by Red Flags columnist Malcolm Kendrick MD

Malcolm Kendrick qualified as an MD at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. He has worked in clinical practice for several years, and is now closely involved in medical education for doctors.

Where Researchers Dare Not Go 

By Red Flags Columnist, Malcolm Kendrick, MD

In the 1980s, autism affected one in 10,000 children. By the 1990s, this figure had risen to one in 500. In the U.K. and U.S., the figure is now estimated as one in 161.

RATES OF AUTISM PER 100/000 (approx)

It is widely claimed that some, or all, of this rise is due to greater awareness of the condition. I would suggest that it is nearly impossible to miss a child with autism. So I doubt that better recognition and diagnosis has played more than a minor part in this huge increase.

Ergo, something has caused an approximate 50-fold increase in the incidence of autism over 30 years. And this something is most likely to be environmental, not genetic, as the incidence and prevalence of genetic conditions do not suddenly leap 5,000 percent.

What is most surprising about the autism 'epidemic' is the paucity of research. More than one in 200 children now suffer an extremely serious organic brain disease, yet the medical research community steers well clear of the subject.

Indeed, it would appear that the only serious research efforts made in the past five years or so, have been to 'prove beyond doubt' that autism has nothing to do with vaccination in general, or the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine specifically.

Could this be the first case in recorded history where the research community will be satisfied by disproving a proposed link, rather than seeking the true cause? At least philosopher Karl Popper would be happy; he felt that no scientific hypothesis could ever be proven beyond doubt, only disproved.

On a serious note, however, when a possible link between the MMR vaccine ' or vaccination in general ' and autism is postulated, there is a highly disturbing sense that anyone who dares even raise this as a possibility is going to be subjected to vitriolic attack with their reputation left in tatters.

At a U.S. hearing on the MMR vaccine and links to autism, Congressman David Weldon, MD, lamented, This atmosphere of intimidation even surrounds today's hearing. I received numerous complaints that this event is not a further attempt to get at the facts, but rather a desire to sweep these issues under the rug.

This is not scientific discourse, this is bullying, and it should be resisted. Perhaps there is no link, perhaps there is. Perhaps you would be interested to know that amongst the Amish � a religious community of about 150,000 people in the eastern United States � there are, apparently, three autistic children. Three.

What is even more interesting is that the Amish, as part of their religious culture, do not believe in vaccination. However, some of the Amish do get their children vaccinated, and some Amish adopt children. Of the three Amish children diagnosed with autism, one was adopted from China � having had a full set of vaccinations. The other two were vaccinated in the U.S.

This, I hasten to add, was not a scientific study. It was reported in The Washington Post under the headline, 'Only vaccinated Amish Children are Autistic' If it is confirmed, it would be hugely important. But where are the doctors rushing to study the Amish in more detail, scouring the population for unrecognized autism? There are none. Why?

There is no doubt that vaccination has been, and is, a good thing in the majority of cases. But a blanket defence that will not allow the possibility that vaccinations could cause harm is not healthy. Let's face it, something is causing the increase in autism, something that affects children at a young age, something that has changed over the past 30 years or so.

Could it be something associated with vaccination? We are now giving more vaccines to young children than ever before. Is it the mercury-based preservative, thimerosal, used in many vaccines? Mercury is a known neurotoxin, and the amount contained in one vaccine can exceed the recommended exposure levels for adults by up to 50 times. Thimerosal was invented by Eli Lilly in the 1930s and never tested for safety.

Is it the MMR vaccine, which does not contain thimerosal? Everyone has heard of physician Andrew Wakefield, now hounded from the U.K., his research trashed, along with his personal ethics. The impression is that his findings were probably 'made up' as they have never been substantiated by any other group.

This is not so. For example V. K. Singh, PhD, has researched neuro-immuno-pathogenesis of autism by investigating measles, MMR and anti-neuronal antibody titres in children with the disease. His team has reported:

• Elevated myelin basic protein (MBP) auto-antibody titres in 28 of 32 children with autism, who had elevated measles antibodies, but none (0) in the controls.

• Elevated MMR antibody titres in 59 percent (16/27) of children with autism spectral disorders (ASD), compared to only 10 percent (2/20) of controls.

• The presence of MBP auto-antibodies in 81 percent (13/16) of the children with ASD, but in none (0) of the controls.

Perhaps Singh is another maverick unable to carry out proper research? You may think that this is just a single study, but there are others looking at vaccination and autism.3-16 Despite this, I am not claiming that the MMR vaccine causes autism. This statement cannot be made. What I am saying is that the Western world has experienced a massive increase in autistic spectrum disorders.

Something is damaging the brains of young children at an early age and we need to know what it is. But how can we ever discover what it is when research and discourse in this area is surrounded by a climate of intimidation and bullying. We need to know, for sure, if the MMR vaccine, or any vaccine, or thimerosal is implicated in this process. In the current negative research atmosphere no researcher will dare tackle this issue, and that is a completely unacceptable state of affairs.

1. http://www.medicalhomeinfo.org/
2. http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050417-052541-5549r.htm
3. Goldman GS, Yazbak FE: An Investigation of the Association between MMR Vaccination and Autism in Denmark. JAmPhysSurg 2004; 9(3): 70-75
4. Stott C, Blaxill M, Wakefield AJ: MMR and Autism in Perspective: The Denmark Story. JAmPhysSurg 2004; 9(3): 89-91
5. Hornig M, Chian D, Lipkin WI. Neurotoxic effects of postnatal thimerosal are mouse strain dependent. Mol Psychiatry. 2004 Sep; 9(9): 833-45
6. Burbacher  TM, Shen DD, Liberato N, Grant KS, Cernichiari E, Clarckson T. Comparison of Blood and Brain Mercury Levels in Infant Monkeys Exposed to Methylmercury or Vaccines Containing Thimerosal. http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2005/7712/7712.pdf 
7. Waly M, Olteanu H, Banerjee R, Choi SW, Mason JB, Parker BS, Sukumar S, Shim S, Sharma A, Benzecry JM, Power-Charnitsky VA, Deth RC. Activation of methionine synthase by insulin-like growth factor-1 and dopamine: a target for neurodevelopmental toxins and thimerosal. Mol Psychiatry. 2004 Apr; 9(4): 358-70.
8. James SJ, Slikker W 3rd, Melnyk S, New E, Pogribna M, Jernigan S. Thimerosal neurotoxicity is associated with glutathione depletion: protection with glutathione precursors. Neurotoxicology. 2005 Jan; 26(1): 1-8.
9. Geier DA, Geier MR. A comparative evaluation of the effects of MMR immunization and mercury doses from thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines on the population prevalence of autism. Med Sci Monit. 2004 Mar; 10(3): PI33-9.
10. Geier D, Geier MR. Neurodevelopmental disorders following thimerosal-containing childhood immunizations: a follow-up analysis. Int J Toxicol. 2004 Nov-Dec; 23(6): 369-76
11. Geier DA, Geier MR. A two-phased population epidemiological study of the safety of thimerosal-containing vaccines: a follow-up analysis. Med Sci Monit. 2005 Mar 24; 11(4): CR160-170
12. Blaxill MF, L Redwood L, and Bernard S. Thimerosal and autism? A plausible hypothesis that should not be dismissed. Medical Hypotheses; 62: 788-794, 2004.
13. Humphrey ML, Cole MP, Pendergrass JC, Kiningham KK. Mitochondrial Mediated Thimerosal-Induced Apoptosis in a Human Neuroblastoma Cell Line (SK-N-SH). Neurotoxicology. 2005 Apr 30; (Epub ahead of print)
14. Parran DK, Barker A, Ehrich M. Effects of Thimerosal on NGF signal transduction and cell death in neuroblastoma cells Toxicol Sci. 2005 Apr 20; (Epub ahead of print)
    Havarinasab S, Haggqvist B, Bjorn E, Pollard KM, Hultman P. Immunosuppressive and autoimmune effects of thimerosal in mice. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2005 Apr 15; 204(2): 109-21.
15. Ueha-Ishibashi T, Tatsuishi T, Iwase K, Nakao H, Umebayashi C, Nishizaki Y, Nishimura Y, Oyama Y, Hirama S, Okano Y. Property of thimerosal-induced decrease in cellular content of glutathione in rat thymocytes: a flow cytometric study with 5-chloromethylfluorescein diacetate. Toxicol In Vitro. 2004 Oct; 18(5): 563-9
16. Bradstreet JJ, El Dahr J, Anthony A, Kartzinel JJ, Wakefield AJ. Detection of measles virus genomic RNA in cerebrospinal fluid of children with regressive autism: a report of three cases. JAmPhysSurg 2004; 9(2): 38-45
17. http://www.icdrc.org/executive_briefing.html