SICK MONKEYS: RESEARCH LINKS VACCINE LOAD, AUTISM SIGNS
The first research project to examine effects of the total vaccine load received by children in the 1990s has found autism-like signs and symptoms in infant monkeys vaccinated the same way. The study's principal investigator, Laura Hewitson from the University of Pittsburgh, reports developmental delays, behavior problems and brain changes in macaque monkeys that mimic "certain neurological abnormalities of autism."
The findings are being reported Friday and Saturday at a major international autism conference in London.
Although couched in scientific language, Hewitson's findings are explosive. They suggest, for the first time, that our closest animal cousins develop characteristics of autism when subjected to the same immunizations – such as the MMR shot -- and vaccine formulations – such as the mercury preservative thimerosal -- that American children received when autism diagnoses exploded in the 1990s.
The first publicly reported results of this research project come in both oral and poster presentations on Friday and Saturday at the International Meeting For Autism Research in London. Poster presentations must go through a form of peer review before they are presented at the conference; the papers have not yet appeared in a scientific journal.
In addition to Hewitson's oral presentation today, on Saturday in one of two related poster presentations, the researchers also are reporting in their abstract that "vaccinated animals exhibited progressively severe chronic active inflammation [in gastrointestinal tissue] whereas unexposed animals did not. We have found many significant differences in the GI tissue gene expression profiles between vaccinated and unvaccinated animals." Numerous scientific studies, as well as many parents, report severe GI ailments in children with regressive autism.
The results are sure to be controversial, in part because they lend credence to studies first published in 1998 by British pediatric gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield, one of Hewitson's co-authors on these findings. He described an unusual inflammatory bowel condition in children who had regressed into autism after they received the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination. Wakefield is currently fighting charges of medical misconduct in Britain over allegations of conflict-of-interest and improper procedures related to that paper. He denies the charges.
In the program for the conference, the 7th Annual International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR), there are three separate presentations listed that report results from the overall research program. The first, an oral presentation entitled "Pediatric Vaccines Influence Primate Behavior, and Amygdala Growth and Opioid Ligand Binding" (the "amygdala abstract") was led by Dr. Hewitson and lists 12 co-authors, including five of her colleagues from the University of Pittsburgh and Dr. Wakefield. Other authors are chemists, pathologists and psychologists from the universities of Kentucky, California-Irvine, and Washington.
Hewitson's introductory presentation will be followed by two poster presentations on Saturday; one of the two, "Pediatric Vaccines Influence Primate Behavior, and Brain Stem Volume and Opioid Ligand Binding", was led by Wakefield and includes six additional co-authors.
It focuses on the developmental effect of vaccine exposures on brain growth during infancy. The second, "Microarray Analysis of GI Tissue in a Macaque Model of the Effects of Infant Vaccination," was led by Steven Walker of Wake Forest University and performed gene array analysis on the intestinal tissues of the vaccinated and unvaccinated monkeys.
The studies address – albeit in animals, not children -- one of the major criticisms by parents and scientists concerned about a possible link between the greatly stepped-up immunization schedule in the 1990s, including higher exposure to the mercury preservative, and autism. While the Food and Drug Administration approves individual vaccines as safe and effective, and an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the childhood immunization schedule adopted by the states, the overall health outcomes from the total vaccine load, versus no vaccinations at all, have never been compared, the authors said.
A bill requiring the government to conduct a study of autism rates in unvaccinated American children is pending in the U.S. House of Representatives, co-sponsored by Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Tom Osborne (R.-Neb.). Just this week, former National Institutes of Health Director Bernadine Healy called for more research into a possible vaccine link to autism and said the question had not been settled, despite repeated assertions to that effect by the CDC, the Institute of Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
In the abstract for today's oral presentation, the authors noted that macaques, the type of monkey used in the study, "are commonly used in pre-clinical vaccine safety testing, but the combined childhood vaccine regimen, rather than individual vaccines, has not been studied. Childhood vaccines are a possible causal factor in autism, and abnormal behaviors and anomalous amygdala growth are potentially inter-related features of this condition."
The study found evidence of both behavioral and biological changes after the 13 macaque monkey infants were administered proportional doses, adjusted for age, of the vaccines recommended between 1994 and 1999. Three monkeys were not given any vaccines.
"Primate development, cognition and social behavior were assessed for both vaccinated and unvaccinated infants using standardized tests developed at the Washington National Primate Research Center." MRI and PET scans looked for brain changes after administration of the MMR.
"Compared with unexposed animals, significant neurodevelopmental deficits were evident for exposed animals in survival reflexes, tests of color discrimination and reversal, and learning sets," the authors reported. "Differences in behaviors were observed between exposed and unexposed animals and within the exposed group before and after MMR vaccination. Compared with unexposed animals, exposed animals showed attenuation of amygdala growth and differences in the amygdala binding of [11C]diprenorphine. Interaction models identified significant associations between specific aberrant social and non-social behaviors, isotope binding, and vaccine exposure."
One of the Saturday abstracts makes the further point that the research "revealed significant differences between exposed and unexposed animals" in the kinds of developmental behaviors a mother might be able to observe, "with delayed acquisition of root, suck, clasp hand, and clasp foot reflexes." They conclude by noting that "This animal model examines the neurological consequences of the childhood vaccine regimen, Functional and … brainstem anomalies were evident in vaccinated animals that may be relevant to some aspects of autism. The findings raise important safety issues while providing a potential animal model for examining aspects of causation and disease pathogenesis in acquired neurodevelopmental disorders."
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Dan Olmsted is Editor of Age of Autism.
My kids are 5+ years older now and doing fine, but they had begun to regress (with almost no talking after being quite verbal, and showing listlessness). The thing that turned it around for us was Evening Primrose Oil, omega 6.
Posted by: DK | July 25, 2017 at 10:45 PM
Is there any place still on the net where I can get to the photos of the guts of kids with this problem? I had them at one time but they have been taken down. I want to show them to folks because I have this problem, am in agony and I want to show to folks what I am going through! Worse a poor kid staying with us right now just had his shots (could hot stop them, no one listens to me: I'm "weird!" :( And now he is in agony from stomach problems! Was talking. Does not seem to be trying to any more! Everyone saying, "oh no. He's fine, just a little cranky." But I know they just did this to him too and he is now in for a life time of agony! I'm 53! And yes I'm Autistic and autism runs in his family too. I just witnessed another one of us being made because no one would listen to me! :(
Posted by: Elizabeth Hensley | January 04, 2011 at 08:03 PM
Please Raj! Don't keep spreading the myth that Autism is mostly in Males. Females aren't like Male Autists so we miss getting diagnosed to our severe determent. We are just a bit too social with the Doctors. Even with Autism viva la difference. But we need help just as badly if not worse than Males because standards of socialization are higher for Females and while we may pass for normal one on one with a Doctor in a quiet examining room (unfortunately) we sure can't in the outside World! We are often just a little too social with the Doctors to meet Male diagnostic criteria for Autism. I was though I was very bad at it and that just made me come across as weirder so I got misdiagnosed at first with Schizophrenia instead! That happens to us a lot (or we get diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder or Depression or OCD). I personally know several Females who should have Asperger's syndrome diagnoses but did not get them due to being able to handle one on one social situations with the Doctor just fine. But they can't handle long term group situations. End up at bottom of pecking order and just can't handle that many People for long. Need precious solitude! The Doctors aren't picking up on that! A tragedy! One Female desperately needs disability money! Isn't getting it! Her lack of ability to handle social situations means she can NOT work but it not believed by Judge due to lack of diagnoses. They think she's trying to cheat the system! I had to really fight for my classification and only got it because I belonged to a group and the leader could see how I could not tell when to break in and out of conversations with the others. bad social skills when in a group situation. One on one with her alone I was fine! Many Females are OK one on one with just the Doctor, unlike Male Asperergians and that is why we get missed! And/or the myth is so prevalent that this is just a Male problem that Mental health “Experts” aren't even thinking to consider this as a possible diagnoses in a “weird” Female! They consider every other possible diagnoses first instead! :( Why did they think I had Schizophrenia. I like to write fan fiction, believe in God and was also writing a book about Heaven. Made me really all THAT weird? Huh? See what I mean!
Posted by: Elizabeth Hensley | December 26, 2010 at 02:15 PM
Hi Tonya
Yes, its not just vaccines and sadly some vaccines are needed for the MATURE human but not the still-developing baby.
Long before the diphtheria vaccine existed; this was the death rate in London year-after-year.
ZERO, ZERO, ZERO.
Billions of vaccines given ad nauseum for an illness that killed NO ONE, when sanitary conditions were so bad the Thames was an OPEN SEWER.
And it would be nice for someone to explain away ANAPHYLAXIS as the normal reaction to REPEAT vaccines. See work of Charles Richet.
When I was learning science: FACTS were FACTS.
Today you pay the PIPER and call the TUNE.
As for Safety Tests on Hep B for one day infants there isn't even a TUNE. Paid for or not.
The only FACTS about Hep B for one day babies are that it BLOWS heads up and kills them in rather large numbers.
Posted by: John Fryer Chemist | May 30, 2009 at 10:03 AM
Hi
Someone mentions oxygen tents but some autism theories would imply that this extra oxygen actually is toxic.
This is just a statement without any proof either way but I feel uneasy about this treatment without some concrete proof of benefit.
Rather like lupron - rather extreme.
Far better to avoid getting autism but until organomercury is taken out of vaccines and the Hep B vaccines at birth and worse flu shots et al for the pregnant mother, we are lost. I think we see evident harm in the mantra that vaccines can do no harm which is stupid and well meaning amateurs who do not always help.
For me the chelating methods seem best and the fact that standard medical doctors deny this treatment is doubly EVIL.
Posted by: John Fryer | May 30, 2009 at 09:53 AM
My son, Kyle, who is now recovered could barely suck and had abnormal reflexes until he was recovered. He was born with his symptoms, but I received a tetanus booster when I was 6 months pregnant. Go figure. Anyhow, to recover him I treated him for pathogens and toxins, and gf-cf, organic diet.
Posted by: Heidi N | May 28, 2009 at 04:44 PM
I read in the book "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon (one of my favorite books!) that using fresh cilantro can help remove peripheral mercury in the system, especially hard to remove areas. It has to be fresh however, there is some active constituent in the fresh cilantro leaves. I don't know the dosage, but it's something to look into if you or someone you know has autism.
Posted by: Tammy Swanson | December 02, 2008 at 05:11 PM
Lori, here is the abstract:
http://www.safeminds.org/research/pediatric-vaccines-influence-primat-behavior.html
The study is currently in review and has not been published yet.
Posted by: Jo | November 16, 2008 at 05:34 AM
There is a definite reason for regressive autism. "Something" has happened to interrupt the normal development of these children. Vaccination obviously is a possible cause. Why have we not discontinued even the slightest possible culprits until further studies have been accomplished?
Do we really have to reduce our standing from protective parents of these innocent children, to "we the people" (tax payers)?
Ok:
If it's all about the mighty dollar, then how much do these governing agencies predict we will spend in tax dollars to fulfill our obligations to provide free and appropriate education to the disabled when we are adding 1 in 144 to the current disabled population?
And what about their new medical needs? One study shows improvement for certain autistic children who are given a sort of oxygen tent to sit in for a couple of hours a day. This "tent" costs $3000.00 a month to rent or $20,000.00 to own! This is just 1 of the current promising treatments for autistic children.
And what happens when the parents/caregivers of these dependant special needs autistic children grow old and die? Where do they go then, if not to governmentally subsidized institutions? Isn't that going to cost us a hell of allot more than alternative vaccinations procedures and/or further studies?
1 in 144! Isn't that more than we have in criminal institutions? If it's all about the mighty buck, then something better be done soon, or we really will be better off taking our chances unvaccinated!
Posted by: Maggie | September 22, 2008 at 08:03 PM
Could someone please send me a link to the actual peer-reviewed article? I keep looking for it, but it doesn't seem to exist.
Thanks.
Posted by: Lori | July 18, 2008 at 11:58 AM
Craig,
Check the post again for sarcasm and you'll see what I was saying.
Posted by: doodle | June 21, 2008 at 10:44 AM
I KNOW you are right. I have been trapped since about 12 years old. I only find "life" through dexamphetamine. Then I go to sleep again.
I am also trying to attachment-parent my two little boys.
I am literally in hell. I recognise that I am not doing my boys any favours.
I can't normally reach for help because I find every-day life difficult enough. It is an effort to take out the trash. I can't even vacuum the floor.
I am on my tablets now, as I write.
That's how I found you. Otherwise I would be asleep.
I have been wondering about "mad-hatter" mercury for 4 years, since I decided NOT to immunise my kids.
They are so healthy and wonderful. It is ME who is unpredictable because I live in TWO WORLDS.
I hate myself this way. I am hurting my kids.
What can I do to pull myself out?
Please help. I have given up everything to raise my boys as best I can. There is no ego left. I will do what it takes.
What can you advise me to do?
Veronica
Posted by: Veronica | June 21, 2008 at 07:53 AM
Autism spectrum adverse effects are Blood type specific A + and O+ usually and usually male - there are associated metabolic disorders and DNA methylation is the culprit
Please send me your phone contact info lets talk
Raj
Posted by: Raj B. Edwards | June 09, 2008 at 06:28 PM
Doodle,
The CDC et al have NEVER cherry picked data to make their studies more favorable (*cough* Denmark Study)? The pHARMa corps have never lied about the safety of their products (*cough cough* Vioxx)? But when we realease a preliminary report that contradicts and questions the safety of the all-so-holy vaccine program, you accuse us of cherry-picking data? Come on, now, this is a PRELIMINARY REPORT!
Posted by: Craig Willoughby | May 24, 2008 at 11:27 AM
Psuedonym, you are reading the exact same abstracts we are.
Abstracts 1 and 2.
"Macaques were administered the recommended infant vaccines, adjusted for age and thimerosal dose (exposed; N=13), or saline (unexposed; N=3)."
abstract 3
"Infant male macaques were vaccinated (or given saline placebo) using the human vaccination schedule. Dosages and times of administration were adjusted for differences between macaques and humans."
Before jumping to your conclusion that researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, Kentucky, and other research houses are unscientific dolts, maybe look at each abstract individually. Maybe they are cherry-picking the monkies for genetic analysis.... or just maybe, there are two sets of macaques. Or maybe you have knowledge of the experiments you would like to share. Your post would be longer if you did, but I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you did not give to the researchers involved in this work.
Posted by: doodle | May 23, 2008 at 03:00 PM
From the Study author's mouth. Dan, try to actually do research for your posts:
For Immediate Release 06/01/2006
Wake Forest Researcher Warns Against Making Connection Between Presence of Measles Virus and Autism
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – An American scientist whose research replicates a connection published in England in 2002 between the measles virus and bowel disease in autistic children strongly warns against making the “leap” to suggesting that the measles vaccine might actually cause autism.
“That is not what our research is showing,” said Stephen J. Walker, Ph.D., an assistant professor of physiology and pharmacology at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Walker and colleagues have issued an abstract to be presented at this week’s International Meeting for Autism Research, indicating that a high percentage of autistic children that they have tested with chronic bowel disease show evidence of measles virus in their intestines.
Some observers have said that the presence of the measles virus indicates a strong possibility that the measles vaccine, a possible source of the virus, could have caused the children’s autism. That possible connection has caused a major controversy in the United Kingdom, where the connection was first made in 2002. The vaccine is first given as part of a triple vaccine called MMR – for measles, mumps and rubella – at ages 12-18 months. That is shortly before a particular type of autism (regressive) begins to appear in children afflicted with the condition, which has fueled the speculation about a connection.
Walker says the new research does not support the connection, and he notes that the results have not even been published in a peer-reviewed journal. “Even if we showed association (between measles virus and bowel disease) and we published it in a peer-reviewed journal, the conclusion will be simply that there is measles virus in the gut of a large number of children who have regressive autism and bowel disease. End of story.
“We haven’t done anything to demonstrate that the measles virus is causing autism or even causing bowel disease.”
Walker explains that exploring the causes of chronic bowel disease in autistic children is the major impetus for his research. “There are lots of viruses in the gut, and any one of them could be causing inflammation. If it truly is from a vaccine and this virus causes inflammation and a chronic bowel condition in some susceptible children, then that’s something that needs to be known.”
The main task at hand, Walker said, is to determine what is causing the bowel condition in the autistic children, a condition that has a direct influence on cognitive and behavioral issues associated with autism.
A high percentage of autistic children have chronic bowel disease, a discovery in the late 1990s that eventually led to the measles virus connection.
“If anybody has severe GI problems, it causes problems with focus, it causes problems with everything. You can’t do anything until you get that resolved. We’ve all experienced that.
“These kids experience it hour after hour every single day of their lives. Many of them are non-verbal so they can’t tell anybody what the problem is, and the behavior that they exhibit as a result of a severe stomach ache was once attributed to just being autistic and having weird behaviors – for example, leaning over the sharp edge of a coffee table for hours at a time. That seems weird, but what they’re doing is relieving pressure on their lower abdomen.”
Walker said that relieving the bowel discomfort has been shown to improve other conditions associated with autism, such as cognition and the ability to learn. “There’s case after case where kids improved cognitively, behaviorally and biomedically when you treat the bowel disease. There is a great improvement from better nutrition alone. You see improvements in their overall condition.”
Walker said he will continue to look for possible causes, the biological mechanism, and new treatments of the bowel condition. “That’s the goal for me: understanding the biology of what’s causing the disease and then gaining insight into the most effective way to treat it, so that clinicians will not have to go through a trial and error approach.”
# # #
Media Contacts: Mark Wright, [email protected], Karen Richardson, [email protected], or Shannon Koontz, [email protected], at (336) 716-4587.
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university’s School of Medicine. The system comprises 1,187 acute care, psychiatric, rehabilitation and long-term care beds and is consistently ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report.
http://www1.wfubmc.edu/news/NewsArticle.htm?Articleid=1856
Posted by: Johnathon | May 23, 2008 at 02:19 PM
Please provide valid study citations. Also, please be sure to explain the concept of the blood brain barrier to the group.
Posted by: Johnathon | May 23, 2008 at 02:13 PM
What is it going to take for the CDC, NIH, pharm companies to open their eyes and see what is happening to our children. What was back in the 70's when only 10 vaccines were administered to a child before shcool age and in the 1990's has increased to 36 vaccines for each child---shows it all. Not only is it the mercury/thimerosal and the MMR shots, but all the other chemicals that are included in these vaccines. Check out the ingredients of the flu vaccine--full of chemicals. In my opinion, the elephant is right there in the living room and these vaccine companies are driven by $$--their studies are tainted-it's all about the $$ and not the lives that have been so deeply affected. I agree that they will not see the light until it affects someone in their family and as the rate of autism has continued to increase, no doubt they will be affected. Thimerosal has not been removed--don't believe it until you check each individual vaccine--it is in the flu vaccine and look at the pregnant mothers that are told to get the flu shot! I don't need these studies-it is pure common sense and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out! I pray for our future with all of these families that have children with autism.
Posted by: Anne | May 22, 2008 at 10:25 PM
This scientifically based research is the closest thing we've come to actually saying to our government we told you so... Now we should be focusing on what levels of these chemicals are inside our children, how to rid them of it and how to combat or reverse the effects if possible. As a parent of a child with autism and professional Therapist I know what happend to my son when these shots were given, I know what happened when I had to have these shots for school for my graduate degree, I was sick for days............so what does it take for people to listen, what has to happen for some type of action, apparently monkeys with Autism. Maybe now we'll see some action.........something doesnt make sense here???
Posted by: AN | May 22, 2008 at 07:37 PM
Tsu Dho Nimh... Pseudonym... As Beavis and Butthead would say, "Heh. Heh heh heh."
You said, "You don't throw out data until it all agrees with your wishes for the results." Funny thing, though -- former CDC employee Thomas Verstraeten did just that. He advanced his career and financial portfolio by tweaking the VSD data to drastically reduce relative risk.
How many other CDC employees are following suit?
Posted by: nhokkanen | May 22, 2008 at 10:33 AM
I'm wondering about the incidence of autism among families with other genetically-linked inflammatory conditions e.g. eczema, asthma, lupus, general allergies. Is it more common in these families?
Posted by: Leanne Veitch | May 21, 2008 at 10:10 PM
Philly Mom-thanks for the laugh.
Toni why don't you ask Offit if he is biased about vaccines. Ask the Big Pharma if they are biased biased about vaccines. Better yet ask the CDC why they put the database into the hands of a private company and while you are at it ask them why they haven't done basic research like vaccinated vs. unnvaccinated populations, why haven't they looked the cumlative effects of all these vaccines on our children, why do they average out the mercury in shots by months to make it look safe, why did Bill Frist slip in further insurance for Big Pharma right before he left office, why are the statistics of "1 in 150 kids" from data that is over four years old. After you do that, then ask about Hewiston.
Posted by: Shannon Carpenter | May 21, 2008 at 09:37 PM
Tsu Dho Nimh:
“Why are they….? Are they only…..? What if….?”
Good questions so why don’t you wait until the full study is published before you go *jumping* to conclusions about whether “real science” was done or not?
It never ceases to amaze me to read about *experts* (think ORAC) who somehow feel they are qualified to give an in-depth analysis on something they haven’t even read???
Doesn’t that just make common sense?
John/Brian:
Focus….focus. The point is *the study* not whether the fooking picture is the *exact* species of monkey used in the study!!!
Pleeze….give us a break. I’m sure Kim was just trying to find a picture of a monkey to tie into the article.
Take a look at the other articles posted on this site. Do the pictures *precisely match* every piece written?? OF COURSE NOT.
Bottom Line: Get a grip.
Kelli
Posted by: Kelli Ann Davis | May 20, 2008 at 04:59 PM
"I wish everyone would take the blinders off and see it isn't mercury that is the cause for Autism. It is common sense it isn't JUST one ingredient in these vaccinations."
Mercury does goes in and does the prep work if you will - its a better prepper in some than in others. It sets the stage for the bacteria and viruses (mostly from the vaccines) to come in and finish the job. From here on out its anybody's production - all the way from a Harry Potter to a Gardiner Harris put out.
Posted by: Its all in the production | May 20, 2008 at 04:40 PM
I wish everyone would take the blinders off and see it isn't mercury that is the cause for Autism. It is common sense it isn't JUST one ingredient in these vaccinations. My daughters doctor said I was irresponsible for not vaccinating but she couldn't promise she wouldn't have neurological damage like I did after receiving the MMR. Evidence from just researching shows it is from ALL the combination or ingredients. It's in our foods, artificial chemicals we ingest daily, shampoo's, soaps. Unfortunately, our society wanted convenience, we got it! This is the price we are paying. Too bad our government wants to dictate to parents how to care for their children. If I didn't love my daughter I would go with the "majority" and just vaccinate. No one wants to "deal" with issues, just let them pass until they affect them. That's how our society operates.
Posted by: Tonya | May 20, 2008 at 03:41 PM
"When you do real science you don't get to ignore the results that you don't like. If you have a hypothesis, and the results of the experiment don't agree with the hypothesis, you have to come up with a new hypothesis that fits the observed data. You don't throw out data until it all agrees with your wishes for the results."
Tsu Dho Nimh, I hope the authors of the study will answer your questions.
But I must ask you this, since you happen to have so much interest in autism - did you ask the authors of the Cholesterol and Autism study (from Kennedy Krieger) why they only reported only one-fifth of the data, what happened to the rest of the kids in THAT study? Why did they throw out that data? Will you find out and let us know?
Posted by: What about the cholesterol study? | May 20, 2008 at 01:51 PM
I agree with John Olsen -- the photo is misleading, easily pulling some readers to the article's side, and just as easily interpreted as part of a propaganda piece that relies more on emotion than science.
Posted by: Brian | May 20, 2008 at 12:28 PM
Of the 13 vaccinated monkeys, why are they only reporting results on 7 of them? Of the control monkeys, are they only reporting on 2 fo the 3? What if the 6 vaccinated monkeys they didn't report on didn't show the changes they were looking for? What if the one unvaccinated monkey that was dropped did show the changes that were reported in the vaccinated monkeys?
When you do real science you don't get to ignore the results that you don't like. If you have a hypothesis, and the results of the experiment don't agree with the hypothesis, you have to come up with a new hypothesis that fits the observed data. You don't throw out data until it all agrees with your wishes for the results.
Posted by: Tsu Dho Nimh | May 20, 2008 at 11:52 AM
My brother was a happy, well-developing baby boy. We have many home videos of him playfully interacting with us and the camera. He stopped making eye contact with us about a week after his MMR. Today, he is 13 years old and severely autistic. Nothing angers me more than those who glibbly spew, "Multiple studies have shown that vaccines are not related to autism". It's time people stopped quoting false statistics and opened their eyes.
Posted by: Weave | May 20, 2008 at 01:15 AM
There is a cure or at least a way to remove the Mercury and Lead contanination.
CHELATION Intravienious EDTA and DMPS removes the Mercury and lead and gives the body a chance to heal.
Posted by: Daniel Dinsmore | May 19, 2008 at 01:36 PM
New study should be used to identify the specific vaccine that causes autism.
New study should use the current vaccines and the current vaccine schedule.
I always suspect it is the vaccine itself, other than the mercury in it that caused autism.
Posted by: vax9000 | May 19, 2008 at 11:01 AM
does anybody truely beleive the goverment, or any company will admit to any wrong? remember love canal, our vets with agent orange, or where the goverment gave children polio just to see if a new cure would work. yes peta, animals are not the only ones used in experiments.goverments love to use the poor (hey why not,it's part of the package, free health care for you, a ginni pig for use).
all i want to know, is there more or less autistic children among families who relied on these free shots? did anyone compare the lot numbers on the shots given, find out when they were made, by whom,and the shelf life of the vaccine?
how many children have autism in communities who don't vaccinate?
my great aunt (who was 104, and also was a midwife in her early years) said she remembered this in some children after the polio shots were first given, and in some of the prostitutes (mercury use to be used to cure some venerial disease). unless this is a viruse that only appears about every 40 years, somebody needs to start telling the truth, and comming up with a cure.
i worry everyday about who will take care of my son if i die.i wounder if there will ever be a cure, and i'll know that child i once knew. but there are a handful of times after my son has a sezure, and i'll ask if he's o.k., he actually answers me "yeh, i'm o.k." that's the only time he seems not trapped in his world. you tell the doctors this they have no answer. maybe i should tell them my son is a monkey, and they'll take more intrest.
Posted by: annie | May 19, 2008 at 04:36 AM
Dear Toni,
First of all, Dr. Hewitson is only one of the authors. Secondly, she is not a litigant, this is not a lawsuit, her son is a petitioner. This is a program set up by the United States Congress for families of vaccine injured children and adults. If adjucated in his favor, the award will be to cover the financial costs of his lifetime care resulting in vaccine injury.
As far as conflicts goes, how much more conflict can you have when a vaccine maker or vaccine representative is tetifying against a family? How about when a vaccine patent holder does research on the safety of vaccines?
So Laura Hewitson has a son with autism. So, have you ever heard of scientists who have loved ones with cancer who did cancer research? How about AIDS research? How about diabetes? The list goes on. I think most of us can agree that scientists/doctors who are interested in a particular field of research have had some type of personal experience with the subject they are researching.
I'm glad you took the time to read Age of Autism -
still stands that the results of this research are stunning -
Posted by: Theresa Cedillo | May 18, 2008 at 08:25 PM
Laura Hewitson is a researcher with a PhD, not an MD. She does not see patients, and she is not a DAN! doctor. I don't think AoA pays her husband for his contributions, so I don't understand how that could be relevant.....? In fact I believe Dan crunches the DoE stats as a contribution to science and to the community--I don't think anyone pays him for it.
Posted by: Jane Johnson | May 18, 2008 at 07:04 PM
Toni,
Touche. The big difference is that the research and news covered here is true, is uncovering why there is an increase in autism, why the children are so sick, and how to get them better.
Your side is doing just the opposite. The question is why?
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | May 18, 2008 at 05:45 PM
Perhaps we are all jumping on the "vaccines cause autism in monkeys" bandwagon too quickly. Perhaps we should investigate all the other "promising leads" for the causes of autistic monkey babies:
1) The monkey parents were schizophrenic
2) The monkey dads were old
3) The monkey babies watched too much TV
4) The monkey babies have "bad genes"
5) The monkey babies had "early signs" of autism, but the parents did not notice
At any rate, this is not really "news" because there have always been autistic monkey babies. The rate certainly has not increased, the diagnostics just got better. In the past, the poor autistic monkey babies were undiagnosed and shoved into zoos that no one visits, that's all. The real horror here is the the 3 unvaccinated monkey babies! What were their parents thinking?! Why, it's a form of monkey child abuse not to vaccinate. These unvaccinated monkey babies will jeopardize "herd immunity" and undermine the entire monkey vaccination program (LOL).
Posted by: PhillyMom | May 18, 2008 at 03:03 PM
From Toni -
"Just wanted to point
out that the author of the primate vaccine article is a litigant in
the autism omnibus case and so has a clear financial interest in
showing that vaccines are linked to autism. She is also a DAN! doctor,
again linked financially to the outcomes."
Let me see now who SHOULD have done that that study -
- the CDC, but they didn't
- Big Pharma (har har har) but they didn't
- the AAP, but they didn't
- the FDA, but they didn't
It HAD to be a parent of an ASD child after all!! It just shows who really CARES for the well being of our children.
As far as the public health officials go, they should be ashamed of themselves - common citizens are doing their work for them. Its a huge slap in their face. I hope they are proud of themselves.
And you ought to be proud of yourself for your help on the matter. Please let me know how you have helped the plight of so many families facing autism, not to mention the kids that are facing this calamity. Was this supposed to be a misguided attempt at service of some kind?
You are probably going to say next that this was all a monkey conspiracy and the parent must have ordered each monkey to shrink its amygdala? Give us a break will you?
Posted by: Thanks for helping Toni | May 18, 2008 at 02:22 PM
It's amazing to me that:
- The major government agencies such as CDC and FDA, and the pharmaceutical companies, are not doing research on the cumulative effects of our vaccine schedule. Nor are they studying individual cases of adverse reactions to figure out what went wrong.
- When smaller groups such as ARI and ACHAMP manage to raise money to do research, the defenders of over-vaccination discount this research as biased.
If the big guns won't do the research, those who are concerned about the current vaccine schedule and ingredients will. Toni, what do you expect us to do, just sit on our hands and passively wait for those who have so much to lose to do research confirming their terrible mistakes?
As Dr. Mumper said, the science is accumulating that there is a link between vaccines and autism. Toxins such as mercury, and injected viruses such as those in the MMR, can cause neuroinflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and impairment of digestive enzymes -- all of which have been found to be factors in autism. Look at the biggest epidemiological picture of all -- the parallel between the growing number of vaccines and the increase in autism. Veterinarians and pet owners are reporting the same health issues in over-vaccinated pets as human parents report in their autistic children, such as allergies and gastrointestinal disorders.
In a few years, this will all be accepted as obvious truth, and people such as you, "Toni" will feel like fools. There is no point in closing your eyes to the developing science. Open your eyes and read it and learn, without bias.
Posted by: Twyla | May 18, 2008 at 01:39 PM
"Just wanted to point
out that the author of the primate vaccine article is a litigant in
the autism omnibus case and so has a clear financial interest in
showing that vaccines are linked to autism."
You know, when there is a disorder affecting a high proportion of the kids of scientists and lawyers, there is bound to be lots of them involved in litigation or research on ways to help their kids. You're not dealing with just papers from the Geirs now, so you need to work harder at your smear attempt.
Posted by: doodle | May 18, 2008 at 12:02 PM
"This is a strange site. No dissenting opinions."
Truly speaking this is the only "unstrange" site out there.
The strange ones out there are the ones with dissenting opinions. Of the wrong kind.
Posted by: Strange vs Unstrange | May 18, 2008 at 11:36 AM
Toni, your comment got approved, as do many dissenting comments.
Ever listened to talk radio? Callers get screened. Even Mr. Mega-dittoes picks and chooses which perspectives get on air. Ever go to a Seder and eat ham? Probably not. Ever go to a Baptist wedding and get a cocktail? Not so much. We moderate comments. End of story.
Thanks for visiting our "strange site."
Kim
Posted by: Managing Editor/Kim | May 18, 2008 at 11:35 AM
"I'm sure they can find a way of blaming the mother monkeys."
Didn't you know, ALL of those mother monkeys were schizophrenic!! And their dads were old and all of them monkeys watched too many *people* on rainy days.
Posted by: Monkey problems continue unabated | May 18, 2008 at 11:14 AM
This is a strange site. No dissenting opinions. Just wanted to point
out that the author of the primate vaccine article is a litigant in
the autism omnibus case and so has a clear financial interest in
showing that vaccines are linked to autism. She is also a DAN! doctor,
again linked financially to the outcomes. And finally, this site
represents her science positively and yet is the site on which
Hewiston's husband publishes. And you made a big deal about Grinker's
wife's job!
Posted by: Toni | May 18, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Jenny
I'm sure they can find a way of blaming the mother monkeys.
do monkeys feel guilt??
apple.m
Posted by: Mark | May 17, 2008 at 05:51 PM
"Think [Paul Offit] be willing to put his butt where his mouth is and take the shots to prove us wrong? Nah. He'll probably protect his health as staunchly as he protects his source of income."
Actually, I think he would be - to a point... Shingles vaccine? "it's recommended".. Flu vaccine - I wonder if he gets one of those every year like he "should"? Another FOIA perhaps? "FOIA Request #24601: Offit's official adult flu vaccination record for the past 3 years.. Also records of Julie Gerberding, Marie McCormick.." Hmm, should release of his personal vaccine record be a condition of him being the most rabidly pro-vax person in the country?
Wouldn't it be sad if Offit (or any of the CDC/FDA/IOM bunch) had a daughter who suffered a relatively severe vaccine injury (not just 'a fever' or transient fainting) after getting a Guardasil injection.. Or had a child who came down with autism after MMR *before their own eyes* (I read somewhere that you can't *really* understand the vaccine-autism argument unless you've seen a child or your own child spiral down into the abyss within a month of getting some "lifesaving shot"). I wonder how THAT might change the debate?
Posted by: Jim Witte | May 17, 2008 at 05:04 PM
"One point that strikes me as important is that this is how vaccine safety research has long been done. If they did it any other way, would anyone pay attention at all?"
Except that this is different from how vaccine safety research has been done in one *very* important regard - human vaccines have never been studied when given simultaneously (I assume they did do the 'multiple jab within 15 minute thing' that is common with kids). Except for the huge, uncontrolled, unmonitored experiment society is performing on our kids as we speak every day. This all reminds me of Lyn Redwood's "Mercury Monkey" in Evidence of Harm. As Elucidatus said, "it started with a monkey and it's going to end with a monkey".
Another thing I think will be argued is, "well, monkeys don't have as good detox systems as humans.." Implication being that human babies could take this kind of assault - now, or back in 1990 when vaccines still contained thim. This is taking the devil's argument that "it's all out by now" which it might be, might not, might never have been taken out at all..
But the counter-argument is that yes, monkey systems are NOT as good as humans. That's why EVERY SINGLE vaxed monkey became autistic, whereas the human rate is "only" 1 in 150 - pending the release of whatever data the CDC is sitting on.. Could a FOIA get at that data perhaps?
Posted by: Jim Witte | May 17, 2008 at 04:38 PM
"Was this experiment cruel to these primates? .. It is time to call for Congressional hearings into what is clearly the largest mass poisoning in human history"
New ideas for a slogans for Jenny's rally:
"Congressional Hearings. Now. Do it for the monkeys."
"13 Monkeys. Vaccinated. Autistic. In memoriam - congressional hearings 2009"
Posted by: Jim Witte | May 17, 2008 at 03:53 PM
How will they spin it?
Well, didn't you know that all monkeys get autism, it's just that in this case these monkeys were actually watched for signs of autism. And, since doctors are getting training in better the diagnosing of autism in baby monkeys it's not surprising that these monkeys were diagnosed. And it's purely a coincidence that these baby monkeys developed autism after getting their shots --pure coincidence. To suggest otherwise puts the vaccine program for babies monkeys at risk and we should be ashamed of ourselves.
And Dr. Paul (pr)Offit was interviewed and quoted as saying "Great Scott! There could be an epidemic of predispositions to mitochonrial dysfunction in MONKEYS??? We need to start vaccinating all monkeys immediatly... I will call my buddies at Merck to make it happen! Tax payers will surely fund such a project, the future of all baby monkeys is our respondsibility!"
Posted by: Jenny | May 17, 2008 at 02:56 PM
To "If it is safe for our kids..."
I did not miss the sarcasm :). I was ganging up with you against the world out there that DARE have a problem with this.
Anyone know when might we expect to read the complete pubs? Sorry if I missed it, there's a lot to read.
Posted by: Enough about those monkeys already | May 17, 2008 at 01:46 PM
Dan or anyone:
Who funded this study? Who had sufficient funds, no pharma profit motive, and big cajones? Who do we thank?
Posted by: We do we thank? | May 17, 2008 at 01:19 PM
It's great to get all this feedback and to see separate points of interest develop, such as the issue of medical research on monkeys. One point that strikes me as important is that this is how vaccine safety research has long been done. If they did it any other way, would anyone pay attention at all? I doubt it. So for those who have relentlessly proclaimed how safe vaccines are, based on multiple studies, to start complaining about THIS one research project is just not a valid line of attack. People who object to animal research on principle have every right to do so (and I might find myself agreeing with them in many if not most instances), but that's just not the issue before us, when this team of researchers has applied the same standards and protocols that have applied all along. The focus needs to be on the results they got and the implications for vaccine safety and autism -- Dan
Posted by: Dan Olmsted | May 17, 2008 at 12:40 PM
To "enough about those monkeys already"
I was being sarcastic. I agree, there is a HUGE difference, and I agree all the research we need, be it animals or not, should be done, and should have been done a long, long time ago. Our kids deserve it to be done. I think you missed my sarcasm... Anyway, I am happy this was done, and you are damn right, "What about our babies!" I was only trying to state a response appropriate to those who are ignorant to the fact that, yes, we are talking about human babies!!!!
Posted by: If it is safe for our kids... | May 17, 2008 at 11:52 AM
"If the FDA itself has deemed that the amount and dose of these vaccines is "safe" to inject into our children, than there should be no contraversy about monkeys getting what is supposed to be "safe"."
On those monkeys - if anybody out there even squeaks about them - the valid response needs to be, "What about those babies?" Its human life we are talking about here. There is a HUGE HUGE difference.
If the public health authorities will not listen, research will have to be done to prove a point.
Posted by: Enough about those monkeys already | May 17, 2008 at 10:59 AM
It all started with a Monkey and its going to end with a Monkey. All of this reminds me of a movie called "12 Monkeys." Its a shame that the Monkeys will get more media coverage than our children. God Bless us all.
Posted by: Elucidatus | May 17, 2008 at 10:56 AM
If the FDA itself has deemed that the amount and dose of these vaccines is "safe" to inject into our children, than there should be no contraversy about monkeys getting what is supposed to be "safe". At least there won't be a measles outbreak among monkeys. I guess a few were sacrificed for the greater good. After all, vaccines save lives, right? If FEMA steps up, we should answer with, "Well, the Government itself says what we did was supposed to be safe." It was probably safer to inject monkeys with monkey kidney (in the vaccine) than human kids.
Posted by: If it's safe for our kids... | May 17, 2008 at 09:53 AM
As far as the monkeys, I know a great DAN! doc, let's get those monkeys on the biomed track! Makes sense this would be the next step in the research. Now that they're suffering from autism, time to fix them.
Posted by: Jeanne | May 17, 2008 at 08:14 AM
Jim, I totally agree with what you are saying. I've been thinking it would only be a matter of time before someone starts talking about how even though they might have explained autism in kids from the 90's, what about the kids after that? So the big mouths will start talking about how they were right, and thank you to Andy and the others for proving thimerosal/mercury doesn't cause autism; otherwise, autism rates would have gone down after that nasty ingredient was "removed" from vaccines. You know, same shit, different day.
We'll just have to wait and see what kind of spin, if any, THEY put on this information. I'm still waiting to hear their spin on Dr. Healy... are they just going to ignore what she said to America? If so, how does that work? Were we the only ones watching those interviews? Where is the rest of America with their outrage? I'm telling you, it's surreal, this constant feeling that the majority of the population is just asleep at the wheel.
Posted by: Jeanne | May 17, 2008 at 08:10 AM
Was this experiment cruel to these primates? Yes it was. But it was only as cruel as the larger version that has been forced upon their human cousins.
The present vaccination schedule is simply unsafe for any primate.
On the heels of Hannah Polling, the revelations of 1322 settled "vaccine induced brain damage" cases and Dr. Healy's comments earlier this week, this research nails the issue shut.
It is time to call for Congressional hearings into what is clearly the largest mass poisoning in human history. The Age of Autism has been brought on by the great poisoning and those that caused it and proffited from it need to be dragged before the public and punished.
Louis
Posted by: Louis Conte | May 17, 2008 at 01:10 AM
I have sympathy for those monkeys going through what our son went through.
Posted by: Keith | May 16, 2008 at 11:35 PM
Finally. Finally. I have been hearing about talk of doing a primate study and wondering what has taken so long. It is a relief to see that this hypothesis is now seeing the light of day, and it is a relief to see that it is showing that the autism-vaccine connection is more than just plausible, it's happening, every day, around the world.
To those feeling like they need to flex their animal rights muscles...fine, do it, cause a stir...it will just mean more publicity for this study, which I will welcome! Enlist an army of autistic children to protest alongside you, will you? That would make me even happier.
Trust me, I love animals, but I also love the truth. And I'd rather see the truth about vaccines come out now, rather than later.
Posted by: Mary | May 16, 2008 at 10:50 PM
About PITA and the media, I agree with Garbo - it simply adds another thing the media can use to spin this away from how it should be interpreted. And for that matter, who knows what PITA itself would do? Try to prosecute the scientists? Say they're wasting their time because "everyone knows" autism is genetic anyway, so why do this to the poor monkeys? I think the media will most likely try to say this is about *mercury poisoning*, not vaccines..
About the shingles vaccine, this makes NO sense whatsoever. From the article, "Zostavax probably is safe and effective in people under 60, the CDC says, but there hasn't been enough research to recommend they get vaccinated against shingles." So, there is NOT enough evidence to recommend it to people UNDER 60, but they're going to recommend it to people OVER 60??
I suppose in the alternate reality where vaccines are Gods gift to the Earth and cannot possible do any harm (because we know EVERYTHING about the immune system.. Oopse - we just discovered how aluminum works? Missed that), this would make sense - people over 60 are more likely to get shingles and the cost/benefit ratio makes sense (as in the alternate reality, the risk is always 0). Unfortunately, everyone seems to believe we actually live there.. More usefully, they could start asking *why* people over 60 are more likely to get shingles than those under 60 - after all, the herpes virus has been sitting quietly in the nerve roots all along..
Top 3 questions I have for future research along these lines (but it would require more poor monkeys, so perhaps not):
1) What about using vaccines that *don't* contain thimerosal? And add in the Rotateq vaccine, the CP vaccine, and whatever else they've added in for now. Forget about the flu shots - it removes the mercury confounder.
2) *Do these monkeys have mitochondrial problems*??? I'm sure they collected all sorts of test results though, including an OAT.
3) What about *voles*? Given that all the "classic" first studies on oxytocin, that wonderful little nine-amino-acid pro-social hormone, were done observing voles.. For that matter, if oxytocin production does go down in the monkeys, does spraying it up their nose help them just like it does some kids?
Okay, a couple more questions:
4) On voles - prairie voles (have oxytocin, and are monogamous and quite social in their colonies) and mountain voles (don't, and are the opposite)
5) What about gene "knock-out" monkeys? CBS, MTHFR, the identified "autism genes", mitochondrial polymorphisms, including T2387C ("Poling's mutation"), and oxytocin knockout monkeys?
6) How many of the same metabolic pathways that get messed up in human ASD get messed up in the monkeys?
Posted by: Jim Witte | May 16, 2008 at 10:28 PM
I've notified our local TV Station to stand by for "Breaking News" and emailed them the three studies from the Schafer Report and Dan's wonderful synopsis.
I urge every one to spread the word.
Charlie
Posted by: charlie | May 16, 2008 at 09:58 PM
If it's good enough for humans it's good enough for monkeys.
Posted by: Mark | May 16, 2008 at 09:47 PM
Truly amazing that 10-15 years after CDC recommendation, the combined vaccination schedule is tested. A sound experiment replicates the "as used" environment as close as possible. In the case of childhood vaccines, that would mean in combination. This study is long over due. Bravo to The Pittsburgh 13 and the research team! It will be interesting to see how/if MSM covers this story. I wonder if Ofitt finds this study "endearing"?
Posted by: PhillyMom | May 16, 2008 at 09:39 PM
I'm genuinely surprised that the idiocracy that is Orac and his mindless vaccine thugs haven't perused this information so that they could try to pick it apart and discredit it. Mayhap it boggles their limited intellects and they are genuinely speechless. Thank God for small favors. For-Profit Offit, I think, is updating his passport and looking for a country where extradition to the US isn't enforced. Well, we can pray for that, anyway, can't we?
BTW, while Gerberding carries a special space in the blackest and coldest depths of my heart as someone who should be despised, For-Profit Offit has recently been upgraded in my mind as someone the Human Race would be better off without. Let us all pray that the scumbag goes to jail for the rest of his natural life.
I think the end is in sight everyone...I hope it is, anyway. Let's all hope and pray that the powers that be quit focusing on ways to discredit us and start helping our children.
Posted by: Craig Willoughby | May 16, 2008 at 09:18 PM
Have tipped L.A. Times off to these articles.
Posted by: Garbo | May 16, 2008 at 08:31 PM
Another bittersweet nail in the coffin. Thanks Dan for posting this.
Let's see if "the media" does anything--
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | May 16, 2008 at 07:56 PM
Having read the comments, just have to chime in here and say I think it would be a mistake to get PETA on board making a big deal about this study. The media are likely to focus on the issue of animal testing and forget about the test results and the issue of autism and vaccines entirely. Remember, their predisposition is to sweep any "anti-vax" evidence under the rug and they will be looking for any excuse to do so. And while the idea of "recovering" these little monkeys from the autism using DAN treatments is nice, looking at the abstracts it seems to me that it would be exceedingly difficult as some of the data was collected "at necropsy" -- i.e. they were euthanized. Don't know if that's all of them or not...
Posted by: Garbo | May 16, 2008 at 07:52 PM
What a relief!!! Now I can remove the sandwich board thanks to the Pittsburgh 13. Now I'd like to see them tested for some of the other scary stuff like the neurodegenerative mycoplasmas manufactured specifically for germ warfare. Next thing you know is that the powers that be might allocate millions of dollars looking for the "autism monkey" gene.
Posted by: Handthatrocksthecradle | May 16, 2008 at 07:25 PM
Jenny,
There were 13 vaccinated and 3 unvaccinated monkeys in the study. The problems occurred in the vaccinated monkeys, but I don't know how many different monkeys had problems, or which problems occurred in which number of monkeys -- the researchers weren't discussing the findings before the presentation. But it's a really good question and one that I asked too, and I'm sure we'll find out. Sounds like the incidence must be pretty high, given the relatively small number of vaccinated monkeys involved. What that means in terms of human incidence, I don't know.
Best,
Dan
Posted by: Dan Olmsted | May 16, 2008 at 06:45 PM
Richard, I found an interesting article on USAToday.com titled, “CDC: Over 60? Get vaccinated against shingles.” If you think about what you've just said, and then add in what this article is talking about, what you might come up with is: The CDC and medical community are more concerned about adults and pets than our children. I just don't know how the CDC can say these things with a straight face...
You can read the entire article here: http://blogs.usatoday.com/betterlife/2008/05/if-youre-60-or.html
Here are some points that boggle the mind:
1. Zostavax probably is safe and effective in people under 60, the CDC says, but there hasn’t been enough research to recommend they get vaccinated against shingles.
“Zostavax probably is safe and effective in people under 60?” Oh THAT gives me the warm and fuzzies! And this, “…there hasn’t been enough research to recommend they get vaccinated against shingles.” So there hasn’t been enough research to recommend this vaccine to people under 60; yet, the fact that there is zero research on the safety of vaccines on babies translates to all babies should be vaccinated at all costs? I think I get it, it appears the less research there is proving the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, the stronger the “recommendation” to be vaccinated. Got it.
2. The vaccine contains live virus, so people with deficient immune systems–such as those with AIDS or cancers affecting the bone marrow–shouldn’t get it.
So the CDC is saying that vaccines that contain live viruses should not be given to anyone with deficient immune systems? That is interesting. So are they going to start screening babies prior to vaccines containing live viruses to ensure their STILL DEVELOPING (which in my mind means deficient) immune systems can handle the assault?
I’m just wondering.
Posted by: Jeanne | May 16, 2008 at 06:30 PM
One more thing...
Any word on the incidence?
I am very curious as to how many monekys were vax'd and how many had issues in general and how many are showing developmenal dysfunction!!
Whether the numbers are more, less, same it would certainly be useful for research to figure out the susceptible kids.
Posted by: Jenny Webster | May 16, 2008 at 06:13 PM
i all ways wonder if chimps and other primates get disilibesty like we have since we are so close in are dna .like can a chimp be born mental retared or have autism ,.be born deaf or blind and so on .oh i have autism i dont belive it the shots .i think it bretter dx and people like me who are hf some of us having kids and then they have it to ,.i know if i have a baby i have a high chjange of my baby having autism .i think it also gentics
Posted by: stefanie | May 16, 2008 at 06:07 PM
I just got reminded that we do not vaccinate dogs and cats until 8 weeks of age because of harmful vaccine reactions and several studies have shown animals developing health problems from over vaccinations. The problem is the pro vaccine people only want to see data that supports giving more vaccinations not less.
Posted by: Richard F | May 16, 2008 at 06:04 PM
OMG, the abuse of monkeys? When I posted this blog on my facebook page I put a sarcastic comment to it about how I am sure the monkeys won't have trouble getting their ABA paid for.
Irony indeed. I am a bunny hugger. I won't even kill an ant. But I support medical research using animals. Since this country won't believe the on-the-fly "research" that we conduct on human babies 24/7, this study was a must.
I am not suprised at all that people are more concerned about these monkeys than my child. The human race doesn't suprise me at all anymore.
Sick.
Posted by: Jenny | May 16, 2008 at 05:48 PM
The brain stem volume is interesting to me. My autistic son born in 1996 was diagnosed with a chiari malformation, and at first I thought it was just one other thing for him --unrelated. I was emailed by several parents of autistic kids about chiari in autism.
Eventually I ended up taking him to a specialist. Gavin's wasn't considered severe enough for surgery at that time, it's something I consider for later. BUT, I asked the doctor if he had an idea of the incidence, and he said it hasn't been studied, BUT that at random, head CT's of NT patents may show 1 chiari malformation in 100, while in autistics you will see more --i can't remember the exact number, 4 is in my head, so is 10. Still it's significant.
Posted by: Jenny Webster | May 16, 2008 at 05:42 PM
I can't wait for the vaccine moneymakers to now claim that we can't compare monkey's to children. If they believe so strongly that Autism is not caused by Vaccines, then they should step up and save the monkey's and let themselves be tested.
Posted by: K Fuller Yuba City, Ca | May 16, 2008 at 05:40 PM
"If the abuse of monkeys will help find a cure or prove causality for Autism, cancer, cp or any other serious deseise then it is a obvious, logical and easy decision."
Michael:
The compassion for the monkeys expressed here is pure irony. An entire generation of baby humans has already been abused by the mandatory but un-tested vaccine schedule. Nearly 20 years later, the full schedule is finally being tested animals?!? The irony, the absurdity, the horror of it all...
I love Animallover's idea about getting PETA involved. Let them raise hell and generate public outrage for these poor monkeys. Only morally corrupt people like Offit would fail to appreciate the irony and ask, "yea, but what about the children?"
Posted by: Save the Monkeys! | May 16, 2008 at 05:25 PM
Another nail in the coffin of all the mercury defenders. Bravo!!!!
Posted by: Richard F | May 16, 2008 at 05:12 PM
while this is good news, why test on animals ? I absolutely abhor any animal testing - saving human lives is another myth like vaxes don'tcause autism.
UM, there are millions of children that have been "tested on". Why is this not considered proof?
why is an animal test better received than all our kids (mine included- not vax but mercury-laden PA)
All U of Pitt has to do is look in their backyard. They are 5 min away from some of the most polluted, mercury waters & land in the US. I posted previous links on how PA's coal has the most mercury content in the US.. People are urged not to eat more than 1 caught fish weekly because of the pollution.
I'm not impressed as PA is so polluted w/ metals & chemicals.. Good grief ! Open your eyes U of Pitt. This autism clinc also pushes many meds for autism. Look for a PBS special " The Medicated Child" - it made me cry.
That's when I decided to stay away from PGH Children's & U of Pitt as they push meds. I vowed to take any means possible for my son.
They could have really looked past all this & into the current coal burning power plants & all the past steel mills, etc spewing poisons in PA. PA still has creeks & rivers that are permanently orange-brown from all this crap from industry.
Its very sad.
Posted by: DD | May 16, 2008 at 05:11 PM
I am flooded with so many emotions with this study.
Joy that the truth is exposed but deep sadness that the vaccine industry has no moral fortitude. More so, that our government would honor and protect industry over our best and brightest.
That vaccines would be about money, rather than safe infectious disease control.
Each day as children needlessly are damaged, we are greeted with more rhetoric and more spin from tax payer funded agencies.
My basic belief in mankind is shattered as I sit in CDC/ACIP vaccine advisory meetings.
It is unbelievable that the utmost care would not be directed towards our children or troops. Instead, the feel is like board meeting for Pharma.
Distribution and adding vaccines to the already bloated schedule, are the hot topics. Although safety is often on the agenda is rarely explored in depth. Adverse events are glossed over.
As we watches the parade of damaged children in our life, I can only wonder what it must have been like for those nurses and doctors who conducted deadly medicine under Hitler's regime. How did they sleep at night???
How do those who refute Thimerosal toxicity drown out the noise?
We need a D-day a Normandy. Something to halt the needless assault on our kids.
I hope this paper is it.
Posted by: KarenAtlanta | May 16, 2008 at 05:11 PM
This is great news! Finally, we have some hard evidence which will be hard to dispute. The establishment will know this study will be hard to counter. They will try their best to marginalize and ignore this study. That's why we need to do everything in our power to bombard the media and make them report this!
Posted by: Greg Powell | May 16, 2008 at 04:47 PM
Dan,
I have been a BIG fan of your reporting for some time. I think you have done amazing things for the autism community.
But, I just have to say that the photo of the depressed infant chimpanzee or bonobo you use with this story is not appropriate when the study had to do with macaque monkeys. Yes, the picture is very effective at pulling at one's heart strings but you should not have used it. You have been journalistic skills than to use this picture with this story. You are much more honest than that.
Better that your friends call you on your mistakes than your enemies.
All the best,
John Olsen
Posted by: John Olsen | May 16, 2008 at 04:47 PM
This has to be the same Laura Hewitson ... (so it's very personal) ...
When Joshua Lost His Words
Nobody knows what causes autism. One family's on a quest to find out.
http://mysite.verizon.net/richlord/9517223/richlord/joshua.htm
As he approaches his fifth birthday, Joshua has never said cookie. He used to say mama, daddy, uh-oh, bye-bye and outside until he lost his words about three years ago. He finds ways to get his point across -- presenting pictures, groaning, grunting, smiling shyly, waving hello and goodbye. But words? Not today. "We see great hope, but we don't know if we'll ever have a little boy who says, 'I love you, mommy,'" says Joshua's mother, Laura Hewitson of Pine Township.
In February 2002, shortly after Joshua was diagnosed with autism, the family moved from Oregon to Pittsburgh in an effort to get help for him. Both Hewitson and her husband, Dan Hollenbeck, turned their professional lives inside out in response to their son's challenges. Now Hollenbeck is leading the effort to document the surge in autism diagnoses (see "Epidemic Proportions"). Hewitson is a research scientist exploring some of the most controversial theories regarding autism, including an alleged link to a preservative only recently removed from most childhood vaccines.
Unfortunately, she works with Dr. Minshew ...
"...At Pitt's Center of Excellence in Autism Research, Dr. Minshew views the vaccine theory with skepticism and concern. She points to studies, widely accepted in the American medical community, that discount any role of vaccines in the autism epidemic. An unwarranted backlash against vaccinations, she cautions, could be a medical disaster. "We immunize because many of these [childhood diseases] can kill," Minshew says. If enough people stop vaccinating their kids, she warns, "We're going to start seeing localized epidemics."
She's a researcher on the genetic bandwagon ... (Pitt just got another big NIH grant too).
Posted by: Diane | May 16, 2008 at 04:43 PM
Great post, Dan! Reading this made my day, but at the same time bummed me out, because still nothing is being done to protect our children. Bittersweet...
Now, we need to pitch in to recover these poor monkeys with supplements, chelation, HBOT, diets etc. for their service to our kids and society.
We should not all get our hopes up, though. Maybe the spin will be that these monkeys were bathed with the autism causing "pet shampoo" as reported on Good Morning America yesterday and we will be back to square one.
Shoe
Posted by: Scott Shoemaker | May 16, 2008 at 04:33 PM
I understand life threatening vaccinations but a push for chicken pox and flu vaccination come on people!! let give our children autism because we can't afford to miss a week from work due to our child having chicken pox or the flu. Autism lasts a life time not just a week.
Posted by: Holly | May 16, 2008 at 04:31 PM
Jeanne, I'm over here in tears from laughing so hard. OMG! Autistic Monkey Babies! I love it!
I'm not saying it's a good thing that these little guys got autism from a shot, but it is relieved laughter that the end of this charade seems to finally be in sight.
And you gotta admit, Autistic Monkey Babies is pretty damn funny to say. Sorry...my twisted sense of humor.
Posted by: Craig (LMAO!) | May 16, 2008 at 04:28 PM
I hope all the animal rights people will reconsider your position on animal testing. While it is hard to accept, it has proven to be effective in helping billions of humans. If the abuse of monkeys will help find a cure or prove causality for Autism, cancer, cp or any other serious deseise then it is a obvious, logical and easy decision. It will also prove to make animal vaccination safer as well. You simply can't have it both ways. It's getting late and my organic wild venison loin is going on the grill. Yum!
Posted by: michael Smith | May 16, 2008 at 04:18 PM
Disturbing! People need to wake up because we are slowly murdering our children and society by injecting people with this poison.
Posted by: FORCED ANARCHY | May 16, 2008 at 04:08 PM
Fantastic news! Well done!
One must wonder how Big Brother let this study slip through. It will be interesting to see what happens with journal publication and how the machine spins it.
Posted by: Butch Labrecque | May 16, 2008 at 03:58 PM
It would really be great would be to reel in PETA or GREENPEACE right now, on behalf of those poor little monkeys.
Maybe a poster of a semi-naked movie start trampling on syringes.
SAVE OUR MONKEYS!!!! MONKEY ABUSE! MONKEYS HARMED,MAIMED,INJURED!
I'm sure any mention of Dr.Wakefield in this study will be a lightening for the protoxic vaccine movement.
Therefore:
I think the monkeys will probably stand a better chance at good press on this, so everyone call PETA!
Wakefield's initial study and the subsequent Wake Forest and Buie/Krigsman findings should have shaken the medical community to the core by now.
Endoscopies don't lie. Biopsies don't either no matter who sponsors them.
It's time for PETA, people who care about living breathing organisms!
FREE THESE MONKEYS FROM VACCINE HELL!
PETA focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: on factory farms, in laboratories, in the clothing trade, and in the entertainment industry. We also work on a variety of other issues, including the cruel killing of beavers, birds and other "pests," and the abuse of backyard dogs.
CAN I BE THE FIRST IN LINE TO THROW RED PAINT ON PAUL OFFIT?
Posted by: Animallover | May 16, 2008 at 03:41 PM
God Bless you Andy, Steve Walker, Dr. Hewiston and all of the others involved in this study. And you too Dan for being our "breaking news" for autism source!
Posted by: Theresa Cedillo | May 16, 2008 at 03:33 PM
I don't know what to say. I think I am in shock. Literally. Short of breath. I think I'll go breathe in a paper bag now. OMG... autistic monkey babies??!!
Posted by: Jeanne | May 16, 2008 at 03:23 PM
“Someone send this to Dr. Kinsbourne!!! And the AMA. And the CDC. And the FDA. And the AAP. And your lovely local pediatrician.”
I've provided this information to Secretary Leavitt’s Science Advisor and I've asked for an immediate ban on mercury as well as an immediate moratorium on the
addition of any new vaccines to the schedule.
Enough is enough. It’s time to do the right thing and protect America’s children.
BTW….another *very interested* individual in Congress rec’d the same information in a subsequent meeting.
To say this is a *bombshell* is an absolute understatement – it validates what we have been saying for years – something happened to our children shortly after they were vaccinated.
Posted by: Kelli Ann Davis | May 16, 2008 at 02:44 PM
someone slap me!
finally! Now I know why there was a push to scare everyone with measles "outbreaks". There is a truth outbreak happening. Everyone needs to print this and fax it to a random pediatricians office! I just called my pediatrician.
the cracks are widening!
does anyone have the meeting abstract to post??????
dave
Posted by: david ayoub | May 16, 2008 at 02:28 PM
Great article, Dan.
Last weekend, I watched the movie "Thank You for Smoking" about a tobacco lobbyist who is kidnapped by anti-smoking activists. They can cover his entire body with nicotine patches so that he can suffer the life-threatening consequences. That same night, I dreamed that Paul Offit was kidnapped, injected with the entire 1990's vaccine schedule (with the Hg adjusted for body weight), then left to suffer the consquences.
I was reminded of my dream as I read about these helpless, innocent research monkeys who must now suffer the consequences of mankind's arrogantly ignorant medical authorities. Paul Offit, on the other hand, would make a very appropriate lab rat. Think he'd be willing to put his butt where his mouth is and take the shots to prove us wrong? Nah. He'll probably protect his health as staunchly as he protects his source of income.
Posted by: Save the Monkeys! | May 16, 2008 at 01:18 PM
Minnesota parents of ASD children certainly appreciate hearing about this study. However it will not be welcomed by self-proclaimed "vaccine warriors" like Dr. Gregory Poland of the Mayo Clinic; pharma-funded folks at the Immunization Action Coalition and its faux spin-off, Voices 4 Vaccines; HMO number crunchers, and vaccine-injury denialists at the Minnesota Department of Health and the University of Minnesota.
Back to the drawing board!
Posted by: nhokkanen | May 16, 2008 at 01:13 PM
“The findings raise important safety issues while providing a potential animal model for examining aspects of causation and disease pathogenesis in acquired neurodevelopmental disorders.”
If the ONLY study of the vaccine schedule in primates raises important safety issues, doesn't it make sense to stop adding new vaccines to the schedule until those safety issues are studied?
Executive Order Request # 2. Within 100 days of taking office, would you issue an Order requiring a Moratorium on the addition of new vaccines to the recommended list for children, until the current vaccine schedule can be proven safe?
http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/05/for-mothers-day.html
Posted by: Kevin Barry | May 16, 2008 at 12:59 PM
There is now so much evidence that vaccines are damaging our children, yet officials refuse to act. Recent events clearly should be setting off alarms everywhere. The Poling case, the current vaccine court cases, Dr. Bernadine Healy's remarks on CBS, along with news of this study are direct hits at the claim that there is no evidence of harm.
Anne Dachel
Media editor
Posted by: Anne Dachel | May 16, 2008 at 12:50 PM
Andy, Dr. Gupta and all the other researchers who took part in this groundbreaking study have my deepest respect and gratitude. This is evidence based science at it's best. I know this was years in the making and I hope main stream medicine will now acknowledge the pathology evident in our children and that it didn't have to happen.
Posted by: Laura Cellini | May 16, 2008 at 12:47 PM