Study suggests mercury-autism link

Posted on Mon, Dec. 13, 2004

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/mo...s/10405529.htm



Study links autism to toxic metals

By SANDY KLEFFMAN

Contra Costa Times


A new study sheds light on the mystery of autism and may point the way
to a promising treatment.

Some autistic children have a weakened ability to protect themselves
from toxic metals in their bodies, a biochemist at the University of
Arkansas for Medical Sciences has concluded.

Such children have a severe deficiency of glutathione, the body's most
important tool for detoxifying and excreting heavy metals such as
mercury and lead, Dr. Jill James reports in a peer-reviewed study
published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

James' findings provide new ammunition for those who suspect that
mercury-containing vaccines play a role in triggering autism.

The study, which involved 20 autistic children, also suggests a
possible intervention for the disorder, which has no known cause or
cure.

In an attempt to correct their metabolic imbalance, James gave eight
of the participants supplements of folinic acid, a form of folic acid,
and vitamin B-12. Their glutathione measurements then improved.

The study did not attempt to quantify changes in autistic behavior.

But Dr. Elizabeth Mumper, an associate professor of clinical
pediatrics at the University of Virginia Medical School, said she has
given similar supplements to many autistic children and noticed a
marked improvement in some.

''I don't mean to imply that I can cure autism but for a subset, the
results can be dramatic,'' Mumper said.

Mumper and James said they hope other researchers will attempt to
replicate their findings in larger numbers of children.

Most researchers, including James, say there is a strong genetic
component to autism.

Actually, this, combined with all of hte other information about autism,
suggests that vaccines are very safe and do not cause autism.

If this "link" were real, the vaccines should have shown up in epidiological
studies as causing autism. They didn't. Plus, kids who don't get vaccines
would show up as less likely to get autism than kids who do.

Plus, the major source of mercury for most kids is pollution, not vaccines.

I disagree that this study suggests that vaccines are a cause of autism.

We will know in a few years, because most vaccines are now free of merucy,
thankfully.

Jeff

"Jeff" wrote in message
...
Actually, this, combined with all of hte other information about autism,
suggests that vaccines are very safe and do not cause autism.

If this "link" were real, the vaccines should have shown up in
epidiological
studies as causing autism. They didn't. Plus, kids who don't get vaccines
would show up as less likely to get autism than kids who do.

Plus, the major source of mercury for most kids is pollution, not
vaccines.

I disagree that this study suggests that vaccines are a cause of autism.

We will know in a few years, because most vaccines are now free of merucy,
thankfully.

Why wait a few years when we have this report:

PEDIATRICS Vol. 112 No. 3 September 2003, pp. 604-606


Thimerosal and the Occurrence of Autism: Negative Ecological Evidence From
Danish Population-Based Data
Kreesten M. Madsen, MD*, Marlene B. Lauritsen, MD, Carsten B. Pedersen, Msc,
Poul Thorsen, MD, PhD*, Anne-Marie Plesner, MD, PhD¶, Peter H. Andersen, MD¶
and Preben B. Mortensen, MD, DMSc¶

* Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Social
Medicine, University of Aarhus, Denmark
Institute for Basic Psychiatric Research, Department of Psychiatric
Demography, Psychiatric Hospital in Aarhus, Risskov, Denmark
National Centre for Register-Based Research, University of Aarhus, Aarhus,
Denmark
¶ State Serum Institute, Department of Medicine, Copenhagen, Denmark

Objective. It has been suggested that thimerosal, a mercury-containing
preservative in vaccines, is a risk factor for the development of autism. We
examined whether discontinuing the use of thimerosal-containing vaccines in
Denmark led to a decrease in the incidence of autism.

Design. Analysis of data from the Danish Psychiatric Central Research
Register recording all psychiatric admissions since 1971, and all outpatient
contacts in psychiatric departments in Denmark since 1995.

Patients. All children between 2 and 10 years old who were diagnosed with
autism during the period from 1971-2000.

Outcome Measures. Annual and age-specific incidence for first day of first
recorded admission with a diagnosis of autism in children between 2 and 10
years old.

Results. A total of 956 children with a male-to-female ratio of 3.5:1 had
been diagnosed with autism during the period from 1971-2000. There was no
trend toward an increase in the incidence of autism during that period when
thimerosal was used in Denmark, up through 1990. From 1991 until 2000 the
incidence increased and continued to rise after the removal of thimerosal
from vaccines, including increases among children born after the
discontinuation of thimerosal.

Conclusions. The discontinuation of thimerosal-containing vaccines in
Denmark in 1992 was followed by an increase in the incidence of autism. Our
ecological data do not support a correlation between thimerosal-containing
vaccines and the incidence of autism.

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An entire country is the subject of this study which makes it kind of hard
to refute.