Vaccine/autism article excerpts

[Guest guest]

The full link to this article is

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/the-next-big-autism-bomb_b_93627.html

It is well worth reading the whole thing along with the comments at

the bottom but below are some excerpts:

The Next Big Autism Bomb: Are 1 in 50 Kids Potentially At Risk?

Posted March 26, 2008 | 09:30 PM (EST) by Kirby

On Tuesday, March 11, a conference call was held between vaccine

safety officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, several leading experts in vaccine safety research, and

executives from America's Health Insurance Plans, (the HMO trade

association) to discuss childhood mitochondrial dysfunction and its

potential link to autism and vaccines.

It was a sobering event for all concerned, and it could soon become

known as the Conference Call heard 'round the world.

The teleconference was scheduled by a little known CDC agency called

the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment (CISA) Network, a

consortium of six research centers working on

" immunization-associated health risks, " in conjunction with the CDC's

Immunization Safety Office and the health insurance lobby -- whose

companies cover some 200 million Americans.

The hot topic of the day was mitochondria - the little powerhouses

within each cell that convert food and oxygen into energy for use by

the body. Recent news events have implicated mitochondria in at least

one case of regressive autism, following normal development.

Some researchers on the call reported that mitochondrial dysfunction

is probably much more common than the current estimate of 1-in-4,000

people. The potential implications for autism, then, are staggering.

" We need to find out if there is credible evidence, theoretically, to

support the idea that childhood mitochondrial dysfunction might

regress into autism, " one of the callers reportedly told

participants.

.. . .One person on the call (those interviewed for this article asked

to remain anonymous) told me that, " the CDC people were informed, in

no uncertain terms, that they need to look into this issue

immediately, and do something about it. " The clock is ticking, they

were told, and if they don't respond, the information will be made

public.

Still, the doctor said, he was enormously impressed by the

" seriousness " with which CDC officials treated the possibility of a

link between mitochondria, autism and possibly vaccines as well.

In the recent landmark Hannah Poling case, filed in Federal " Vaccine

Court, " officials conceded that Hannah's underlying mitochondrial

dysfunction was aggravated by her vaccines, leading to fever and an

" immune stimulation that exceeded metabolic reserves. "

.. . .Since then, however, Dr. Gerberding and other CDC officials were

made aware of a Portuguese study, published last October, which

reported that 7.2% of children with autism had confirmed

mitochondrial disorders. The authors also noted that, " a diversity of

associated medical conditions was documented in 20%, with an

unexpectedly high rate of mitochondrial respiratory chain disorders. "

" Apparently, the Portuguese study really got their attention, " one of

the participants said.

... . . . .Another surprise came when one researcher announced an

" inheritance pattern " that linked each case through the genetics of

the father: In families where two cousins had autism, the genetic

link was always through the father.

This unexpected discovery would clearly implicate nuclear DNA

inheritance, and not mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited only

through the mother.

Gerberding and others had previously insisted that Hannah and her

mother, Teri Poling, both had the same single point mutation in their

mitochondrial DNA. CDC officials asserted that Hannah had a

pre-existing disease, a rare genetic glitch in her mitochondria, that

may well have manifested as " features of autism " on its own, perhaps

even without an environmental trigger.

" It's not in the mitochondrial DNA, and it's not rare, " one

participant confirmed. In fact, he said, many people probably carry

the nuclear DNA mutation that confers susceptibility to mitochondrial

dysfunction, they just don't know it.

1-in-50 GENETIC RISK?

On the call, speculation on the prevalence of a genetic mutation that

could confer mild mitochondrial dysfunction in the general population

ranged from about 1-in-400, to a staggering 1-in-50, or 2% of all

Americans.

There was talk about the urgent need to do mapping studies, and find

the locus of this gene.

.. . . .But not everyone agrees that mitochondrial dysfunction is a

purely inherited affair. Some researchers believe that, while a

susceptibility gene for mitochondrial problems certainly exists, some

type of environmental trigger, or " adversity, " as one doctor put it,

is needed to turn the mutation into a dysfunction.

The medical literature is replete with studies on mitochondrial

health and the adverse impact of mercury, aluminum and other toxins.

Even AIDS drugs like AZT and prenatal alcohol consumption can damage

mitochondria and impact cellular energy.

The mercury-containing vaccine preservative, thimerosal, for example,

" can definitely kill cells in vitro through the mitochondria, " one

teleconference participant told me. " And some people are beginning to

suspect that the dose of hepatitis B vaccine given at birth might be

interfering with proper mitochondrial function in certain children. "

.. . . . .One theory currently in circulation about what happened to

Hannah and other children like her, is an apparent " triple domino

effect. " According to this hypothesis, it takes three steps and two

triggers to get to some types of autism, and it goes like this:

STEP ONE: Child is conceived and born healthy, but with an underlying

nuclear DNA genetic susceptibility to mitochondrial dysfunction,

inherited from dad.

TRIGGER ONE: An early environmental " adversity " occurs in the womb or

during the neonatal period, perhaps caused by prenatal exposure to

heavy metals, pollutants, pesticides and medicines. Or, it occurs in

early infancy, through environmental toxins, thimerosal exposure, or

even the Hepatitis B vaccine " birth dose. " This trigger results in:

STEP TWO: Child develops mild, usually asymptomatic mitochondrial

dysfunction (though I wonder if the ear infections and eczema so

common in these cases might also be symptoms of mito problems).

TRIGGER TWO: Child, now with an underlying mitochondrial dysfunction,

suffers over-stimulation of the immune system beyond the capacity of

his or her metabolic reserves. This stress is either via a viral

febrile infection, or from multiple vaccinations, as in the Poling

case. This trigger results in:

STEP THREE: Acute illness, seizures, encephalopathy, developmental

regression, autism.

Such a scenario might help explain why autism has increased right

along with the addition of more vaccines to the national schedule.

And it might help explain why autism rates are not plummeting now

that thimerosal levels have been significantly reduced in most

childhood vaccines.

It's possible that exposures from the flu shot, and residual mercury

left over in other vaccines -- perhaps in synergistic effect with

aluminum used as an " adjuvant " to boost the immune response - might

" contribute to the toxic mix that causes childhood mitochondrial

dysfunction in the first place, " one of the doctors said.

But like many hypotheses, this one has competition. Some researchers

believe that the modern American diet is largely to blame for an

increase in the number of children whose underlying mitochondrial

dysfunction is " triggered " into autism by febrile infections.

.. . .It remains to be seen how all this plays out. And many important

questions still lie ahead.

For example, if mitochondrial dysfunction turns out to be as common

as 200-per-10,000, and autism is now at 66 per 10,000, did anything

bad happen to any of the other 134-per-10,000 children, apart from

autism (i.e., ADD, ADHD, speech delay, etc.)?

Moreover, if 10-20% of autism cases can actually be traced to an

underlying mitochondrial dysfunction, then what about the majority of

autism cases where this did not come into play?

And, if 20% of autism cases are mito related, and 6% of those cases

regressed because of vaccines, that would mean that at least 1% of

all autism cases were vaccine related. Some estimates of autism go as

high as a million Americans - that would mean 10,000 people with

vaccine-triggered autism, and billions of dollars in the cost of

lifetime care.

(While we are on the subject, isn't it time to fund a study of

vaccinated and unvaccinated children, to settle this debate once and

for all?) (end article)

________________

From the comments section at the end of the article: " we now know

the mechanisim that caused the depletion of our childs glutathion. it

was as we thought. " Vaccinations they contain at least four

neuro-toxins: mercury, formaldehyde,

MSG and aluminum hydroxide.All of which can and have

caused mitochondrial disorders

" Metal toxicity " creates multisystem dysfunction,

which appears to be mediated primarily through

mitochondrial damage from glutathione depletion. "

Another: " Perhaps also consider what this means to the Epilepsy

community. There are direct links that mitochondrial disorders are an

issue with seizure disorders too. Lets not limit the damage to just

one community.

Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress: cause and consequence

of epileptic seizures. Patel M. . . .PMID: 15544915 "

Priscilla Kendrick, married 29 years to Darrel and parents of 9 kids including

Evan, 11, born with Down Syndrome and Spina Bifida

" My strength is made perfect in weakness. "

" My grace is sufficient. " II Corinthians 12:9 KJV

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

No Cost - Get a month of Blockbuster Total Access now. Sweet deal for Yahoo!

users and friends.

http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text1.com