Cracking the Autism Puzzle

[shesulsa]

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/medicine/article/0,20967,1076262,00.html

What causes the disease, which now strikes 1 in every 166 children, and why does it affect four times as many boys as girls? Geneticists at the University of California at Los Angeles are closing in on the answers. This spring they announced that they had pinned down the likely location of an autism gene on chromosome 17. The evidence was found only in families with autistic males, indicating a hereditary basis for the disease’s gender bias. Reporting the discovery in the American Journal of Human Genetics, the scientists will next try to find the actual gene among the 50 or so clustered nearby, a painstaking process that could take another year. “If we’re lucky,” says co-author Rita Cantor, a professor of genetics at the university’s David Geffen School of Medicine, “we’ll be able to explain 10 percent of autism.”

They actually were pretty sure they found it a few years ago by my recollection of past press releases - I'm sure they had to duplicate and triplicate and continually recreate so they could assert this claim.

Would be nice to get some more facts....

 

[Feisty Mouse]

Interesting.

And although I don't wish to diminish this research that is being done, but I'd also like to see more epidemiology type-studies on the possible environmental triggers or causes of autism (although that would be one challenging piece of work) - if genetic sources can account for about 10% of autism cases, whence the other 90%?

If I find any more online research, I'll post.

 

[Cryozombie]

Is there any truth to the stories that Immunizations cause it?

 

[Marginal]

As I understand it, it's not the vaccines, it's a mercury based preservative (no longer used in the US, but still being used in China etc) that was the likely culprit.

 

[MA-Caver]

Is there any truth to the stories that Immunizations cause it?

As I understand it, it's not the vaccines, it's a mercury based preservative (no longer used in the US, but still being used in China etc) that was the likely culprit.

... To my understanding (and I'm willing to be corrected on this...) vaccines for immunizations are the actual viruses themselves that they're trying to prevent. The dead viruses are cultivated and injected into the child's system so that the antibodies know what to kill, or something to that effect. A close friend of mine has not vaccinated his own children (now age 5) for this reason. In-so-far, dispite playing with other children their own ages they haven't gotten sick from the usual childhood diseases at their ages.
He gives them vitamins daily and he and his wife make sure they eat healthy regularly.
Why do we need to inject the same diseases that we're trying to prevent when living and eating healthy and taking natural vitamin enriched foods (fresh fruit and vegatables) will do the same thing? Some doctors will argue that it's not enough to take these steps.
More information is definitely needed to be sure.

 

[sgtmac_46]

... To my understanding (and I'm willing to be corrected on this...) vaccines for immunizations are the actual viruses themselves that they're trying to prevent. The dead viruses are cultivated and injected into the child's system so that the antibodies know what to kill, or something to that effect. A close friend of mine has not vaccinated his own children (now age 5) for this reason. In-so-far, dispite playing with other children their own ages they haven't gotten sick from the usual childhood diseases at their ages.
He gives them vitamins daily and he and his wife make sure they eat healthy regularly.
Why do we need to inject the same diseases that we're trying to prevent when living and eating healthy and taking natural vitamin enriched foods (fresh fruit and vegatables) will do the same thing? Some doctors will argue that it's not enough to take these steps.
More information is definitely needed to be sure.

That's fine, as long as other children are vaccinated. His children won't get sick because they won't be exposed to the viruses, which have been controlled through the vaccination of other children. However, let them get exposed and see what happens.

Anyone who doesn't understand the immune response and how the body produces anti-bodies in response to a viral attack, and then decides that he thinks vitamins and natural foods will protect his children, is playing russian roulette. They haven't gotten sick.....yet. They may never get sick, as 95% compliance with vaccination is usually enough to prevent outbreaks of many of these diseases. Your friend has foolishly mistaken the fact that his children haven't gotten sick, as evidence of the effectiveness of his "natural foods" method. This is dangerous pseudo-science. Unfortunately, there seems to be a trend in the modern world to contrarian, counter-scientific "magical" thinking (which is a psychological term) . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_thinking Note the section where alternative medicine is discussed in terms of magical thinking.

We take immunization and it's benefits for granted so much, that we forget what benefit it has provided for us. Anyone who wants to understand how immunization effects disease need look no further than the 3rd world. Diseases that have been wiped out in the industrialized world, still kills a large percentage of children in the 3rd world.

With us in the US, it's kind of "out of sight, out of mind". Vaccines have been so successful don't see the same kind of childhood diseases ravaging children as we once did, so it's tempting to forget that they existed at all (and still do). That success has caused many to question why we still vaccinate. Lets hope they don't get a first hand example.

 

[Lisa]

They actually were pretty sure they found it a few years ago by my recollection of past press releases - I'm sure they had to duplicate and triplicate and continually recreate so they could assert this claim.

Would be nice to get some more facts....

Shesulsa,

Thanks for sharing the link. The article left me wanting to know more. My nephew has been diagnosed with Aspberger's Austism and his family struggles with it daily, especially as he grows older. I was shocked by the 1 in every 166 children, last I had read it was somewhere in the 6 in 10,000. Hopefully, like the article said, within the next year or so, they will have more answers for us.

 

[ginshun]

Vitamins and natural foods are great and all, but they are no replacement for vaccinations. Being exposed to a virus through vaccinations is what helps your body develope a natural immunity to it. Echinacea is not going to help your friends child if they are exposed to chicken pox.

I have also yet to see any hard evidence connecting autism and vaccinations. There seems to be losts of inuendo and accusation, but I think that real evidence is still inconclusive.

 

[Marginal]

... To my understanding (and I'm willing to be corrected on this...) vaccines for immunizations are the actual viruses themselves that they're trying to prevent. The dead viruses are cultivated and injected into the child's system so that the antibodies know what to kill, or something to that effect.

It triggers the body's immune response and then the body generates the appropriate antibodies, which blocks future incursions by a given virus. Taking vitamins didn't stop polio. The vaccine did. A lot of areas that have become convinced that vaccines are evil are suffering from polio outbreaks now.

Considering that we still don't have a viral equivalent to penicillin, prevention works way better than dealing with a disease like cow pox after the infection's been introduced.

 

[shesulsa]

On Vaccination:

I was a poster child for immunization - I got nothing but chicken pox growing up and did have an adverse reaction to one vaccination (all downplayed by my parents). I found out later that I have an increasing anaphylactic reaction to the dyptheria portion of Tetanus shots and Dyph boosters, i.e. I reacted worse each time I got the shot. I have been told that this type of reaction is seen, but has not been explained scientifically - they don't know why it happens that I get a worse reaction each time I'm injected. It makes no sense.

So, when we talk about science and "sense" we all must remember that science is NOT concrete, that the science of today FAR outshines the science of just ten years ago and it will do so again in another decade and each decade beyond.

Immunization is a wonderful thing - it has virtually eradicated smallpox and polio.

That said - and this is what gripes my *** - is that we have the technology to test each and every child for existing immunities and potential allergies to vaccination ingredients, for heavy metal intolerance and poor metal metabolization before we shoot them up. We also have the technology to make this kind of testing affordable and easily accessible.

We also ignore the fact that most of the drug-related deaths that occur happen with prescription medications being used as prescribed (drug interaction or allergies to medications given at an early age without prior testing.

My stance on vaccines: I am FOR THE *AS SAFE AS POSSIBLE* VACCINATION OF CHILDREN BEGINNING AT 6 MONTHS OF AGE - not the current 8 weeks.

Do vaccines cause autism?

Hell, I don't know. I think, as I've said before, that it is probably a multi-faceted genetic predisposition catalyzed by some external factor which may or may not be present as early as the embryonic stage. I remember a woman who was firmly convinced that there was a correlation with how thimerosal and the Kreb's cycle - but don't ask me what it was, because I never went that far into my research - that woman has flown all over the world.

What can we do?

1. Educate ourselves. Most pediatricians will not diagnose autism (especially HMOs) until the child is older and it is too late for precious early intervention.

2. Intervene as early as possible.

3. Help a family who is dealing with autism. Learn about autism, about the family. Befriend them and see if you can offer respite - a little time away once in a while keep parents fresh, their outlook positive. It's good for the affected person and for your children - life is messy sometimes and I think it's a good lesson in thankfulness for our non-affected children to spend time with those who are involved to some degree in some kind of challenge.

4. Don't count on science for all the answers.

 

[shesulsa]

... To my understanding (and I'm willing to be corrected on this...) vaccines for immunizations are the actual viruses themselves that they're trying to prevent. The dead viruses are cultivated and injected into the child's system so that the antibodies know what to kill, or something to that effect. A close friend of mine has not vaccinated his own children (now age 5) for this reason. In-so-far, dispite playing with other children their own ages they haven't gotten sick from the usual childhood diseases at their ages.
He gives them vitamins daily and he and his wife make sure they eat healthy regularly.
Why do we need to inject the same diseases that we're trying to prevent when living and eating healthy and taking natural vitamin enriched foods (fresh fruit and vegatables) will do the same thing? Some doctors will argue that it's not enough to take these steps.
More information is definitely needed to be sure.

Vaccines used to be made with live virii, however, it was found that this was just as bad as getting the disease itself and just as deadly, if not more so. It was found (I don't remember who, sorry) that the immunity information is still present in killed virii - so when a killed virus strain is introduced into your body, your body recognizes the information and still programs your normal functioning immune system for that particular attacker, hence immunity to the strain.

 

[ginshun]

1. Educate ourselves. Most pediatricians will not diagnose autism (especially HMOs) until the child is older and it is too late for precious early intervention.

I can attest to that. My chiropractor's son is autistic and it literaly took years for the doctors to figure out that the problem was autism. I think they started noticing something being wrong when he wasn't leaning to talk, so maybe at about 2 years of age, and it was not until like 3 years later when she started asking the docters about autism herself that they even cosidered/thought of it. It seems unthinkable that a kid can go through several years of testing for god knows what kind of learning disabilites before they figured it out, but from what I have been told, that situation is not all that uncommon.

 

[Lisa]

1. Educate ourselves. Most pediatricians will not diagnose autism (especially HMOs) until the child is older and it is too late for precious early intervention.

Absolutely this is a most important aspect. In the case of my nephew. He was not diagnosed until he was in Grade one and had suffered through junior and senior kindergarten. He would cry at school. Hide in corners. Scream and throw tantrums when left by his parents. He would refuse to communicate, cooperate and engage in activities. When he was finally diagnosed and my sister in law went to the school with the diagnosis at hand the teacher told her that she had her concerns and her suspicions but her hands were tied and she was bound by the school district not to inform my brother and his wife of those suspicions, after all she was not a physician, just a seasoned teacher with years of experience.

My sister admitted that she was in denial for many years. My brother would mention that he thought something was wrong but she would not hear of it. She was scared and alone and fearful of the answers to the questions she was thinking. It was a very lonely, scarry place for a parent to be in. When she finally got up the courage to seek help, she was told there was nothing wrong. That he was an intravert, shy, etc. It wasn't until she kept persisting and asking and researching herself that the diagnosis was finally made.

Now my nephew, with the help of the school and lots of education and support of his parents is a wonderful, loving, relatively "normal" young man with friends. He interacts well and does very well in school. My sister's only regret is that she didn't get the help and scream and kick and yell at the physician's louder and harder and sooner. Afterall, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

 

[Lisa]

Researcher on Autism site that Autistic Children's brains are larger. Like Georgia said earlier in this thread, early intervention may just be the key.

Nonetheless, the researchers pointed out that "the data we present on the possible timing of brain enlargement in autism also raise the possibility that the onset of autistic symptoms may be associated with postnatal changes in brain volume, and there may exist a presymptomatic period in autism in which intervention may have more potent effects."

See full story here