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Gene flaw may link autism,

vaccine additive

Southeast Missourian ~ Monday, December 13, 2004

By Bob ~ Southeast

Missourian

A study released today by an

environmental organization offers support to the theory that a vaccine

preservative called thimerosal may contribute to the cause of autism.

The study has found a

genetic flaw that sheds further light on how autistic children are

metabolically different from healthy children.

This may explain why

autistic children may not be able to excrete mercury and other heavy metals.

Because of this finding,

some doctors also believe that a relatively simple mixture of nutritional

supplements may provide a dramatic treatment for autistic children.

The new 18-month autism

investigation was conducted by Dr. Jill , a former Food and Drug

Administration research scientist who now works at the University

of Arkansas

for Medical Sciences.

Her report claims that autistic

children have a severe deficiency in glutathione, which said is the

body's most important detoxifier.

The Environmental Working

Group, a not-for-profit organization that investigates toxicity in the

environment, is using ' study as a way to petition for further thimerosal

research.

Many parents and several

researchers have speculated that thimerosal, which is 50 percent mercury by

weight, is the culprit behind the exponential increase in autism cases over the

last decade. Ten years ago, the American

Academy

of Pediatrics estimated an autism rate of one in 2,500 in the United

States.

Today, the rate is estimated as high as one in 166. As many as one in six

children have neurological disorders. Many believe the rise in autism and the

corresponding increase in the nation's vaccine schedule are not coincidental.

Pharmaceutical companies

removed thimerosal from required vaccines in 2002, but it still exists in most

of the recommended influenza shots.

Autism theorists have for

several years hypothesized that certain children are susceptible to heavy-metal

toxicity, which poisons the brain.

The reports shows that

autistic children have 133 percent more " inactive " glutathione in

their bodies than healthy children and 68 percent less " active "

glutathione.

The report also gives

parents hope. Preliminary results have shown that certain supplements --

folinic acid and methyl B12 -- can bring glutathione back to normal levels.

Dr. Mumper, the CEO

for Advocates for Children and associate professor of clinical pediatrics at

the University of Virginia Medical School, said she has seen dramatic

improvements in some autistic children who have been taking the supplements.

" I don't mean to imply

that we can cure autism, " she said. " But in this subset, some have

moved out of the [autism] spectrum and gone to kindergarten without aid. "

She said the metabolic

makeup of autistic adults will have to be studied, but she sees no reason why

the nutritional aids won't help autistic adults as well.

'Closer and closer'

News of such a breakthrough

is exciting for Dena Petzoldt of Fruitland, whose son, Ben, is autistic. Tests

have shown that Ben has high levels of heavy metals, including mercury, in his

blood.

The family has traveled to

many states to try various remedies.

" We're just getting

closer and closer, " she said. " There have to be answers out there

because there are so many autistic kids out there.

I'll definitely check into

this. "

studied the metabolism

of 20 autistic children. In a conference call with reporters, she explained she

started with 10 plasma samples from autistic children.

The results were " very,

very striking, " she said. They were so consistently abnormal that she

added 10 more samples to her study, just to make sure they were accurate. They

came back the same.

Autism is generally regarded

as a genetic and environmental mixed bag. said the genetic causes are

complex. There could be 10 genes that contribute to autism.

The new finding makes sense

for a number of reasons, she said.

Glutathione levels are

naturally lower in males, which could help explain why 70 percent of autistic

children are boys. Estrogen, found more predominantly in females, is an

antioxidant like glutathione, so girls have more chemical weapons to fight

against metal toxins.

The glutathione discovery

may also explain why so many autistic children have intestinal disorders.

Glutathione, according to

the study, is vital to proper functioning of the intestines.

The Environmental Working

Group is waving ' study in the face of the Institute

of Medicine.

In May, the IOM -- an

independent scientific group commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention to delve into the thimerosal issue -- released a report which said

there is no evidence suggesting a link between the preservative and autism. It

based its findings on five epidemiology studies, including one from Denmark,

which has a different vaccine schedule and thus different thimerosal exposure

than the United

States.

Epidemiology is a

mathematical approach to science based on complicated statistics derived from

medical databases.

The IOM heard but did not

accept the biological evidence, which was only theoretical, the committee said.

The IOM also suggested that " further research to find the cause of autism

should be directed toward other lines of inquiry. "

Dr. Weldon, a

congressman from Florida,

has been the leading government anti-thimerosal spokesman.

" The work of Dr.

and other have continued with private support, " Weldon said in a

statement. " Unfortunately, the National Institutes of Health has not yet

dedicated funding to better understand and develop interventions for the

epidemic of children suffering from neurological development disorders,

particularly those that have resulted from mercury exposures from childhood

vaccines.

" Today's study, along

with several other recently published scientific studies, demonstrate clearly

that the IOM overstated their conclusions. "

'Didn't dismiss anything'

Dr. Steve Goodman of s

Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore

sat on the IOM committee that reviewed the evidence.

He told the Southeast

Missourian he couldn't speak for the IOM because the committee no longer

exists, but he said there was a general feeling that thimerosal would be

unlikely to turn out to be the cause of autism. However, he said some of the

IOM's statements were misconstrued at the time.

" First of all, we

didn't dismiss anything, " he said. " We simply stated the epidemiology

evidence favored no relationship, which is true. At this point there is no

increased risk to the general population.

" What we did say is if

you've got a fixed pot, don't spend huge amounts more on epidemiology. What we

said was that resources would be better spent on understanding the

biology. "

For several years a certain

segment of the scientific community has suspected that autistic children have a

genetic susceptibility to mercury and that thimerosal could be the

environmental trigger to autism. So why base a national report on five studies

that don't address the theory?

" That's what we're

saying, " Goodman said.

He said unless the genetic

flaws can be identified and a test group can be formed with the same flaws,

there is no use for more epidemiology, which suggests no danger to the healthy

population.

The anti-thimerosal groups

have been making that same argument since May when the IOM report was released.

The IOM did admit in its

report that " the committee cannot rule out, based on the epidemiological

evidence, the possibility that vaccines contribute to autism in some small

subset or very unusual circumstance. "

Regardless, major television

networks only reported the news of no link, followed by quotes from board

members saying funding should be spent elsewhere. Many physicians at the time

considered the thimerosal issue a closed book. And, according to a U.S.

congressional source

speaking on the condition of anonymity, perhaps the National Institutes of

Health did too.

The National Institutes of

Health has cited the IOM report when it has denied funding for biological

research, the source said.

Shortly after the IOM report

came out, Columbia

University

researcher Dr. Mady Hornig published a study showing that mice with genetically

susceptible immune systems displayed autistic-like behaviors when given

thimerosal.

While the Environmental

Working Group acknowledges that '

research doesn't prove a

link, the organization says the findings should force the government to pick up

the issue again. The epidemiology studies the IOM based its report on assumed

that the children had equal toxin-fighting capabilities, the EWG says.

Goodman didn't want to

comment specifically on the new study until he reads it.

" This type of study

could fit in a much bigger picture and enhance the understanding of autism and

the immune system, " he said. " It's a small piece of fabric of a

theory which may or may not turn out to be true. But it doesn't mean that

thimerosal causes autism. There are lots of fragments, pieces of biological

evidence and theories.

But those theories are still

incomplete. "

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