Time Magazine Article

[Guest guest]

Time Magazine Article

In this week's TIME Magazine, the following article regard the vaccination

issue:

Thursday, Nov. 14, 2002

Do Vaccines Cause Autism?

Many parents believe they do. But a large Danish study, the most rigorous so

far, found no link

By CHRISTINE GORMAN

Any rite of passage that involves jabbing needles into small children is bound

to worry more than a few parents. But that doesn't begin to explain why so many

moms and dads are convinced — despite mounting scientific evidence to the

contrary — that the triple vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)

causes autism in some youngsters. The latest study exonerating the MMR vaccine

comes from Denmark, where investigators looked at the health records of every

child born from 1991 through '98, more than 537,000 children. No matter how

researchers analyzed the data, there was no difference in the autism rates of

children who received the MMR vaccine and those who did not.The Danish findings,

which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine last week, are

persuasive for several reasons. Denmark's socialized medical system has

generated one of the most complete health records of any country. So the

investigators were able to document accurately both sides of the equation: those

who were (or were not) vaccinated and those who developed autism. Even when

other factors, such as age at vaccination, were taken into account, there was no

difference in autism rates between vaccinated and unvaccinated children. There

was no clustering of autism diagnoses in the weeks and months after vaccination.

There was no difference in the number of diagnoses of other developmental

disorders related to autism in the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups.Other

epidemiological studies over the past four years have come to similar

conclusions, but none has been so large and so complete as the Danish study.

Indeed, the accumulated evidence is strong enough to convince even onetime

proponents of the MMR-autism link, like Dr. Jeff Bradstreet, director of the

International Child Development Resource Center in Palm Bay, Fla. " MMR does not

appear to cause autism, " Bradstreet concedes. " If it did, it would be a godsend

because we could change the vaccine and that would be it. " Still, he suspects

that the MMR vaccine might worsen a pre-existing autistic condition.The evidence

for even that tenuous link is hotly debated. " If MMR made autism worse, then we

would expect to see different rates [between vaccinated and unvaccinated

children] in cases of both autism and related disorders, " says Dr. Kreesten

Madsen, the epidemiologist who led the Danish study. But that difference did not

show up.More and more, it seems as though the focus on the MMR vaccine has been

a colossal distraction in autism research — and in parental concern. Just as a

few eyewitness reports made in good faith led police to focus on a white van in

the search for the Beltway snipers and overlook the blue Caprice, the

controversy over MMR may have prompted parents of autistic children to focus too

intently on vaccination. The latest research suggests that the disorder begins

in the womb — long before any vaccines are given. There is also intriguing

evidence of abnormalities in the immune system. But there is no evidence that

the MMR vaccine causes autism.For more on autism, visit www.

nimh.nih.gov/publicat, or send e-mail to gorman@...

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A member of our group has pulled a reply to the printing of this article that

was posted on behalf of Dr. Bradstreet who was quoted in the article. I share

that with you.

In a message dated 11/15/2002 4:42:22 PM Eastern Standard Time, Lake260

writes:

>

> Why did you slant what Dr. Bradstreet had to say about the MMR and autism.

> You do everyone a big disservice by editing what people say to fit the way

> you want story to read.

>

> This is what Dr. Bradstreet had to say about your story: I believe you

> should issue a correction to the story:

>

> In the current edition of Time, in an article " Do Vaccines Cause

> Autism? by Gorman

>

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101021118-388948,00.html,

>

the magazine quotes Dr. Jeff Bradstreet, a leading Florida clinician

> treating children with autism as denying a MMR vaccine and autism link.

> The

> magazine covers the controversial 'Danish Study' in the New England

Journal

> of Medicine, November 7, 2002 publication regarding MMR and Autism that

> claims there is no connection. Here is the passage with the quote:

>

> . . . The accumulated evidence is strong enough to convince

> even onetime proponents of the MMR-autism link, like

> Dr. Jeff Bradstreet, director of the International Child

> Development Resource Center in Palm Bay, Fla. " MMR does not

> appear to cause autism, " Bradstreet concedes. " If it did,

> it would be a godsend because we could change the vaccine

> and that would be it. " Still, he suspects that the MMR

> vaccine might worsen a preexisting autistic condition.

>

> Bradstreet says the national magazine has misrepresented both his

> words and the surrounding issues. Here is his response and commentary on

> the Danish Study, vaccines and autism.

>

> Jeff Bradstreet, MD:

> I spent about 30 minutes talking to Gorman from TIME

> magazine about this difficult subject. Obviously, what was printed

> represents a very small piece of that interview, and is highly edited by

> TIME to reinforce their perspective. Everyone who knows me, also knows the

> very public life led by my son . His laboratory findings are part

of

> the Congressional Records of the Reform Committee Hearings from both 2001

> and 2002. No one has more reason for concern about the MMR than I do,

> having

> found vaccine strain MV in my son’s bowel, blood and spinal fluid.

> Simultaneously, I know he developed seizures shortly after his second MMR

> vaccine, and that he lost precious developmental ground after each vaccine

> containing MMR. But MMR was never given to in isolation. He always

> had other vaccines – mercury containing vaccines given at the same or

> nearly

> the same time. How is it then that I am quoted as stating the MMR vaccine

> does not cause autism?

> Before getting into details about my position regarding the NEJM

> “Danish MMR†study, I would first like to discuss the misrepresentations

> inherent in the TIME piece.

> The caption and title imply all vaccines were study and that all

> vaccines have always been safe as in their caption, “Childhood shots get a

> clean bill of health.†This is decidedly not my position. I told the

> reporter it is clear that MMR is not the main cause of autism in Denmark.

> The in Denmark portion didn’t find its way into the article. But I am not

> that uncomfortable saying MMR cannot be supported as a major cause of

> autism

> with the epidemiological data available to us today. Simultaneously, as I

> will discuss, MMR is unquestionably associated with autism. The difference

> occurs in the meaning of first causes (primary causality) and

> co-occurrence,

> which by definition would represent an association.

> Here’s an analogy. If I let the air out my tire it goes flat – in

> this example letting the air out is casual to the flat tire – and

everybody

> accepts it as truth. But in another example, if I go the beach I always

> get

> sand in my shoes, and if I go without sunscreen I get sunburned if it is a

> sunny day. Sand in my shoes does not cause sunburn and not using sunscreen

> doesn’t cause sunburn – exposure to the sun causes sunburn. Sand in my

> shoes

> is associated with my sunburn, but not causally. Not using sunscreen seems

> logically associated with my sunburn, but if I was well tanned, or the day

> was cloudy, or I was of African decent, I wouldn’t need sunscreen, and

> likely still wouldn’t get burned, but I would still have sand in my shoes.

> This second example became a little more complicated and parts of it

> were less obvious. Some of you would be arguing that lack of sunscreen,

> caused, my sunburn. Scientifically, you would be wrong, even though there

> is

> a clear association. And lack of sunscreen is not always associated with

> sunburn or with sand in my shoes. These are what we call conditional

> variables. Amount of shade, time of year, weather and lots of other things

> are also variables in my sunburning or not. But ultimately, we cannot get

> away form the simple first cause which is exposure to sun in a vulnerable

> person (pale-skinned). Those of you who are thinking I need to get out

> more – are right, and I will take my sunscreen if it is a sunny day.

> So, logic and science tell us that when we find vaccine strain measles

> virus years after exposure almost exclusively in children with autism,

that

> there is an association. There must be an association, but it need not be

> causal to autism and it may not be causal to bowel or brain symptoms,

> although it likely plays an important role in symptoms. So, if the

> epidemiologists tell us MMR is not the cause of autism (and remember we

are

> not talking about autistic entercolitis), we can accept that until new,

> better or different data refute these observations. But equally it is a

> tremendous injustice to the children suffering with persistent measles

> virus

> and autism to claim there is no association. How is this true? The best

way

> to understand this is through the hypothesis that an underlying immune

> disorder which would permit MV to persist if exposed through the injected

> pathway, also directly or through other pathogens allows the development

of

> autism. And this immune disorder likely has many manifestations.

> Remember for a moment that a wide array of pathogens have been

> proposed, published and associated with autism. These include yeast,

> anerobic bacteria, borna viruses, influenza in pregnancy, as well as other

> viruses and toxins, including mercury. How do we explain all of these and

> MV

> at the same time? Given the large body of immunological and immunogenetic

> literature in autism, it is appealing to assume a foundational immune

> disorder is the actual first cause, or that toxins like mercury are

> directly

> involved. But even in the case of mercury we still have to account for

> gender differences and variable expression of toxic effects despite equal

> exposures. All of these exposures could start at any point in the child’s

> development.

> Unlike the comments in the TIME article and many others like it,

> primary genetic disorders are not the cause of autism. This fact was

driven

> home by the recent MIND Institute California study which clearly and

> rightly

> concluded environmental factors had to account for the rapid rise in

autism

> rates in that state.

> Mercury, aluminum and the inherent immune skewing of vaccines are

> still under intense scrutiny and research. All of these directly influence

> the immune system as does the MMR vaccine itself. So MMR in its current

> form

> is certainly not my choice way to protect children from these diseases.

> Neal Halsey MD from s Hopkins, who is decidedly in favor of the

> MMR vaccine and believes it has no association with autism whatsoever,

> admitted before the Institute of Medicine in July of 2001 and in a New

York

> Times story, Sunday November 10th, 2002, he had never calculated the dose

> of

> thimerosal (mercury) in micrograms and that the dose in the vaccines

> greatly

> exceeded all Federal guidelines. He has repeatedly apologized publicly for

> this obvious toxicological error.

> In 1991, the NIH (Vaccine 1991 Oct;9(10):699-702) reported that the

> aluminum in vaccines was of toxic concern and could be replaced with safer

> adjuvants (things that make the vaccine more potent). They also

recommended

> the removal of aluminum from vaccines. To date no action by the FDA or CDC

> has been taken to heed the NIH recommendations.

> Recently, Imani and Kehoe (Infection of Human B Lymphocytes with MMR

> Vaccine Induces IgE Class Switching. Clinical Immunology, Vol. 100, No. 3,

> September, pp. 355–361, 2001) also from s Hopkins, reported that MMR

> vaccine induced a change in human immune cells consistent with the

> induction

> of allergy and asthma.

> They stated this: “Vaccination provides great protection against the

> mortality and morbidity associated with many childhood diseases and should

> not be discouraged, but it is possible that a side effect of viral

> vaccination constitutes an increase in the incidence of IgE-mediated

> disorders. A better understanding of the mechanism underlying this event

> may

> yield improved vaccines in the future.â€

> And the Danish study in question in no way investigated the occurrence

> of bowel disease in children with autism (vaccinated or otherwise).

> Recently, Professor O’Leary and his team of molecular pathologists did in

> fact identify vaccine strain measles virus in the gut of children with

> developmental disorders, but not in healthy controls (V Uhlmann, C M

> ,

> I Silva, A Killalea, O Sheils, S B Murch, A J Wakefield, J J O’Leary.

> Potential viral pathogenic mechanism for new variant inflammatory bowel

> disease. J Clin Pathol: Mol Pathol 2002;55:0–6).

> In the well reviewed article they state this: “Conclusions: The data

> confirm an association between the presence of measles virus and gut

> pathology in children with developmental disorder.â€

> In July of 2002 they presented their additional data which clearly

> identifies vaccine specificity for the type of measles virus, and so they

> have continued to enhance our understanding of MMR in this disorder.

> Let me be very clear, I in no way believe a live attenuated MMR

> vaccine is safe for a subset of children. How large that subset is remains

> a

> mystery to me at this time. But equally, these concerns are different from

> placing a causal relationship for autism at the vaccine’s doorstep. I know

> I

> can find persistent measles in the blood, bowel, cerebral spinal fluid and

> brain (through recent biopsy findings), and that gives me no reassurances

> of

> safety. My belief is hinted at in the TIME article when they share my

> comment about worsening pre-existing conditions (I never limited my

> concerns

> to autistic conditions as inflammatory bowel disease is not an autistic

> condition) and I assume this is a simple misunderstanding by the reporter.

> So, with regard to the TIME article I find it cleverly deceptive and

> far from conveying a balanced view of the debate. My view of the Danish

> study is much the same.

> I believe the authors greatly overstep the bounds of their data and

> make general comments about MMR vaccine safety while sweeping the

molecular

> biology aside with barely a thought. As an example, the authors sometimes

> claim a lack of association of MMR with autism, when in fact they mean to

> state a lack causality of MMR for autism. While they usually do limit

their

> discussion to causality this slip is no subtle difference. It is by no

> means

> trivial to the science at hand or to the children afflicted. Here is an

> example of how the line gets blured: “Studies designed to evaluate the

> suggested link between MMR vaccination and autism do not support an

> association, but the evidence is weak and based on case-series,

> cross-sectional, and ecologic studies.†For the reasons already stated, I

> do

> not believe this is a true reflection of the state of the science.

“Studiesâ€

>

> in this sentence actually should say “epidemiological studies†and

> “association†should say “casual associationâ€.

> Why am I being so particular in this situation? We are not dealing

> with something as simple as the letting air out of tire example. And it is

> far more complex than the sunburn example too. Ignoring the immunological

> weakness or peculiarity of the children who cannot rid themselves of the

> measles virus is a huge error in scientific reasoning. There is an

> un-refuted association of MV with autism, because children with autism are

> much more likely than controls to still possess the virus for years after

> exposure. The epidemiology may be giving us accurate data about causation

> at

> the same time. In the early 1990s the Institute of Medicine rightly

> concluded vaccines could do three things: 1) nothing harmful, 2)

exacerbate

> (worsen) an existing condition, or 3) cause a disease de novo. The Danish

> study provides an additional piece of evidence that MMR does not

> participate

> in number three - ONLY for autism, not for all the other issues (like

bowel

> disease or allergies) which we have discussed regarding the vaccine. Why?

> Because they didn’t have those data, nor did they seek to find the data

for

> a cohort of children with autism.

> The reality is that we are still a long way from the truth despite the

> joyful proclamations of the public heath officials and the

epidemiologists.

> The Danish study is still important in several ways. The number of

children

> on a percent basis is much less than the US and England. What is

protecting

> them from our rates of autism? We do not know why, but it would be a great

> place to start looking. Further, it is a small country with unique

genetics

> which may preclude easy comparison to other populations, a point which is

> lacking from the article as the authors attempt to use their findings to

> generalize to all autism in the entire World. Finally the authors admit

> measles virus causes an autoimmune reaction to myelin proteins, and yet

> they

> neglect the large body of research by Warren and Singh on this subject

with

> regards to autism.

> From the study:

> " However, wild-type measles can infect the central

> nervous system and even cause postinfectious

> encephalomyclitis, probably as a result of an

> immune-mediated response to myclin proteins. "

>

-------------------------

I apologize that I have no more info regarding MPP Elliott's announcement

tomorrow, hopefully some of you will be able to attend.

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

Hope that your summer is going well. Just wanted to give you all a

heads up that there is a brief article in Time magazine this week

regarding Celiac disease. It's in the July 19th issue with Kerry

on the cover...page 85. I would read it if you get a chance. Nice to

see that it's gaining some PR.

-Lori