
________________________________________________________________
Tuesday
July 26,
2011
Vol. 15 No. 37
PUBLIC HEALTH
MMR Shot Fears Gain Support
RESEARCH
Weak Synchronization in Brain May Be a Marker for Autism
Workings of Brain Protein Suggest Therapies for Fragile X Syndrome and
Autism
Study Highlights Success of Brain Surgery for Severe Epilepsy
TREATMENT
Licensing Of Behavior Analysts Called Into Question
COMMENTARY
Murdoch's Media Malpractice And The Genetic Altering Of Human Beings
Through DNA Vaccines
LETTERS
PUBLIC HEALTH
MMR Shot Fears Gain Support
By James Chapman, Daily
Mail
The safety of the MMR vaccine was again
called into question
yesterday after American research appeared to back the British doctor
who first linked it to autism and bowel disease.
Dr Andrew Wakefield was vilified after
claiming to have
identified a combined syndrome of autism and bowel disease in children
who had been given the measles, mumps and rubella injection.
Government scientists and the Department
of Health dismissed his findings as flawed and insisted the MMR jab was
safe.
Critics claimed that not a single piece
of research by Dr Wakefield and his colleagues had been replicated
elsewhere.
But now experts at New York University
School of Medicine have
reported the first independent corroboration of the findings that first
sparked concern.
Dr Arthur Krigsman, a consultant
paediatric gastroenterologisthas
observed serious intestinal inflammation in 43 autistic children.
At a U.S. Congressional hearing on the
safety of MMR last week,
he said his patients had inexplicably deteriorated, losing language and
other skills at around 12 to 18 months of age.
All the children had been referred to
him because they also had
unexplained digestive problems such as pain, constipation and diarrhoea.
Tests revealed that 90 per cent had the
same inflammatory bowel
disease reported by Dr Wakefield in patients he examined at the Royal
Free Hospital in London four years ago.
Dr Krigsman said last night: 'Our
findings, which are independent
of Dr Wakefield's, completely support his explanation and his
observations of the abnormalities in the bowels of these children.
'They mirror exactly what he has
described.' The doctor, an
assistant professor at New York University, said he did not know
whether the illnesses were linked to MMR.
But he now plans to examine biopsies
taken from the children for evidence of infection with the measles
virus.
Pathologists at Trinity College, Dublin,
claimed earlier this
month they had evidence from similar experiments on 75 children,
identifying measles virus from the MMR vaccine in bowel tissue samples.
Though this is far from proof that the
jab actually triggered autism or bowel disease, some experts saw it as
significant.
Dr Krigsman said: 'Our concern was to
determine whether there was bowel inflammation in these autistic
children.
'The answer was yes. Now the question
is: "What is causing it?î.'
His findings will add to the confusion of millions of parents over
whether to have their children inoculated with MMR.
According to the Public Health
Laboratory Service (PHLS), the
take-up rate for the triple vaccine has fallen to 'dangerously low
levels' in parts of the UK, prompting fears of a potential epidemic of
measles, which in extreme cases can be fatal.
There has been a growing clamour for the
Government to make
single vaccinations available for those who have doubts over the triple
jab.
Instead, the handful of centres offering
imported single-dose vaccinations have been warned they are breaking
regulations.
The Department of Health has repeatedly
insisted that the
combined MMR, rather than single injections, is the best and most
effective way to protect children.
Earlier this month, what was billed as
the most comprehensive
analysis yet undertaken found no link between the MMR vaccine and
autism or inflammatory-bowel disease. The report was compiled by public
health experts Dr Anna Donald and Dr Vivek Muthu of health study
analysts Bazian for the British Medical Journal publication Clinical
Evidence.
However, more than 2,000 British
families have taken legal action, claiming their children have been
damaged by the jab.
The Department of Health said last night
that although Dr
Krigsman's evidence had been presented to the U.S. Congress, it had not
yet been published in a scientific or medical journal.
It added: 'We are not aware that it has
been reviewed by other independent scientific experts.
'There is no evidence in any of his
reported findings of a causal
link between MMR and inflammatory bowel disease or autism.
'There is a separate discussion on
whether there is a link
between autism and inflammatory bowel disease, and whether they are as
a consequence of MMR,' she added.
'The most recent review looked at 2,000
pieces of research and
confirmed that the current scientific evidence does not find any link
between MMR and autism, or MMR and inflammatory bowel disease.
'We will continue to monitor all new
evidence as it becomes available.'
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•
• •
RESEARCH
Weak Synchronization in Brain May Be a Marker for Autism
As
compared to the control brain (top), the autistic brain (bottom) shows
weaker inter-hemispheric synchronization in several areas, particularly
the superior temporal gyrus (light blue) and the inferior frontal gyrus
(red). (Credit: Image courtesy of Weizmann Institute of Science)
Source: Weizmann Institute of Science
Newswise
— The biological causes of autism are still not understood. A diagnosis
of autism is only possible after ages three or four and the tests are
subjective, based on behavioral symptoms. Now, in research that
appeared in Neuron, scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science,
Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of California, San Diego
have found, for the first time, a method that can accurately identify a
biological sign of autism in very young toddlers. By scanning the brain
activity of sleeping children, the scientists discovered that the
autistic brains exhibited significantly weaker synchronization between
brain areas tied to language and communication, compared to that of
non-autistic children.
“Identifying biological signs of autism has been a major goal for many
scientists around the world, both because they may allow early
diagnosis, and because they can provide researchers with important
clues about the causes and development of the disorder,” says
postdoctoral fellow Dr. Ilan Dinstein, a member of the group of Prof.
Rafael Malach, who headed this study in the Weizmann Institute’s
Department of Neurobiology. While many scientists believe that faulty
lines of communication between different parts of the brain are
involved in the spectrum of autism disorders, there was no way to
observe this in very young children, who are unable to lie still inside
a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner while they are
awake.
But work by Prof. Malach’s team and
other research groups pointed
to a solution. Their studies had shown that even during sleep, the
brain does not actually switch off. Rather, the electrical activity of
the brain cells switches over to spontaneous fluctuation. These
fluctuations are coordinated across the two hemispheres of the brain
such that each point on the left is synchronized with its corresponding
point in the right hemisphere.
In sleeping autistic toddlers, the fMRI
scans showed lowered
levels of synchronization between the left and right brain areas known
to be involved in language and communication. This pattern was not seen
either in children with normal development or in those with delayed
language development who were not autistic. In fact, the researchers
found that this synchronization was strongly tied to the autistic
child’s ability to communicate: The weaker the synchronization, the
more severe the symptoms of autism. On the basis of the scans, the
scientists were able to identify 70 percent of the autistic children
between the ages of one and three.
Dr. Dinstein says, “This biological
measurement could help
diagnose autism at a very early stage. The goal for the near future is
to find additional markers that can improve the accuracy and the
reliability of the diagnosis."
Prof. Rafael Malach’s research is
supported by the Nella and Leon
Benoziyo Center for Neurosciences, which he heads; the Nella and Leon
Benoziyo Center for Neurological Diseases; the Carl and Micaela
Einhorn-Dominic Brain Research Institute; the Friends of Dr. Lou
Siminovitch; and the S. & J. Lurje Memorial Foundation. Prof.
Malach is the recipient of the Helen and Martin Kimmel Award for
Innovative Investigation. Prof. Malach is the incumbent of the Barbara
and Morris L. Levinson Professorial Chair in Brain Research.
The Weizmann Institute of Science in
Rehovot, Israel, is one of
the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted
for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the
Institute is home to 2,700 scientists, students, technicians, and
supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new
ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in
mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the
universe, creating novel materials, and developing new strategies for
protecting the environment.
• • •
Workings of Brain Protein Suggest Therapies for
Fragile X Syndrome and Autism
ScienceDaily
— Researchers now have a much clearer understanding of how mutations in
a single gene can produce the complex cognitive deficits characteristic
of Fragile X Syndrome, the most common inherited form of intellectual
disability. As the majority of patients with Fragile X Syndrome also
display autism-like symptoms, the findings offer hope for treating both
conditions.
A report in the July 22nd issue of the
journal Cell, published by
Cell Press, defines a set of messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules that the
Fragile-X mental retardation protein (FMRP) binds in the brains of
mice. Many of these mRNAs encode proteins that function at neurons'
connection points. When properly bound, FMRP prevents the translation
of these mRNAs into proteins until the time is right.
"By understanding for the first time the
direct targets of FMRP
and its actions, we open up a whole world of potential avenues for
therapies designed to make kids with Fragile X or autism better," said
Robert Darnell, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at The
Rockefeller University.
"The power comes from taking two
diseases with similar symptoms
and looking at what is in common," added Jennifer Darnell, also at The
Rockefeller University. Of the almost 850 identified targets of FMRP,
she explained, it is likely only a much smaller subset has a real
impact on health or disease.
The Darnell team's breakthrough uses a
technique they developed a
few years ago based on a "biochemical trick." They use ultraviolet
light to solidify the bonds between a protein, in this case FMRP, and
the mRNAs it binds. Those protein-mRNA complexes could then be isolated
and sequenced to reveal a "beautiful map" of the mRNA transcripts and
precisely where they are bound to FMRP.
The experiments reveal that FMRP
specifically binds to the
protein-coding portions of those brain mRNAs. Jennifer Darnell said
that distribution is unlike what they've seen before and looked much
like the distribution of ribosomes, the cellular components that
assemble proteins.
Further experiments suggest that FMRP
acts as a "brake,"
reversibly stalling ribosomes after they bind mRNA. Robert Darnell
likened FMRP to the nozzle at the end of a hose. It allows the mRNA
transcripts to be loaded with ribosomes in the locations where they
will be needed, and when the time is right, bursts of translation
(protein synthesis) can occur. That sort of tight control is likely to
be critical for the formation and plasticity of neural connections, the
cellular foundation for learning and memory.
Their basic scientific discoveries
suggest two different overall
strategies for treating Fragile X Syndrome: by lowering the activity of
particular proteins normally kept under wraps by FMRP or by replacing
FMRP's ability to stall ribosomes. Notably, the Darnells say the latter
is exactly what antibiotics do to slow the growth of bacteria.
"We may be able to take the edge off of
the extra protein synthesis," Jennifer Darnell said.
Ultimately, there will be more to the
story, Robert Darnell
added. "FMRP is one of many regulatory proteins in the neuron. It
doesn't work all by itself."
This
News Digest
is made possible by the paid support of
Individual Members of
the Autism Community
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•
• •
Study Highlights Success of Brain Surgery for Severe
Epilepsy
ScienceDaily
— Two-thirds of people with severe and otherwise untreatable epilepsy
were completely cured of their frequent seizures after undergoing
neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco Medical
Center, according to a new study that examined 143 of these patients
two years after their operations.
The new study not only shows the promise
of this type of
neurosurgery at treating severe epilepsy, it also highlights how
research into brain imaging may help to further improve results for
people who have such operations.
"Surgery can be a powerful way to stop
this disorder in its
tracks," said UCSF Neurosurgeon Edward Chang, who led study, which is
published this week in the journal Annals of Neurology. "Many of these
people were living 10, 15 or 20 years with very severe and dangerous
seizures."
The success of the surgery, added Chang,
was directly related to
the accuracy with which the medical team could map the brain, identify
the exact pieces of tissue responsible for an individual's seizures and
ultimately remove them.
"We need to continue to focus on
developing new methods to figure
out and pinpoint where the seizures are coming from," said Chang.
Surgery for the Worst Cases
Epilepsy has been known as a disease
since ancient times.
Hippocrates, the father of western medicine, described it in detail in
his writings some 2,500 years ago, and it is believed to have afflicted
many famous people throughout history, including Julius Caesar. About
two million people in the United States suffer from the disease today,
according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and
the World Health Organization estimates that some 50 million people
worldwide have epilepsy, a name that means "seizures" in Greek.
While seizures are common to a number of
other conditions,
including head injuries, infections, exposure to toxins, sleep
deprivation and stroke, people with epilepsy suffer recurrent seizures.
Those seizures basically result from spontaneous instabilities in the
brain's neurons that can lead to symptoms ranging from slight muscle
twitches to severe convulsions and loss of consciousness, depending on
which parts of the brain are involved.
For many people with epilepsy, seizures
are triggered by physical
malformations in their brains that formed during early development.
Powerful anticonvulsant drugs help many of them overcome their
seizures, but a subset of people with epilepsy do not respond to the
drugs. Some suffer only the occasional seizure, but others with more
severe cases of epilepsy may suffer from dozens of seizures daily.
For those with such severe, untreatable
epilepsy, brain surgery
can be the last and best hope, aiming to remove the problematic pieces
of brain tissue -- which may be as small as an acorn or as large as
half the brain.
As the new study has highlighted, when
the surgery works it can
completely cure the seizures overnight. But a challenge remains because
many malformations that cause the seizures are invisible to most forms
of imaging.
UCSF Medical Center is one of just a few
facilities in the
country that is a world leader in brain imaging, epilepsy neurology and
neurosurgery, and as a result, is one of the biggest epilepsy surgery
programs in the United States. The latest study was part of a larger
project at UCSF that is seeking to understand the different classes of
malformations in the brain that lead to seizures and why certain people
respond to treatment while others do not.
While those larger questions remain
unanswered, according to
Chang, the latest study proves a simple concept he hopes will drive
further research in the field.
The better doctors can map the brain and
identify the source of
the seizures, Chang said, the greater will be the impact of the surgery.
• • •
TREATMENT
Licensing Of Behavior Analysts Called Into Question
By Shaun Heasley disabilityscoop.com
As autism advocates press for laws
requiring that private health
insurers cover behavior therapy, the question of who should license
therapy providers is emerging as key.
The issue is coming to the forefront in
Virginia where lawmakers
recently approved legislation requiring insurance coverage for applied
behavior analysis, or ABA, therapy starting in 2012.
But excited parents were soon dismayed
to learn that a
last-minute addition to the bill requires providers of the therapy to
be licensed by the state. It could take as long as two years for such a
licensing system to be established and families say they are concerned
that they won’t be able to benefit from the new law in the meantime.
The licensure requirement brings a twist
to efforts to enhance
insurance coverage of autism treatments. Traditionally, advocates say
most states have relied on the national certification from the Behavior
Analyst Certification Board to ensure that therapists are qualified,
reports The Virginian-Pilot. To read more click
here .
Nonetheless, Virginia is not the only
state grappling with who
should license ABA therapists. California regulators recently reached agreements
with two private insurance companies to expand ABA therapy. But the
deals hinge on therapy being provided by state licensed providers even
though the state administers no such licenses.
• • •
COMMENTARY
Murdoch's Media Malpractice And The Genetic Altering Of Human Beings
Through DNA Vaccines
By Ethan A. Huff, NaturalNews
Rupert Murdoch's media empire News Corp., which represents the second
largest media conglomerate in the world behind the Walt Disney Company,
is taking a severe beating as Murdoch himself is having to address
various criminal allegations, including that his News of the World
tabloid illegally hacked private phone lines and committed various
other crimes.
But Murdoch's media malpractice runs
even deeper as his strong
connections to the pharmaceutical industry also fueled his media
machine's fabrication of lies against Dr. Andrew Wakefield, as well as
hid from the public the true dangers of DNA vaccines that permanently
corrupt human genes and cause autism.
Murdoch has built quite a reputation for
himself as a scoundrel
of sorts, as many Americans who identify with the "left" side of the
political spectrum have accused him of pandering to the "right" by
skewing the news to appeal to "conservatives" (Murdoch owns FOX News,
after all).
But what Murdoch's organization is
actually doing on all fronts
with its various media outlets, including FOX, is pushing much bigger
agendas that supersede any alleged "right vs. left" paradigm. One such
agenda is News Corp.'s routine censorship of the dangerous truth about
drugs and vaccines, which include smear campaigns like those levied
against Dr. Wakefield who conduct legitimate research that contradicts
mainstream medical thought.
News Corp. systematically destroyed the
reputation of Dr.
Wakefield, lied about his work. But as a quick recap, Dr.
Wakefield
basically discovered through credible research that the combination
measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine was linked to mental and
physiological health problems, and that the individual measles vaccine
should be given to children instead until further research on the
safety of MMR could be conducted.
The findings were credible, responsibly-derived, and honest in their
assessment -- but they resulted in a tirade of lies and slander against
Dr. Wakefield.
The statements included false
accusations that he is opposed to
all vaccinations, that he had manipulated his data, and that he is
basically unfit to be a doctor, despite the fact that he is arguably
one of the most well-respected and highly-educated gastroenterologists
in the world. In the end, though, Dr. Wakefield ended up having his
study pulled from the esteemed UK journal Lancet, and his UK medical
license was revoked.
And just who was responsible for the
annihilation campaign
against Dr. Wakefield? None other than Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.,
which literally fabricated lies about Dr. Wakefield and disseminated
them around the world via its multinational media network. News Corp.'s
London Times, for instance, falsely accused Dr. Wakefield of being
"callous, unethical and dishonest," and published numerous articles
saying he was a fraud, and that he "abused his position of trust."
And why, exactly, did News Corp. feel
the need to destroy the
life and reputation of a man that had done so much to help children
with autism and other neurological disorders?
Because Dr. Wakefield's findings were
incongruent with the
multi-billion-dollar profit ring of multinational pharmaceutical
companies like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Merck Inc., both of which
produce and market MMR vaccines.
Murdoch media empire, judicial system
closely knit with drug
companies Did you know that Rupert Murdoch's son James Murdoch, who
manages the UK paper Sunday Times, is on the board of GSK? Or how about
Sir Nigel Davis, the High Court judge that denied parents of children
treated by Dr. Wakefield the right to have their claims against vaccine
manufacturers heard in a real court? Davis' brother, who is an
executive board member of Elsevier, the group that publishes the
Lancet, is also on the board of GSK.
An article in the COTO Report also
explains that the head of the
popular Reuters news service serves on the board of Merck, while a
prominent writer at the UK's Daily Mirror is married to the former
chairman of GSK. And the list goes on and on.
With all of these strong connections to
drug companies, it is no
wonder that the media at large wholly participated in the Dr. Wakefield
slander campaign -- after all, Dr. Wakefield's work caused millions of
people to wake up and begin questioning the safety not only of the MMR
vaccine, but also of vaccines in general. And this continued awakening
is taking its toll on Big Pharma's profits.
MMR and dozens of other DNA' vaccines
essentially create
genetically-modified humans Dr. Wakefield's work uncovered a crucial
detail about certain vaccines that ultimately exposes those in this
particular category as highly-dangerous, life-altering poisons.
Third-generation DNA vaccines like MMR contain genetically-engineered
(GE) materials that are injected directly into the body, sort of like
how genetically-modified (GM) crop seeds have been injected with
altered DNA that changes their genetic makeup -- and these GE traits
can permanently alter proper human development.
As far as DNA vaccines are concerned,
the GE material they
contain is included as part of an overall effort to induce "DNA
uptake," a term that is very vaguely defined, but one that appears to
infer a literal adoption of altered DNA into the human genetic
structure. If this is the case, then DNA vaccines like MMR are
overriding normal DNA with altered DNA, which causes the untold changes
in human development and health that have been observed.
Based on Dr. Wakefield's findings, this
is exactly what appears
to occur with MMR vaccines in particular, and it is why he urged the
public to skip the MMR vaccine and get the individual vaccines instead.
His findings showed that the MMR vaccine is linked to mitochondria
dysfunction caused by DNA mutations. And since no proper review of MMR
has ever taken place to prove its safety, his professional conclusion
was that it was best to stop using it for childrens safety.
Mitochondria, of course, are what power
cells and convert energy
into forms that are usable by the body. When these do not work
properly, the entire human body becomes compromised. Individuals with
autism demonstrate mitochondria dysfunction as well as various other
problems, which may or may not be possible to cure -- and this, again,
is precisely why Dr. Wakefield urged the public to beware of the MMR
vaccine.
According to the same COTO Report
article mentioned earlier, DNA
vaccines like MMR were actually derived from failed gene therapy
experiments. In other words, they appear to be a type of genetic
experiment that is permanently altering human gene expression and
proper DNA development, which in turn lands its victims with permanent,
life-altering developmental disorders like autism.
But none of this will ever be addressed
by the likes of Rupert
Murdoch's News Corp., or by most other mainstream news outlets for that
matter, because of their close alliance with the drug industry. It is
in their best interests to hide the truth from the public, and to
continue pushing the lie that all vaccines are safe, and have never
been implicated in causing any long-term health problems.
CBS News, however, did recently report
on a new review published
in the Journal of Immunotoxicology that addresses the issue of
third-generation DNA vaccines and autism. That review, entitled
Theoretical aspects of autism: Causes -- A review, admits that
"[d]ocumented causes of autism include genetic mutations and/or
deletions, viral infections, and encephalitis [brain damage] following
vaccination."
Note: The opinions expressed in COMMENTARY are those of the author and
do not necessarily represent the views of the Schafer Autism Report.
•
• •
LETTERS
Re: NY Post's 'Stealth Tax'
The NY Post editorial "A Stealth NY Tax"
urged Governor Cuomo to
veto a bill passed last month that will require insurers to provide
coverage for "autism spectrum disorders". According to the editorial,
state lawmakers who passed the legislation only did so to "suck up to a
host of special-interest groups".
If it serves no other purpose, this
editorial provides a classic
example of the "pot calling the kettle black" when it comes to "sucking
up to special interests"
Consider, the editorial shamelessly
quoted Leslie Moran of the
New York Health Association, a conglomeration of the twelve biggest
insurance companies in New York, who stated: "At a time when the state
has been looking to rein in the cost of health care, we shouldn't be
imposing new costs".
How about the insurance industry
willingly accept these "new
costs" .. as just compensation .. for decades of having successfully
avoided covering any "medical, psychological and educational services
for ASD kids"? It seems only fair for the New York Health Association
to finally "pass on" to New York State, the yearly "cost saving
profits" they enjoyed by denying deserving coverage to ASD families.
In any event, this editorial was nothing
more than a crude
attempt to protect the bottom line profits of the insurance industry,
by unleashing a mean-spirited attack seeking to demonize ASD children
by holding them responsible for raising taxes. Shame on the Post for
publishing it.
-Bob Moffitt, Sloatsburg, New York
• • •
RE: Autism May Be Linked To Antidepressant Use
Look a little deeper. The mother is
taking anti-depressants
because she, in fact, is depressed. Heavy metal poisoning symptoms are
depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue, brain fog, etc. Any woman that
even suggests any of these symptoms will be automatically prescribed
psychotropic drugs by docs who never question why or even look for
heavy metal poisoning. Of course, heavy metals are passed to the child
in utero. A healthy child with a healthy means of detoxing will
generally be fine unless the child is hit with another dose of metals
such as inoculations. Then we know what happens.
My company has been successfully
providing a far infrared sauna
to detox children on the Spectrum of heavy metals. We were very
surprised when mothers, who used our sauna with their child, told us
their depression, anxiety, brain fog, ADD/ADHD and other heavy metal
symptoms went away. Most of these mothers reported having mercury
amalgams; some even reported having mercury fillings put in during
their pregnancy.
Promote detox before conception. If you
do, you will definitely see autism numbers decrease.
- Bill Johnson, High Tech Health
International, Inc
• •
Surely I am not the only one who sees
the irony in this headline.
It was my child’s autism that linked me to antidepressant use. . .
- Laura Smith, Sam’s mom
Today's SAR newslist
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