified after the administration of monovalent mumps or rubella vaccine."
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On the face of it this is an extremely important document it seems to confirm quite clearly that concerns around the safety of MMR vaccines are justified and that further investigation is required.
Hi Sharyl,
Here are the numbers of compensable cases for encephalitis/encephalopathy and seizures in our
database from October 1, 1988 to March 4, 2008.
Encephalitis/Encephalopathy 611
Seizure Disorders 711
Total 1,322
I'm providing both numbers to you, because there's not much difference in the medical history and outcomes for children that were compensated for "encephalopathy" versus "seizures." Those compensated
for encephalopathy often had seizures as part of their clinical picture, and vice versa.
Do you know when your story is going to air?
I hope this helps,
Tina"
-----------------------------------------
Further down on email ....
"How many vaccine court cases has the government compensated, been ordered to compensate, and/or agreed to compensate in which a vaccine-injured child ended up with and/or claimed autism and/or autistic symptoms? "
"The government has never compensated, nor has it ever been ordered to compensate, any case based on a determination that autism was actually caused by vaccines. We have compensated cases in which children exhibited an encephalopathy, or general brain disease. Encephalopathy may be accompanied
by a medical progression of an array of symptoms including autistic behavior, autism, or seizures.
Some children who have been compensated for vaccine injuries may have shown signs of autism before the decision to compensate, or may ultimately end up with autism or autistic symptoms, but we do not track cases on this basis."
------------------------------------------------
We do not track ...you should.
"If you read nothing else we strongly recommend you read this PDF Download – Text of May 5th 2008 email from US HRSA to Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News]. In it the US Health Resources Services Administration [HRSA] state to CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson"
Elsheshtawy, Emana; Tobar, Salwaa; Sherra, Khalida; Atallah, Sohaylab; Elkasaby, Rashac
http://journals.lww.com/mecpsychiatry/Fulltext/2011/01000/Study_of_some_biomarkers_in_hair_of_children_with.2.aspx?WT.mc_id=HPxADx20100319xMP%29
"The possible etiologies that precipitate autism symptoms remain controversial in many cases, but both genetic and environmental factors have been implicated. Mercury has gained much attention for a considerable period of time before other exacerbating or protective factors were suggested. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between autism and the level of some metals (namely mercury, lead, and copper) or zinc as a counteracting antioxidant element."
"There were highly significant differences between the level of these substances in the hair of children with autism compared with controls, positive correlation of CARS score with both mercury and copper, while intelligence quotient has significant negative correlation with the level of lead in the hair."
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This study lends support to a strong environmental role in the aetiology of autism. In this case mercury and copper.
Further investigation by toxicologists should be undertaken to investigate this matter.
http://www.healing-arts.org/children/mercury_in_vaccines_autism_research/drbernadinehealynihvaccinate.htm#Dr_Healy_interview_Vaccines
"Don't look for those patients, those children, who may be vulnerable4. I really take issue with that conclusion. The reason why they didn't want to look for those susceptibility groups was because they're afraid if they found them—however big or small they were—that that would scare the public away."
This page contains the actual video have to watch the usual ads ...
"Dr. Bernadine Healy is a physician, educator, and health administrator who was the first woman to head the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as its Director from 1991 to 1993. Known for her outspoken, innovative policymaking, Dr. Healy has been particularly effective in addressing medical policy and research pertaining to women. Healy studied at Vassar College where she graduated summa cum laude, earned her M.D. at Harvard Medical School, and completed her training in internal medicine and cardiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she rose to the rank of Professor of Medicine."
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That statement resonates strongly with my own observations on the evidence that 'supposedly' refutes Wakefield and Walker-Smith.
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The science is not being done ....nor even attempted.
Martha G. Welch, Thomas B. Welch-Horan, Muhammad Anwar, Nargis Anwar, Robert J. Ludwig and David A. Ruggiero
"Recent research points to the connection between behavioral and gut disorders."
"This study examined (1) brain effects of chronic gastrointestinal inflammation in a rat model of acquired IBD and (2) whether such changes are resolved by individual secretin (S) or oxytocin (OT) peptide treatment."
"Chronic IBD activated periventricular gray, hypothalamic/visceral thalamic stress axes and cortical domains, and septal/preoptic/amygdala, brain areas abnormal in autism."
"Brain areas concomitantly activated by visceral inflammation are those often abnormal in autism, suggesting that IBD could be a model for testing treatments of autism."
http://www.springerlink.com/content/67003842724p8203/
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This study Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Psychiatry , Neuroscience , Anatomy and Cell Division.
Of note is the very real connection of important elements in this debate and that is verified by research outside of the Lancet paper and confirms to my mind most of the major findings.
Amygdala research can be found here ... Dr Amaral features
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:sy82dhitPoMJ:psych.colorado.edu/~munakata/csh/Novartis_paper_6-12-02.doc+amygdala+autism+function&hl=en&gl=au&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgTA9rqfVxtqxs-WujD9EiMJr0OCV25UlZbCHJguUTl6o7Zq2y68_Jd2ns1jd1CX5BH_flXYGXzsV1YZlo8u4CNl0ND-tOnK2qLWB9bQI9BAdWQyiSuGRme8sFAdapVit72wCR2&sig=AHIEtbQn32Tg-0imvvSz3YilA5vThTXkPQ
http://www.biopsychiatry.com/amygdala.htm
http://www.mugsy.org/connor46.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14521193
This is truly unusual because his theory has always required finding measles virus in the guts of autistic children. Prior to publication of his 1998 paper, he knew that his own lab had not found any sign of measles virus. He ignored that. Subsequent reports of a high percentage of measles virus have all either been withdrawn or proven to be the results of lab error.
See my personal, non-commercial blog for transcripts of the Wakefield disciplinary hearing.
www.sheldon101blog.blogspot.com
“Many thanks for your letter. The successes that we have had with treating autistic children is an unexpected secondary aspect of our study, we had expected improvement with the gastro-intestinal symptoms with use of 5 ASA derivatives and Salazopyrin, but we had not expected the parents to tell us thee has been such an improvement in behaviour.
We are in fact with the help of Dr Marc Berelowitz, planning a further study to analyse the successes but our work at the moment has been to provide a diagnostic service to determine the gastro-enterological manifestations of these children.
I am afraid it is not true that my department was energetic in requesting me to refer [Child J] to you, the pressure is coming from his parents who have heard about the success with other children.
My own position in this work is entirely responsive, when I transferred from Barts to the Royal Free I was quite sceptical about the research work of Dr Andy Wakefield, but since I came here it is absolutely obvious to me that there is a large unmet need of children with autism who have a variety of gastrointestinal symptom s ranging from quite mild symptoms to quite major ones.
The unexpected outcome of this research has led to us being very interested in the treatment of these drugs.” "
GMC Hearing Friday 10 August 2007
14 years later ...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21410934
It is confirmed on another continent by a completely independent team. Treat the gut relieve the behavioural symptoms and bring back to parents and children quality of life.
"All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong-doing remain?"
Buddha
Press Release
http://adc.bmj.com/content/early/2011/04/03/adc.2010.191312.abstract
Background Excessive crying, sleeping or feeding problems are found in approximately 20% of infants and may predict behavioural problems in childhood.
Methods A quantitative meta-analysis of 22 longitudinal studies from 1987 to 2006 that statistically tested the association between infant regulatory problems and childhood internalising, externalising and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) problems was carried out; 1935 children with regulatory problems were tested.
Conclusions The meta-analyses suggest that children with previous regulatory problems have more behavioural problems than controls, particularly in multi-problem families. Further studies are required to assess the behavioural outcomes of previously sleep, feeding or multiply disturbed children.
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Commentary - I find this interesting because once again what may be physical stress relates directly to a neurobehavioural developmental disorder. There's some interesting research on schizophrenia and stress as well I believe.
http://www.isps-us.org/articles/delayedPTSD.htm
Obviously there is a whole lot of stuff to tease out of that study. That data should be cross checked against a range of factors including GI disturbances.
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml
"Using another person’s phrases or sentences without putting quotation marks around them is considered plagiarism EVEN IF THE WRITER CITES IN HER OWN TEXT THE SOURCE OF THE PHRASES OR SENTENCES SHE HAS QUOTED."
Obviously my Harvard Referencing System knowledge is a bit rusty. I did think we were on blogpost / general discussion page .....?
--------------------------
Andrew Wakefield is obviously a controversial character and one who only really came to my attention in 2011 when I saw that the BMJ was going to engage a journalist from the Sunday Times rather than a well qualified science writer ala New Scientist / Scientific American to write a series of articles on MMR.
Both my children are vaccinated on time and schedule and I had never associated my sons condition with vaccines.
I am perhaps more inclined to find my son has a dysfunctional immune system and the role of vaccines and the immune system interaction for me obviously holds a reasonable hypothesis that it may have exacerbated an underlying immune system dysfunction at least.
When it comes to the autism MMR link I am more than happy to engage with parents and let them give their own personal stories without prejudice or judgement. I have found those people to be honest and caring characters without a hint of malice or connivance or manipulation. In the end I trust them....
There are many characters I have not personally known but I have read their letters and their correspondence and other materials ... some have stood upright with a clear mission of care for children with autism.
For instance I have no doubts on the integrity and good grace of John Walker-Smith and his fellow team of gastroenterologists. I find the case against them an appalling lack of true justice and a clear 'witchhunt".
I have neither found the case against him to be robust , at times truthful and full of associations that on the face may seem convincing but on further examination lacking veracity. My thanks to a legal solicitor writing in the BMJ for 'opening my eyes' to this particular phenomenon.
Still Andrew Wakefield remains to me an enigma ... I have the opportunity to hear the man himself speak on video , not in little snippets but it would seem a full hour presentation.
It is time to test his character to see if he gives an open and honest appraisal of his work and the controversy around it.
I would ask all people to do undertake to watch this video as I will do and give their appraisal after ... obviously the usual bunch of unreasonable people should not apply.
I'll post my follow up thoughts tomorrow.
Cheers everyone
The video is at - http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/2011/04/24/brilliant-wakefield-lecture-shows-up-bmj-editors-deers-fraud-allegations-were-fraud-themselves/
Why because as I said before ...I trust those parents and many of them appear on this video some 50 minutes long.
They are not sophisticated litigants after a jackpot of cash ....to me they are just searching for some help and some answers.
I was mightly impressed by all their contributions and wish them well for themselves and the children under their care.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id_AxZ3zHAc
There s also the full letter from parents here at ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHrgYxqcU0w&feature=related
As an objective person looking at that sentence I am under the impression that this person doesn't think his son's condition is linked to vaccinations. and now I read the next paragraph.
"I am perhaps more inclined to find my son has a dysfunctional immune system and the role of vaccines and the immune system interaction for me obviously holds a reasonable hypothesis that it may have exacerbated an underlying immune system dysfunction at least."
Well, now I am confused. He first said he never associated vaccines with his son's condition, and now he is saying it's possible that they have a role. Maybe he never associated it until he wrote that second paragraph. That must be such a brain! Changing ideas drastically while he is writing the comment. The question is, can anyone believe that this person is genuine when he writes a comment?
I think that's a fairly reasonable summation after I have read and studied the literature from University of California MIND Institute and also the research from Johns Hopkins. Reinforced by commentary from eminent scientists like Craig Newschaffer, Martha Herbert and David Amaral.
As well as other research on immune system ... I then balance aginst my personal experience that tells me we have a son who has chronic asthma , anaphylatic food allergies, eczema ... fortunately his bowels seem OK.
Let's see any pre existing genetic type link.
Father - minor food allergies. nothing else developementally normal (thanks sonic)
Mother - some asthma very minor nothing else (developmentally normal)
Sibling - no preexisting or current conditions (developmentally normal)
Son - ASD Asperger's - Eczema , allergies, allergies (anaphylatic), asthma (chronic) - used to be hyperactive as an infant, had poor sleep patterns but related to eczema.
As to 'autism' ... I should clarify there is some ambiguity but to anyone who has sincerely followed my posts they would know ... I have never linked my sons autism to the MMR vaccination.
In fact I can't link my son's autism to any factor genetic or environmental....and that's the great enigma for me.
That's why people often see me posting other pieces of research in regards to the aetiology of autism.
My science book is still open .....
"Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character fixes our destiny. ~Tryon Edwards
---------------------------------------------------
The Australian April 19, 2011
"Drug Watchdog Halts Injections After Adverse Reaction in Patients"
"The drug regulator has told GPs to stop giving patients a second dose of a vaccine that protects against pneumococcal disease, after more than 80 Australians suffered severe reactions, including severe swelling and abcesses.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration said it was investigating what could have caused 178 reports of reactions to the Pneumovax 23 vaccine, which is meant to protect against a potentially life-threatening bacterial infection that can cause meningitis and death and is mainly given to adults.
Of the 178 reaction reports made from January 1 to April 14, 169 related to reactions at the injection site, of which 82 were deemed severe, and included the skin inflammation cellulitis, swelling from the shoulder to the elbow and abcesses.
In a statement, the TGA said that although such reactions were specifically mentioned as possible side-effects in the information provided with the vaccine, the sheer number had triggered the agency's concern.
The total number of reaction reports is nearly three times the 63 adverse reactions that were reported to the end of April last year, and more than five times the 34 reactions reported in 2009.
The latest scare follows an earlier incident with the same vaccine in March, when the TGA ordered a recall of one specific batch after a cluster of seven patients reported similar reactions."
"Further detailed analysis . . . is required and will be undertaken by the TGA and the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation. Until this analysis is complete, the TGA is recommending as a precautionary measure that patients do not receive a second dose."
Merck Sharp and Dohme said the company was not involved in the TGA's alert and could not "elaborate on the reasons" for the warning."
-The Australian April 19, 2011
"Drug Watchdog Halts Injections After Adverse Reaction in Patients"
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/drug-watchdog-halts-injections-after-adverse-reaction-in-patients/story-e6frg6nf-1226041211099
Professor and Chairman of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Drexel University School of Public Health, Philadelphia, PA.
Newschaffer earned his master’s in health policy from Harvard and his PhD in epidemiology from Johns Hopkins. He is the founder and former Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Epidemiology (CADDE). Among other current research activities, Newschaffer serves as an Investigator for the NIH Autism Center of Excellence EARLI (Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation) Study examining a large cohort of mothers of children with autism at the start of subsequent pregnancies. The project is designed specifically to study pre-, peri- and neonatal autism risk factors and biomarkers.
http://www.earlistudy.org/
http://publichealth.drexel.edu/Departments/Epidemiology_Biostatistics/Faculty_Staff/Faculty_Staff/Craig_J_Newschaffer_PhD/282/
In an fascinating article about autism in the April 2007 edition of DISCOVER Magazine entitled “Autism: It’s Not Just in the Head.” Newschaffer provided commentary on the interaction between genes and environmental impacts such as pollutants, chemicals and other toxicants. The article also point outs that several federally funded epidemiological studies are underway to pinpoint possible environmental triggers for autism.
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/apr/autism-it2019s-not-just-in-the-head/article_view?b_start:int=0&-C=
Dr. Martha Herbert is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, a Pediatric Neurologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, a member of the MGH Center for Morphometric Analysis, and an affiliate of the Harvard-MIT-MGH Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging. She is director of the TRANSCEND Research Program (Treatment Research and Neuroscience Evaluation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders).
Dr. Herbert earned her medical degree at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Prior to her medical training she obtained a doctoral degree at the University of California, Santa Cruz, studying evolution and development of learning processes in biology and culture in the History of Consciousness program, and then did postdoctoral work in the philosophy and history of science. She trained in pediatrics at Cornell University Medical Center and in neurology and child neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where she has remained. She received the first Cure Autism Now Innovator Award and is now on the Scientific Advisory Committee of Autism Speaks.
Her main research interests are in addressing autism as a “dynamic encephalopathy” (something that can change) rather than a “static encephalopathy” (something that is fixed for life) and in how environmental vulnerability affects brain and body health.
Dr Martha Herbert : Harvard Medical School
I don’t think there’s any one cause of autism. I would lay money that we will not find one thing. We certainly haven’t found one gene; we’re finding hundreds of genes. We’re finding boutique genes. We’re finding genes that kids have and the parents don’t have — their own parents.
I think that there are a lot of things environmentally that are overwhelming our ability to cope, metabolically, that are overwhelming our immune system.
And the synergy — the collective impact of that is to deplete our protective systems. And I think that’s what’s causing autism.
and further ...
The brain and the immune system and the gut are intimately related. The cells in those systems have common features. They work together seamlessly, and when you disregulate one, you disregulate all the others.
Dr. Craig Newschaffer, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Drexel University
I also believe, however, that there are going be causal components that are nonheritable genetics, things that we refer to as environmental causes, with a capital E, environment-encompassing lifestyle factors — exposures, things of that nature.
Dr David Amaral – UC Davis Medical MIND Institute
I think more importantly what the whole vaccine issue has done is has opened our eyes again to the idea that the immune system is an important component of autism.
ROBERT MACNEIL: Dr. Buie found changes in the lower GI tract he called lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia — inflammation and damage in his small intestine.
How does that affect the life of a child like Nick? For instance, does it give him pain?
DR. TIMOTHY BUIE: I think it can give pain. And I think pain in a child with autism is a very difficult thing to assess because a child with autism can’t vocalize that. He will very often not come to you and say, “I’ve got a bellyache.” He can’t use those words. So he may exhibit that as a child who doesn’t sleep well. He may exhibit that as a child who has a lot of increased agitation or hyperstimulatory-type behaviors.
And part of the problem with that is that we’ve accepted that those are behaviors that we often see in children with autism, and we’ve written it off to their autism. So it’s very difficult to think through whether that’s a marker for pain in some of those kids if we’re unwilling to look for other reasons.
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Who else found inflammation ...
Autism, inflammatory bowel disease, and MMR vaccine
Simon Murch Mike Thomson John Walker-Smith
First, this mucosal abnormality has been apparent in 47/50 children within the autistic spectrum, whether or not there is any perceived link with immunisation. Thus the lymphoid hyperplasia/ microscopic colitis changes were found in over 90% of the autistic children studied.