Evidence to support a connection between the MMR vaccine and incidents of autism is hard to come by. An epidemiological study in Japan found no connection. Tokio Uchiyama, Michiko Kurosawa and Yutaka Inaba, in a July 2006 study, found no evidence to support a causal relationship between the MMR and autism:
Abstract It has been suggested that the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) is a cause of regressive autism. As MMR was used in Japan only between 1989 and 1993, this time period affords a natural experiment to examine this hypothesis. Data on 904 patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) were analyzed. During the period of MMR usage no significant difference was found in the incidence of regression between MMR-vaccinated children and non-vaccinated children. Among the proportion and incidence of regression across the three MMR-program-related periods (before, during and after MMR usage), no significant difference was found between those who had received MMR and those who had not. Moreover, the incidence of regression did not change significantly across the three periods.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/aq0470t874jwm686/
I have an autistic son, and his autism was caused by the MMR vaccine. I am his father, I saw it happen, and there's no epidemiological study that will ever convince me otherwise. It's ironic that a Japanese study found no link, since they banned the MMR in '93 after an analysis showed that 1 in every 900 children were being injured by it ( ... anywhere from death, to permanent handicaps ranging from damaged hearing and blindness to loss of control of limbs).
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, epidemiological studys in the 70's also showed that smoking didn't cause cancer. Wonder how many people died as results of that study.
Anonymous
ReplyDeleteThanks you for your commentary. I wasn't aware of the limits of what epidemiological studies can show until I read, last year, some of the comments by Dr. Bernadine Healy former head of the NIH.
See the following theory:
ReplyDeleteThe ‘theory of mind’ (ToM) hypothesis of autism. Tom is an hypothesis first published in 1985.
Other articles ask what caused the autism epidemic?
The CDC studies say it is not MMR or Thimerosal. Other hypotheses have included autoimmune diseases, etc.
Data:
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Data website:
http://www.ideadata.org/PartBChildCount.asp
Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) sleep position data:
http://www.cdc.gov/prams/2002PRAMSSurvReport/MultiStateExhibits/Multistates16.htm
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Birth Data:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm
2006 Median Income Data: - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
NOTICE PDR-2006-01
Autism Spectrum Disorders, Asperger's Syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorders - Not Otherwise specified (PDD-NOS)
Gastrointestinal Disorders also known as GER is a common comorbidity
Autism patients tend to have minicolumn abnormalities and increased amounts of white matter
Casanova MF, van Kooten IA, Switala AE, Ven Engeland H, Heinsen H, Steinbusch HW, Hof PR, Trippe J, Stone J, Schmitz C. Minicolumnar abnormalities in autism. Acta Neuropathol. 2006 Sep; 112(3); 287-303.
Mostofsky SH, Burgess MP, Larson JCG. Increased motor cortex white matter volume predicts motor impairment in autism. Brain (2007), 130, 2117-2122
Maternal smoking decreased significantly between 1990 and 2002
Infant suffocation deaths increased 14% per year on average between 1996 and 2004
Centers for Disease Control. Smoking & Tobacco Use - Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWRs) – Smoking During Pregnancy – United States, 1990-2002 – October 7, 2004 / Vol. 53/ No. 39 http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/MMWR/2004/mm5339_highlights.htm
Shapiro-Mendoza CK, Kimball M, Tomashek KM, Anderson RN, Blanding S.US Infant Mortality Trends Attributable to Accidental Suffocation and Strangulation in Bed From 1984 Through 2004: Are Rates Increasing? Pediatrics 2009;123;533-539
Here is a good article on diagnosing this:
Filipek P, Accardo P, Ashwal S, Baranek G, Cook E, Dawson G, Gordon B, Gravel J, Johnson C, Kallen R, Levy S, Minshew N, Ozonoff S, Prizant B, Rapin I, Rogers S, Stone W, Teplin S, Tuchman R, Volkmar F. Practice parameter: Screening and diagnosis of autism Report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology and the Child Neurology Society NEUROLOGY 2000;55:468–479 http://internet.dscc.uic.edu/forms/medicalhome/AutismRef.pdf
Also,
SIDS, Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Plagiocephaly, etc. are all
conditions that the medical profession is trying to treat.
The SIDS back sleep (Supine) sleep recommendations began in 1992
The SIDS "Back to Sleep" campaign began in 1994.
In 1996 the AAP SIDS Task Force, led by Dr. John Kattwinkel recommended the supine sleep position and not the side(lateral) or front(prone).
THe Netherlands began their SIDS Back to Sleep Campaign in 1987.
Sleep is necessary for memory consolidation, declarative learning, and procedural learning.
The following are useful articles which discuss many of these issues indepth:
American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Infant Positioning and SIDS. Positioning and SIDS. Pediatrics. 1992;89:1120-1126
Hogberg U, Bergstrom E. Suffocated Prone: The Iatrogenic Tragedy of SIDS. American Journal of Public Health. 2000;90:527-531
National Infant Sleep Position Household Survey. Summary Data. updated: 10/16/08 Website: http://dccwww.bumc.bu.edu/ChimeNisp/NISP_Data.asp
Kattwinkel J, Hauck F.R., Moon R.Y., Malloy M and Willinger M Infant Death Syndrome: In Reply, Bed Sharing With Unimpaired Parents Is Not an Important Risk for Sudden. Pediatrics 2006;117;994-996
Buzsáki, G. 1989. Two-stage model of memory trace formation: A role for “noisy” brain states. Neuroscience 31: 551–570.
Hasselmo, M.E. 1999. Neuromodulation: Acetylcholine and memory consolidation. Trends Cogn. Sci. 3: 351–359.
Wierzynski DM, Lubenov EV, Gu M, Siapas AG. State-Dependent Spike-Timing Relationships between Hippocampal and Prefrontal Circuits during Sleep. Neuron 61, 587-596, February 26, 2009
Walker MP, Stickgold R. Sleep, Memory, and Plasticity. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2006. 57: 139-66
Gais S, Born J. Declarative memory consolidation: Mechanisms acting during human sleep. Learn Mem. 2004 Nov-Dec; 11(6): 679-685
Davis BE, Moon RY, Sachs HC, Ottolini MC. Effects of sleep position on infant motor development. Pediatrics. 1998 Nov; 102(5):1135-40.
Skadberg BT, Markestad T. Consequences of Getting the Head Covered During Sleep in Infancy. Pediatrics 1997;100;e6
AJ Williams, RD Jitendra, JB Phillips, Y Lin, T McCabe, FC Tortella. Neuroprotective Efficacy and Therapeutic Window of the High-Affinity N-Methyl-D-aspartate Antagonist Conantokin-G: In Vitro (Primary Cerebellar Neurons) and In Vivo (Rat Model of Transient Focal Brain Ischemia) Studies1
Stradling JR, Thomas G, Warley AR, Williams P, Freeland A. Effect of adenotonsillectomy on nocturnal hypoxaemia, sleep disturbance, and symptoms in snoring children. Lancet. 1990;335 :249 –253
To the father who thinks MMR caused Autism in his son - check your facts.
ReplyDeleteShow me a link and I'll be a convert.
The fact is no real scientific evidence supports a link.