Autism’s Causes and Biomarkers: An Interview with Helen Ratajczak, Ph.D.

[Guest guest]

" Perhaps more controversially, Dr. Ratajczak also proposes a novel

theory regarding the mechanism of action for a vaccine to cause

autism:

“The MMR II vaccine is contaminated with human DNA from the cell line

in which the rubella virus is grown. This human DNA could be the cause of

the spikes in incidence. An additional increased spike in incidence of

autism occurred in 1995 when the chicken pox vaccine was grown in human

fetal tissue (Merck and Co., Inc., 2001; Breuer, 2003). The current

incidence of autism in the United States, noted above, is approximately

1/100.

The human DNA from the vaccine can be randomly inserted into the

recipient’s genes by homologous recom- bination, a process that occurs

spontaneously only within a species. Hot spots for DNA insertion are

found on the X chromosome in eight autism-associated genes involved in

nerve cell synapse formation, central nervous system devel- opment, and

mitochondrial function (Deisher, 2010). This could provide some

explanation of why autism is predomi- nantly a disease of boys. Taken

together, these data support the hypothesis that residual human DNA in

some vaccines might cause autism.”

http://www.ageofautism.com/2011/05/autisms-causes-and-biomarkers-an-interview-with-helen-ratajczak-phd.html

By J.B. Handley

In the most recent issue of the Journal of Immunotoxicology, Helen

V. Ratajczak, PhD , had two separate reviews published. The first review,

Theoretical Aspects of-Autism Causes a Review tackles a seemingly

taboo topic in mainstream health: the many potential environmental causes

of autism. Dr. Ratajczak writes:

“Autism could result from more than one cause, with different

manifestations in different individuals that share common symptoms.

Documented causes of autism include genetic mutations and/or deletions,

viral infections, and encephalitis following vaccination. Therefore,

autism is the result of genetic defects and/or inflammation of the brain.

The inflammation could be caused by a defective placenta, immature

blood-brain barrier, the immune response of the mother to infection while

pregnant, a premature birth, encephalitis in the child after birth, or a

toxic environment.”

Perhaps more controversially, Dr. Ratajczak also proposes a novel theory

regarding the mechanism of action for a vaccine to cause autism:

“The MMR II vaccine is contaminated with human DNA from the cell line

in which the rubella virus is grown. This human DNA could be the cause of

the spikes in incidence. An additional increased spike in incidence of

autism occurred in 1995 when the chicken pox vaccine was grown in human

fetal tissue (Merck and Co., Inc., 2001; Breuer, 2003). The current

incidence of autism in the United States, noted above, is approximately

1/100.

The human DNA from the vaccine can be randomly inserted into the

recipient’s genes by homologous recom- bination, a process that occurs

spontaneously only within a species. Hot spots for DNA insertion are

found on the X chromosome in eight autism-associated genes involved in

nerve cell synapse formation, central nervous system devel- opment, and

mitochondrial function (Deisher, 2010). This could provide some

explanation of why autism is predomi- nantly a disease of boys. Taken

together, these data support the hypothesis that residual human DNA in

some vaccines might cause autism.”

Her conclusion is something I’m sure many parents wish more

researchers were willing to embrace:

“It is possible that autism results from more than one cause, with

different manifestations in different individuals that share common

symptoms. Integrating the data presented here, a hypothesis is that

autism is the result of genetic defects, with the contributory effect of

advancing age of the parents, and/or inflammation of the brain. The

inflammation could be caused by a defective placenta, an immature blood-

brain barrier, the immune response of the mother to a viral or bacterial

infection, a premature birth, encephalitis in the child after birth, or a

toxic environment. Also, intracellular pathogens could induce an immune

response, resulting in neuro-inflammation, autoimmune reactions, brain

injury, and autism.”

Dr. Ratajczak’s second paper is called

Theoretical aspects of autism: biomarkers­a review. Here, Dr.

Ratajczak seeks to summarize many of the previously established

biomarkers of autism present in the “gastrointestinal, immunologic,

neurologic, and toxicologic systems” of children with autism. She

writes:

“Covering the literature from 1943 to the present in the PubMed and

Ovid Medline databases, this review summarizes evidence of hormones,

metabo- lites, amino acids, and other biomarkers present in significantly

different quantities in autistic subjects compared to age- and

sex-matched controls. These differences can be measured in the

gastrointestinal, immunologic, neu- rologic, and toxicologic systems of

the body, with some biomarkers showing ubiquitous application. In

addition, there are unifying concepts, i.e., increased vulnerability to

oxidative stress, immune glutamatergic dysfunction, and pineal gland

malfunction. The variances of the biomarkers from the norm present the

opportunity to create biomarker arrays that when properly developed and

analyzed could result in an objective diagnosis with a ranking of the

severity of autism for each subject. The contribution of each biomarker

to the overall diagnosis could be calculated, thus providing a profile

pattern unique to the individual. This profile could consequently provide

information for therapeutic interventions on an individual

basis.”

As a parent, I’d like to express my gratitude for Dr. Ratajczak’s

work. A scientist who is willing to both stick her neck out and address

unpopular theories around causation while also seeking to move the debate

around biomarker diagnostics and treatment forward is a welcome scientist

indeed.

Below is an email interview that I conducted with Dr. Ratajczak, and one

I hope the AoA community will enjoy reading.

Q: Why did you become interested in looking into autism?

A: My first interest in autism was sparked when my grandson was diagnosed

as having autism 15 years ago. He is now 18 years old. There are many

similarities between autism and rheumatoid arthritis, which was my first

area of study for the masters of science degree. The PhD was a

study of respiratory syncytial virus vaccine. My scientific career was

largely involved with immunology and toxicology, which are both

intimately involved in autism. In effect, my current research is an

extension of my education and experience. It is very important I do

what I can to help my grandson and all others afflicted with this serious

disorder.

Q: The CDC and AAP do not acknowledge that the increase in prevalence of

autism is real, but rather continue to infer that it MAY be real, or it

may be the product of improved and shifting diagnosis. You seem to think

the evidence supports a real rise. Why can't scientists agree on this

simple yet critically important topic?

A: The CDC is reevaluating its position on different issues. There are a

lot of politics and money issues which interfere with presentation of the

truth as perceived by scientists and parents. The increase in incidence

and prevalence of autism in the USA is real, and is being replicated in

different countries throughout the world, based on epidemiology

studies.

Q: How would you characterize the reaction to your 2 papers? Was it what

you expected?

A: So far, most of the response is about different aspects of vaccines

presented in the paper about causes of autism. It is good that some

people are reading the two papers together, getting an overall view of

the magnitude of the problem, the size of the epidemic, and the

manifestations that these present. The costs are staggering. I hope to do

research to establish an objective measure of autism that can be used

therapeutically. The measure would be achieved by the quantitation of an

array of biomarkers in body fluids of subjects with autism and of

neurotypical, age- and sex-matched control individuals. A ranking of the

degree of autism can then be determined, and the contribution of each of

the biomarkers to the diagnosis. A physician could use the resultant

profile to treat each patient.

Q: Dr. Strom was critical of your work in a CBS News piece. He was

quoted as saying that " the prevailing medical opinion is that

vaccines are scientifically linked to encephalopathy (brain damage), but

not scientifically linked to autism. " Given your understanding of

autism, is Dr. Strom being dogmatic or playing with semantics?

A: Perhaps Dr. Strom is playing with semantics. There is great

encephalopathy in autism. They are not separate entities.

Q: You tackle the vaccine-autism connection in your Causes paper. Yet,

many assert that the vaccine-autism relationship has been " asked and

answered " and state that an overwhelming amount of science has

explored this issue and found no relationship. Do you agree?

A: I do not agree. The data show that when more vaccines were given, and

were given at earlier ages, the incidence and prevalence of autism

increased. There are many aspects of vaccines that cause autism.

Some components of vaccines are toxic, such as the mercury in thimerosal,

a preservative that is still present in some vaccines, the most pertinent

being influenza, which is given to pregnant women. The fetus is thus

exposed to mercury, a nerve toxin, when the brain is in its most

formative stages. In addition, the pertussis component of the DPT

vaccine integrates into the G proteins, which are regulatory proteins,

inhibiting their function. Furthermore, the heavy metal (Aluminum) in the

adjuvant(s) accompanying the vaccine(s) is toxic.

Q: What is your basis for suspecting human DNA within certain vaccines

might cause autism?

A: When thimerosal was removed from most childhood vaccines, there was

still a rise in incidence and prevalence of autism.

About the same time as the removal of thimerosal, some vaccines (such as

MMRII [measles, mumps, rubella], and, a little later, Varicella zoster

[both given to your son]) were made in human tissue. When a virus matures

and divides (grows), it has some of the DNA in it from the cells in which

it was grown. When the virus is incorporated into the vaccine, it

has human DNA in it, and this vaccine with the human DNA is injected into

another human. Because the new DNA is from the same species as the

recipient of the vaccine, homologous recombination of the DNA occurs. The

body of the recipient recognizes that self has been altered, and the

immune response kills the altered self (inflammation). Now the recipient

has an autoimmune response in his body, which continues throughout life.

It is critical that vaccines not be given to immunologically incompetent

or compromised individuals. It would be very helpful if the vaccine

schedule were delayed until the immune response of the child is more

mature.

Dr. Ratajczak wrote back to add the following: In " sleeping on "

our interview, I fell it important to tell you that although there is no

doubt that human DNA is in some vaccines (The information is available

not only through

http://www.cogforlife.org/, but

from Wikipedia and other sources.), to my knowledge there is no data

published in a peer-reviewed journal that documents homologous

recombination in the body of autistics. That part is theory.

The theory is based on facts, but, so far as I know, there is no direct

connection between homologous recombination of DNA and autism.You see, it

is logical that the homologous recombination would cause an autoimmune

condition. Many scientists consider autism to be an autoimmune

condition, like rheumatoid arthritis, for example.

This information is a more complete explanation of the importance of the

possibility that homologous recombination is a cause of autism.

Homologous recombination could explain the epidemic of autism.

Q: Dr. Strom goes on to say, " " This is a review of theories.

Science is based on facts. To draw conclusions on effects of an exposure

on people, you need data on people. The data on people do not support

that there is a relationship. As such, any speculation about an

explanation for a (non-existing) relationship is irrelevant. " Are

your papers irrelevant?

A: My two review articles about autism are very relevant. The manuscripts

are both based on facts, data presented in articles in peer-reviewed

journals, with each aberrance mentioned about autism being significantly

different from those of age- and sex-matched neurotypical controls. The

data support several relationships between adverse reactions to vaccines

and autism.

Q: As a father of a child with autism, I was deeply moved by your

biomarkers paper because it reminded me of how sick my son really is. Is

it fair to say that most children with autism are medically ill?

A: Yes, most children with autism have associated medical

conditions.

Q: Your “Causes” paper considers many different possible causes for

autism. Using the simple 80/20 rule of life, do you feel like you are in

a position to calibrate the likelihood that certain of these causes are

either more or less likely to impact children than others? Said

differently, how would you rank research priorities in getting to the

bottom of causation?

A: To rank causation, I would first measure biomarkers that are in

statistically different concentrations in autistic individuals than in

age- and sex-matched neurotypical control subjects. The different

concentrations of the biomarkers are the result of environmental insults

to genetically-prone individuals. In at least some cases the

biomarkers are specific for certain types of insults. Those environmental

insults are the causes of autism.

Q: If it was discovered that vaccines did indeed cause autism, how do you

think the pharmaceutical companies that make vaccines would handle this

news?

A: If the data clearly prove that vaccines cause autism, I think the wise

pharmaceutical companies would carefully study the data, design vaccines

that would be more safe, do safety tests on animal models prior to

clinical safety tests, and recommend appropriate schedules for

vaccination (wait for the child to become more immunologically mature

before giving vaccines, and withhold vaccines from any individual who is

sick or has a fever until he recovers).

Q: Many characterize autism as a mystery and a puzzle. Do you agree?

A: Autism is very complicated, but I do not think it is a mystery or a

puzzle. Many of the genetic predispositions, environmental insults,

metabolic pathways, immune dysfunction, etc. that contribute to autism

are well-known.

Q: The vaccine-autism connection continues to cause extreme fractures

within the autism community. If you could structure 2-3 studies to try to

put this debate to rest, what would they look like?

A: It would be helpful to use a non-human primate model of autism to

study different aspects of vaccines: the effect of the different

components of each vaccine (the antigen [such as bacterium or virus]

itself, the adjuvant, the route of administration); the effect of giving

multiple vaccines at the same time versus giving them individually with a

resting interval in between injections; the effect of combining live

virus vaccines (such as measles, mumps and rubella) or giving them in

close sequence time-wise; the timing of the injections with respect to

the age of the host; measuring the maturity of the immune system before

administering the vaccine; studying the sequelae of each vaccine over

time - in short, doing appropriate safety testing.

Q: How do you feel about the calls for a study of never-vaccinated

children?

A: The data show that the prevalence of autism in never-vaccinated

children is approximately 1-5/10,000, similar to that when autism was

first described in 1943 by Kanner. I do not think more study of this

aspect is needed. Vaccines provide protection against some devastating

diseases. However, as stated in the Hippocratic Oath, " it is

first important to do no harm " . The safety testing is critically

important prior to the use of vaccines clinically.

Q: Your summary of biomarkers left me feeling that we perhaps know more

about these kids than we thought. How does the scientific community take

this disparate knowledge to the next level and make it cohesive and

actionable?

A: My suggestion of the determination of an objective measure of autism

does just that. The array of biomarkers to be measured must be

comprehensive of the manifestations of autism. The result will be an

individual profile for each subject with autism that can be used

therapeutically. The proof of concept has been shown in two settings

already (1) increasing melatonin in patients with too low concentrations

and 2) increasing deficient components of the methionine pathway. In both

cases, the symptoms of autism improved when reconstitution of the

deficient biomarkers was made.

Again, my heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Ratajczak for her pioneering

work.

SEE all the comments there including:

"

“There is great encephalopathy in autism. They are not separate

entities.” – Dr. Ratajczak

“Why Autism, Alzheimer’s and Schizophrenia May Be... Epilepsy - At Its

Worse!!!”

http://www.autismhelpforyou.com/New%20-%20Epilepsy.htm

“Autism... Alzheimer’s... Schizophrenia - Comparison: Is all this “Just

Coincidence”?”

http://www.autismhelpforyou.com/Autism%20Alzheimer%27s%20Schizophrenia%20Compared.htm

"

Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian

Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Washington State, USA

Vaccines -

http://vaccinationdangers.wordpress.com/ Homeopathy

http://homeopathycures.wordpress.com

Vaccine Dangers, Childhood Disease Classes & Homeopathy

Online/email courses - next classes start April 22

[Guest guest]

" Perhaps more controversially, Dr. Ratajczak also proposes a novel

theory regarding the mechanism of action for a vaccine to cause

autism:

“The MMR II vaccine is contaminated with human DNA from the cell line

in which the rubella virus is grown. This human DNA could be the cause of

the spikes in incidence. An additional increased spike in incidence of

autism occurred in 1995 when the chicken pox vaccine was grown in human

fetal tissue (Merck and Co., Inc., 2001; Breuer, 2003). The current

incidence of autism in the United States, noted above, is approximately

1/100.

The human DNA from the vaccine can be randomly inserted into the

recipient’s genes by homologous recom- bination, a process that occurs

spontaneously only within a species. Hot spots for DNA insertion are

found on the X chromosome in eight autism-associated genes involved in

nerve cell synapse formation, central nervous system devel- opment, and

mitochondrial function (Deisher, 2010). This could provide some

explanation of why autism is predomi- nantly a disease of boys. Taken

together, these data support the hypothesis that residual human DNA in

some vaccines might cause autism.”

http://www.ageofautism.com/2011/05/autisms-causes-and-biomarkers-an-interview-with-helen-ratajczak-phd.html

By J.B. Handley

In the most recent issue of the Journal of Immunotoxicology, Helen

V. Ratajczak, PhD , had two separate reviews published. The first review,

Theoretical Aspects of-Autism Causes a Review tackles a seemingly

taboo topic in mainstream health: the many potential environmental causes

of autism. Dr. Ratajczak writes:

“Autism could result from more than one cause, with different

manifestations in different individuals that share common symptoms.

Documented causes of autism include genetic mutations and/or deletions,

viral infections, and encephalitis following vaccination. Therefore,

autism is the result of genetic defects and/or inflammation of the brain.

The inflammation could be caused by a defective placenta, immature

blood-brain barrier, the immune response of the mother to infection while

pregnant, a premature birth, encephalitis in the child after birth, or a

toxic environment.”

Perhaps more controversially, Dr. Ratajczak also proposes a novel theory

regarding the mechanism of action for a vaccine to cause autism:

“The MMR II vaccine is contaminated with human DNA from the cell line

in which the rubella virus is grown. This human DNA could be the cause of

the spikes in incidence. An additional increased spike in incidence of

autism occurred in 1995 when the chicken pox vaccine was grown in human

fetal tissue (Merck and Co., Inc., 2001; Breuer, 2003). The current

incidence of autism in the United States, noted above, is approximately

1/100.

The human DNA from the vaccine can be randomly inserted into the

recipient’s genes by homologous recom- bination, a process that occurs

spontaneously only within a species. Hot spots for DNA insertion are

found on the X chromosome in eight autism-associated genes involved in

nerve cell synapse formation, central nervous system devel- opment, and

mitochondrial function (Deisher, 2010). This could provide some

explanation of why autism is predomi- nantly a disease of boys. Taken

together, these data support the hypothesis that residual human DNA in

some vaccines might cause autism.”

Her conclusion is something I’m sure many parents wish more

researchers were willing to embrace:

“It is possible that autism results from more than one cause, with

different manifestations in different individuals that share common

symptoms. Integrating the data presented here, a hypothesis is that

autism is the result of genetic defects, with the contributory effect of

advancing age of the parents, and/or inflammation of the brain. The

inflammation could be caused by a defective placenta, an immature blood-

brain barrier, the immune response of the mother to a viral or bacterial

infection, a premature birth, encephalitis in the child after birth, or a

toxic environment. Also, intracellular pathogens could induce an immune

response, resulting in neuro-inflammation, autoimmune reactions, brain

injury, and autism.”

Dr. Ratajczak’s second paper is called

Theoretical aspects of autism: biomarkers­a review. Here, Dr.

Ratajczak seeks to summarize many of the previously established

biomarkers of autism present in the “gastrointestinal, immunologic,

neurologic, and toxicologic systems” of children with autism. She

writes:

“Covering the literature from 1943 to the present in the PubMed and

Ovid Medline databases, this review summarizes evidence of hormones,

metabo- lites, amino acids, and other biomarkers present in significantly

different quantities in autistic subjects compared to age- and

sex-matched controls. These differences can be measured in the

gastrointestinal, immunologic, neu- rologic, and toxicologic systems of

the body, with some biomarkers showing ubiquitous application. In

addition, there are unifying concepts, i.e., increased vulnerability to

oxidative stress, immune glutamatergic dysfunction, and pineal gland

malfunction. The variances of the biomarkers from the norm present the

opportunity to create biomarker arrays that when properly developed and

analyzed could result in an objective diagnosis with a ranking of the

severity of autism for each subject. The contribution of each biomarker

to the overall diagnosis could be calculated, thus providing a profile

pattern unique to the individual. This profile could consequently provide

information for therapeutic interventions on an individual

basis.”

As a parent, I’d like to express my gratitude for Dr. Ratajczak’s

work. A scientist who is willing to both stick her neck out and address

unpopular theories around causation while also seeking to move the debate

around biomarker diagnostics and treatment forward is a welcome scientist

indeed.

Below is an email interview that I conducted with Dr. Ratajczak, and one

I hope the AoA community will enjoy reading.

Q: Why did you become interested in looking into autism?

A: My first interest in autism was sparked when my grandson was diagnosed

as having autism 15 years ago. He is now 18 years old. There are many

similarities between autism and rheumatoid arthritis, which was my first

area of study for the masters of science degree. The PhD was a

study of respiratory syncytial virus vaccine. My scientific career was

largely involved with immunology and toxicology, which are both

intimately involved in autism. In effect, my current research is an

extension of my education and experience. It is very important I do

what I can to help my grandson and all others afflicted with this serious

disorder.

Q: The CDC and AAP do not acknowledge that the increase in prevalence of

autism is real, but rather continue to infer that it MAY be real, or it

may be the product of improved and shifting diagnosis. You seem to think

the evidence supports a real rise. Why can't scientists agree on this

simple yet critically important topic?

A: The CDC is reevaluating its position on different issues. There are a

lot of politics and money issues which interfere with presentation of the

truth as perceived by scientists and parents. The increase in incidence

and prevalence of autism in the USA is real, and is being replicated in

different countries throughout the world, based on epidemiology

studies.

Q: How would you characterize the reaction to your 2 papers? Was it what

you expected?

A: So far, most of the response is about different aspects of vaccines

presented in the paper about causes of autism. It is good that some

people are reading the two papers together, getting an overall view of

the magnitude of the problem, the size of the epidemic, and the

manifestations that these present. The costs are staggering. I hope to do

research to establish an objective measure of autism that can be used

therapeutically. The measure would be achieved by the quantitation of an

array of biomarkers in body fluids of subjects with autism and of

neurotypical, age- and sex-matched control individuals. A ranking of the

degree of autism can then be determined, and the contribution of each of

the biomarkers to the diagnosis. A physician could use the resultant

profile to treat each patient.

Q: Dr. Strom was critical of your work in a CBS News piece. He was

quoted as saying that " the prevailing medical opinion is that

vaccines are scientifically linked to encephalopathy (brain damage), but

not scientifically linked to autism. " Given your understanding of

autism, is Dr. Strom being dogmatic or playing with semantics?

A: Perhaps Dr. Strom is playing with semantics. There is great

encephalopathy in autism. They are not separate entities.

Q: You tackle the vaccine-autism connection in your Causes paper. Yet,

many assert that the vaccine-autism relationship has been " asked and

answered " and state that an overwhelming amount of science has

explored this issue and found no relationship. Do you agree?

A: I do not agree. The data show that when more vaccines were given, and

were given at earlier ages, the incidence and prevalence of autism

increased. There are many aspects of vaccines that cause autism.

Some components of vaccines are toxic, such as the mercury in thimerosal,

a preservative that is still present in some vaccines, the most pertinent

being influenza, which is given to pregnant women. The fetus is thus

exposed to mercury, a nerve toxin, when the brain is in its most

formative stages. In addition, the pertussis component of the DPT

vaccine integrates into the G proteins, which are regulatory proteins,

inhibiting their function. Furthermore, the heavy metal (Aluminum) in the

adjuvant(s) accompanying the vaccine(s) is toxic.

Q: What is your basis for suspecting human DNA within certain vaccines

might cause autism?

A: When thimerosal was removed from most childhood vaccines, there was

still a rise in incidence and prevalence of autism.

About the same time as the removal of thimerosal, some vaccines (such as

MMRII [measles, mumps, rubella], and, a little later, Varicella zoster

[both given to your son]) were made in human tissue. When a virus matures

and divides (grows), it has some of the DNA in it from the cells in which

it was grown. When the virus is incorporated into the vaccine, it

has human DNA in it, and this vaccine with the human DNA is injected into

another human. Because the new DNA is from the same species as the

recipient of the vaccine, homologous recombination of the DNA occurs. The

body of the recipient recognizes that self has been altered, and the

immune response kills the altered self (inflammation). Now the recipient

has an autoimmune response in his body, which continues throughout life.

It is critical that vaccines not be given to immunologically incompetent

or compromised individuals. It would be very helpful if the vaccine

schedule were delayed until the immune response of the child is more

mature.

Dr. Ratajczak wrote back to add the following: In " sleeping on "

our interview, I fell it important to tell you that although there is no

doubt that human DNA is in some vaccines (The information is available

not only through

http://www.cogforlife.org/, but

from Wikipedia and other sources.), to my knowledge there is no data

published in a peer-reviewed journal that documents homologous

recombination in the body of autistics. That part is theory.

The theory is based on facts, but, so far as I know, there is no direct

connection between homologous recombination of DNA and autism.You see, it

is logical that the homologous recombination would cause an autoimmune

condition. Many scientists consider autism to be an autoimmune

condition, like rheumatoid arthritis, for example.

This information is a more complete explanation of the importance of the

possibility that homologous recombination is a cause of autism.

Homologous recombination could explain the epidemic of autism.

Q: Dr. Strom goes on to say, " " This is a review of theories.

Science is based on facts. To draw conclusions on effects of an exposure

on people, you need data on people. The data on people do not support

that there is a relationship. As such, any speculation about an

explanation for a (non-existing) relationship is irrelevant. " Are

your papers irrelevant?

A: My two review articles about autism are very relevant. The manuscripts

are both based on facts, data presented in articles in peer-reviewed

journals, with each aberrance mentioned about autism being significantly

different from those of age- and sex-matched neurotypical controls. The

data support several relationships between adverse reactions to vaccines

and autism.

Q: As a father of a child with autism, I was deeply moved by your

biomarkers paper because it reminded me of how sick my son really is. Is

it fair to say that most children with autism are medically ill?

A: Yes, most children with autism have associated medical

conditions.

Q: Your “Causes” paper considers many different possible causes for

autism. Using the simple 80/20 rule of life, do you feel like you are in

a position to calibrate the likelihood that certain of these causes are

either more or less likely to impact children than others? Said

differently, how would you rank research priorities in getting to the

bottom of causation?

A: To rank causation, I would first measure biomarkers that are in

statistically different concentrations in autistic individuals than in

age- and sex-matched neurotypical control subjects. The different

concentrations of the biomarkers are the result of environmental insults

to genetically-prone individuals. In at least some cases the

biomarkers are specific for certain types of insults. Those environmental

insults are the causes of autism.

Q: If it was discovered that vaccines did indeed cause autism, how do you

think the pharmaceutical companies that make vaccines would handle this

news?

A: If the data clearly prove that vaccines cause autism, I think the wise

pharmaceutical companies would carefully study the data, design vaccines

that would be more safe, do safety tests on animal models prior to

clinical safety tests, and recommend appropriate schedules for

vaccination (wait for the child to become more immunologically mature

before giving vaccines, and withhold vaccines from any individual who is

sick or has a fever until he recovers).

Q: Many characterize autism as a mystery and a puzzle. Do you agree?

A: Autism is very complicated, but I do not think it is a mystery or a

puzzle. Many of the genetic predispositions, environmental insults,

metabolic pathways, immune dysfunction, etc. that contribute to autism

are well-known.

Q: The vaccine-autism connection continues to cause extreme fractures

within the autism community. If you could structure 2-3 studies to try to

put this debate to rest, what would they look like?

A: It would be helpful to use a non-human primate model of autism to

study different aspects of vaccines: the effect of the different

components of each vaccine (the antigen [such as bacterium or virus]

itself, the adjuvant, the route of administration); the effect of giving

multiple vaccines at the same time versus giving them individually with a

resting interval in between injections; the effect of combining live

virus vaccines (such as measles, mumps and rubella) or giving them in

close sequence time-wise; the timing of the injections with respect to

the age of the host; measuring the maturity of the immune system before

administering the vaccine; studying the sequelae of each vaccine over

time - in short, doing appropriate safety testing.

Q: How do you feel about the calls for a study of never-vaccinated

children?

A: The data show that the prevalence of autism in never-vaccinated

children is approximately 1-5/10,000, similar to that when autism was

first described in 1943 by Kanner. I do not think more study of this

aspect is needed. Vaccines provide protection against some devastating

diseases. However, as stated in the Hippocratic Oath, " it is

first important to do no harm " . The safety testing is critically

important prior to the use of vaccines clinically.

Q: Your summary of biomarkers left me feeling that we perhaps know more

about these kids than we thought. How does the scientific community take

this disparate knowledge to the next level and make it cohesive and

actionable?

A: My suggestion of the determination of an objective measure of autism

does just that. The array of biomarkers to be measured must be

comprehensive of the manifestations of autism. The result will be an

individual profile for each subject with autism that can be used

therapeutically. The proof of concept has been shown in two settings

already (1) increasing melatonin in patients with too low concentrations

and 2) increasing deficient components of the methionine pathway. In both

cases, the symptoms of autism improved when reconstitution of the

deficient biomarkers was made.

Again, my heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Ratajczak for her pioneering

work.

SEE all the comments there including:

"

“There is great encephalopathy in autism. They are not separate

entities.” – Dr. Ratajczak

“Why Autism, Alzheimer’s and Schizophrenia May Be... Epilepsy - At Its

Worse!!!”

http://www.autismhelpforyou.com/New%20-%20Epilepsy.htm

“Autism... Alzheimer’s... Schizophrenia - Comparison: Is all this “Just

Coincidence”?”

http://www.autismhelpforyou.com/Autism%20Alzheimer%27s%20Schizophrenia%20Compared.htm

"

Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian

Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Washington State, USA

Vaccines -

http://vaccinationdangers.wordpress.com/ Homeopathy

http://homeopathycures.wordpress.com

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