Our team at La recherche sur l'autisme strives to stay current with issues involving autism, including medical scientific breakthroughs, new developments and treatments, approaches to therapy, and breaking news stories in addition to past studies and news stories that we feel are relevant to our focus. Below are some articles we would like to share with you.

EPA Study: Autism Boom Began in 1988, Environmental Factors are Assumed

In an EPA study done in 2009, a “changepoint” year or spike in autism has finally been narrowed down. Most people diagnosed with autism have been determined to be born after 1987. The study, which looked at the growth of autism in California in addition to a couple of other countries, concluded that the increased autism between 1987 and 1994 could not be dependent on the change in diagnostic criteria at that time because it only accounted for a 2.2-fold higher cumulative incidence versus the 7-fold increase that was being reported in California over those years. Similar studies done in Denmark, Sweden and nationwide in the US provided consistent data to confirm that the greatest increase in prevalence was in children born between 1987 and 1992. Knowing the time frame helps to narrow down the list of factors that could be the cause for the growth in ASDs.

While no causal relationship between vaccines and autism has been ordained, no studies have been done on vaccine ingredients and autism risk, nor on the entire vaccine schedule. In addition, between the years of 1988 and 1996, five additional vaccines were added to the vaccination schedule of the US. Vaccines are not the only factor that is being questioned. Other factors include premature birth weight, retroviruses, mercury in fish, pesticides, endocrine disruptors and air pollution. Whatever the factor eventually is determined as, it must have been increasingly exposed to fetuses and infants during those years and would need to be disruptive to early human neural development and it also would have to be something that was introduced in developing countries later than the timeframe for California, Denmark and Japan. This opens a lot of possibilities, but could have potential to hold many powerful answers to the questions of autism.

David Kirby concludes his article with, "1988 was a very interesting year, and those children have a lot to tell us."

Let's Listen.

For more information and to read the article, click the link below:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/autism-vaccine-epa-study_b_548837.html

Nobel Winner Ties Mental Illness to Immune Defect

A University of Utah geneticist has discovered that mutant mice who pull out their hair compulsively can be treated with bone marrow transplants. This is the first cause and effect link between the immune system cells and mental illness. The direct relationship is ground-breaking because the connection suggests that by curing one, we may be able to correct behavioral effects, through new treatments. This may include Autism.

Previous studies have linked psychiatric disorders and the immune system, but never has there been a study to link the two in a cause and effect manner. Mario Cappecci, distinguished professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine, says that the new findings, “provided direct evidence for an association between neuropsychiatric diseases and the dysfunction of the immune system or of the blood-forming system.” Cappecci has been studying the relationships since 2002, when he first reported mutant Hoxb8 genes in mice. They found that there are 15% less microglia present in the brain when Hoxb8 is mutant. Future studies will determine how microglia affect behavior, and confirm whether or not the hypothesis is true, that microglia affects neural circuitry in some way. If it turns out to be right, it may explain how the microglia, the immune system cells that defend the brain, could fail in protecting the brain when the Hox genes are mutant.

For more information and to read the article, click the link below::

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2010/05/27/nobel.winner.ties.mental.illness.immune.defect

Scandal Exposed in Major Study of Autism and Mercury

Documents obtained by the Freedom of Information Act show that CDC officials were aware of data that indicated a connection between removing thimerosal from vaccines and a decline in Autism. This information pertains to research conducted in Dennark and despite this knowledge, these officials allowed the American Academy of Pediatrics to publish an article in 2003 that excluded this information and misrepresented the decline as an increase. This misrepresentation led to the conclusion that thimerosal in vaccines in no way causes autism.

In Denmark, thimerosal was removed from all vaccines in 1992. Attention should be taken to the fact that the CDC was made aware of the omissions of the data they were presented with from Denmark. In addition, they continued to omit that information and went on to allow Pediatrics to publish the article.

Earlier this year, Dr. Poul Thorsen, one of the co-authors of the article and a scientist for the CDC from 2000-2002 was indicted in Atlanta for embezzlement in connection with the $11 million grant he was given by the CDC as well as possibly providing fraudulant data on certain studies he conducted while working for the CDC.

CoMeD has demanded that the CDC launch an investigation effective immediately of the officials from the CDC that have participated in this scientific fraud. They are also calling for a full retraction of the article from Pediatrics.

"** The information presented or linked to here is NOT medical advice and cannot be relied on as a substitute for such advice. No medical treatement should be avoided or attempted without prior consultation with a licensed physician. **"