More evidence that thimerosil could be a big factor in the increase in autism

[Jimjams]

Combined with genetic suscpetibility of course. Now when is the UK govt going to take notice? The reason the California fiigues are important is that they only include children dxed with autism- not with things like AS. These children would have been hard to miss- and although they may not have received an autism dx in the past the would certainly have receiievd something eg retarded or something like that,

Anyway the report:

According to information released today by the California State
Department of Developmental Services (DDS), California's developmental
services system has just experienced the first ever nine month sustained
reduction in the numbers of professionally diagnosed new cases of full
syndrome autism being added to California's developmental services system.
California, with the world's best record keeping system, is the de
facto "canary in the coal mine" in tracking new cases of autism. In 1999 the
first DDS report on autism established for the first time the existence of a
growing autism epidemic. A report released by DDS in 2003 documented a
doubling of the autism caseload from 1999-2002.
Could this be the beginning of the decline of the autism epidemic?
Have we discovered a "smoking gun" environmental factor that has contributed
to the epidemic? DDS only reports professionally diagnosed cases of full
syndrome DSM IV autism and DOES NOT include PDD, NOS, Asperger's Syndrome,
or any other autism spectrum disorder in this reporting category. The
numbers reported by DDS do not include children under the age of three years
old.
Historically, the four to six year old age group dominate the new
intake population. Within the past few months, for the first time, children
born in the years 1999 and 2000 are now entering the system.
Not only did the most recent three consecutive quarter period produce
the first sustained reduction in the 35 year history of California's
developmental services system (197 fewer new cases then the previous October
through June period), but the most current recently completed quarter, April
2004 through June 2004, produced the all time largest reduction of any
quarter (108 less cases) in the history of the system.
Please see the DDS data below, and review the attachments which
include an important chart and complete data spread sheet.
Recently published groundbreaking research initiated and funded by the
U.C. Davis M.I.N.D. Institute, and conducted by Dr. Mady Hornig at Columbia
University, has established a biological mechanism in an animal model that
combines genetic susceptibility and Thimerisol poisoning which results in
behaviors in the animal model very similar to human autistic behaviors.
Autism like brain pathology was also discovered in these animals. Many more
of these independent studies currently being conducted at M.I.N.D. and at
other facilities around the world will shed more light on the
viral/bacterial/toxin interaction with genetic susceptibilities in the
coming months.
The data compares new intakes from the most current three consecutive
quarterly periods (October 2003 through June 2004) to all other previous
October through June time periods.
What makes this historic development of this very recent reduction in
new cases of autism so important is that those children from the birth
cohorts of 1999 and 2000 are now entering the system. First with the year
1999 and much more so with year 2000, these are the widely recognized first
two years of the beginning of the serious effort to substantially reduce the
amount of the mercury containing preservative Thimerisol in childhood
vaccines.

Increase April though June
No. Of over previous increase from
new cases 3 Quarter Period previous year

Oct. - Dec., 1999
Jan. - March 2000 1331
April - June 2000

Oct. - Dec., 2000
Jan. - March 2001 1930 599 176
April - June 2001

Oct. - Dec., 2001
Jan. - March 2002 2314 384 182
April - June 2002

Oct. - Dec., 2002
Jan. - March 2003 2391 77 -15
April - June 2003

Oct. - Dec. 2003
Jan. - March 2004 2194 -197 -108
April. - June 2004

Rick Rollens is a co-founder of the M.I.N.D. Institute, a pioneer of
Families for Early Autism Treatment of Sacramento (FEAT) and a board
director of a national autism social organization. Rollens currently works
as a state lobbyist for regional contractors of services to the disabled for
the California Department of Developmental Services. He is also the parent
of an autistic child.

Could we have a quick beginner's guide to thimerosil, Jimjams? ie. what it is and where it lives?

It makes me feel sick that I didn't know this when my ds was getting his vaccinations. No2 will not get any of this poison in his/her system, for sure. Disgusted that the government are so behind and unconcerned on this issue.

frogs there have been various threads on this previously - try searching archived threads. Won't attempt an elegant summary as I haven't followed the previous threads properly

No2??? What number 2????? When where??? etc etc.

In the UK thimerosil is in DTwP - the vaccines given at 8, 12 and 16 weeks, It's also found in some forms of hep B and flu jabs etc but these aren't routine childhood vax here. (The US and Aus etc use DTaP for baby vaccines- which is why the above report refers to phasing them out).

The Hornig paper mentioned in the report is interesting a it shows that if you take mice a genetic predisposition to autoimmunity and you inject thimerosil into them thern they become autistic.

Also interesting (unpublished?) research from Walsh found that of 503 autisitc children 499 had something wrong with metallothionein which transports heavy metals out of the cells.

The interesting thing is that the rise in autism rates dates back to the introduction of the MMR-although even people working on the MMR link think only about 7% of autistic children have been affected by it. However when the MMR was introduced the timing of the DTP's changed from being given over the course of the first year to being given at 8, 12 and 16 weeks. overload for some children?

Anyway we have a family history full of autoimmunity on dh's side. I'm fairly certain I know what happened to ds1- or at least what his first hit was. It's too late for him, but this sort of research may have prevented ds2 going the same way (he's had none), and hopefully number 3 as well.

thanks for the elegant summary jimjams
Presumably w stands for whole and a for acellular?

February 11th Jimjams!
Oh, and I've meaning to say, sorry, you were right about the other dr - can't remember his name - subsequently read a feature by him in the Mail saying that, yes, autism could be caused by bad/unloving parenting, which I just think is rubbish. Terrible behaviour & lifelong psychological damage, yes, but not autism. What a shame, because I think some of what he said is true, but that just undermines it all.
I can't quite believe how cavalier the gvmt is about mercury being injected directly into small babies, when there is a big hoo ha about tuna!

BTW I do think this is highly relevant to me as I strongly suspect that my dad has AS. As a teenager I got so hacked off with his talking about his latest obsession to me on the phone as if I wasn't there, I gently put the phone down, went off to the kitchen, slowly made a cup of tea and some toast, wandered back, and, yes, he was still talking! If there is a genetic predisposition then I don't want to risk triggering it. Also think ds may be dyspraxic, though definitely not autistic. So no mercury thank you very much!

Eeek! Never knew this.

How is the autoimmunity link hypothesised to work? We have a family history of autoimmune illnesses (at least I have a fairly serious one, now OK), and lots of thyroid disease, although thyroid problems are common where my family originates from.

I'm also convinced my dad has AS, since the first time I sat in on a speech therapy group for AS adults, and realised that my dad would have fitted right in. He doesn't talk that much most of the time, but like Aloha's dad, once he's got going on a pet topic, you could definitely go off and make a cup of tea without it interrupting him -- and that's face to face, not just on the telephone.

But I always felt a repressed 1950s upbringing in bleak prep-schools might have played into that as well, or is an upbringing link not now generally accepted?

message withdrawn

The report below twiglett? It was from the Schaefer autism report= a daily report sent out by Lenny Schaefer- he collates all the days world news on autism. I think he has a website and there may be a link to the source there. I'll check the email- usually he gives links.

Congratulations Aloha!!! Our next ones will be very close in age. I read some weird stuff about that dr bloke after the thread (although I was more annoyed by the reporting than him) I didn't follow it up, but he's quite influential with the govt or something. Frightening! The Mail is funny though, it's obsessed with MMR - and report well on that, but frequently runs articles on bad parenting=ADHD in particualr (especailly that idiot Peter Hitchins bloke).

forgs I think a bleak upbringing can make someone socially inept but certainly not autistic. It can be tricky to see the difference between autistic tendencies and AS until you meet AS in the flesh so to speak. The majority of people I know with AS (rather than tendencis) have really quite serious problems even coping with the world iyswim.

The report was submitted by:

[This report and analysis from California autism advocate Rick
Rollens.]

No idea who he is! May just go and check....

oh he was easy to find

But Jimjams, if there's a spectrum ranging from severe autism to complete party animal which we are all on, does it not make sense to argue that a mild predisposition to autism could be exacerbated by a poor upbringing and counteracted to some extent by a supportive one?

I can see why people are reluctant to follow this line of thinking since it could be taken to imply that parents are somehow 'responsible' for their child's autism. This isn't my intention at all, but just a comment on my personal experience of individuals in my family with varying degrees of social difficulties. I've gone out of my way to 'teach' my dd1 skills like shaking hands with people, smiling and eye contact, which my ds does completely by instinct, and it has definitely helped her confidence, though she'll never be a candidate for most popular child in the class.

Similarly while I can empathise with some of the impulses behind my dad's behaviour, I 'know' enough to not behave like that, and probably pass as normal. My dad, otoh, is definitely not normal, and it was only when I met adult AS people that his behaviour made sense to me.

Sorry, long and rambly, but I do find other people's stories and experiences in this field fascinating.

Can somebody explain me this with apples please? or kindly send me to an idiots guide about autism and thimerosil?

We are not all on the autistic spectrum. There is a huge difference between someone who is autistic enough to get a diagnosis of AS or HFA and someone who isn't. Even high functioning autistics are often operating without an inate thoery of mind (although they can learn it), and usually have some sort of sensory problems (whether hyper or hypo).

Sure some people are socially inpet, but if they understand that others have ther own thoughts from an early age, if they understand that other people don't know what the inside of their house looks like if they haven't been there (and I know a very very very able AS 15 year old who doesn't get that), if they can't hear the electicity humming, or see patterns coming out of fluorescent lights (or some other weird sensory thing) then they are probably just not very social- rather than acutally autistic.

It's the sensory difficulties and the processing problems along wth language oddities and late/little development of theory of mind that "makes" someone autistic. That doesn't come from parenting however poor.

and also I have to say I HATE the idea that a supportive environment can counteract autism- it just isn't that simple. We've done as much as we can (I think). maybe starting ABA at 2 full time would have been more effective- but absolutey nothing has worked s far to bring on my son's langauge at all. if anything he has moved further into the spectrum from ('not autistic or only very mild" at his first assessment to 'severe' now) And although we know he is someone who does have some gut damage and we can help that out a bit we certainly have not been able to begin to correct the metabolic processes that are awry with him.

Autism is far far more than being interested on one topic, or having an interest in computers, or even being poor at eye contact- thier metabolism is wierd, their sensory processing is off the wall, the way they learn langauge is weird.

Sorry, jimjams, as I said I absolutely didn't mean to imply I thought that 'better parenting' could counteract autism.

So would you say that there is an absolute cut-off between someone who has a diagnosis of high-functioning autism, however mild, and and someone who does not, however 'odd' they may seem?

I'm not trying to challenge your views, since my knowledge could be written on the back of a postage stamp. But I had interpreted things other people had said as meaning that there was a range of behaviours which covered a spectrum of normal at one end and a spectrum of clearly non-'normal' at the other, with some common ground inbetween.

But it sounds as if you don't think that. Intuitively it seems to me as if NT people's tolerance for different levels of stimulation and varying skills for social interaction would have some kind of a neurological basis too, even if not pathological. Are there definite markers for where the pathological begins and the NT ends?

Ds1 (4yrs old) is at the high-functioning end of the spectrum. The simplest way I can think of to describe him is to say that his brain seems to be wired up differently to NT people. His hearing and vision are hypersensitive and sometimes it's as though his 'circuits' have crossed wires. He can now tell me that loud noises hurt his eyes and that bright lights sometimes hurt his ears. His body is hyposensitive which means he tends not to feel pain. The exception to this is his hands. He can now tolerate touching different textures but this has taken a lot of work. He still rushes off to wash his hands if he gets too much paint on them but now will at least touch the stuff.

In some ways he is very easy to teach. He is a visual learner with what I would guess is an almost photographic memory. We are extremely fortunate in this respect and it's not something that I will ever take for granted. I also do not take any credit for it. I do a fair amount of work with him but certainly nowhere near the amount that Jimjams does with her ds1. So much depends upon the actual child.

Ds1 is a fast learner but still needs to be taught the things that other children would know instinctively. At the moment his development is so uneven. His numeracy and literacy skills are fantastic but he still can't hold a pencil properly or use a toilet.

I regularly come into contact with people who think ds1's problems are somehow my fault (sadly this includes some family members). If I'd only spoken to him more as a baby he wouldn't need SALT. If I'd made him socialise more he would mix with other children far more easily than he does. And of course he's only still in nappies because I'm too lazy to actually get him toilet-trained. Interestingly the same people think that the things that ds1 actually excels at are just a quirk of nature and nothing to do with me so obviously their parenting theory doesn't work both ways!

IMHO there is still a world of difference between even the highest-functioning autistic and an NT person. It may be easier to work around the problems but those problems are always there.

Would you say that Aspergers 'sits' between High functioning autism and NT? Or do you feel that the metabolic probems etc are only withingthe autistic spectrum and that Aspergers, although having similar 'tendencies' is essentialy an different condition?

Blimey coppertop, how awful to be encountering views like that. Utter rubbish, but really hard to listen to nevertheless I would imagine

Can I just say again, coppertop, I wasn't trying to imply anything like that, and I hope you don't think I was. I was just interested in what (if any) overlap there might be between the NT and high-functioning autistic spectrum, and how they are differentiated.

And also to come back to Jimjams original post, whether, with a family history of autoimmune disease and (for the sake of argument) some low-functioning NT family members, whether I should be worried about thimerosol.

Frogs - No I didn't think you were implying anything at all. I was just mentioning those particular people I meet IRL who do still think that bad parenting caused my ds1's difficulties.

Tamum - I used to get angry about it but I now just find it irritating. I'm also of MN'ers with supportive families!

hmb - That's a toughie! I think it's made even harder by AS and HFA being used interchangeably. At ds1's first visit to the Paed she said that he was AS. At his case conference she described him in one sentence as AS and in another as HFA so I think she sees them as being the same thing. I always thought that for a dx of AS the child had to have developed language at a 'normal' stage. Ds1 was pretty late in talking so I'm still confused!

I just wonder as I have seen a good few aspie's in school and have seen a lot of NT kids who are very close to them in their behaviour, though obvuiosly not 'needing' a statement or extra help in school. Having worked in labs I have met so many people 'on the edge' I just wonder.

I have also teaught kids with a Dx of Autism and would agree that they are hardwired in a very, very different way to NTs

I didn't know anything about Thiomersal previously and my DD had her DTP jabs as normal, but my DH received the following email and we decided to seek the alternative for our DS now 11 weeks.
I have had nightmares trying to explain to our surgery why we didn't want the normal jabs and gave them loads of print outs from the internet! Finally we received a call saying that they had managed to get us the separate DTP and Hib injections that are mercury free and all covered by the NHS!!!
Anyway here's the email is it helps anyone understand more...

Today's e-Alert mainly concerns those living in the US, in fact a US colleague of mine, John, emailed me the details of it. The reason I'm bringing it to your attention is that it not only involves a potentially-harmful substance contained in vaccines given to children in the UK, but also highlights once again the work of infuriating government bureaucracies.

John wrote to tell me about the latest US reports on thiomersal (a mercury containing preservative) present in some DTP (Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccines in the UK which has been linked to autism.

Where does the thiomersal and autism link come from?

Last year, a US study published in the Journal of the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons examined extensive data on vaccines in children. The astonishing conclusion: Children who receive just three vaccines containing the mercury-based preservative thimerosal are 27-times more likely to develop autism, compared to children who get vaccinations containing no thimerosal.

But the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US is having none of it. Last week, CDC representatives announced their recommendation that children aged 6 months to 23 months should receive flu shots (which contain thimerosal) as part of the standard schedule of immunisations. Steve Cochi, the acting director of the National Immunisation Programme underlined the CDC's official view of the vaccine-autism connection, citing a "lack of scientific evidence."

But CDC officials are almost certainly aware of a huge body of scientific evidence that supports the vaccine-autism link. For instance: The evidence used in the study mentioned above was collected from data obtained under the US Freedom of Information Act. And the source of the data? Sure, you saw it coming: The archives of the CDC.

Hurry... supplies are limited

Responding to the CDC announcement, US congressman Dave Weldon of Florida (who also happens to be a doctor) said he was "outraged." And he added, "One thing we can be certain of is that injecting mercury into an eight-, 12- or 16-pound infant cannot have a positive effect on that child, particularly when one in six infants is born with a mercury level that the EPA considers harmful."

The one bit of good news here is that parents in the US can request thimerosal-free flu shots for their kids. The bad news is that they'd best do it right now because the number of immunisations without thimerosal will be limited and will even need to be specially ordered by doctors who don't keep it on hand. The cost of the non-thimerosal shot will be considerably higher as well.

Sounds a little crazy, doesn't it? Your child can have a normal flu shot, or - for a slight additional charge - they can provide a SAFER shot with one of the toxins removed. So... which would you like? With-toxin or without?

The problem is that most parents will probably never even know they have a choice. And the CDC is partly to blame because officials decided not to offer that information along with their recommendation to add the flu shot to the standard vaccine schedule for infants.

**
Don't postpone hope
**

Today, most vaccines don't contain thimerosal. In 1999, the US Public Health Service and the American Academy of Paediatrics petitioned drug companies to remove thimerosal from vaccines intended for children, and by and large, vaccine manufacturers have complied. (Think about it: Would any of this have transpired if the scientific evidence was truly lacking?)

Alarmingly, the vaccine is still routinely used in Britain by NHS. In fact the UK is believed to be the last developed country to continue to use baby vaccines containing thimerosal. The Department of Health is still using a mercury-laced Diphtheria, Tetanus and whole-cell Pertussis (whooping cough) jab, known as DTwP.

Let's hope the latest US trials will get the attention of UK government officials to get this substance banned, and that flu shots containing thimerosal for babies don't make their way across the pond.