Autism: "A whole body condition"

[lumberjack_jeff]

This person sums up what I've thought about autism for some time.

http://www.autism-society.org/site/News2?JServSessionIdr004=gs61dlxeb1.app23a&page=NewsArticle&id=8775&news_iv_ctrl=-1

Providence, RI -- Addressing hundreds of parents, individuals and professionals in the autism community at the ASA National Conference today, ASA’s keynote speaker Martha Herbert, M.D., Ph.D., discussed the new paradigm in autism research that could ultimately open up options for treatment and improve the quality of life for individuals with autism. This new paradigm recommends that researchers shift from the current thinking of autism research as a genetically determined brain disorder to a genetically influenced, environmentally triggered disorder that affects the brain.

The question to consider, remarked Herbert, is whether autism is dictated by genes or tipped off by the environment into a genetic systems change in an individual. The increased incidence of chemicals in newborn cord blood, the evidence of postnatal regression in children with autism, along with groundbreaking studies into the development of the brains of individuals with autism indicate more research should look into the affects of environmental factors on autism.

Herbert recommended that researchers look in detail at the mechanisms that occur from the gene to the brain to come up with treatment targets. “We are not 100 percent sure of any of this, but enough arrows are pointing in the same direction that we should consider a role for environmental factors,” said Herbert. “We should thus research not just on cause, but also the effects of autism on the body and resulting treatment.”
<snip>

"An environmental role for Autism"? Perhaps 'ol Bobby Kennedy Jr isn't so crazy.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/07/01/autism_mercury_and_politics/?p1=MEWell_Pos3

[whistle]

1. Such as the use of mercury in infant vaccines

[Ian David]

4. The Japanese debunked that myth and paid dearly for it. n/t

[Dora]

8. What do you mean?

I'm only curious. In my observations of the debate on this issue, I haven't yet seen anything about the Japanese. What did they pay dearly for?

[Ian David]

11. Must I be your Google-slave? Fine, I'll get you started...

Japan banned the MMR vaccine, and the rate of Autism still kept increasing.

Meanwhile, once the vaccine was banned, thousands of children died from not being vaccinated.

A handful of moonbats doing shoddy science prompted a wave of mass-hysteria over vaccinations, and because of their "caution," thousands of lives were lost.

Well, now we know for sure: Vaccinations do not cause Autism in the broad population. Maybe a handful of sensitive individuals might be effected, but it is far outweighed by the cost of not vaccinating.

Thousands of dead children in Japan stand in mute testament.

This is a general message directed at anti-vaccination nuts, and not to any particular individual: Shut the fuck up and vaccinate your goddamn virus-infested children before they contaminate MINE!

See:

MMR Vaccine Does Not Cause Autism, Researchers Find

A hypothesized connection between the MMR (measles mumps rubella) vaccine routinely given to young children in many parts of the world and the onset of autism has been debunked by a study of more than 30,000 children in Japan, according to press reports.

The study was conducted in the city of Yokohama by Dr. Hideo Honda of the Yokohama Rehabilitation Center and colleagues Dr. Yasuo Shimizu and Dr. Michael Rutter of the Institute of Psychiatry in London and is reported in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

<snip>

Connection Disproven

The new study led by Dr. Honda reportedly shows that occurrences of autism continued to rise among children in the city of Yokohama after the MMR vaccine was replaced with single vaccines. Japan had discontinued use of the triple vaccine in 1993 due to reports that the mumps component was causing meningitis.

<snip>

The team discovered that the rate of autism, which has been increasing in recent years, continued to increase among the children in the study group even after the MMR vaccine was withdrawn from use. This observation was true for autism generally and also for the specific type of autism that Dr. Wakefield had observed in his study, which was characterized by normal development followed by sudden regression.

More:
http://health.dailynewscentral.com/content/view/455/0



See also:


Autism rises despite MMR ban in Japan
* 10:35 03 March 2005
* Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition. Subscribe and get 4 free issues.
* Andy Coghlan


<snip>

With his colleagues Yasuo Shimizu and Michael Rutter of the Institute of Psychiatry in London, UK, Honda looked at the records of 31,426 children born in one district of Yokohama between 1988 and 1996. The team counted children diagnosed as autistic by the age of 7.

They found the cases continued to multiply after the vaccine withdrawal, ranging from 48 to 86 cases per 10,000 children before withdrawal to 97 to 161 per 10,000 afterwards. The same pattern was seen with a particular form of autism in which children appear to develop normally and then suddenly regress - the form linked to MMR by Wakefield.

The study cannot rule out the possibility that MMR triggers autism in a tiny number of children, as some claim, but it does show there is no large-scale effect. The vaccine "cannot have caused autism in the many children with autism spectrum disorders in Japan who were born and grew up in the era when MMR was not available", Honda concludes.

So if the vaccine is not responsible for the rising rates of autism, what is? "Clearly some environmental factors are causing the increases," says Irva Hertz-Picciotto of the University of California at Davis, US. Other experts disagree, saying the apparent rise could be the result of changing diagnostic criteria and the rising profile of the disorder (New Scientist print edition, 17 February 2001).

Journal reference: Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (DOI: 10.1111.j.1469-7610.2005.01425.x)

More:
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7076

[bloom]

13. That wouldn't be anything like a controlled study

Since a lot of mercury contaminated fish is eaten in Japan. And mercury could be on the rise in fish.


So while the MMR may or may not have an impact - that Japanese study will not tell us much.


"This new paradigm recommends that researchers shift from the current thinking of autism research as a genetically determined brain disorder to a genetically influenced, environmentally triggered disorder that affects the brain."


There could be a variety of triggers. Mercury from various sources. As well as too many vaccines all at once that overwhelm immune systems (of people with a certain genetic makeup).

[Dora]

17. You don't have to be such a crankypants about it.

You posted a reference to a facet of the debate that I'm not familiar with. I simply asked for more information. You could respond, or not respond: you responded, but with unmerited resentment.

In the future, please don't bother. You just poisoned an opportunity to educate someone into a a very bad impression.

Oh, and a simple summary or link would suffice. I don't need a lecture.

signed -
Mother of One Very Well Vaccinated Baby

[Ian David]

20. I was exaggerating my crankiness for (what I thought) was humorous effect

I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings.

[Dora]

22. Next time, use an emoticon.

For example, :)

Leaves less room for emotional ambiguity that way.

[Ian David]

25. Fine, I will be your emoticon slave

:P

[earth mom]

21. Your post holds absolutely NO water.

There is mercury in fish, dental amalgams, water, the air. There are many ways infants can be mercury poisoned. One of those ways is by being given vaccines at 1 year of age that are laced with thimerosal which is a mercury laden preservative. But then you know all that. :eyes:

Just for the record, parents of children with Autism are NOT saying to not vaccinate. What they are saying is to remove the thimerosal and vaccinate at a later age.

When parents of children with Autism found out that the way children are vaccinated changed in the mid to late 80s and that's when the sharp upswing in Autism cases emerged, it wasn't hard for these parents to put 2 and 2 together. It was only natural for them to come out swinging and sound the alarm.

However, the greedy pharma giants who ARE responsible haven't taken any responsibility, but rather have gone on the attack and obfuscated the issue to such a degree with crap data which only benefits them. That's why it's an uphill battle to prove the truth, but it WILL be proven.

But you know something? Parents of children with Autism have had to persevere through a hell you can't even imagine. Fighting the fucking pharma giants is nothing in comparison! :mad:

[mzteris]

7. how does that get into infant cord blood? n/t

[Warpy]

2. He needed to look at pesticides and industrial chemicals

not the vaccines that save lives.

He needed to look at the mountain of research that debunked any connection with vaccines.

He needed to consider that Big Pill isn't responsible for all the ills in the world, but that Big Industry might be.

The bottom line to this article is that it is a GENETIC disease which MAY OR MAY NOT have an environmental component. Either the genetic load causes a newborn to take up damaging chemicals both in utero and after birth, or it acts alone. We do know the possibility of developing autism can now be indicated in cord blood samples. That means it predates any immunizations.

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. Vaccines still save lives...

... even without thimerosal.

One in 166 children is born with autism, and it is increasingly apparent that a major reason why is because they were poisoned.

Mercury is also passed to fetuses by the mother - some of which is through vaccines like the flu vaccine.

[Warpy]

10. Uh, that's been debunked, too

However, mercury from coal burning power plants is very toxic, as is the mercury from agricultural runoff found in large fish at the top of the food chain.

Mercury zealots really need to look closely at the rest of the chemical soup. They've been debunked at every turn over thimerosol.

[lumberjack_jeff]

18. Mercury is mercury.

I agree that "the chemical soup" needs to be looked at in a holistic way, which is precisely what the vaccine cheerleaders refuse to do.

[Warpy]

23. Sorry, but that is incorrect

Some forms are quite a bit more toxic than others, and some concentrations are an acceptable risk, especially of the less toxic forms.

Please get educated. And don't call me a cheerleader. Vaccines save lives.

That is a fact.

[fasttense]

3. So I guess we can stop blaming uncaring mothers for this

condition?

[whistle]

6. Not totally, afterall mothers are outer environment to infants and

...fetuses, this approach suggests that all barriers to investigate the root cause(s) are now open.

[Bridget Burke]

9. So--the mother is "guilty" because she is part of the environment?

You're answering a post that refers to a long-debunked theory about autism. That is--the child's condition was caused by an unfeeling, cold mother. As I said--this idea was abandoned long ago.

[whistle]

27. No I'm not suggesting that at all, but what I believe the research

...is suggesting is that environmental factors (i.e. environmental toxins, drugs, accidental ingestion of heavy metals, work environment exposure to dangerous substances) while the mother carries the fetus might be a potential cause. Also, after the child is born and in early infancy, again unknown toxins in the environment or situations where the infant is unintentionally exposed to hazards could bring on such a condition (i.e. vaccines or medications) This does not infer that the mother is at fault at all, only that nobody knows for certain what causes autism. So, that is why further research is needed and research specifically into environmental causes, environment meaning anything outside of the child.

[hunter]

12. Oppressing women by blaming mom: It goes way back...

... and it's still prevalent.

My own mom was blamed by various supposedly "professional" anti-scientific shit-for-brains misogynists for both my asthma and my mental health issues, when it's entirely obvious both problems were genetic and aggravated by environmental conditions far beyond my parents' control.

[seabeyond]

14. this has been a huge duh over the years watching the children, my son

geeeeeez

[hedgehog]

15. The above threads aren't blaming the mothers

Just noting that the mothers were exposed to chemicals in the environment and therefore so were their unborn children.

The information on the CDC Web site indicates that thimerosal is on the way out for all vaccines. In addition, flu is a greater hazard to the unborn than the immunization.
From the CDC Web site:

Updated: September 14, 2004
Is it safe for pregnant women to receive an influenza vaccine that contains thimerosal?
Yes. A study of influenza vaccination examining over 2,000 pregnant women demonstrated no adverse fetal effects associated with influenza vaccine. Case reports and limited studies indicate that pregnancy can increase the risk for serious medical complications of influenza. One study found that out of every 10,000 women in their third trimester of pregnancy during an average flu season, 25 will be hospitalized for flu related complications.

Additionally, influenza-associated excess deaths among pregnant women have been documented during influenza pandemics. Because pregnant women are at increased risk for influenza-related complications and because a substantial safety margin has been incorporated into the health guidance values for organic mercury exposure, the benefits of influenza vaccine with reduced or standard thimerosal content outweighs the theoretical risk, if any, of thimerosal.

[Igel]

16. First, find the genes.

Distinguishing between genetics and development has been a bear. This is a call for identifying the distinction; it's a reasonable one. But I'm not sure they've found the genes. So tracing it from "genes to brain" is a worthy goal, but still premature in most cases.

BTW, "environmental" means far more than "toxins in the environment".

[lumberjack_jeff]

19. One of the conclusions that puzzles me...

is how researchers defend a genetic hypothesis on environmental correlation.

e.g. "We find that there is a big concentration of autism in areas such as Silicon Valley and Seattle. This proves a genetic cause because we all know that mostly geeks live in Silicon Valley and Seattle." :shrug:

Except for the fact that there's a lot of money and credibility at stake, I can't explain the resistance to identifying the environmental triggers. If the goal is prevention, effort is better spent there.

[Igel]

26. The 'geek effect'

is likely true.

You find that identical twin studies show a strong genetic effect, even if the kids were separated at birth. And you find that being the non-identical twin of a kid with autism has some predictive power. So it's genetic. Just finding the genes ... that's a problem, since it's clearly not just one.

The big concentrations occur not just in a geographic area; you divvy up the population right for an area, and you find groups with average autism rates. You find groups with very high autism rates, typically the kids of, well, geeks. Those gifted in some area involving abstract reasoning or patterns, spotting order or imposing order.

There's no resistance to finding environmental triggers; the problem is that enough of the claimed triggers have been debunked that the others are questionable. It also doesn't help that autism is likely to be present by birth; autistic behavior is clearly there by 6 months. This has pushed the question: If it's present early, is it really genetic? And the answer is clearly, Yes; but the answer is also very recent. Now that they know when to look, perhaps they can identify the environmental triggers. But they may not be to our liking.

[lumberjack_jeff]

28. From personal experience

I can attest that autistic behavior does not always show up so early. The first time my son did anything that in retrospect was a indicator of autism happened when he was 2.

We can debate the extent to which genetics and environment play their roles, but it's fairly clear that they both do.

Being of nordic descent makes a person vulnerable to skin cancer. Knowing this doesn't really help - avoiding/mitigating the environmental trigger does.

[lumberjack_jeff]

29. From personal experience

I can attest that autistic behavior does not always show up so early. The first time my son did anything that in retrospect was a indicator of autism happened when he was 2.

We can debate the extent to which genetics and environment play their roles, but it's fairly clear that they both do.

Being of nordic descent makes a person vulnerable to skin cancer. Knowing this doesn't really help - avoiding/mitigating the environmental trigger does.

[KT2000]

24. Genetics loads the gun

environment pulls the trigger.

In 1990, Congress declared the 90s the Decade of the Brain because they had been warned by the Office of Technology Assessment that we were headed for trouble with all the inadequately tested chemicals in the environment. They had put together how some of the chemicals affect brain function and the actual formation of the brain in fetuses.
Reagan axed the Office of Technology Assessment.

Currently the Bush admin is starting to shutter completed chemical research by closing the EPA libraries - even from EPA scientists.

check out some of the research that has already been published in Environmental Health Perspectives at: http://www.ehponline.org Use the search function to view a wealth of information.

Much more is known than is reflected in public policy.