A Special Issue of NAJMS: ADVANCES IN AUTISM 2013

[proverbialwisdom]

http://najms.net/wp-content/uploads/v06i03.pdf#page=34

North American Journal of Medicine and Science

Vol. 6, Issue 3
July 2013

ADVANCES IN AUTISM 2013

A Special Issue of NAJMS

Link from: http://www.ageofautism.com/2013/08/weekly-wrap-another-medical-practice-with-a-sane-vaccine-schedule-and-no-autism-.html#more

[proverbialwisdom]

1. Chicago Sun Times republishes Salon snark, neglects Mumper study from journal above.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/21972375-452/why-do-rich-people-hating-vaccines.html

Why do rich people hate vaccines?
By Alex Seitz-Wald August 16, 2013 4:44PM

Alex Seitz-Wald is Salon’s political reporter.

Online version with embedded links: http://www.salon.com/2013/08/14/whats_with_rich_people_hating_vaccines/


Link from: http://www.ageofautism.com/2013/08/google-news-search-on-vaccines-exemptions-turns-up-all-of-us.html#more

[proverbialwisdom]

6. Time will tell.

RE: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4021691

62. anti-vaxxer propaganda kills people, and it seems you're doing your best
to become an accomplice to those homicides.
Very ironic, and repulsive, that while pimping misinformation whose function is to make the spread of preventable disease more likely, you cite the work of HIV activists who sought to reduce the spread of disease.

Public health policy shouldn't involve CLASSIC privatizing profit and socializing losses. Bad incentives there (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privatizing_profits_and_socializing_losses), as the upcoming Congressional hearing will likely highlight.

No misinformation whatsoever, none, although you're certainly entitled to your views (which I regard as extreme, hyperbolic and highly misguided).

We may disagree, but surely you wish to be apprised of the work of autism activists who are seeking to reduce the disease? No, they're wrong, they're outlaws now and forever? Sorry if you still don't recognize the parallels, chiefly the bureaucratic response they are facing to what can only be described as a public health crisis.

Dr. Mumper's study, published by Harvard's leaders in the field, zeroed autism in her practice by altering multiple variables INCLUDING THE VACCINE SCHEDULE. Six cases of autism were statistically predicted, none occurred. Modest, anecdotal, yes, but likely to be tested across the country. That's great news! The current schedule isn't sacrosanct, nor should it be. That's where we differ.

[HuckleB]

8. So really this all Age of Quackism BS.

Got it.

[proverbialwisdom]

10. Ridiculous, the prolific Dr Gorski (post 9) doesn't compare to the expert sources listed in post 3.

Overview: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gorski

http://najms.net/wp-content/uploads/v06i03.pdf#page=34

[img][/img]

Editors-in-Chief: Xuejun Kong, MD
Guest Editor: Christopher J. McDougle, MD ( http://www.massgeneral.org/about/pressrelease.aspx?id=1402 )
Published: Boston, MA, USA
Distributed:Worldwide


Editors-in-Chief
Xuejun Kong, MD Harvard Medical School, Boston

Advisory Editors
Richard E. Frye, MD, PhD University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock
John Halamka, MD Harvard Medical School, Boston
Ursula Kaiser, MD Harvard Medical School, Boston
Kenneth K. Kidd, PhD Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven
John Tomaszewski, MD State University of New York, Buffalo

Associate Editors
Mitchell Albert, PhD University of Massachusetts, Worcester
Robit Arora, MD, FACC, FAHA, FSCAI, FACP Chicago Medical School, North Chicago
Frank Chen, MD, PhD State University of New York, Buffalo
Jason Chen, PhD University of Massachusetts, Worcester
Ke-Qin Hu, MD University of California, Irvine
Edmond Kabagambe, DVM, PhD University of Alabama, Birmingham
Tamara Kalir, MD, PhD Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York
David Lee, PhD Harvard Medical School, Boston
Calvin Pan, MD Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York
Yiqing Song, MD, ScD Harvard Medical School, Boston
George C. Tsokos, MD Harvard Medical School, Boston

Specialty Editors
See PDF

SORRY.

[HuckleB]

11. BS.

You've offered a quack journal through a quack anti-vaccine website.

You're not fooling anyone. (Hell, if you had looked at the discussion, you would see just how bad this journal is...)

[proverbialwisdom]

13. NAJMS: ADVANCES IN AUTISM 2013, Guest Editor: Christopher J. McDougle, MD.

http://www.massgeneral.org/about/pressrelease.aspx?id=1402

Christopher J. McDougle, MD has been named director of the Lurie Center for Autism at Massachusetts General Hospital and MassGeneral Hospital for Children.

[center]Christopher J. McDougle named director of the Lurie Center for Autism

20/Sep/2011[/center]

Christopher J. McDougle, MD has been named director of the Lurie Center for Autism at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC). McDougle, currently the Albert Eugene Sterne Professor of Psychiatry and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Indiana University School of Medicine, will begin his new role in October. McDougle will also serve as the Nancy Lurie Marks Professor in the Field of Autism at Harvard Medical School.

The Lurie Center for Autism (formerly known as LADDERS) combines comprehensive care with advanced research to better meet the needs of autistic individuals from early childhood through adulthood. In the two years since being established by a generous gift from Nancy Lurie Marks and the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation, the Lurie Center has expanded to offer a range of services for adults plus a rapid diagnosis program, and a new alternative and augmentative communications clinic. A policy and advocacy program is also in place. With Dr. McDougle’s arrival, clinical experience and expertise will be harnessed to expand the Center’s research mission even further.

“I am honored to have this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of individuals with autism and their families,” said Christopher J. McDougle, MD, incoming director of the Lurie Center for Autism. “Our goals are to provide outstanding clinical care to children, adolescents and adults with autism and related disorders; to identify underlying mechanisms that cause autism in subgroups of individuals; to develop more specific treatments targeted toward these etiologic factors; and to develop the top center in the world for these missions by collaborating with talented local and national member of the neuroscience community.”

“Dr. McDougle is an internationally-recognized expert in research and treatment for neurodevelopmental disorders that extend into adulthood, the major focus of the Lurie Center for Autism,” said Clarence Schutt, PhD, director and chief scientific officer of the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation. “He has an unusual ability to translate basic scientific and clinical observations into new therapies. In his role as Director, he will also build a teaching and physician mentoring program in the field of autism that will seed programs world-wide with the lessons learned at MGH.”

McDougle has been honored with multiple awards for excellence in teaching, as well as for research on schizophrenia and depression. McDougle has also received multiple grants for the study of autism and related pervasive developmental disorders. A graduate of Valparaiso University (’81), McDougle earned his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine (’86). He subsequently completed a residency in psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine (‘90) and a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center (‘95).

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of its founding in 1811, Massachusetts General Hospital is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the United States, with an annual research budget of nearly $700 million and major research centers in AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, computational and integrative biology, cutaneous biology, human genetics, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, reproductive biology, regenerative medicine, systems biology, transplantation biology and photomedicine.

[HuckleB]

14. Keep quacking.

You can't connect Age of Autism to something and have anyone give a rip. EVER. If it's legitimate, there is no reason to connect it with something so illegitimate. No matter what way one looks at this OP, one has to see it as problematic at best.

Your anti-science views are well known, so why are you pretending to push highly questionable science now? Oh, that's right. That's what pseudoscientists do. (BTW, the page views on that journal show that its one of the outliers. It doesn't get much traffic.)

Oh, and how much of the content of this publication do you think each of those "editors" actually reads?

[HuckleB]

12. "Join Our Team Of Reviewers."

http://www.najms.org/joinus.asp

Yeah, FFS.

And why does a journal with the title "North America" in it have so few members of its editorial board from North America?

http://www.najms.org/editorialboard.asp

If you can't smell the stink, you can't smell.

[Archae]

2. You need a better source.

"Age Of Autism" has been so badly discredited as to make it useless.

[proverbialwisdom]

3. You jest or don't read with objectivity. Or maybe you were rushing or multitasking. Look again.

http://najms.net/wp-content/uploads/v06i03.pdf#page=34

[img][/img]

Editors-in-Chief: Xuejun Kong, MD
Guest Editor: Christopher J. McDougle, MD ( http://www.massgeneral.org/about/pressrelease.aspx?id=1402 )
Published: Boston, MA, USA
Distributed:Worldwide


Editors-in-Chief
Xuejun Kong, MD Harvard Medical School, Boston

Advisory Editors
Richard E. Frye, MD, PhD University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock
John Halamka, MD Harvard Medical School, Boston
Ursula Kaiser, MD Harvard Medical School, Boston
Kenneth K. Kidd, PhD Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven
John Tomaszewski, MD State University of New York, Buffalo

Associate Editors
Mitchell Albert, PhD University of Massachusetts, Worcester
Robit Arora, MD, FACC, FAHA, FSCAI, FACP Chicago Medical School, North Chicago
Frank Chen, MD, PhD State University of New York, Buffalo
Jason Chen, PhD University of Massachusetts, Worcester
Ke-Qin Hu, MD University of California, Irvine
Edmond Kabagambe, DVM, PhD University of Alabama, Birmingham
Tamara Kalir, MD, PhD Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York
David Lee, PhD Harvard Medical School, Boston
Calvin Pan, MD Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York
Yiqing Song, MD, ScD Harvard Medical School, Boston
George C. Tsokos, MD Harvard Medical School, Boston

Specialty Editors
See PDF

[Archae]

4. Your original post had this link in it.

Link from: http://www.ageofautism.com/2013/08/weekly-wrap-another-medical-practice-with-a-sane-vaccine-schedule-and-no-autism-.html#more

That is Age Of Autism.

And they still support uber-quack Andrew Wakefield and his discredited study.

They also link to libertarian racist Lew Rockwell.

[proverbialwisdom]

5. Skip it, the journal stands on its own.

http://najms.net/wp-content/uploads/v06i03.pdf#page=34

Preface to the special issue of autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the fastest-growing complex neurodevelopment disorder, continues to rise in its prevalence, now affecting up to 1 in 50 children in the USA, and averaging 1% globally, according to the latest CDC report. More children will be diagnosed with ASD this year than with AIDS, diabetes & cancer combined in the USA. ASD costs the nation $137 billion a year and this debt is expected to increase in the next decade. Hence, ASD has become a huge healthcare burden and global threat, categorized by the CDC as a national public health crisis.

ASD is characterized by social-communication impairment, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior, which cause significant disability for those affected. With its etiology still largely unknown, and its pathophysiology poorly understood, ASD currently has no universally accepted therapy. ASD is affecting more and more families; unmet services and limited resources need to be addressed urgently. Researchers, clinicians, healthcare providers, social agencies and government need to coordinate efforts to develop more effective treatments and a satisfactory continuum of care, across the lifespan. Ultimately, a cure needs to be sought for the various subtypes of ASD that exist.

The current issue of North American Journal of Medicine and Science (NAJMS) represents a continuation of our previous two special issues on autism (NAJMS Vol. 5 Issue 3 and Vol. 4 Issue 3) published in July 2012 and July 2011, respectively. In this issue, we are honored to have another panel of expert researchers and clinicians on the frontlines of ASD research and treatment to present their newest research findings and views from different perspectives.

This issue of NAJMS consists of five original research articles, two comprehensive reviews, one case report and two commentary articles, covering topics in genetics, pathogenesis, metabolic disorder biomarkers of ASD, and a clinical study, that bring into focus our newest understanding and treatment strategies.

<>

The data presented in Dr. Mumper’s review of the medical literature, suggests that ASD may be impacted by environmental toxicants, duration of breastfeeding, gut flora composition, nutritional status, acetaminophen use, vaccine practices and use of antibiotics and/or frequency of infections. In her current general pediatric practice (Advocates for Children), she has noted a modest trend toward a lower prevalence of ASD than in her previous pediatric practice or recent prevalence estimates from the CDC.

<>

Xuejun Kong, MD
Editor-in-Chief, NAJMS
Department of Medicine
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Harvard Medical School

Christopher J. McDougle, MD
Guest Editor, NAJMS
Lurie Center for Autism Massachusetts General Hospital
Harvard Medical School

[HuckleB]

7. Exactly. And with the proliferation of quack journals, one now must wonder.

Something is not right with this OP.

[HuckleB]

9. Not So Fast, "Dr." Mumper...

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/preventing-autism-not-so-fast-dr-mumper/

Why does this anti-science BS infect DU so dang much?

[proverbialwisdom]

15. "Trifles make perfection, but perfection is no trifle." (Michelangelo)

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/preventing-autism-not-so-fast-dr-mumper/

Posted by David Gorski on August 26, 2013

...As we’ve pointed out here many times before, the increase in the reported prevalence of autism and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is almost certainly accounted for by three things: (1) the broadening of the diagnostic criteria for ASDs in the early 1990s; (2) diagnostic substitution, in which conditions that were formerly classified as something else are reclassified as an ASD; and (3) intensive screening programs.

Dr. Walter Zahorodny, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, was the lead researcher on the New Jersey portion of the CDC (ADDM) study.

Published on Apr 2, 2012
A new study has found that rates of autism have increased among children. Autism Study Investigator Walter Zahorodny, of UMDNJ, called it "a health crisis" because of the number of children and families affected. He sat down with NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider to discuss and explain the new findings.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/183892061_N_J__autism_rate_soared_in_4_years.html?page=all&scpromo=1

N.J. autism rate soared in 4 years

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012
BY LINDY WASHBURN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

New Jersey's autism rate nearly doubled in four years, according to new research published Monday that expands upon previous national studies.

Of the 8-year-old children in four sample New Jersey counties, one in 57 had autism in 2006, compared with one in 94 just four years earlier, researchers from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey found.

The findings represent "the best data we have for knowing the accurate complete prevalence of autism in our region," said Walter Zahorodny, the study's lead author. They were based on an analysis of school and medical records for all children living in Hudson, Essex, Union and Ocean counties who were born in 1998, a total of more than 30,000. The sample provided a good cross-section of New Jersey in terms of ethnicity and social-economic background.

New Jersey's autism rate is among the highest in the nation.

"The question is, where does the trend level off?" Zahorodny said.

<>

"This is a call to action for the state and providers of all disciplines to endorse and utilize evidence-based practices" to give individuals with autism and their families the best odds for an improved quality of life, said Suzanne Buchanan, interim executive director of Autism New Jersey, a non-profit organization.

She found it remarkable that 80 to 85 percent of the children in the study had the most severe form of autism. "While the vast majority of individuals on the spectrum need support services, individuals on the severe end need them even more so," Buchanan said.

<>

http://www.njjewishnews.com/article/18974/timely-help-for-those-on-autism-spectrum#.UnO03akTub8

Timely help for those on autism spectrum

by Sara Mendez
October 30, 2013

Autism spectrum disorders are a set of complex developmental disorders associated with the well-known challenges of social and communication difficulties.

Jewish Family Service of MetroWest’s entry into this arena, with its trained clinicians, is timely. According to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2012, one in 49 children in New Jersey has an ASD, a rate of double the number of cases over the prior study in 2007." New Jersey records the second most prevalent rate among 14 states tested nationwide.

According to the study, 80 percent of these cases have been diagnosed as “severe.” The average age of diagnosis in New Jersey is just over three years. As a result of this troubling growth in diagnoses, multiple interventions and approaches to working with children diagnosed with ASD have been developed. Each child with ASD is unique, so intervention plans can be tailored to address such individual needs.

<>

COMMENTS:

Paul G. King
October 31, 2013
Regarding the NJ 1 in 49 rate, given the sex ratio (Male to female) reported, it is obvious that those children with lesser levels of damage are being disproprotionately missed.

Hopefully, because NJ is one of the states with 2 “independent” sources of diagnosed individuals with some overlap between the sets, the NJ publis health officials can be encouraged to perform the appropriate statistical adjustment for underascertainment and correct the 1 in 49 number for that under counting.

Were this to be done, it i likely that the underascertainment-corrected rate for children with an ASD diagnosis in NJ would probably be closer to 1 in 25 than it is to the reported raw records’ level of 1 in 49.

Link from: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014619807
Related: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2591326

[HuckleB]

16. And more of the usual crank, anti-science BS in gish gallop form.

You have yet to offer one legitimate link to support any of your conspiracy beliefs.

[proverbialwisdom]

17. The dismissive analysis by your source (Gorski) is filled with false claims.

Last edited Sat Nov 16, 2013, 01:34 PM - Edit history (2)

For a simple example see the sentences excerpted. These are factually incorrect as demonstrated in the specific case of NJ by the CDC researcher leading the study in the state. The medical/scientific sources I provided are impeccable and cannot legitimately be challenged, so your focus becomes disparaging the secondary sites reporting their findings. That's public relations, not science.

We agree to disagree.

[HuckleB]

18. You're wrong.

That's the bottom line. You push ugly pseudoscience and scumbag websites over and over again.

It is wrong, and you are wrong. End of discussion.

[proverbialwisdom]

19. Check it out (LIVE NOW).

http://iacc.hhs.gov/events/2013/strategic-planning-workshop-agenda-nov15.shtml

11:45 - 12:15 p.m. Public Comment

2013 IACC Strategic Plan Update Workshop Agenda

Friday, November 15, 2013
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern

National Institutes of Health

The registration desk opens at 8:00 a.m. Eastern for members of the public attending in person, and the meeting will also be available to the public by live videocast and conference call. The materials for the meeting can be found here.

http://videocast.nih.gov/live.asp?live=13225&bhcp=1

[proverbialwisdom]

20. More.

Last edited Tue Aug 26, 2014, 06:04 PM - Edit history (1)

http://najms.net/wp-content/uploads/v06i03.pdf#page=34

INTRODUCTION
During the author’s career, reported prevalence of autism increased from 1 in 5,000 (1975) to 1 in 2,500 (1985), to 1 in 500 (1995) to 1 in 250 (~2001) to 1 in 166 (~2004) to 1 in 88 (~2008) to 1 in 50 (2013); all reflected birth cohorts born earlier.1,2 Further research into autism prevalence studies have debunked the initial contention that higher numbers could be explained away by better diagnosis and broadening of diagnostic criteria.3-6

Environmental Toxicants...
Breastfeeding...
Probiotics...
Nutritional Factors...
Antibiotic Stewardship...
Role of Acetaminophen...

The Vaccine Controversy
The CDC and AAP have issued statements that vaccines are not associated with the risk of autism and that there are epidemiologic studies suggesting no causal role.58-60 Under immunization as a result of parental perceptions of vaccine safety remains a primary concern of the American Academy of Pediatrics.61 As a result, primary care physicians are taught ways to address parents’ vaccine concerns, take opportunities to vaccinate, and use recall methods to catch patients up on vaccines.62 Despite having one of the most aggressive vaccination policies in the developed world, specifying 22 vaccine doses for a total of 12 diseases by 1 year of age,63 the United States had higher infant mortality rates in 2009 than 33 other nations.64

The author has visited 12 of the countries with a lower infant mortality rate than the United States to lecture about medical problems in children with autism, mentor clinicians, and collaborate on research about patients with autism. By rank in infant mortality, they are: Sweden 2, Japan 3, Finland 6, Norway 7, Czech Republic 10, Switzerland 12, Denmark 18, Australia 23, the United Kingdom 25, New Zealand 26, Canada 28, and Italy 31. Singapore, Sweden, and Japan have infant mortality rates below 2.8; the United States’ rate is 6.22. Clinicians and scientists in other countries often express surprise at the number of vaccinations recommended in the United States. In 2009, five of the 33 nations with the lowest infant mortality rates required 12 vaccine doses, the least amount, while the United States required the most vaccine doses. Using linear regression analysis of unweighted mean infant mortality rates, Miller calculated a statistically significant high correlation between increasing number of vaccine doses and increasing infant mortality rates (r = 0.992 p value 0.0009).64 Correlation does not equal causation. But since the United States spends more money per capita on medical care than the rest of the industrialized world,65 it seems prudent to examine all possible contributions to the relatively poor health of our most vulnerable citizens - children.

The controversy regarding accepting parent reports about vaccine reactions and subsequent regression remains, but it is increasingly difficult to ignore. Many histories of children with autism involve a seemingly well child developing a high fever, seizure, or neurological deterioration within 24 hours of vaccination and being told by emergency room personnel or their primary care doctors that the vaccine could not have been related to their child’s symptoms. It is prudent to remember that medications and medical interventions including vaccination can cause side effects, that short term vaccine reactions are tracked, and that a federal program exists to provide compensation for children who suffer significant reactions.

Skepticism about parental reports of vaccine reactions is reminiscent of the skepticism with which some physicians regarded parents who reported their child regressed into autism, since autism was thought to be prenatal and therefore present from birth. Parents were vindicated by a study in which before and after videos were viewed and scored by blinded observers who quantified differences and confirmed the existence of regressive autism.66

Universal hepatitis B vaccine at birth was initially recommended in order to insure that babies whose mothers were hepatitis B positive or had unknown hepatitis B status were not missed. Hepatitis B vaccine at birth has been associated with an increased odds ratio of autism in male infants. In one study, U.S. male neonates vaccinated with hepatitis B vaccine prior to 1999 had a threefold higher risk for autism compared to boys not vaccinated as neonates. Nonwhite boys bore a greater risk. Some research has documented waning immunity and the need for booster vaccines 15 years after neonatal vaccination.67

There has been a protracted controversy over the role of MMR in autism.68,69 A review of the medical literature review reveals some concerns about giving a live viral vaccine during suboptimal health. Research from Johns Hopkins demonstrated that infection of B lymphocytes with MMR vaccine induced IgE class switching.70

METHODS
Patient Selection
Inclusion criteria were: 1) all general pediatric patients born in 2005 or later; 2) presented for well child care prior to 2 months of birth and 3) followed until at least the age of 2 years and 2 months. Totally 294 patients qualified for the inclusion criteria and have been selected in the current research.

Data Collection
All the patients have been treated and examined utilizing the same well child procedures. The electronic records for all infants cared for in our general pediatrics practice since July 1, 2005 who visited our office from prior to 2 months of age (usually in the first 3-5 days after birth) to at least the age of 2 years and 2 months have been reviewed and examined, since the age range would provide ample opportunity to observe symptoms of autism. Their developmental milestones in the domains of gross and fine motor, speech and language, and social behaviors at each of 11 well child visits in the first 2 years of life have been recorded. The medical record is marked for any child who does not meet milestones. No new cases of autism in our general pediatric practice since it was established in 2000 have been recorded; the current research reports on the cohort born in 2005 or after. CDC prevalence disease data and other published data have been utilized in analysis of this research.

RESULTS
In the current research, there are no new cases of autism out of the 294 cases recognized and recorded, resulting in 0% prevalence of ASD. Based on the CDC background risk of autism of 1 in 50 for the cohort born around 2005 we would expect to have about 6 new cases of autism in our practice. We calculated our statistics using a Chi-squared test with 1 degree of freedom. Using the CDC autism rate of 1 in 50 reported in 2013 (but based on surveys of eight year old children), the expected rate for our 294 patients starting in 2005 would be 5.88 children with autism. Zero new cases of autism would occur by chance 1.4% of the time (p-value 0.014, significant at 0.05).

<>

DISCUSSION
The author first noticed what seemed to be an increase in neurodevelopmental disorders clinically in the mid 1990’s; several of her patients regressed into autism during that time. Several of those patients who developed autism in the 1990’s are still followed in the practice today. One is a 15 year old male who regressed into autism with the development of chronic diarrhea and loss of language milestones temporally associated with the MMR vaccine. He has not developed much language and now has seizures. Another is a 13 year old female who was reported to have language regression which the parents thought was related to immunizations. She receives special education, occupational therapy and speech therapy and has problems with obsessive compulsive behavior and attention.

In 2000, the author established Advocates for Children to care for children in Central Virginia whose complicated neurodevelopmental and behavioral problems were difficult to address in a traditional, busy office setting. In 2004, she became Medical Director of the Autism Research Institute, which has historically been on the cutting edge of research into medical problems of children with autism, and attended more than 1500 hours of think tanks and lectures that featured emerging evidence about the anatomy, pathophysiology, immunology and biochemistry of autism spectrum disorders. She has listened carefully to the clinical histories provided by the parents of more than 500 children with autism here and abroad. Armed with a better understanding of the science of autism, she incorporated strategies into her general pediatric practice that were designed to minimize potentially modifiable risks of developing autism.

Strategies Utilized at Advocates for Children that Might Impact Autism Prevention
1) Minimizing environmental toxicant exposures...
2) Maximizing breastfeeding prevalence...
3) Recommending probiotics...
4) Nutritional counseling...
5) Antibiotic stewardship...
6) Minimizing use of acetaminophen...

7) Allowing/implementing a modified vaccine schedule
Years of clinical experience and observation, emerging research, and thorough history taking from families with autistic children have helped shape our vaccine strategies at Advocates for Children. While these strategies differ from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines, our schedule complies with Commonwealth of Virginia requirements by kindergarten entrance.

We are concerned that epidemiology may be too blunt a tool to determine all risks for subsets of the population who may be more vulnerable to vaccine reactions due to their unique genetic predispositions and biochemistry. We are concerned about the emerging evidence about the association between autism and mitochondrial dysfunction, and what implications mitochondrial impairment might have for giving vaccines to genetically vulnerable or acutely ill children with increased oxidative stress.76-81

Clinical histories from our patients are considered in addition to research data. We consulted on a patient who developed seizures after a DPT vaccine, had to be airlifted to a major medical center, then regressed in language, social skills, and behavior and was diagnosed with autism. After visiting an estimated 30 specialists along the east coast, he eventually died during the night, presumably from an intractable seizure. The published accounts of a girl who experienced a devastating autistic 82 regression after receiving multiple vaccines at once and the developmentally precocious four year old child of a pediatrician who had evidence of immune dysregulation in retrospect prior to multiple vaccines on the same day followed by a regression into severe autism83 have triggered changes in our decision making processes when confronted with children who need to catch up on vaccines.

Based on the author’s best efforts at integrating the data in the medical literature with the histories of families, and trying to make informed judgments about the risks of vaccine preventable illness and benefits of immunization within the context of human imperfection, the following modified vaccine schedule was developed (Table 2). In addition, we only immunize when children are free of acute illness. As noted above, despite these modifications our schedule complies with Commonwealth of Virginia requirements for school entry.

More.

[proverbialwisdom]

21. K&R

[proverbialwisdom]

22. 3/17/15: Dr Paul Thomas claims...desire to publish data on 1,500... "unable to receive IRB approval"

http://www.ageofautism.com/2015/03/is-there-a-way-out-of-the-autism-epidemic.html

March 17, 2015
By J.B. Handley

Enter Dr. Paul Thomas, an outspoken pediatrician from Portland, OR...

I was struck by this recent blog post that mentioned Dr. Thomas and his practice:

“Dr. Paul Thomas, a Portland-based pediatrician... Based on an Autism rate of 1 in 68, 22 children in this group should have Autism. He claims there are zero cases of Autism... Shouldn’t Oregon investigate the veracity of his claim?”

<>

Dr. Thomas claims he has shared his desire to publish data on this 1,500 children population and has been unable to receive IRB approval.

<>

Mumper (published in peer reviewed journal): ZERO rather than 6
THOMAS ("unable to obtain IRB approval&quot : ZERO rather than 22

...developing.