BMJ: vaccines "study" was an elaborate fraud

[Hugcheck]

<p>So I’m slogging through the links in your link, Son of Opie (thanks by the way for your gracious response to my little tantrum - emotions run high on this subject). And the Danish studies were critiqued if I remember, so I googled around and this one came up:</p>

<p>[Thimerosal:</a> A Missing Link in Denmark MMR-Autism Study (11/7/02)](<a href=“http://www.vaccineinfo.net/immunization/injury/autism/DanishMMRAutismStudy.shtml]Thimerosal:”>http://www.vaccineinfo.net/immunization/injury/autism/DanishMMRAutismStudy.shtml)</p>

<p>It seems the comparison of MMR vaccinated vs. not in the Danish study was flawed in that the MMR shots in the Danish study had been (ahem) mercury free already. Umm. And that other vaccinations given prior to the MMR one DID have the thimerosol in it still. So all the kids in the study had been exposed to thimerosal. This study also has this line: </p>

<p>“It is entirely possible, but not yet studied by the CDC, that a child’s immune response, inhibited by the elevated mercury levels from thimerosal-containing vaccinations, has less
ability to respond to the measles virus in the MMR vaccine. This might be an explanation for the presence of measles virus cultured from the brains and guts of 80 percent of autistic children.”</p>

<p>Back to slogging.</p>

[Hunt]

<p>

If you google around and read some of the tons of stuff about Dr. Wakefield’s work you find that he is one of the few doc’s who really listened to parents in depth, noted the correlation of autism with bad bad stomache / digestive difficulty and didn’t poo poo it (pun intended) and/or ridicule parents from a position of overarching authority. He listened. He honored their experience. He tried to follow up on their clues. He thought he found something. He has gone into great detail to tease out whether there is something genetically linking folks sensitive to chicken pox / measles and the vaccines. There are family histories of bad reactions (eg., death) from measles and/or chicken pox and then a bad rx to the vaccines. He has done a LOT of work. Families who have worked with him have been treated like cosleuths on a hunt for the truth.

But then he lied, and faked research to support his theory. How can he retain any supporters at all? When you’ve been had, who should you be angry at?</p>

[averagejoe7]

<p>Having recently completed a research paper on possible autism causes (with a genetic focus), here are my thoughts on this issue:</p>

<p>The recent media frenzy over Wakefield’s alleged fraud means absolutely nothing with regards to the autism/vaccine debate. First of all, his study did not even focus on this issue, but rather a gastrointestinal symptom associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Secondly, his “study” was a methodologically unsound, it only had 12 participants and most of the “data” was anecdotal. His study was essentially meaningless anyways, and it had already been retracted back in February.</p>

<p>However, I do think that the autism/vaccine debate is really only just now beginning, as more research tools are available. I have read EVERY study in the past decade about this issue, and EVERY SINGLE ONE IS INHERENTLY, SIGNIFICANTLY FLAWED. Flawed in a methodological sense, or in a conflict of interest. So many that claim to “prove” no relation between vaccines and autism have WAY TOO MANY confounding variables, and the experimental design is almost laughable, so bad that I question how it is considered science. But then, I glance at who is doing them and, of course, that it explains it. </p>

<p>On the other hand, there are a handful that support the autism/vaccine link, but they too are flawed. However, they rarely have such obvious conflicts of interest. The most recent, seemingly reliable and reasonable study came out of University of Pittsburgh, where they actually gave a group of primates vaccines and left another group alone. They observed significant autistic like symptomes in the vaccinated group. Obviously, this study has limitations(it was not done on humans), but regardless it is a well designed, controlled experiment. </p>

<p>My hypothesis is that vaccines DO play a part in causing autism, but only in certain genetically susceptible children. At this time, there is no way to determine if a child is genetically susceptible, but it won’t be too long before this is possible. With a clear genetic link to autism that has been accepted in this past decade, it is now important to determine what environmental factors play a role in igniting autism.</p>

<p>On a side note, I am disturbed at how the media is handling this debate. They caused unnecessary scare when the Wakefield study was first published, and now they are trying to overcorrect themselves, by ending this debate. They are failing to inform the public that the Wakefield study is not the only study on the autism/vaccine link, and that in reality, there have been several that both support and oppose the link.</p>

[pugmadkate]

<p>

But then he lied, and faked research to support his theory. How can he retain any supporters at all? When you’ve been had, who should you be angry at?

</p>

<p>Well said.</p>

[emeraldkity4]

<p>But then he lied, and faked research to support his theory. How can he retain any supporters at all? When you’ve been had, who should you be angry at?
Well said.</p>

<p>I’m not defending this guy- but I think it illustrates the depth of the frustration of the parents when so many experience a medical community that doesn’t know what to do, downplays their story & they are desperate for anyone who even * pretends* to take them seriously.</p>

<p>If thimerosal was so innocuous, why did they remove it? ( & if it was so dangerous, why allow any stockpiled vaccine to be used, especially in infants?)
::::::::::shaking head:::::::::::</p>

<p>I hope that story doesn’t divert attention from finding out more about neurological syndromes including their causes.
<a href=“http://skepticblog.org/2010/10/04/adhd-and-genetics/[/url]”>http://skepticblog.org/2010/10/04/adhd-and-genetics/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[Pizzagirl]

<p>

The anti-vaccine movement is in the same boat with the flat-earthers and the birther movement as far as their willful ignorance.

</p>

<p>Bears repeating. Don’t forget the GWB-caused-9/11 and there-is-no-global-warming along with it. </p>

<p>Hugcheck: Jenny McCarthy is not a scientist. Period. I don’t care how tragic and touching she is, she is not someone to take seriously on this topic.</p>

[Son_of_Opie]

<p>They took thimerosal out of vaccines for the same reason they stopped making silicone breast implants- public outcry, not data. We’re so media-inundated that rumor becomes fact.</p>

<p>And Jenny McCarthy is famous for showing her boobs in a magazine. She’s no more an expert on anything that Paris Hilton or Lindsey Lohan.</p>

[emeraldkity4]

<p>They took thimerosal out of vaccines for the same reason they stopped making silicone breast implants- public outcry, not data. We’re so media-inundated that rumor becomes fact.</p>

<p>I consider myself fairly well informed, but I didn’t even know there was a * problem* with thimerosal, until contact solution began to be advertised as not including it.
I had given up wearing contacts years before, because of a severe reaction, but I attributed that to an non specific allergy.
( after thimerosal was removed, I can again use contact solution)</p>

<p>I have problems with my liver/bile ducts, I can’t drink more than one alcoholic beverage a day without severe side effects, I can’t take a therapeutic dose of many medications because of side effects & other liver/gall bladder- digestion related issues. </p>

<p>Since I think we can agree that mercury is a toxin, although we might quibble over the level that is toxic ( just as they lowered the acceptable levels for lead in the blood after my children were tested), isn’t there a probability that those who have neuro related syndromes may have higher levels of toxins? </p>

<p>[Researcher</a> finds proximity to freeway associated with autism | Science Blog](<a href=“http://scienceblog.com/41215/researcher-finds-proximity-to-freeway-associated-with-autism/]Researcher”>http://scienceblog.com/41215/researcher-finds-proximity-to-freeway-associated-with-autism/)</p>

[Cardinal_Fang]

<p>

you find that he is one of the few doc’s who really listened to parents in depth, noted the correlation of autism with bad bad stomache / digestive difficulty and didn’t poo poo it (pun intended) and/or ridicule parents from a position of overarching authority. He listened. He honored their experience.

</p>

<p>Actually, that isn’t what he did. What he did, instead, was lie about the symptoms of the children in his study. When the investigative journalist went back to the different parents, and described to each family the symptoms Wakefield claimed their child had, the parents were shocked. The children did not have the digestive symptoms he claimed they had. They didn’t develop autistic symptoms right after vaccination, as he claimed. Neither the parents nor the childrens’ medical records remotely confirmed Wakefield’s claims in the study. It was all a deliberate fraud. </p>

<p>Wakefield wanted to make money suing vaccine manufacturers, so he faked up a study. It was a contemptible, unconscionable fraud, and because of it, parents are not getting their children vaccinated and as a result tiny babies, babies too young to be vaccinated for pertussis (whooping cough), are getting sick and dying.</p>

[Son_of_Opie]

<p>This is a list of 41 separate research studies that have found absolutely no link between vaccines and Autism. Please share this list, so that children and families no longer suffer due to misinformation from wingnuts.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.aap.org/immunization/families/faq/vaccinestudies.pdf[/url]”>Error | AAP;

[NJTheatreMOM]

<p>

My hypothesis is that vaccines DO play a part in causing autism, but only in certain genetically susceptible children.

This makes sense to me. Thanks for your post, averagejoe7.</p>

[ucbalumnus]

<p>Re: Hepatitis B

@emeraldkity4

I’m not a carrier, I just have the antibodies.

</p>

<p>Hepatitis B infection is often asymptomatic. If one clears the infection (most adults clear the infection), the antibodies remain as evidence of past infection. If one does not clear the infection and becomes infected for life (as is more common in infants, but sometimes occurs to adults), the antibodies as well as the viral antigens remain detectable long after the infection. Vaccine immunity is distinguished because the actual virus induces production of antibodies for two of the virus’ antigens, while the vaccine induces production of antibodies for only one of them.</p>

[ucbalumnus]

<p>

@Son of Opie

public health

</p>

<p>From an individual standpoint, the rise of the anti-vaccine movement means that there are plenty of selfish reasons to get vaccinated, since the increasing numbers of vaccine refusers running around being disease vectors have made the idea of “herd immunity” something that cannot be counted on, so it is even more imperative to stay up to date with vaccinations.</p>

<p>I got a Tdap booster a few years before the normal schedule in order to get the recently available pertussis vaccine because of the rise of pertussis due to increasing rates of vaccine refusal and the presence of infant relatives. I do not like the idea of being a pertussis disease vector to such infants.</p>

[calmom]

<p>Isn’t it just possible that one symptom or aspect of autism is hypersensitivities, and autistic children seem to react badly to vaccines because of that? That is, the post-vaccine behavior is a symptom, not a cause, of autism.</p>

<p>I read the full report about Dr. Wakefield’s study (with details about all of the cases), and what struck me was that in all of the cases he fudged the timeline. Some of the kids had symptoms of developmental problems before the vaccines; some didn’t develop symptoms until several months after the vaccines. </p>

<p>I would tend to be very skeptical of parental-reported correlations when the reporting is not done contemporaneously-- especially given the fact that news reports or suggestive questioning may lead parents to make associations they did not make at the time.</p>

<p>One of my kids actually did have a bad reaction to a particular vaccine, and we discontinued that particular vaccine afterward. ( whole-cell DTP, which is no longer used – we opted for DT only for future vaccines). The kid didn’t have any long term issues, but I could see the tendency that would arise to blame it on the vaccine, if the kid had later developed some sort of problem or issue.</p>

[Hugcheck]

<p>Of possible interest:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.rescuepost.com/files/wakefield_press_release_bmj-deer1.pdf[/url]”>http://www.rescuepost.com/files/wakefield_press_release_bmj-deer1.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>[Lancet</a> 12 Parents Respond to Brian Deer BMJ GMC Allegations - AGE OF AUTISM](<a href=“Lancet 12 Parents Respond to Brian Deer BMJ GMC Allegations - AGE OF AUTISM”>Lancet 12 Parents Respond to Brian Deer BMJ GMC Allegations - AGE OF AUTISM)</p>

<p><a href=“Viddler | Engage Product”>http://www.viddler.com/explore/ziggy/videos/1/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[Cardinal_Fang]

<p>Hugcheck’s second link, Lancet 12 Parents Respond, refers to a letter written two years ago. Since then, further investigation revealed that Wakefield lied repeatedly about the young patients in his fraudulent study.</p>

[Nrdsb4]

<p>Study addresses potential other explanations for increase in autism diagnoses.</p>

<p>[Study:</a> Spacing Babies Close May Raise Autism Risk](<a href=“News, Politics, Sports, Mail & Latest Headlines - AOL.com”>News, Politics, Sports, Mail & Latest Headlines - AOL.com)</p>

<p>What I really appreciated about this article is that is makes the point that no conclusions can be drawn from a single study, no matter how closely it follows scientific protocol. That stance is usually soundly ignored in most articles reporting study results and frequently annoys me when I read about them in the news.</p>

<p>

“Dr. Diane Ashton, March of Dimes’ deputy medical director, called the study results an interesting finding that she hasn’t seen in prior research. The results will have to be replicated, she said, but her organization already suggests at least a year between pregnancies.”

</p>

<p>Also, the study’s author cautions against interpreting the study results to implicate any one cause for autism-the bottom line is there are some interesting results here which indicate the need for further study.</p>

<p>

"Reasons behind the birth spacing-autism link aren’t clear. It could be that parents are more likely to notice developmental problems when siblings are very close in age, Bearman said. When 2-year-old Billy isn’t developing like 3-year-old Bobby, parents might be more likely to seek help.</p>

<p>Or biological factors could be at play, he said. Pregnancy depletes a mother’s nutrients like folate, a B vitamin found in leafy green vegetables, citrus fruit and dried beans. Prior research has tied close birth spacing to low birth weights and prematurity, possibly because of lack of folate.</p>

<p>“And it could be a combination of effects, not a single explanation but a combination of dynamics,” Bearman said."

</p>

[Hunt]

<p>I think the idea that Wakefield really listened to his patients is a key one–this is how people with questionable theories and quack treatments get followers–by paying attention to the patients, spending time with them, customizing treaments for them, etc.–what used to be called “bedside manner.” This is why people use homeopathic treatments and all kinds of other unscientific stuff–and it’s something that the mainstream medical establishment should pay more attention to and do better.</p>

[Cardinal_Fang]

<p>If closed-spaced babies closely raised autism risk for the younger child, wouldn’t we expect to see autism diagnoses going down, rather than up? The baby boomers, with bigger families than are the norm now, clearly had more children closely spaced than we have now-- because many children now are onlies. But the autism diagnosis rate among people under 25 is higher, much higher, than among people between 54-70, the baby boomers.</p>

[scansmom]

<p>Just saw an interesting article on S’s school’s website (the original link was on their home page) – here’s the reaction of a pharmacology professor in response to the BMJ article:</p>

<p>

I think it’s very unusual, but at the same time revealing, that the BMJ chose to publish this story. Investigative journalist Brian Deer has been on a mission to discredit Wakefield for years. His report is not a scientific article, but rather an opinion piece that doesn’t focus on the scientific finding of whether or not autistic children have inflammation in their gastrointestinal tract, which I believe is the crux of the original paper. That paper never set out to prove an explicit link between autism and the MMR vaccine. Nobody studying 12 subjects could conceive of proving a link. Wakefield found that subjects had gastrointestinal inflammation and at least some of parents reported that they thought this occurred after their children received the MMR vaccine. </p>

<p>Our recent research has identified an amino acid transporter that may be involved in gastrointestinal inflammation and might also contribute to the neuronal inflammation that others have found in the brains of autistic children. A connection between the gut and the brain in autism makes sense to me.

</p>

<p>He goes on to say:</p>

<p>

Vaccines provoke an immune response to an antigen derived from a virus or bacteria. They can also contain agents, called adjuvants, such as aluminum, which augment the antibody response and can provoke inflammation throughout the body, as well as preservatives such as mercury, in the form of thimerosal.</p>

<p>Aluminum and mercury can enter the brain and remain for years, where they provoke neuroinflammation. Inflammation during childhood can interfere with the normal mechanisms by which gene expression is controlled, leading to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.</p>

<p>While the MMR vaccine does not contain aluminum or mercury, simultaneous exposure to these three viruses induces inflammation, which contributes to the cumulative effect of vaccines on children.</p>

<p>It’s common for children to receive several vaccines in a single doctor’s visit. As a result, they receive a tremendous dose of aluminum, well beyond limits set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This increases the chance of excessive inflammation and a metabolic condition known as oxidative stress, which can disrupt development and/or precipitate regressive autism. Studies of autistic children show that they have inflammation and oxidative stress.</p>

<p>…Most vaccine safety studies have been epidemiological in nature. They examine large population-based datasets rather than individual autistic subjects. The latter type of study has revealed the central role of oxidative stress and inflammation, which could not be identified in epidemiological studies. </p>

<p>Epidemiological studies are intrinsically unable to uncover causal mechanisms, even if an association was found. In my view, MMR vaccination is only a partial contributor, while other vaccines contribute to the total risk of autism. Vaccines are certainly not the only agents contributing to autism, but it’s likely that the major cause is some kind of environmental exposure, as opposed to a genetic abnormality.

</p>

<p>[Chilling</a> research into vaccine-autism link | Northeastern University News](<a href=“http://www.northeastern.edu/news/stories/2011/01/deth.html]Chilling”>http://www.northeastern.edu/news/stories/2011/01/deth.html)</p>