learningtofly said:

Correlation without Causation?

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reeferaddict69 said:

Of the 200,000 amish people in America not one has autism.

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Veritas said:

Yes, they also take many vitamin supplements, particularly during pregancy, and are extremely active. We will probably figure out the cause of autism within the next decade or so, and will be able to spot the preventative "link" to the Amish lifestyle.

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badchad said:

Millions of children receive vaccines each year. If vaccines were the direct cause of autism the prevalence would be much higher.

Even if there were evidence suggesting a role of vaccines in autism, the benefits of vaccinations would outweigh the risk of the development of autism.

As far as the amish are concerned, they usually live in localized communities where they have less genetic diversity. This may account for the decrease in autism.

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reeferaddict69 said:

It's clearly vaccines and all it's healthy ingredients:

Formaldehyde:

(Used in vaccines as a tissue fixative)

Aust. National Research Council: Fewer than 20% but perhaps more than 10% of the general population may be susceptible to formaldehyde and may react acutely at any exposure level. More hazardous than most chemicals in 5 out of 12 ranking systems, on at least 8 federal regulatory lists, ranked as one of the most hazardous compounds (worst 10%) to ecosystems and human health (Environmental Defense Fund).

It is not safe at ANY level.

National Academy of Science:
There is no population threshold for irritation effects.

National Research Council:
Fewer than 20% but perhaps more than 10% of the general population may be susceptible to formaldehyde and may react acutely at any exposure level.

Formaldehyde is oxidised to formic acid which leads to acidosis and nerve damage. Acidosis can be described as a condition in which the acidity of the body tissues and fluids is abnormally high. The liver and the kidneys may also be damaged.

Other effects:

Eye; nasal; throat and pulmonary irritation; acute sense of smell; alters tissue proteins; anaemia; antibodies formation; apathy; blindness; blood in urine; blurred vision; body aches; bronchial spasms; bronchitis; burns nasal and throat; cardiac impairment; palpitations and arrhythmias; central nervous system depression; changes in higher cognitive functions; chemical sensitivity; chest pains and tightness; chronic vaginitis; colds; coma; conjunctivitis; constipation; convulsions; corneal erosion; cough; death; destruction of red blood cells; depression; dermatitis; diarrhoea; difficulty concentrating; disorientation; dizziness; ear aches; eczema; emotional upsets; ethmoid polyps; fatigue; fecula bleeding; foetal asphyxiation (and they don’t know what could cause SIDS?); flu-like or cold like illness; frequent urination with pain; gastritis; gastrointestinal inflammation; headaches; haemolytic anaemia; haemolytic haematuria; hoarseness; hyperactive airway disease; hyperactivity; hypomenstrual syndrome; immune system sensitiser; impaired (short) attention span; impaired capacity to attain attention; inability or difficulty swallowing; inability to recall words and names; inconsistent IQ profiles; inflammatory diseases of the reproductive organs; intestinal pain; intrinsic asthma; irritability; jaundice; joint pain; aches and swelling; kidney pain; laryngeal spasm; loss of memory; loss of sense of smell; loss of taste; malaise; menstrual and testicular pain; menstrual irregularities; metallic taste; muscle spasms and cramps; nasal congestions; crusting and mucosae inflammation; nausea; nosebleeds; numbness and tingling of the forearms and finger tips; pale, clammy skin; partial laryngeal paralysis; pneumonia; post nasal drip; pulmonary oedema; reduced body temperature; retarded speech pattern; ringing or tingling in the ear; schizophrenic-type symptoms; sensitivity to sound; shock; short term memory loss; shortness of breath; skin lesions; sneezing; sore throat; spacey feeling; speaking difficulty; sterility; swollen glands; tearing; thirst; tracheitis; tracheobronchitis; vertigo; vomiting blood; vomiting; wheezing.

References; C. Wilson; Chronic Exposure and Human Health (1993), McFarland & Company taken from Our Toxic Times Feb 1997 pgs 18 & 19.

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Quote:

reeferaddict69 said:Mercury:

(Used in vaccines as a preservative.)

Before you say, "But haven't they removed mercury from the vaccines on the childhood vaccination schedule?" read this: http://www.acnem.org/journal/23-2_september_2004/vaccines_and_mercury.htm

See this video filmed by the University of Calgary of an actual brain neuron - watch what happens to it when it is exposed to (a low amount of) mercury: http://commons.ucalgary.ca/mercury/ The following is a written article about this video: http://unisci.com/stories/20011/0327013.htm

Mercury is the second most poisonous element known to man (next to uranium and its derivatives). As illustrated in the above video, neurons are observed to disintegrate in its presence. It has also been found to cause changes to chromosomes.

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Quote:

reeferaddict69 said:The U.S. has known about the potential problems of thimerosal (compound in vaccines that contains mercury) for many years. The World Health Organization voiced concerns as far back as 1990. Mercury is a highly toxic element which does not easily leave the body. Once ingested, injected, or inhaled, it stays and accumulates. An infant can receive in one day’s doses of vaccines as much as the absolute maximum set by the W.H.O. for 3 months of exposure, but it is not safe at ANY level.

Thimerosal is listed as a recognized developmental toxicant as well as a suspected skin or sense organ toxicant by the Environmental Defense Fund1. The following was taken from a website affiliated with the National Institutes for Health2:

"Symptoms of exposure to this class of compounds includes aphthous, stomatitis, catarrhal gingivitis, nausea, liquid stools, pain, liver disorder, injury to the cardiovascular system and hematopoietic system, deafness and ataxia. Exposure may be fatal. Headache, paresthesia of the tongue, lips, fingers and toes, other non-specific dysfunctions, metallic taste, slight gastrointestinal disturbances, excessive flatus and diarrhea may occur. Acute poisoning may cause gastrointestinal irritation and renal failure. Early signs of severe poisoning include fine tremors of extended hands, loss of side vision, slight loss of coordination in the eyes, speech, writing and gait, inability to stand or carry out voluntary movements, occasional muscle atrophy and flexure contractures, generalized myoclonic movements, difficulty understanding ordinary speech, irritability and bad temper progressing to mania, stupor, coma, mental retardation in children, skin irritation, blisters and dermatitis. Other symptoms include chorea, athetosis, tremors, convulsions, pain and numbness in the extremities, nephritis, salivation, loosening of the teeth, blue line on the gums, anxiety, mental depression, insomnia, hallucinations and central nervous system effects. Exposure may also cause irritation of the eyes, mucous membranes and upper respiratory tract."

References:
1.) Environmental Defense Fund - http://www.scorecard.com/
2.) National Institutes for Health -
http://ntp-db.niehs.nih.gov/NTP_Reports/NTP_Chem_H&S/NTP_Chem5/Radian54-64-8.txt

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Quote:

reeferaddict69 said:Here is an excerpt from "The Vaccine Guide: Making an Informed Choice" (Randall Neustaedter, North Atlantic Books, 1996):

"Sensitivities to thimerosal in vaccines apparently develop as a result of previous vaccinations (Förström et al., 1980). Even the minute amount of thimerosal used in vaccines (.1 to .01%) can specifically stimulate the immune system and cause sensitization (Aberer, 1991). Mercury is a violent poison with many toxic effects. The toxicity of mercury varies depending on the form in which the element appears. Metallic mercury has different effects than inorganic or organic mercury compounds. However, major differences in toxicity are not expected among the different compounds within the inorganic group of mercury salts (Clement, 1992)...

...The neurologic toxicity symptoms caused by mercury compounds have a delayed onset after exposure (Bakir et al, 1973), which may have significance for the suspected long-term neurologic symptoms of learning disabilities and behaviour disorders associated with vaccines. (For full references, refer to book.)"
Antifreeze: (This is in the polio vaccine.) Classed as "Very Toxic Material". May lead to kidney, liver, blood and central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Harmful or fatal if swallowed. Effects include behavioural disorders, drowsiness, vomiting, diarrhoea, visual disturbances, thirst, convulsions, cyanosis, and rapid heart rate, CNS stimulation, depression, cardiopulmonary effects, kidney disorders. May also lead to liver and blood disorders. Produces reproductive and developmental effects in experimental animals.

(Source: http://www.pennzoil-quakerstate.com/MSDS/014/014978.pdf)
Aluminium:

EDF Suspected - cardiovascular or blood toxicant, neurotoxicant, respiratory toxicant. Implicated as a cause of brain damage; suspected factor in Alzheimer's Disease, dementia, convulsions and comas. More hazardous than most chemicals in 2 out of 6 ranking systems. On at least 2 federal regulatory lists. (This element is not toxic when only in trace amounts, indeed at such levels is even beneficial to the body, however a trace amount is extremely minute - the level in vaccines is enormously higher, at around 0.5%)
2-Phenoxyethanol:

EDF Suspected - developmental toxicant, reproductive toxicant. Metabolic poison (i.e. interferes with the metabolism in all cells). Capable of disabling the immune system's primary response. Contains phenol (see below).
Phenol:

EDF Suspected - cardiovascular or blood toxicant aka Carbolic Acid, developmental toxicant, gastrointestinal or liver toxicant, kidney toxicant, neurotoxicant, respiratory toxicant, skin or sense organ toxicant. More hazardous than most chemicals in 3 out of 10 ranking systems. On at least 8 federal regulatory lists
Methanol:

Described as a volatile, flammable and poisonous liquid alcohol. In industry, it is used as a solvent and an antifreeze compound in fuel. In the body it is metabolised to formaldehyde (see above). Whilst it can be found naturally in the pectin that is present in some common fruits, it is only in very small quantities in fruit and does not pose a danger to the body in that form.
Borax

(sodium tetraborate decahydrate):


Traditionally used as a pesticide, including ant killer. Suspected cardiovascular or blood toxicant, endocrine toxicant, gastrointestinal or liver toxicant and neurological toxicant. Found to cause reproductive damage and reduced fertility in a study on rats.
Glutaraldehyde:

Poisonous if ingested (would be worse if injected). Causes birth defects in experimental animals.
MSG

(monosodium glutamate):


In a 1995 report by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) two groups of people were defined as intolerant of MSG - those who eat large quantities of MSG (which is in many processed foods as a flavour enhancer - # 621) and those with “severe, poorly controlled asthma”. (Can you guess now why sensitivity to MSG is so common?) According to this report which was contracted by the FDA the following are symptoms that they found in reaction to MSG.


A. Burning sensation in the back of the neck, forearms and chest
B. Numbness in the back of the neck, radiating to the arms and back
C. Tingling, warmth, and weakness in the face, temples, upper back, neck and arms
D. Facial pressure or tightness
E. Chest pain
F. Headache
G. Nausea
I. Rapid heartbeat
J. Bronchospasm (difficulty breathing) in MSG-intolerant people with asthma
K. Drowsiness
L. Weakness

An FDA web page called "FDA and Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)" states "Injections of glutamate in laboratory animals have resulted in damage to nerve cells in the brain."

In 1978 MSG was removed from baby food and other baby products for infants less than one year of age because the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Academy of Sciences expressed concerns.
Sulfate and phosphate compounds

(to one or more of which your child may have already developed a severe allergy from past vaccinations.)

Ammonium Sulfate:


EDF Suspected - gastrointestinal or liver toxicant, neurotoxicant, respiratory toxicant.

Gentamicin Sulfate:


an antibiotic.

Neomycin Sulfate:


an antibiotic. Interferes with Vitamin B6 absorption. An error in the uptake of B6 can cause a rare form of epilepsy and mental retardation.

Tri(n)butylphosphate:


EDF Suspected - kidney toxicant, neurotoxicant. More hazardous than most chemicals in 2 out of 3 ranking systems. On at least 1 federal regulatory list.

Polymyxin B:


another antibiotic
Polysorbate 20 / 80:

EDF Suspected - skin or sense organ toxicant. Known to cause cancer in animals.
Sorbitol:

EDF Suspected - gastrointestinal or liver toxicant. Less hazardous than most chemicals in 1 ranking system.
Polyribosylribitol:

a component of the Hib bacterium.
Beta-Propiolactone:

EDF Recognized - carcinogen, EDF Suspected - gastrointestinal or liver toxicant, respiratory toxicant, skin or sense organ toxicant. More hazardous than most chemicals in 3 out of 3 ranking systems. On at least 5 federal regulatory lists. Ranked as one of the most hazardous compounds (worst 10%) to humans.
Amphotericin B:

MME definition - "a drug used to treat fungus infections. Known allergy to this drug prohibits use. Side effects include blood clots, blood defects, kidney problems, nausea and fever. When used on the skin, allergic reactions can occur."
Animal organ tissue and blood:

Animal cell lines need to be used to culture the viruses in vaccines, so this material is included in the formulation that is injected. Other than when this protein material is digested (i.e. consumed and broken down into its component amino acids, etc, before absorption), it is unusable and toxic to the body. It can also contain many animal viruses (see Animal Viruses).

Animals used include monkey (kidney), cow (heart), calf (serum), chicken (embryo and egg), duck (egg), pig (blood), sheep (blood), dog (kidney), horse (blood), rabbit (brain), guinea pig, etc.
Aborted human foetal tissue and human albumin:

This is something you might like to consider if you are against abortion. Also from a health point of view tissue from another human (not just animals) is still foreign and therefore toxic to the body.

Large foreign proteins:


In addition to the above accompanying (protein) material, there are large proteins that are deliberately included, used for such purposes as adjuvants (i.e. to help get an immune "response"). Egg album and gelatin (or gelatine, obtained from selected pieces of calf and cattle skins, de-mineralized cattle bones and pork skin) are in several vaccines. Casein (milk protein) is in the triple antigen, i.e. DPT vaccine. As explained above, when injected, proteins are toxic to the body. Hence the immune system "response" - it is stressed by this invasion, which results in sensitisation - it becomes sensitive to these substances, not immune to them.

Is it any wonder, then, that allergies to these substances are now so common (in the case of milk, resulting in the relatively recent emergence of milk alternatives such as soy and rice "milk"s)?
Latex:

This is in the hepatitis B vaccine which is given routinely to health workers. Have you heard about the problem of the high occurrence of latex allergy among nurses? How do you think they became sensitised to latex? Allergic reactions can be life-threatening. Hepatitis B vaccine is now routinely given to newborn babies in many countries, including Australia and the US.
Animal Viruses:

Some of these can be particularly alien to the human body. The most frequently documented and publicised example is the monkey virus SV40. This is harmless in monkeys, but inject it into a human and it can cause cancer – in the brain (tumours), bone (e.g. multiple myeloma), lungs (mesothelioma) and lymphoid tissue (lymphoma). It has appeared in people born in the last 20 years (The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Sep 1999;180:884-887), long after the manufacturer claimed to have "cleaned up" the polio vaccine in which it was found. Such cases include the late Alexander Horwin, both of whose parents tested negative for SV40, therefore recent cases cannot just be blamed on inheritance from parents who received the vaccine (see www.ouralexander.org).
Human Viruses:

The viruses against which the vaccine is supposed to protect are frequently said to be "killed", "inactivated" or "attenuated". This is a myth. The main method used to inactivate viruses is treatment with formaldehyde, whose effectiveness is only limited, and even then only temporary - once the brew is injected into the body and disperses, it is documented in orthodox medical literature that these "killed" viruses can revert to their former virulence. (References for this are available.)

Please note also that whilst the included viruses, bacteria etc against which the vaccine is supposed to protect are claimed to be in "very small doses", the quantities are quite high enough for the diseases to occur, as they can do quite severely, occasionally even leading to death (e.g. deaths reported recently in the Lancet from yellow fever contracted from that vaccine). Indeed a susceptible person can succumb to infection when exposed to only a minute dose (particularly when directly injected), while a sufficiently healthy person will not succumb even when exposed, naturally that is, to an enormous dose. It is not the pathogen, but the interaction between pathogen and host that causes disease to appear (Intervirology 1993).

If the symptoms of a disease do not occur after a vaccine, it cannot be assumed that the person is not or will not be harmed by that pathogen. Most disease symptoms are actually the visible signs of the body's effort to defend itself against the pathogen, and with injections, important defences are bypassed.
Bacteria and the toxins they produce:

The human blood is supposed to be, and traditionally was, sterile - no bacteria (or other organisms) present in it. That is not the case any more. Naturally this has a weakening effect on the immune system, apart from sometimes leading to severe bacterial infections.
Mycoplasma:

These are microscopic organisms lacking rigid cell walls and considered to be the smallest free-living organisms. Many are pathogenic and one species is a cause of mycoplasma pneumonia which interestingly is noted to occur "in children and young adults" (Mosby's Medical Dictionary). So, are these only in vaccines by mistake as contaminants? No, believe it or not, they are deliberately included as adjuvants, i.e. to increase the immune system's "response" to the vaccine.
Genetically modified yeast:

This is in the hepatitis B vaccine. Given the controversy over the ingestion of genetically modified foods, how much less safe, do you think, is the injection of them, particularly considering what follows below?
Foreign DNA:

This DNA is from such organisms as various animals, animal/human viruses, fungi and bacteria. It has been documented that the injecting foreign DNA can cause it or some of it to be incorporated into the recipient's DNA (see 'Immunisation' Against Diseases for Children). Remember, nature has not experienced such a direct invasion as this before, so can you be sure that it would have developed a way to protect your body against it?

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Quote:

After years of insisting there is no evidence to link vaccines with the onset of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the US government has quietly conceded a vaccine-autism case in the Court of Federal Claims.

The unprecedented concession was filed on November 9, and sealed to protect the plaintiff's identify. It was obtained through individuals unrelated to the case.

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The claim, one of 4,900 autism cases currently pending in Federal "Vaccine Court," was conceded by US Assistant Attorney General Peter Keisler and other Justice Department officials, on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services, the "defendant" in all Vaccine Court cases.

The child's claim against the government -- that mercury-containing vaccines were the cause of her autism -- was supposed to be one of three "test cases" for the thimerosal-autism theory currently under consideration by a three-member panel of Special Masters, the presiding justices in Federal Claims Court.

Keisler wrote that medical personnel at the HHS Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation (DVIC) had reviewed the case and "concluded that compensation is appropriate."

The doctors conceded that the child was healthy and developing normally until her 18-month well-baby visit, when she received vaccinations against nine different diseases all at once (two contained thimerosal).

Days later, the girl began spiraling downward into a cascade of illnesses and setbacks that, within months, presented as symptoms of autism, including: No response to verbal direction; loss of language skills; no eye contact; loss of "relatedness;" insomnia; incessant screaming; arching; and "watching the florescent lights repeatedly during examination."

Seven months after vaccination, the patient was diagnosed by Dr. Andrew Zimmerman, a leading neurologist at the Kennedy Krieger Children's Hospital Neurology Clinic, with "regressive encephalopathy (brain disease) with features consistent with autistic spectrum disorder, following normal development." The girl also met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) official criteria for autism.

In its written concession, the government said the child had a pre-existing mitochondrial disorder that was "aggravated" by her shots, and which ultimately resulted in an ASD diagnosis.

"The vaccinations received on July 19, 2000, significantly aggravated an underlying mitochondrial disorder," the concession says, "which predisposed her to deficits in cellular energy metabolism, and manifested as a regressive encephalopathy with features of ASD."

This statement is good news for the girl and her family, who will now be compensated for the lifetime of care she will require. But its implications for the larger vaccine-autism debate, and for public health policy in general, are not as certain.

In fact, the government's concession seems to raise more questions than it answers.

1) Is there a connection between vaccines, mitochondrial disorders and a diagnosis of autism, at least in some cases?

Mitochondria, you may recall from biology class, are the little powerhouses within cells that convert food into electrical energy, partly through a complex process called "oxidative phosphorylation." If this process is impaired, mitochondrial disorder will ensue.

The child in this case had several markers for Mt disease, which was confirmed by muscle biopsy. Mt disease is often marked by lethargy, poor muscle tone, poor food digestion and bowel problems, something found in many children diagnosed with autism.

But mitochondrial disorders are rare in the general population, affecting some 2-per-10,000 people (or just 0.2%). So with 4,900 cases filed in Vaccine Court, this case should be the one and only, extremely rare instance of Mt disease in all the autism proceedings.

But it is not.

Mitochondrial disorders are now thought to be the most common disease associated with ASD. Some journal articles and other analyses have estimated that 10% to 20% of all autism cases may involve mitochondrial disorders, which would make them one thousand times more common among people with ASD than the general population.

Another article, published in the Journal of Child Neurology and co-authored by Dr. Zimmerman, showed that 38% of Kennedy Krieger Institute autism patients studied had one marker for impaired oxidative phosphorylation, and 47% had a second marker.

The authors -- who reported on a case-study of the same autism claim conceded in Vaccine Court -- noted that "children who have (mitochondrial-related) dysfunctional cellular energy metabolism might be more prone to undergo autistic regression between 18 and 30 months of age if they also have infections or immunizations at the same time."

An interesting aspect of Mt disease in autism is that, with ASD, the mitochondrial disease seems to be milder than in "classic" cases of Mt disorder. In fact, classic Mt disease is almost always inherited, either passed down by the mother through mitochondrial DNA, or by both parents through nuclear DNA.

In autism-related Mt disease, however, the disorder is not typically found in other family members, and instead appears to be largely of the sporadic variety, which may now account for 75% of all mitochondrial disorders.

Meanwhile, an informal survey of seven families of children with cases currently pending in Vaccine Court revealed that all seven showed markers for mitochondrial dysfunction, dating back to their earliest medical tests. The facts in all seven claims mirror the case just conceded by the government: Normal development followed by vaccination, immediate illness, and rapid decline culminating in an autism diagnosis.

2) With 4,900 cases pending, and more coming, will the government concede those with underlying Mt disease -- and if it not, will the Court award compensation?

The Court will soon begin processing the 4900 cases pending before it. What if 10% to 20% of them can demonstrate the same Mt disease and same set of facts as those in the conceded case? Would the government be obliged to concede 500, or even 1,000 cases? What impact would that have on public opinion? And is there enough money currently in the vaccine injury fund to cover so many settlements?

When asked for a comment last week about the court settlement, a spokesman for HHS furnished the following written statement:


"DVIC has reviewed the scientific information concerning the allegation that vaccines cause autism and has found no credible evidence to support the claim. Accordingly, in every case under the Vaccine Act, DVIC has maintained the position that vaccines do not cause autism, and has never concluded in any case that autism was caused by vaccination."

3) If the government is claiming that vaccines did not "cause" autism, but instead aggravated a condition to "manifest" as autism, isn't that a very fine distinction?

For most affected families, such linguistic gymnastics is not so important. And even if a vaccine injury "manifested" as autism in only one case, isn't that still a significant development worthy of informing the public?

On the other hand, perhaps what the government is claiming is that vaccination resulted in the symptoms of autism, but not in an actual, factually correct diagnosis of autism itself.

4) If the government is claiming that this child does NOT have autism, then how many other children might also have something else that merely "mimics" autism?

Is it possible that 10%-20% of the cases that we now label as "autism," are not autism at all, but rather some previously undefined "look-alike" syndrome that merely presents as "features" of autism?

This question gets to the heart of what autism actually is. The disorder is defined solely as a collection of features, nothing more. If you have the features (and the diagnosis), you have the disorder. The underlying biology is the great unknown.

But let's say the government does determine that these kids don't have actual "autism" (something I speculated on HuffPost a year ago). Then shouldn't the Feds go back and test all people with ASD for impaired oxidative phosphorylation, perhaps reclassifying many of them?

If so, will we then see "autism" cases drop by tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people? Will there be a corresponding ascension of a newly described disorder, perhaps something like "Vaccine Aggravated Mitochondrial Disease with Features of ASD?"

And if this child was technically "misdiagnosed" with DSM-IV autism by Dr Zimmerman, how does he feel about HHS doctors issuing a second opinion re-diagnosis of his patient, whom they presumably had neither met nor examined? (Zimmerman declined an interview).

And along those lines, aren't Bush administration officials somewhat wary of making long-distance, retroactive diagnoses from Washington, given that the Terry Schiavo incident has not yet faded from national memory?

5) Was this child's Mt disease caused by a genetic mutation, as the government implies, and wouldn't that have manifested as "ASD features" anyway?

In the concession, the government notes that the patient had a "single nucleotide change" in the mitochondrial DNA gene T2387C, implying that this was the underlying cause of her manifested "features" of autism.

While it's true that some inherited forms of Mt disease can manifest as developmental delays, (and even ASD in the form of Rhett Syndrome) these forms are linked to identified genetic mutations, of which T2387C is not involved. In fact little, if anything, is known about the function of this particular gene.

What's more, there is no evidence that this girl, prior to vaccination, suffered from any kind of "disorder" at all- genetic, mitochondrial or otherwise. Some forms of Mt disease are so mild that the person is unaware of being affected. This perfectly developing girl may have had Mt disorder at the time of vaccination, but nobody detected, or even suspected it.

And, there is no evidence to suggest that this girl would have regressed into symptoms consistent with a DSM-IV autism diagnosis without her vaccinations. If there was such evidence, then why on earth would these extremely well-funded government attorneys compensate this alleged injury in Vaccine Court? Why wouldn't they move to dismiss, or at least fight the case at trial?

6) What are the implications for research?

The concession raises at least two critical research questions: What are the causes of Mt dysfunction; and how could vaccines aggravate that dysfunction to the point of "autistic features?"

While some Mt disorders are clearly inherited, the "sporadic" form is thought to account for 75% of all cases, according to the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation. So what causes sporadic Mt disease? "Medicines or other toxins," says the Cleveland Clinic, a leading authority on the subject.

Use of the AIDS drug AZT, for example, can cause Mt disorders by deleting large segments of mitochondrial DNA. If that is the case, might other exposures to drugs or toxins (i.e., thimerosal, mercury in fish, air pollution, pesticides, live viruses) also cause sporadic Mt disease in certain subsets of children, through similar genotoxic mechanisms?

Among the prime cellular targets of mercury are mitochondria, and thimerosal-induced cell death has been associated with the depolarization of mitochondrial membrane, according to the International Journal of Molecular Medicine among several others. (Coincidently, the first case of Mt disease was diagnosed in 1959, just 15 years after the first autism case was named, and two decades after thimerosal's introduction as a vaccine preservative.)

Regardless of its cause, shouldn't HHS sponsor research into Mt disease and the biological mechanisms by which vaccines could aggravate the disorder? We still do not know what it was, exactly, about this girl's vaccines that aggravated her condition. Was it the thimerosal? The three live viruses? The two attenuated viruses? Other ingredients like aluminum? A combination of the above?

And of course, if vaccine injuries can aggravate Mt disease to the point of manifesting as autism features, then what other underlying disorders or conditions (genetic, autoimmune, allergic, etc.) might also be aggravated to the same extent?

7) What are the implications for medicine and public health?

Should the government develop and approve new treatments for "aggravated mitochondrial disease with ASD features?" Interestingly, many of the treatments currently deployed in Mt disease (i.e., coenzyme Q10, vitamin B-12, lipoic acid, biotin, dietary changes, etc.) are part of the alternative treatment regimen that many parents use on their children with ASD.

And, if a significant minority of autism cases can be linked to Mt disease and vaccines, shouldn't these products one day carry an FDA Black Box warning label, and shouldn't children with Mt disorders be exempt from mandatory immunization?

8) What are the implications for the vaccine-autism debate?

It's too early to tell. But this concession could conceivably make it more difficult for some officials to continue insisting there is "absolutely no link" between vaccines and autism.

It also puts the Federal Government's Vaccine Court defense strategy somewhat into jeopardy. DOJ lawyers and witnesses have argued that autism is genetic, with no evidence to support an environmental component. And, they insist, it's simply impossible to construct a chain of events linking immunizations to the disorder.

Government officials may need to rethink their legal strategy, as well as their public relations campaigns, given their own slightly contradictory concession in this case.

9) What is the bottom line here?

The public, (including world leaders) will demand to know what is going on inside the US Federal health establishment. Yes, as of now, n=1, a solitary vaccine-autism concession. But what if n=10% or 20%? Who will pay to clean up that mess?

The significance of this concession will unfortunately be fought over in the usual, vitriolic way -- and I fully expect to be slammed for even raising these questions. Despite that, the language of this concession cannot be changed, or swept away.

Its key words are "aggravated" and "manifested." Without the aggravation of the vaccines, it is uncertain that the manifestation would have occurred at all.

When a kid with peanut allergy eats a peanut and dies, we don't say "his underlying metabolic condition was significantly aggravated to the extent of manifesting as an anaphylactic shock with features of death."

No, we say the peanut killed the poor boy. Remove the peanut from the equation, and he would still be with us today.

Many people look forward to hearing more from HHS officials about why they are settling this claim. But whatever their explanation, they cannot change the fundamental facts of this extraordinary case:

The United State government is compensating at least one child for vaccine injuries that resulted in a diagnosis of autism.

And that is big news, no matter how you want to say it.

NOTE: Full text of the government's statement is posted here.

David Kirby is the author of "Evidence of Harm - Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic, A Medical Controversy" (St. Martins Press 2005.

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badchad said:

Millions of children receive vaccines each year. If vaccines were the direct cause of autism the prevalence would be much higher.

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leftysurprise said:

its alwys been my opinion that autism is direstly related to environmental toxins. its no coincidence that it was never really seen until recently, and that now the cases are inceasing exponentially.


chemicals.

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Seuss said:

> Of the 200,000 amish people in America not one has autism. Hmmmmmm makes you think don't it?

Yes, but not in the direction you are implying. So, all Amish have been tested, or are you making up numbers? Assuming that Autism is genetic, and knowing that the Amish society is fairly closed, then one would expect the Amish to be free of Autism.

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