Olmsted on Autism: The Unnatural History of Seizures

 By Dan Olmsted

The death of Jett Travolta has focused new attention on an old truth -- the benign-sounding "developmental delay," the catchall term for children who are slow to meet their milestones, can be deadly. My hunch is that this is especially true when the "delay" is environmentally induced, as is the case, I believe, with autism. That's why it doesn't matter exactly what diagnosis was assigned to Jett's disorder; its onset followed a febrile illness that seems to have caused brain damage; his parents believe it was connected to toxic exposure. And parents know their children.
 
My basic approach to trying to understand autism, as many of you know, has been to go back to the beginning and trace what's called the natural history of the disorder -- where it began, how it increased, where it's prevalent and where it's rare (see my article Mercury Rising on our home page). The beginning of the Age of Autism, though most mainstream autism "experts" would rather ignore it, was in the 1930s in the United States, when a number of children were born with a disorder that the dean of child psychiatry, Leo Kanner, said was "markedly and uniquely different from anything described so far."

 
He said that in the very first paragraph of his 1943 report on 11 of those children. Thus, for those with eyes to see, the truth has been evident from the first: Autism was NEW. And it was new because it was environmentally triggered -- I believe by the commercialization of ethyl mercury used for the first time in fungicides and vaccines.
 
This may sound way too simple, but as my colleague at Age of Autism Mark Blaxill has pointed out, once you understand them, epidemics are simple. All this mucking around in genes that soaks up billions of dollars -- now that is complex. And the more complex we make autism, the more money there is to be made in hunting endlessly for the cause, and the more delay, so to speak, there is in facing the truth and helping sick kids. Meanwhile, they're not just suffering, they're dying.
 
All this is by way of saying that the simple truth is visible in that first report by Leo Kanner in 1943. And one of those truths is this: Autism can kill you. Two of the first 11 children -- 18 percent -- had seizures, and one of them died prematurely as a result.
 
Let's look closely at Case 10, whom Kanner called John F. In his description, Kanner wrote: "In December, 1942, and January, 1943, he had two series of predominantly right-sided convulsions, with conjugate deviation of eyes to the right and transient paresis of the right arm. Neurological observation showed no abnormalities. His eyegrounds were normal. An electroencephalogram indicated 'focal disturbance in the left occipital region,' but 'a good part of the record could not be read because of the continuous marked artifacts due to the child's lack of cooperation.'"
 
In 1971, Kanner wrote a follow-up on his historic account of the first 11 cases, and the tale of John F. turned tragic. "John died suddenly in 1966 at 29 years of age."
 
Mark Blaxill and I have been identifying those first cases, and we met with John's brother last year. The seizures, it turned out, were much worse than Kanner conveyed. John had seizures just about every day of his life, including "drop seizures." His brother described the sound of John dropping and hitting the floor in the next room and the havoc that wrought on the emotional life of his family and especially his mother. He is absolutely convinced his brother, who died in his sleep, was killed by one last seizure.
 
Mark and I are writing a book in which we will detail this case and several others, but believe me, mercury exposure is written all over them.
 
For now, I just want to make a simple point: Environmentally induced developmental disorders kill kids. We've known it from day one. And just exactly what are we doing to stop it?
--
Dan Olmsted is Editor of Age of Autism.
 

Comments

[Stan]

Kathy,

This issue of where autism first appeared is covered excellently in Harris L. Coulter's 'Vaccination, Social Violence and Criminality: The Medical Assault on the American Brain'. He details how the first cases were overwhelmingly in families with a lot of education, and particularly in the medical professions; but as it started cropping up more frequently, that earliest clue was lost to researchers on the matter. His point: The first people to take up the new medical modality of vaccines were those who could afford it, & wanted to do all they could for their children. As mass vaccination programs developed, this early identifiable cohort disappeared from glaring view.

This is an important book on this subject. Every family with a child on the spectrum should have a copy. He relates it all - all the Minimal Brain Damage/Disorder conditions - to the subclinical encephalitis being triggered by vaccines, and the phenomenon not being given enough attention by the med profession & health authorities, so smitten by their wondrous new modality that nothing was to stand in the way of their creating herd immunity; not even the truth about their side effects. And now we are reaping what those authorities sowed lo these many years ago now. Good for parents like the Mercury Moms/Dads for making this a major issue, to be looked at by a public no longer so ready to take the word of those self-assured professionals in their respected white coats for gospel. They have had their day. It's the day of the parents now, with the internet helping them find the answers they have been denied all these years. And well done folks, for not giving in to the 'experts'. The true experts in this matter are the parents, who know their kids better than anyone; and are mad as hell, and aren't going to take it anymore.

[ElizaCassandra]

Kathy, Lorna Wing has published books on autism in the U.K. since 1971. Amazon.co.uk should have one or more of them listed. Sorry, no time now to look it up for you.

[Cherry Sperlin Misra]

To Gatogorra- Is Depakote a name for Valproic Acid.? That has been a recognized cause of autism for many years. I first saw it in a publication by UMDNJ about 6 years ago. I also learned that neonatologists use it for premature babies. They dont seem to know that it can cause autism, but they do know that it should be a last resort. I think we need to do something to educate doctors on this point. Looks like this medication needs to be trashed forever.

[Kathy Crawford]

When my son was diagnosed in 1984, I had to buy a book about autism. I didn't even know what autism was. One of the things in the book that struck me as unusual was that children from educated, upper class families had autism. It was more prevelent in these social classes!?! I have always felt that before vaccines were required for everyone, only the people who could afford vaccines were seeing autism in their children! Now that vaccines are required for school, all classes of children are autistic. Has anyone ever thought about that? The book was written by an English woman and I think her name was Lorna something. Can't remember and don't have the book anymore.

[Dadvocate]

Dan-
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WDT-4HYV07H-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=7039c1af86af9dc1b3e5ca42bac740d5

This 10 year study is quite an eye opener. 60% eeg abnormalities in a very large ASD population! Sixty!? It seems to get a wave of the hand from some other neuros because the epileptiform abnormalities are frequently "sub-clinical" epilepsy. I understand that the author believes that by cleaning up the eeg with medication, brain functionality is improved.

[Lin]

I can't even bring myself to comment on this as it would seem our beautiful little boy had his first seizure on Christmas morn. The first we are aware of anyway.

I can hardly bare the thought right now. I love him more than life! He is my world!! He will be but seven in eleven days. I am as angry as I am sad...

[htbenz]

Kim:

As I stated in the past, I don't know where you find some of the jpg's you use, but you never stop blowing me away with how funny they can be, yet at the same time so powerful. The 'Rerun' jpg from the CNN fiasco, I am still laughing about... even weeks later. In a case of powerful jpg, the 'tonic/clonic' jpg ...looks strikingly like Elias ...

http://www.iparenting.com/dad/6309.php

I was just awestruck as to how powerful a visual it was. By all means, you and Dan keep up the tremendous work you do...for as I said in an earlier post, it is the parents in 'our community', united ... that are driving the necessary changes needed for 'our kids'.

It is also 'our community' that rallied around us following the unfortunate passing of our son. We will never forget you folks!

God Bless you All ...

Harry & Gina Tembenis

PS

Thank you Andrea, for your heart felt post...

[Gatogorra]

This is such an important issue. Inspired by this article and with Elias Tembenis, Jett Travolta and way, way too many others in mind, we've started a Yahoo list today for biomed/seizures (at long last). It's called "Autism, Seizures, Drugs, Environment" or "ASD-Enviro" and the point is to discuss causes, prevention, triggers, AEDs, drug side effects and medical politics as they relate to environmentally-induced seizure disorders and environmental illness.

Group home page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASD-Enviro
Group email address:
ASD-Enviro@yahoogroups.com

In the "files" section of the new group we'll post the paper which includes the case study of late-onset, Depakote-induced autism in a seven year old with permission of the author.

[dan olmsted]

wow, these comments are an education for me. gatagora, i do agree mercury is at the heart of autism. and cherry, let's do stay together and keep at it until the next generation -- meaning the future of the world -- is protected from the "experts" who always seem to know best. that's why we call it the AGE if autism -- autism is its emblematic and defining disorder, but by no means the sole catastrophe we're facing. -- dan

[claudine Liss]

We need another Abe Lincoln.

[AutismDad]

great post and investigative work, congrats on reaching 1,000,000 plus site hits!!!!!!!

[Gatogorra]

Thank you for putting this so eloquently. It kind of highlights that, even if Offit were to withdraw his deadly vaccine patent and never work on another, he and the ND and other vaccine apologists have blood on their hands-- are literally killing children-- just through disinformation and propaganda. SIDS, cancer, seizures, cardiac abnormalities, asthma, diabetes--even the higher rates of drowning, of being victimized by school staff, targeted for sexual abuse or excessive drugging by mainstream doctors-- are on the list of life-shortening events which effected children face (and would not have to if not for vaccine injuries).

We've long suspected that this-thing-currently-called-autism-but-which-should-be-named-for-cause has a simpler etiology than many are led to believe. Because of seeing our son initially sink after a flu shot alone, my husband and I tend to think it's mercury and that all the other things in various combinations are facilitators to mitochondrial weakness which act as a "set up" for mercury to do its worst. Some facilitators might throw in typically seen complications that add to the chain reaction. But the disorder is so specific even within the variations seen among effected children that the cause really has to be narrowed down to a short list.

Another reason I think this is the news that Depakote also causes autism (according to new studies, older studies and the admissions of government attorneys in the Omnibus transcripts). Curiously, Depakote's effects on the brain almost precisely mimic either some of the known effects of thimerosal or lab results often seen in vaccine-induced autism. Depakote, for instance, induces demyelinization, disrupts the formation of tubulin in the brain, raises serum ammonia which in turn increases glutamine and disrupts the uptake of glutamate. It induces problems with cytokines and can cause leukoencephalopathy like that seen in Alzheimers type II astrocytosis among other interesting overlaps with the effects of mercury or perhaps mercury in combination with aluminum. Depakote, like all psychoactives and like mercury itself, can also provide its own "set up" for susceptibility by inducing mitochondrial dysfunction (one punch) before inducing the galluping brain damage (two punch) manifesting as autistic behavior. I wouldn't be surprised if Depakote also destroys glutathione.

In short, though Depakote could not be the main or even a frequent cause of autism in the epidemic because exposure to it is not universal, the fact that it's linked to autism and mimics mercury supports other evidence that mercury may be key.

Government attorneys in the Omnibus thought they were being clever by mentioning Depakote as a cause because, according to their argument, Depakote was an example of an environmental substance which could only induce the disorder through prenatal exposure or exposure very shortly after birth. They were so wrong. What they didn't mention were case studies of children who regressed at later ages (as late as age seven in one case history) from Depakote, thereby showing that environmental exposures can cause autism not only after birth but long after it. Just like mercury.

I'm sure that MSG, formaldehyde (which causes cross sensitivities to hg), Tylenol, the MMR and other toxic exposures increase the odds that a child will regress enormously and may be very important contributors to the epidemic, but that's not the same as being the central cause.

[Cherry Sperlin Misra]

Afer the CASE OF THE AUTISTIC CHILD is solved at last, lets vow to stay together in AOA and move on to the next cause. There are probably so many in waiting that it will be hard to choose. But my choice will be for cancer. Why are cancers in children increasing and why dont doctors care about that ? Just imagine- The AAP wont even be able to say " Childhood cancer? It was always common but we just didnt notice it"

[anonymous]

Correction:
From 'links of interest'
http://www.marthaherbert.com/biography1.html
see
http://www.healthandenvironment.org/

see 'working groups' drop down menu, list of working groups. developmental disabilities

http://www.healthandenvironment.org/working_groups/learning

New LDDI Policy Consensus Statement on Environmental Agents Associated with Neurodevelopmental Disorders - 7/29/08

http://www.healthandenvironment.org/working_groups/learning

[anonymous]

"Despite some uncertainty, there is sufficient knowledge to mandate preventive action to reduce fetal and childhood exposures to environmental contaminants. Given the serious consequences of LDDs, a precautionary approach is warranted to protect the most vulnerable members of our society.
We have a duty to be thoughtful public-health advocates and champion progressive public-health policy that protects our children."

The searing pain described by multiple parents in this thread (which, if I'd seen, would've caused me to post elsewhere) just withers the circumspect and formal bureaucratic-speak recommendations of the public health report quoted - my apologies -

although, on general principles, all appear to agree.

[karenatlanta]

My kid has lipid peroxide in the 94 percentile.
Free radical damage to the cell membrane.
At least we know.
Lipid Peroxide, like Oxidative Stress and rabid inflammation is implicated in so many degenerative diseases.
To tag my kid with a psych disorder is dead wrong. It's like saying Mitochondria problems are "unusual".
Instead of rushing our kids to emergency care they are sent to rot in the psyche ward.
What the future may hold is untreated even "sicker" kids.

[Randy]

Sad Mommy said "Not one bit of lab testing would be necessary to spot a vaccine related problem, it is all there in the baby records."

My heart stopped for a second when I read this - when my son's first doctor left the practice, we made arrangements to take his medical records home - went thru these to create a summary time-line of our son's "interesting" medical events in his first 2 years of his life - thinking that this 1-pager would be a great intro to give to the next (DAN or otherwise) physician treating him. What we saw in this picture was that with every shot, he got "sick" - a visit to emergency (persistent high fever, diarrhea, infections, etc.).

In the early stages of his care (first few months) the doctor's notes include things like "healthy", "normal development", "no concerns". At his 18 month visit (3 months after the MMR), the single note reads "is this child autistic?". Wham.

It haunts me that we didn't connect the dots as these events unfurled. I look at pictures of this little boy screeching with delight as he chased me around the house, smiling ear to ear from his playpen while his aunt played peek-a-boo with him, the most adorable crooked little "squinty-smile" messy hair picture - as he posed for us right out of the bath - all the songs he used to sing from the radio jingles - all gone - and I see the light going out in his dark-circled eyes in the subsequent pics. It's like he was slowly hit by a bus, if that makes sense.

The pictures and the medical records side by side - add the test results (heavy metals, autoimmune markers, you all know the drill) - it's a telling tale. The Offit's of the world will continue to scoff at my "scientific illiteracy", and yes there are a lot of things that might have contributed to his downfall (industrial pollution is one of the top suspects where I live) but in the end as the excuses unravel (thank you Dr Poling and Dr Healy and others for keeping your colleagues "honest", at least to the best of your ability), the "big picture" is worth a thousand words, and the big picture definitely includes medical "interventions" gone wrong.

[Andrea]

Thank you Harry for your comment. I have been thinking a lot about your sweet angel Elias since Jett's death.

Thank you and Gina for being the wonderful self-less people you two are, and caring enough through your own pain to help our children. Gina's chapter in Jenny's book is heart-wrenching.

Words can not express my sympathy for your loss. I hope that you and Gina are fairing well, as best as can be expected in losing your beautiful son. How painful it must be for you to hear of another child's death due to severe seizures.

Bless you both. And bless your little angel Elias.

[Kathy Blanco]

Dan and all

What is more elusive is the non tell, that DAN doctors are not telling mothers. That at puberty, a very invasive process is going on, and brain changes, hormonal, makes a slight situation worse. Up goes the testosterone, more mercury, up goes other factors, on and on... Gray matter is not developed by that time, so the immature cells are now open to more attack by mercury, and or viruses and or inflammation causing LASTING DEVASTATION to the prepubertal/puberty brain. *search AUTISM HELP FOR YOU, + PUBERTY DEVASTATION..read the entire page....YIKES!!! This is why Jett probably worsened with his seizures, and when parents of autistic children, also notice this terrible change. If not seizures, agression, panic attacks, schizohphrenia, catatonia, worse immune systems etc.

I talked to the infamous Bill Walsh about this very subject, and his words to me were not reassuring. Kids who don't get biomed treatment, including antivirals, antibiotics, antifuncgals, antioxidants, anti inflammation, immune modulation, proper diet, WORSEN at puberty, AND BEYOND. The true autistic, in their twenties and thirties have major psychiatric problems, major incidences of death by seizures, or heart attacks, and or gut cancers, actual Alzheimers symptoms etc etc. They end up in major institutions, this is where all the adult autistics are, wallowing in sickness. This means, that the entire allopathic community has denied that AUTISM IS NEURODEGENERATIVE. THEY ARE WRONG, to say, that it is NOT. And more than that disgusting display, is their denials that it is NOT biomedically based, hitting a developing brain, which never is able to catch up with the insults.

Most of thes kids also have comorbid conditions, causing a garden variety of oxidative stress diseases, displaying as PANDAS, MELAS/LEIGHS DISEASE, Thyroid disorders, autonomic dysfunction, seizures, Stiff Man Syndrome, KAWASAKIS, Immune dysfunction to the level of an AIDS patient, PArkinsons, Alzheimers, CAncers, Heart Attacks, IBD/Celiac, Pancreatic problems, CHIARI malformations, ARTHRITIS, Lyme Disease, Chronic Fatigue, Depression...it goes on and on...

If you look at what causes death in such individuals, it is like they are speeding through life, and getting degenerative diseases faster.

So, it would behoove the cutie three year old autistic, and their mothers to pay attention, to Bill Walsh, where he saw DEVASTATIONS at that age. He said and I quote, "pour down antioxidants"...

This only means, Dan, that we have a generation of highly toxic children, who cannot handle free radicals like mercury, like pesticides, and then can't deal with infections in total. In affect, they are crying out from the mercury mine, and saying, where is our oxygen?

I cannot tell you how angry I get, when I go to a DAN conferences, and these people get up there and suggest, autism does not degenerate the brain.

Tell that to my sons MRI, who's cerebellum is atrophying. Tell that to my entire family that has Hypoperfusion, white matter damage (because of an infection in our family, namely lyme), which results in AUTISM, SEIZURES, MS, HASHIMOTOS, etc etc. Our occipital lobes are damaged, our temporal lobes...and let me ask this one..mom????? What is the result of a spect scan on you? DO ONE TODAY. My guess is that you will be shocked how damaged your brain is? And why does this matter? Because infections/toxins/metabolic problems are handed down to your children, in the form of lyme, in the form of Herpes 6, or EBV or CMV or Strep Gamma and highly toxic loads. These all affect babies in utero, and CAN HAVE A DELAY SWITCH, triggered by a vaccine. When you look at what measles does in one year after its in your body, is truly devastating. Measles lowers your immune mediation for one year...which allows OTHER INFCTIONS TO GAIN HOLD. This is why, no one thing causes autism, it is a progressive set of events, timed early, and in a short succesion of one another, that enhances the others affects.

Cancer and PTEN genes are indeed high. In fact, I made a correlation with my mothes cancer, myeloma, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. A high percentage of this cancer is in autism families. I checked fources with MM societies. Then, I found a correlation. They are very very very not able to handle mercury/pesticides or oxidative stress, and, they have UNDIAGNOSED CELIAC DISEASE.

Again, these chidlren are dying faster, their brains are in devastation modes...excuse me to think, that my child deserves just as much attention, as the AIDS epidemic, a CANCER crisis, etc? And, to that end, where is our bone marrow transplants or telethons? Where is our immune therapies? They are being hidden from our public view. I even contacted VASOGEN to see if they can do a heat shock therapy on my kids, because they found it kills viruses for heart patients. There answer to me was "that would be an interesting premise"...and indeed, there are numerous ways to get after these infections, and toxins, that are being denied our children, because the WORLD proclaims, it is all genetic, all developmental and static, and that "good luck with that vaccine hypothesis" in a vaccinating world.

To me, this world has not offered a BIT to my kids, and that is putting it mildly. There is no concern, and there is no truth in the media, and parents are everyday, forced to confront their very prepared physicians for the litany of questions parents have, only to be lied to, or to deal with wolves in sheeps cloathing.

Autism will continue as long as the lies do.

[anonymous]

"...For now, I just want to make a simple point: Environmentally induced developmental disorders kill kids. We've known it from day one. And just exactly what are we doing to stop it?"
- Dan Olmsted is Editor of Age of Autism.

------------

I completely agree.

This type of finding makes me see red -
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_16348.cfm
Monsanto's Roundup Residues in GM Food Cause Cell Damage
GM Watch (EU), January 5, 2009
Glyphosate Formulations Induce Apoptosis and Necrosis in Human Umbilical, Embryonic, and Placental Cells

Obviously, there is an urgent need for a volunteer based grassroots campaign to circumvent the MSM and get out the word about the general subject of children and environmental sources of potential developmental harm.
Public health leaders are already asking for funding for this (see 'Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units' below); volunteers can organize and make some noise NOW (or according to personal timetables).

I hope everyone has read this website, http://www.marthaherbert.com/

in particular, the links provided here,
http://www.healthandenvironment.org/

http://www.healthandenvironment.org/working_grups/learning
EXCERPT
2.4 EDUCATION - Knowledgeable parents and caregivers are essential to protecting a child’s health and safety from preconception through childhood. Prevention of toxic exposures and their subsequent health effects is far more cost-effective than treatment. Prospective parents need to be aware of the health effects of alcohol, nicotine, lead, mercury, pesticides, arsenic, food additives, emerging threats, and other environmental agents, as well as of ways to
prevent exposure. This is particularly important for economically disadvantaged groups because of a higher average exposure to lead, tobacco smoke and other contaminants in this population. Direct education of parents, as well as better information and parent-education training for health-care providers, should be a priority. The Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units need to be fully funded in order to address these educational
needs (www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HEC/natorg/pehsu.html).
3 SUMMARY - Children have a right to an environment in which they can reach and maintain their full potential – an environment free from preventable chemical exposures beginning with preconception and continuing throughout development. We have an obligation to provide an optimal environment for all children. The scientific evidence on the neurodevelopmental effects of many chemicals is well established, and action to reduce exposure is essential to prevent adverse health effects. The consequences of LDDs are most significant for the affected individual but also have profound implications for the family, school system, local community and greater society. Despite some uncertainty, there is sufficient knowledge to mandate preventive action to reduce fetal and childhood exposures to environmental contaminants. Given the serious consequences of LDDs, a precautionary approach is warranted to protect the most vulnerable members of our society.
We have a duty to be thoughtful public-health advocates and champion progressive public-health policy that protects our children.
END EXCERPT

http://www.commonweal.org/pubs/lerner/article_extinction.html