For Gabby

[Guest guest]

I could not help but pass this one on. This guy just seems to be

making his own comments on a Time Magazine article.anyway...

NEW STUDY - " Mitochondrial Autism " is Real; Vaccine Triggers Cannot Be

Ruled Out

DAVID KIRBY - Huffington Post

dkirby@.... com

Date: Friday, November 28, 2008,

The December 1st issue of Time Magazine carries a special section on

" The Year in Medicine, " which mentions the case of Hannah Poling, the

young girl with autism who received compensation from the federal

vaccine injury program. Like many news accounts back then, Time has

called the case " rare, " because it involved an underlying dysfunction

of Hannah's mitochondria, the little powerhouses within each cell that

produce energy.

The widespread misconception that Hannah's case was " unique, " and

without any bearing on other autism cases, was promulgated by opinion

leaders such as CDC Director Gerberding and the newly rich

vaccine inventor Dr. Offit, (who told Newsweek that his share of

the royalties from the vaccine was " like winning the lottery. " )

But on Wednesday, a new chart-review study was published showing that

" mitochondrial autism " is not rare at all.

" These and prior data suggest a disturbance of mitochondrial energy

production as an underlying pathophysiological mechanism in a subset

of individuals with autism, " wrote the authors of the study,

" Mitochondrial Disease in Autism Spectrum Disorder Patients: A Cohort

Analysis. " http://www.plosone. org/article/ info%3Adoi% 2F10.1371%

2Fjournal. pone.0003815

In fact, the authors wrote that mitochondrial dysfunction " may be

present in a substantial percentage of children with ASD. " (They did

not mention prevalence in adults with autism).

I first reported on this phenomenon back in March, when I interviewed

one the of the study's authors. Back then, I wrote that mitochondrial

dysfunction was detected in 7-to-30 percent of people with autism, and

that genetic mutations that might confer such dysfunction could be as

common as 1 in 50 people in the general population.

Now, I freely admit that I do not understand everything written in

this new study. But there are a few things that I think are worth

pointing out.

REGRESSIVE AUTISM IS REAL

I have long held that there are many different subsets of autism

cases. One such group is made up of children who were developing

normally, only to regress later - typically between one and two years

of age. Nearly all of the children in my book regressed into autism -

a process that often began almost immediately after receiving multiple

vaccinations.

Perhaps that is why the very idea of regressive autism has been cause

for derision among many scientists, who insist that the parents were

simply too ignorant to " notice " autism symptoms in their children

earlier on.

But among the 25 children in the chart review, 14 of them, or 56%,

suffered from " regression of previously acquired skills. " This is a

rate that is significantly above the roughly " one third of autistic

children " in general who are reported to have regressed, the authors

said. So then, not only is regressive autism real, it seems to be

almost twice as common in cases of " mitochondrial autism, " (the

authors; words, not mine).

MANY CHILDREN WITH AUTISM ARE PRONE TO BIOMEDICAL PROBLEMS

Most of the children in my book - and Hannah Poling as well - had

rather severe physical, biomedical problems associated with their

regression. Again, this claim has been met with scorn by many in the

medical and science communities, who say that autism is much more of a

behavioral/neurolog ical than biomedical condition. Parents and

doctors who do try to treat these physical symptoms - with

conventional and alternative therapies alike - are singled out for

particular damnation by many of these so-called experts.

And yet, the authors of this study found the following:

Twenty-one patients (84%) had histories of major non-neurological

medical problems, most commonly of the gastrointestinal system, with

gastroesophageal reflux affecting nine and constipation affecting

eight subjects. Seven patients had structural or functional

cardiovascular abnormalities. In addition, 17 patients had excessive

fatigability or exercise intolerance and several children had abnormal

physical exam findings including six with facial dysmorphism, four

with microcephaly, four with macrocephaly, and five with growth

retardation.

Again, biomedical problems - in addition to regression - may be more

common in the subset of children with " mitochondrial autism. "

Much more research is needed in this regard. As the authors noted: " it

is possible, if not likely, that a still broader clinical, biochemical

and genetic spectrum of mitochondrial autism exists. "

MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION IS NOT NECESSARILY INHERITED

Of the 25 children in this study, only two (8%) had specific mutations

in their mitochondrial DNA that are considered pathogenic (disease

causing). Mitochondrial DNA is inherited from the mother only. And

though mutations in the nuclear DNA (inherited from both parents) can

affect mitochondrial function, the authors wrote: " It is possible that

there are important environmental or genetic factors in addition to

the mtDNA mutation " in the development of autism in some cases.

This finding is not inconsistent with an earlier estimate from the

Cleveland Clinic, which says that 75% of mitochondrial disorders are

" sporadic " in nature, meaning they were probably triggered by

environmental factors. Heavy metals, pesticides, formaldehyde, alcohol

and some medications can damage mitochondria, especially in developing

fetuses, published studies show.

BIO-MARKERS FOR MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION ARE NOT DIFFICULT TO MEASURE

The authors used reference levels to measure " blood lactate and

pyruvate, plasma alanine, urinary organic acids, CK (creatine kinase)

AST (aspartate transaminase) and ALT (alanine aminotransferase, " they

wrote. And they added that, " Biochemical evidence of mitochondrial ETC

dysfunction included increased blood lactate and pyruvate levels,

elevated plasma alanine level, and increased urinary levels of Krebs

cycle intermediates or 3-methylglutaconate . "

This is significant because one day, we may routinely test children

for signs of mitochondrial dysfunction. Such tests might be able to

predict which children are most at risk for autistic regression and

other developmental problems. They could also be quite useful for

diagnostics and biomedical treatments in children with autism.

VACCINES MAY PLAY A ROLE IN AUTISTIC REGRESSION IN SOME CHILDREN WITH

MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION

Here is where the long knives of science really come out. And it is

why the Hannah Poling case is so extraordinarily controversial.

" Recently, there has been increased concern regarding a possible

causative role of vaccinations in autistic children with an underlying

mitochondrial cytopathy (cellular disorder), " the authors wrote. " For

one of our 25 patients (Hannah, who DOES have autism, contrary to

claims by Gerberding, Offit et al, who erroneously insisted, without

ever meeting the child, that she only had " features " of autism), the

child's autism/neurodevelop mental deterioration appeared to follow

vaccination. Although there may have been a temporal relationship of

the events in this case, such timing does not prove causation. "

Maybe not - but one must wonder, then, why medical personnel at HHS's

Vaccine Injury Compensation Program conceded that the " cause " of

Hannah's " autistic encephalopathy " was " vaccine induced fever and

immune stimulation that exceeded metabolic reserves. "

When I first reported this story, the researcher I spoke to told me

there had been 30 children in the study, and two of them (8%) showed

signs of brain injury from vaccines. Of the five children since

excluded from the final published review, one must have been the

second vaccine-related regression.

Most of the children had regressed following illness-induced fever,

the doctor told me. But now I wonder how accurate that statement was.

Why? Because we now find out that nine of the children (36%) had

so-called " multiple regressions, " and nothing in this review

indicates that any attempt was made to determine if vaccines, febrile

infections, or some other factors acted as triggers in the subsequent

regressive episodes.

But there is no mention at all in this new review of parental

interviews, nor of comparing vaccination records with the timing of

the regressions. Likewise, there was no attempt in the paper to

explain the regressions with other illnesses or stressful events.

No wonder, then, that the authors themselves conclude that " there

might be no difference between the inflammatory or catabolic stress of

vaccinations and that of common childhood diseases, which are known

precipitants of mitochondrial regression. "

In fact, they added: " Large population-based studies will be needed to

identify a possible relationship of vaccination with autistic

regression in persons with mitochondrial cytopathies. "

This statement will surely be heartily endorsed by the United

Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF), which supports research into

mito dysfunction and autistic regression. Last April, at a vaccine

safety meeting at HHS in Washington, a leading scientist affiliated

with the UMDF, Dr, Wallace of the University of California at

Irvine, said that over-vaccination of people with mitochondrial

disorders was a deep concern, especially in light of Hannah Poling,

who got nine vaccines at once.

(Time Magazine said she got " five injections " but failed to mention

that two of them contained triple vaccines. Time also said that

Hannah's situation was " unique, " which is demonstrably false and will

require a correction).

We have always advocated spreading the immunizations out as much as

possible because every time you vaccinate, you are creating a

challenge for the system, Dr. Wallace testified. And if a child has an

impaired system, that could in fact trigger further clinical problems.

I took that to mean that children with impaired mitochondria might

also have impaired immune systems. And children with impaired immune

systems might not be able to handle nine vaccines at once.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

There were many other very interesting findings from this review that

should be followed up by scientists as soon as possible. For example,

the ratio of boys to girls was roughly 1-to-1, as opposed to the

4-to-1 boy/girl ratio found in " idiopathic " cases (or, autism of

unknown origin).

Also, some of the siblings of the autism cases also had mitochondrial

disorders, but did not regress into autism. This fact would be

extremely important in developing a susceptibility hypothesis.

Finally, the youngest children in this chart review were two years of

age. I was told that the review first began five years ago, meaning

that all of these cases were born before 2002. That is significant

because most of these children would have received a large number of

vaccines containing thimerosal - the preservative made with 49.6%

mercury - which is a known toxicant to mitochondria.

One would expect that this new study would prompt Time Magazine,

Gerberding and Offit to issue statements of correction on the

" rarity " of mitochondrial disorders in autism.

But one should not hold one's breath, in my opinion.

surf on over to www.nfxf.org and to

www.fraxa.org and learn about Fragile X