Olmsted on Autism: Among the Neurologists
By Dan Olmsted
Last week in Seattle I made what’s called a “poster presentation” at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting. This involved standing in front of a large -- four-feet-by-five-feet or so -- poster tacked up on a bulletin board in a big ballroom, taking questions from passersby.
The poster focused on the first 11 cases of autism described in the landmark 1943 paper I write so much about. We called it: “Association of Mercurial Exposures in Leo Kanner’s Original Case Series Entitled ‘Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact.’” The poster listed each child and the source of mercury exposure and concluded, in the affectless prose these things require: “Early exposure to mercurial compounds may be an unrecognized risk factor in several of the first cases of autism described in the medical literature. This may have certain implications for further research into causation and treatment.”
If you read my column even episodically you already know a lot of what was on that poster (if not, check out “Mercury Rising” on our home page). Age of Autism Editor at Large Mark Blaxill and I (with tireless help from Teresa Conrick) have been slowly building information on those first cases, finding associations with the commercialization of ethyl mercury in fungicides and vaccines in the 1930s. We’ve identified seven of the 11 children so far. The bottom line is that, in our view, autism began when this new exposure began.
The rest is history -- the natural history of autism.
While the idea is simple, the implications are enormous. The mainstream medical world has not exactly embraced it like a long-lost brother. But that’s OK -- transformational ideas take a while to take hold; if they are right, they can really take off. And we see signs of that happening. For one thing, Mark and I are writing a book that grew out of our work on these early cases, to be published next year by Thomas Dunne Books, a division of St. Martin’s Press (David Kirby’s publisher). Somebody besides us, obviously, thinks we’re on to something.
Another encouraging sign has to do quite literally with a long-lost brother. Mark and I developed this poster presentation with the brother of one of those first 11 cases -- a neurologist himself, as it happens. When we contacted him last year and outlined the possible exposures we found in his family and the other early cases, he thought enough of the idea to offer to sponsor this presentation with us. (You don’t think the American Academy of Neurology let us walk in off the street, do you? Even so, I had to pony up an unexpected $645 at the door to be allowed in, and another $200 for the poster. Uncovering the cause of autism is not an inexpensive proposition: Gene studies cost millions, and so far we’ve spent nearly a thousand dollars!)
So there I was last Wednesday with a neurologist in good standing, the brother of an original autism case, standing next to me taking questions about why he thinks there may be a connection between mercury and the rise of autism. Not bad for starters.
The other interesting thing to witness close-up was the whole gestalt of the neurology conclave. There were hundreds of neurologists and neurology students, and dozens and dozens of poster presenters in this giant ballroom, putting up and taking down their handiwork in two-hour shifts. Some of these posters were very spiffy and technical and looked they had been professionally produced. A really slick one was titled “Safety and Tolerability of Lacosamide: A Summary of Adverse Events in Epilepsy Clinical Trials.” (There were none to speak of.)
Our poster was over in a corner, by the water cooler. It didn’t have any complementary colors or souped-up graphics. I have no basis for concluding this, but I felt a little like Tom Hulce and his fat friend in “Animal House” when they show up for the rush party at the cool fraternity and were immediately steered to the loser’s lounge to sit with “Jagdish” and others who were beneath the fraternity's white-bread standards (Jagdish is probably a neurologist now).
I felt a little out of it not just because we were in the corner, but because other presentations that might be called speculative or just plain “out there,” depending on who’s judging, seemed to cluster around us. Directly across was one titled “Sin City and Show Girls -- the Genesis of Lumbar Disectomy.” Right next to us was a poster that posited Goya developed a disease that affected his painting style, wrongly causing art historians to retrospectively “take away” paintings that had been attributed to him. (These were actually quite fascinating, much more entertaining to read than the lack of adverse reactions to Lacosamide, or the one titled, “Informal advice can influence how urgently TIA [transient stroke] patients present for medical assessment.” I did not know that!)
And then there was a poster on the founder of modern neurology titled “Jean-Martin Charcot: Sarcasm and Skepticism.” “The objective of our study is to describe some little known characteristics of Professor Charcot such as sarcasm and skepticism.” This is going to seem sarcastic and skeptical, because it is, but when you read our book you are going to find some things about Monsieur Charcot a lot more germane to the history of neurology than that.
I probably had half--a-dozen substantive conversations with people intrigued enough to stop and look at what we were proposing. The general tone was engaged, interested -- just one doctor, who has a child with autism, worried that our theory might give aid and comfort to people who think the mercury in vaccines has anything to do with autism. I just smiled inscrutably.
My overall impression, however, was how hard it really is to make an impression of any kind in today’s medical and media supermarket. There is so much “noise”-- so many theories, so many competing interests backed by so much money, so many posters being put up and taken down presenting so many ideas of such varying significance and substance -- that a really big idea over in the corner by the water cooler could slip right by. Let’s see, the safety and tolerability of Lacosamide, how Goya’s obscure disease affected his painting, the roots and rise of the worst childhood neurological epidemic in human history, showgirls in Vegas, Charcot’s sarcasm …
Back up a second there -- did we just stroll right past the cause of the worst childhood neurological epidemic in human history, munching our soft bagel with tangy mustard sauce as we headed for the water cooler? Why, yes, we did. It was just another idea bouncing off the walls of the big ballroom in the Seattle Convention Center.
But big ideas, if they are both important and true -- as we used to say at USA Today in picking stories for the front page -- have a way of breaking through the clutter. That’s what we’re working on very, very hard, and that’s what Age of Autism is all about, and will continue to be till the cows come home or the autism epidemic is solved and stopped, whichever comes last.
After our two hours was up, I rolled the poster into its mailing tube and flew off to Moscow, Idaho, to look more deeply into the mercury connections of one of those first 11 cases. And once again, the facts clustered around our hypothesis about the cause of the autism epidemic. This is getting expensive: We’re going to have to redo the doggone poster.
--
Dan Olmsted is Editor of Age of Autism.
--
P.S. -- We’ll have the poster at our Autism One presentation if you’d like to see it.
Way to go, Dan! Hope one of those 'substantive conversations' eventually contributes to making an impression at the highest levels of academia. You are on the right track, impacting opinion leaders in their own haunts.
It's most interesting, the stark contrast between the 'affectless prose' required in such settings, compared to the discussion of such matters in other arenas.
Here in Britain, where Parliament deliberates in a chamber that resonates with chanting and hooting often reminiscent of bullying, serious decisions are made on matters such as whether or not to hand over complete control of vaccination schemes to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
In the media, what lies beneath the 'white bread standards' of opinion leaders and decision makers is an avalanche of noise, increasingly dominated by soundbites propagated by pharmaceutical marketers, manifest primarily these days as swine flu sensationalism.
Nevertheless, as the toll from the epidemic of immunological and neurological disorders caused by vaccine injuries continues to mount, the presentation of well researched hard evidence uncovered by investigators like Dan will undoubtedly become ever more difficult to ignore or deny by the 'white bread' elite.
Posted by: Mike Sullivan | May 11, 2009 at 03:10 AM
Hi Donna
Thanks
There are other manuscripts recent on LPS impact
Crit Rev Immunol. 2008;28(4):281-99. Links
Understanding how lipopolysaccharide impacts CD4 T-cell immunity.McAleer JP, Vella AT.
Department of Immunology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, USA.
Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a natural adjuvant synthesized by gram-negative bacteria that has profound effects on CD4 T-cell responses. LPS stimulates cells through the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), causing the release of inflammatory cytokines and upregulation of costimulatory molecules on antigen-presenting cells (APCs). The combination of signals from antigens, costimulation, and cytokines allows CD4 T cells to overcome suppressive barriers and accumulate in large numbers. T cells that are primed in an LPS-stimulated environment are programmed for long-term survival following clonal expansion. LPS is well-known for generating Th1 responses. However, under appropriate conditions it can also support differentiation into other T-helper lineages, demonstrating its pleiotropic nature. Although molecular analyses have provided insights into how immune responses are controlled by LPS in vivo, its powerful adjuvant activity is also associated with toxicity. Research on partial TLR4 agonists such as monophosphoryl lipid A have demonstrated that toxicity and immunogenicity are not always linked, making them useful candidates for human vaccines. In this sense, many years of LPS research have ultimately contributed to vaccine design, and the next generation may involve studying how the balance between different CD4 T-cell subsets is controlled.
Biol Chem. 2008 May;389(5):513-20.Links
Lipopolysaccharide: a tool and target in enterobacterial vaccine development.Nagy G, Pál T.
Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Pécs, Szigeti út 12, H-7624 Pécs, Hungary.
Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an essential component of Gram-negative bacteria. While mutants exhibiting truncated LPS molecules are usually over-attenuated, alternative approaches that affect the extent or timing of LPS expression, as well as its modification may establish the optimal balance for a live vaccine strain of sufficient attenuation and retained immunogenicity. On the other hand, a specific immune response to LPS molecules in itself is capable of conferring protective immunity to certain enterobacterial pathogens. Therefore, purified LPS derivatives could be used as parenteral vaccines. This review summarizes various LPS-based vaccination strategies, as well as approaches that utilize LPS mutants as whole-cell vaccines.
Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2008 Apr;21(2):98-104. Links
Targeting the lipopolysaccharides: still a matter of debate?Nahra R, Dellinger RP.
Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, New Jersey, USA.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The intention of this article is to review endotoxin, host response to endotoxin, clinical significance of endotoxemia, past failed therapies targeting endotoxin, current therapeutic efforts in this area and the authors' opinion on the future of such therapy. RECENT FINDINGS: Endotoxin or lipopolysaccharide is implicated in the activation of cytokine release with the potential to lead to severe sepsis. Therapies targeting endotoxin are very appealing and remain a matter of study and debate. Antiendotoxin antibody studies did not show consistent benefit to warrant its approval for use. Lipid A analog, phospholipid emulsion, and ethyl pyruvate are currently being evaluated for potential clinical use. Polymyxin B as an antiendotoxin strategy has an unacceptable toxicity profile for routine use as an intravenous agent and its use in plasmapheris is too cumbersome. Curcumin and lipopolysaccharide binding peptides, although having a potentially desirable effect on ameliorating endotoxin toxicity, remain to be shown effective in clinical trials. The development of a vaccine against endotoxin carries promise. SUMMARY: The benefits of therapies targeting endotoxin remain to be elucidated. Clinical trials targeting populations with documented endotoxemia are more likely to provide an adequate test of this therapeutic approach. Prophylaxis of high-risk populations should also be considered.
Now, where are the studies about the mechanism of aduvancy with LPS taking into account the current schedule? What about unknown aspects related to inflammation and breakdown of tolerance- such as last year was discovered the Alum impact trhough the inflammasome?
Posted by: María Luján | May 09, 2009 at 12:38 PM
This particular citation Maria posted below points out that the use of lipopolysaccharide as an adjuvant increases the uptake of mercury into the brain, even a low dose of thimerosal. The old DTwP used a lipopolysaccaride adjuvant. Some newer vaccines use lipopolysaccharide 'analog' adjuvants. Do we know what their effects are on mercury uptake from thimerosal containing vaccines?
Cell Biol Toxicol. 2009 Apr 9.
Induction of metallothionein in mouse cerebellum and cerebrum with low-dose thimerosal injection.Minami T, Miyata E, Sakamoto Y, Yamazaki H, Ichida S.
Department of Life Sciences, School of Science & Engineering, Kinki University, 3-4-1 Kowakae, Higashi-osaka, Osaka, 577-8502, Japan, [email protected].
Thimerosal, an ethyl mercury compound, is used worldwide as a vaccine preservative. We previously observed that the mercury concentration in mouse brains did not increase with the clinical dose of thimerosal injection, but the concentration increased in the brain after the injection of thimerosal with lipopolysaccharide, even if a low dose of thimerosal was administered.
Posted by: Donna Kincanon | May 08, 2009 at 10:04 PM
"how Goya’s obscure disease affected his painting"
It has been theorized that Goya's "descent into darkness" in his painting style was caused by the accumulation of LEAD poisoning from his paints. He also witnessed the revival of the Spanish Inquisition and Napoleon's army invading his country. He made his social commentary regarding these horrific events quite clear through his later paintings, and was called before the Spanish Inquisition to answer for his "unacceptable" art, whereby his previous paintings had the support of the Catholic hierarchy due to their religious scenes. If he would not have been the court painter to the King of Spain he probably would not have survived the Inquisition to go on painting.
One of Francesco Goya's more famous paintings is entitled in the painting itself:
"The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters" [translated from the spanish]
Google and take a look Dan. I think this would be a very appropriate poster for any autism related presentation.
Posted by: Autism Grandma | May 08, 2009 at 04:28 PM
Dan Olmsted is an example of what an investigative reporter should be. I am so tired of entertainment newspeople who are nothing more than newsreaders,they would not know how to research an issue if all of the information was in a paper bag right in front of them.
Thank God there are so many of you with
AOA who do what you do. I have not felt so hopeful in a very long time.
Posted by: K Fuller Yuba City | May 08, 2009 at 12:30 PM
Hi Garbo
Thank you for your comment. Well, yes I consider Alum in vaccines obviously a compound to be considered in the biological impact. Also there is a situation that always really bother me.
Burbacher found that with thimerosal MORE Hg+2 is found in brain that in the case of MethylHg- relatively.
Now, it is known that Hg+2 is NOT transported efficiently to the brain; and that thimerosal is degradated in vivo to EtHg+ and Hg+2. Then if Hg+2 is not transported, EtHg+ is not transported efficiently, what about thimerosal studies per se? thimerosal has a part that is a salycilate; has someone studied If by molecular mimicry the system that transport salycilates may be transporting by molecular mimicry thimerosal- or if there is another biological possibility of this taking place? I wonder because of this kind of findings :
J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1984 Jun;229(3):738-46.
Effects of analogs of salicylate on p-aminohippurate uptake into basal-lateral membranous vesicles.Tse SS, Bildstein C, Liu D, Mamelok RD.
In basal-lateral membranes of the renal cortex, thiol substituted analogs of salicylate inhibited the uptake of p-aminohippurate (PAH). The mercury-containing analogs, thimerosal and mercaptide V (formed from 2 mol of thiosalicylate and 1 mol of Hg++), were highly inhibitory. Compared with probenecid, thimerosal and mercaptide V yielded dose-response curves of steeper slope and higher maximal effect. The dose-response curves of thimerosal and mercaptide V were similar in shape, although mercaptide V was more potent. The inhibition by thimerosal, mercaptide V and mersalyl acid, an anionic sulfhydryl reagent which also inhibits uptake of PAH ( Tse et al., J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 226: 19-26, 1983), was found to be competitive with Ki values of 0.39 +/- 0.05, 0.12 +/- 0.06 and 0.05 +/- 0.02 mM, respectively. The inhibitory effects of thimerosal and mercaptide V were only partially reversible. Thimerosal and mercaptide V reacted 35 and 62%, respectively, with membrane sulfhydryl groups which may explain the nonreversibility of the inhibitor. The nonreversibility is probably not due to irreversible destruction of the vesicles, as the "glucose space" of the vesicles was not affected by these two compounds. That derivatives of salicylates capable of reacting with sulfhydryl groups were more inhibitory than thiosalicylate is consistent with a hypothesis that the PAH transporter contains a sulfhydryl group(s) essential for uptake. Based on the degree of inhibition, the degree of reversibility, the degree of membrane sulfhydryl group oxidation and the computer-generated three dimensional models of thimerosal, mercaptide V and mersalyl acid, a model of the PAH transporter is proposed.
Arch Ophthalmol. 1975 Jan;93(1):52-55.
Teratogenicities of ophthalmic drugs. II. Teratogenicities and tissue accumulation of thimerosal.Gasset AR, Itoi M, Ishii Y, Ramer RM.
Under the conditions of this study, systemically or topically applied thimerosal was found to have no teratogenic effect even when given in concentrations approaching the 50% lethal dose of these compounds. A comparison of topical and subcutaneous administration of thimerosal to rabbits shows that a substantial concentration of mercury was present in blood and tissues of the treated animals and their offspring. Thimerosal was found to cross the blood-brain and placenta barriers.
Now, please look at the dates; how in the rabbit thimeorsal crosses the BB - and in this case without Al present?
Curr Eye Res. 1988 Apr;7(4):341-51.Links
Thimerosal: an ophthalmic preservative which acts as a hapten to elicit specific antibodies and cell mediated immunity.Cai F, Backman HA, Baines MG.
Dept Microbiol. and Immunol., McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
A rabbit model for the study of hypersensitivity to thimerosal was established in order to develop better techniques for screening patient sera and tears for specific antibodies to lens care re-agents. Thimerosal (sodium ethylmercury thiosalicylatelate) was successfully coupled to several protein carriers using a water soluble carbodiimide which linked the carboxyl group of thimerosal to free amino groups of the carrier proteins. Thimerosal was also shown to spontaneously react with proteins as detected by the irreversible binding of mercury to the protein carrier. Immunization of rabbits with the chemically coupled thimerosal resulted in the production of antibodies which specifically reacted with thimerosal. The rabbits also manifested delayed and immediate forms of hypersensitivity to the thimerosal conjugates. The ELISA assay for specific serum antibodies was found to be a sensitive, reliable and specific screening tool However, there was no immunological cross reactivity between the chemically coupled thimerosal and the spontaneously coupled thimerosal. Therefore, the epitopes produced by these two reaction mechanisms were probably immunochemically different even though both contained detectable thimerosal derived mercury.
Now, of course the problem is that there seems to be no interest to look at the injected thimerosal itself- beyond the metabolites- to know about how
a) has been found to cross the BBB without Al injected in rabbits
b)in Burbacher results there is more Hg+2 inorganic relatively when thimerosal is used instead than MeHg+- how does the Hg+2 reached there?
c) the impact of coinjection of thimerosal with Alum and antibiotics- neomicyn for example?
d)if there any changes of thimerosal with time of storage in vaccines; for example
I-Degradation to other compounds- what compounds?
II- Adsorption on Alum
III-interaction with other compounds present in vaccines
And how I-II and III are metabolized in infants.
Posted by: María Luján | May 07, 2009 at 11:52 PM
Hey Dan
Thanks for your ongoing search.....and continued research for our kids. I will stop by and see your poster at Autism One. Will "Brother of First Cases of Autism Study" Neurologist be there? So wild you found him.
Keep up the fight. We are following your every move...and appreciate your every step along the way. I hope to soon have the time .. and energy...to help you out.
Jacey
Posted by: Jacey | May 07, 2009 at 11:28 PM
Thanks for this, Dan. From now on, every time I run into a not-all-there medical practitioner, I'm going to think of soft bagels. I wish I could have witnessed this event and I second the wish to see a documentary of it all one day.
I met an expert in psychopharmaceuticology, an MD, who searched the world over for a pediatric neurology program that did not require her to drug the crap out of child subjects with drugs she knew to be toxic at best, deadly at worst, and only sometimes effective at controlling seizures...for a while. She couldn't find a residency like this anywhere. I assume she wanted the specialty to be able to get grants for and author studies (using animal subjects, I'm sure) on causes and better modes of treatment.
I make this analogy a lot but she made the training sound like mob inculcation, where new "soldiers" are required to perform hits so they can't rat each other out. Maybe that explains why most neuros parrot the "safe and well tolerated" promotional line for every drug they come across despite all the horrified reports on side effects we hear about from parents.
Someone commenting here wrote that maybe our best hope might be among neurologists because of the few golden examples we've seen in our community. This may be so, but rare, ethical examples aside, ask any parent of a child with life threatening seizures what they think of the field as a *whole*. Then stand clear and keep fire extinguishers on hand when they reply.
Posted by: Gatogorra | May 07, 2009 at 06:07 PM
Thanks again for all your hard work, Dan, you are an amazing writer. I think bensmyson is on to something - - how can we contact Michael Moore? Maybe that's not the attention we want, but documenting this odyssey is definitely something to look in to ...
Posted by: mlinn | May 07, 2009 at 04:59 PM
Dan Thanks for your tireless efforts. I too will look forward to seeing your poster at A1. Your column makes me want to watch Animal House again. It's been a long long time.
Kathy - all the neuro's at OHSU are a bunch of quacks. When we were having Isaac evaluated for tethered cord the neuro was going to refer him a shrink. He had ordered some tests and made his decision without waiting for the results to come back. I told him I had talked to the NP who did the tests and the final results were not in and things did look suspicious. Nope to a shrink. He was too busy for us. He was flying out of town that afternoon to meet up for a speaking circuit. Turns out he did have tethered cord. the neuro at OHSU needs a shrink. One that will shrink his ego. I can't stand OHSU.
Posted by: Angela Warner | May 07, 2009 at 04:35 PM
Thanks for all the great feedback -- it keeps me going. david, i really like the pete seger analogy. i'm 56 and most of my relatives were just fine and dandy into their late 80s, so i plan to cause another 30 years of trouble. becky, i'm glad someone else gets that "Animal House" feeling from time to time and can laugh about it. And petersyms, sounds like you've been taking sarcasm lessons from charcot. how about a poster presentation called "The lack of association between sneering and actually having a coherent point of view"? I can put you in touch with the right people. -- dan
Posted by: dan olmsted | May 07, 2009 at 03:11 PM
For Maria Lujan -- re: transporting mercury to the brain, there have been many studies showing that Aluminum makes the blood-brain barrier more permeable. Perhaps it is the injection of aluminum and mercury together which is a factor. HHS has been concerned enough about aluminum in vaccines to devote at least one entire conference to it in 2000, San Juan Puerto Rico. Reading the transcripts, it is clear that just as in thimerosal, NOBODY is monitoring the vaccine schedule for body burden of injected aluminum. This depsite the fact that aluminum levels in parenteral feeding solutions are strictly regulated. And despite the fact that the MSDS for thimerosal explicitly states it is not to be combined with aluminum. The fact that this has been allowed to slide is an utter outrage.
Posted by: Garbo | May 07, 2009 at 03:09 PM
@ Teresa, who wrote:
"I'd be curious who that person really is. Like the swine flu--I mean h1n1--there are, imho,nuggets of hype to send to the masses to get them to think and feel a particular way."
No doubt Big Pharma has it boiler room shills active on protuberant sites like that one. But I've been banned there five times (2x for autism comments, 3x for 9/11 comments) and my sense is that:
Maybe Seeger's basket of rocks is more than half full.
I highly recommend that you register on DailyKos and, after a week expires and you get diary privileges, post something, oh, you know, factual about autism, some straight poop like J.B said yesterday about our vaccine schedule to the spokes-doctor in scrubs. Then set your timer.
Flame on.
Posted by: David Taylor | May 07, 2009 at 03:02 PM
Why are doctors and pharmaceutical companies the ONLY ones with conflicts of interest? Wouldn't the people who've written books about "the dangers of vaccines" also suffer from a conflict of interest in promoting a vaccine-autism connection?
Seriously, there are better arguments to make. Find them.
Posted by: petersyms | May 07, 2009 at 02:37 PM
Hi David Taylor. Your comment-
"bottlerocketheart posted a diary "Oprah teams up with Jenny McCarthy to potentially kill children." ..
I'd be curious who that person really is. Like the swine flu--I mean h1n1--there are, imho,nuggets of hype to send to the masses to get them to think and feel a particular way. Like the almighty "10% genetic" autism..or the "autistic kids are just wired differently". These are are made up factoids and we will continue to shine the light on the truth.
I just ran into a security guard here, a nice guy but his comment when I had told him about Meg's seizure (and my master's level boss said the same thing so it is not about education but media) was "well, doesn't that just happen when they become teens?".....sounds familiar...."autism just happens around the 2nd year but it has nothing to do with vaccines..though we have no idea why it happens but 10% is genetic and another 30% will go on to have seizures in adolesence."
You have now entered the Twilight Zone and it's time to change this paradigm.
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | May 07, 2009 at 01:57 PM
Jugdish had two other friends, Clayton and Mohammad. I have replayed that scene from Animal House many times in my head when it has come apparent that I am sort of striking out at something. It's so funny, Dan, that you also use it as a reference. I look forward to seeing your fantastic poster at A1. And as always, thank you for your tireless efforts.
Posted by: Becky Estepp | May 07, 2009 at 01:21 PM
I had a huge follow up meeting with abunch of neurological/metabolic doctors at OHSU for my son who is 27 years old who still has mitochondrial issues. They saw him over ten years ago. Remarked something to the effect, genetic (because he has a sister with autism). I took it in. I didn't believe them. Rarely do I take to heart anything neuros say, they are just pharmacopia heads. I knew my child changed with every vaccine. And, my kids were SEVERELY mercury poisoned. I was too.
I buy it that mercury is the main grand poopah...but I also believe that pathogens are. Pathogens such as what is in vaccines as well, such as viruses which eat myelin and damage and tangle nerves, or even natural vectors such as lyme, which do the same, eat myelin AND white matter. Since my kids have both (and in autism this is a given), it would be interesting to do DNA on these kids to see if they have traces of borrelia spirochete lyme or other tick borne agents, since their parents were in forestry industries and farming, where ticks love to live. And yes, you can hand down the pathogen in utero. But, I also believe, the damage by mercury on the immune system, and how the body handles those pathogens is severely disturbed by it's presence. It's not an either or, it's just a thought I have to add to this theory.
That said, most neuros don't know how to put one word in front of the other, and stick their noses mostly into what bandaid approach they can do to cover up symptoms of brain diseases. This is not only true for autism, it's true for Alzheimers and Parkinsons and other motor neuron diseases and epilepsy. There main aim is to make the patient "comfortable". That doesn't cure diseases, nor bothers to look at etiology. I bemoan these facts, because I have had many a doctor I have fired who seemed disinterested in the gut brain connections, the pathogens, and the mercury toxicity issue in autism. I am sure I am not alone in this thinking...that most of us parents, come away from those meetings more pissed than ever, and more justified that we are right.
I loved the response at the meeting though...when I talked about how mitochondria damage may be caused by thimerosol because it uses that pathway...they were like, one eyebrow up, shit, this mom knows what she is talking about....totally hillarious...they kind of just listend after that, and wer noding their head and more than not said "good idea, we should test for that"...yeah right, like they thought about it, not....
Posted by: Kathy Blanco | May 07, 2009 at 01:18 PM
Dan--
Six conversations? That's a tough cost-benefit ratio.
Pete Seeger tells why he has stayed positive all these years (90 of them).
He sees the scales of justice like a seesaw. One end sits on the ground with a basket half full of big rocks atop it. On the high end is a basket of sand being added to one teaspoon at a time. Each song, each person, each witness, each conversation at a convention center of neurologists, is a teaspoon of sand. Eventually our basket will be full, righting the seesaw of justice and truth.
If you want a close look at the basket of rocks--yesterday on DailyKos, bottlerocketheart posted a diary "Oprah teams up with Jenny McCarthy to potentially kill children." Permalink:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/5/6/2240/07036
The diary received nearly 2,000 comments, close to a record. Nearly all of them calling us anti-vaccine nuts.
Onward--
Posted by: David Taylor | May 07, 2009 at 01:18 PM
Dear Dan "Dr. Doomsday" Olmsted,
Thanks for not being a stooge. Iraq '71-2 can be dusted for Lady Ethyl's fingerprints.
Long before the 'mother of all battles' it seems there was the 'mother of all extrapolations'. Calculated biz.
Unless round two of smart bombs vaporized precious paperwork there might be a few sniffings left. They ain't exactly Amish.
Posted by: enDOWment for the Farts | May 07, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Dan,
Congrats on FINDING the neurologists without a 6 month advance appointment. At least one mystery was put to rest. Were they all wearing Waldo outfits? Do you feel like they have passed the buck to geneticists for now like everyone else?
Its too bad you didn’t know in advance that you would be near the water cooler. You could have poured water into glasses from a pitcher as you spoke, and just before they took a sip, you could assure them that the pitcher and glasses were thoroughly sterilized with the same mercury solution and process used in mercury free vaccines. Salud! Maybe you could have offered them a choice of water from a multidose jug that contained a preservative proven safe by a 1930s pharma safety study, or individual preservative free water bottles.
I am getting a sense from your word smirks that your book is going to be very good. Looking forward to it. The anthropology of autism is a very important story, and I’m glad someone is getting a hundred year or so jump on looking at it. Most people are trying so hard to close their eyes and tidy up the explanation of the rise in cases that they’ve also closed their minds to what is not explained by their own data. Is their better awareness? Yes. Has diagnostic criteria broadened? Yes. Are more services available now? Yes Have these factors fully explained a 12 fold increase in classic autism in CA? Absolutely not. More water anyone?
Posted by: jruch | May 07, 2009 at 12:49 PM
Dan, I will keep this short and sweet. I love you. I really do. Thank you for everything you do on behalf of our children.
Posted by: Ricci King | May 07, 2009 at 11:16 AM
Gee, Dan, maybe you could send a copy of your informational poster to Chris Mooney over at Discover magazine. It's clear from his latest article that he knows nothing about mercury toxicity. Rather, he seems to think that investigative journalism means filling 4 web pates with quote mining from people with conflicts of interest.
Every time I think that I've read a new low in corporate-funded media, another new low appears.
Posted by: nhokkanen | May 07, 2009 at 10:44 AM
I forgot to say that I feel there's definitely a synchronistic element to the fact that one of Tanner's 11 cases has a neurologist for a brother. I have noticed that it seems like the neurologists may be the most hopeful of the medical professionals (M. Herbert, Poling, Jenny Tetlock's neuro etc.)
Posted by: jen | May 07, 2009 at 10:03 AM
good for you, Dan!! Yeah, there's something oool about being the low key guy in the midst. I will definitely buy your book when it comes out, sounds great!
Posted by: jen | May 07, 2009 at 09:58 AM
Theresa,
Didn't anyone tell you? Your daughter had a seizure at 16 because that is what autistic kids do. They either have them early (before age 5 or in adolesence. Are you not satisfied with this answer? What more could you possibly want to know?
It would be interesting to try to find out where medicine gets the "30-40% of autistic patients have seizures" when the number of kids with autism keeps changing. So, 30-40% of what number? Was this a controlled, evidence-based study or "anectodal"?
note sarcasm.
Posted by: anonymous | May 07, 2009 at 09:39 AM
Christ! Dan's story of this conference is so cinematic, is anyone doing a documentary film? This stuff needs to be documented and shown to the public. If Oscars can be given to people uncovering bits and pieces of the Enron collapse or the government's removal of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega then why isn't someone doing a film on how the pharmaceuticals intentional spreading of misinformation/ignorance/greed to our healthcare providers are causing OUR kids to suffer serious brain injuries? (not to mention how Vioxx killed people while Merck released a fake medical journal http://gaia-health.com/articles51/000053-Merck-Fake-Journal.shtml ) There are many stories here that, for now, are being preached to the choir, we need the world to witness what's going on.
Hello? Anyone?
I've been on the creative side of a camera for 20 years, if you have any ideas or want to start documenting all this on film (digitally now a day) contact me through my blog, http://bensmyson.wordpress.com
Posted by: bensmyson | May 07, 2009 at 09:29 AM
"But big ideas, if they are both important and true have a way of breaking through the clutter."
Scroll down on the Google News page to "Health" (which I do everyday) and you'll see that most of the time, what is called Health News, isn't about ways to actually stay healthy. Instead it's reporting on medical fads, subjects that appear to have interest, but will quickly fade away and no one will hear about them again.
Medical News Today-- Study Shows Why Some Artery Plaques Are Deadlier Than Others
TIME-- Study: Why Antidepressants Don't Live Up to the Hype
Houston Chronicle-- Study predicts 45% more cancer cases by 2030
And I couldn't help but notice the talk on the vaccine for the new pandemic.
Vaccine Would Be Spoken For Washington Post -http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/06/AR2009050603760.html
Mexico City reemerges from H1N1 threat Los Angeles Times - http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-swine-flu7-2009may07,0,3208023.story
WHO to weigh flu vaccine switch next week Reuters - http://uk.reuters.com/article/scienceNewsMolt/idUKL699375220090506
H1N1 vaccine: Make now or later? USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-05-06-who-vaccine-swine-flu_N.htm
Cooking Up Millions of Viruses for a New Vaccine New York Times - May 5, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/06/health/research/06vaccine.html?ref=health
Although at the Seattle Convention Hall you were along side notables like "The safety and tolerability of Lacosamide," and "How Goya’s obscure disease affected his painting," "The roots and rise of the worst childhood neurological epidemic in human history" will have to get the coverage now reserved for the pandemic flu vaccine. We have no choice. Our pandemic is the most important and undeniably true.
Anne Dachel
Media
Posted by: Anne Dachel | May 07, 2009 at 09:14 AM
Dan,
Thanks for helping us get to where we belong.
I found this statement all too familiar: "...one doctor, who has a child with autism, worried that our theory might give aid and comfort to people who think the mercury in vaccines has anything to do with autism". Is he interested in the truth? Or just working on spin? The truth is sometimes frightening.
Posted by: ObjectiveAutismDad | May 07, 2009 at 08:57 AM
Step by step, poster by poster, dollar by dollar(in your case) we're making headway.
The other day, my grandson said, "Grandma, I just love living in this house," a comment he couldn't have made last year prior to chelation. Course he also said he wanted to be Sponge Bob when he grows up. More posters needed.
Thanks, Dan.
Maurine
Posted by: Maurine Meleck | May 07, 2009 at 08:39 AM
My daughter heard, "Her circuitry is different." Yeah, from WHAT???
Posted by: Stagmom | May 07, 2009 at 08:39 AM
Dan, you're the best. I bet it was obvious to even casual poster browsers that you were talking about the real deal, and not pharma-sponsored fluff that whitewashes side effects of epilepsy meds.
As you can see, a lot of the "new" stuff in the field of medicine (apart from the commercially sponsored advertising) is so much crap. I hope the doctors you spoke with recognized the significance of what you were saying- and appropriately discounted the showgirls and Charcot sarcasm.
Posted by: sleepless but alert | May 07, 2009 at 07:29 AM
REcent manuscripts
POSSIBLE INFLUENCE OF MERCURY ON PATHOGENESIS OF AUTISM
Author(s): Kobal AB (Kobal, Alfred Bogomir)
Source: ZDRAVNISKI VESTNIK-SLOVENIAN MEDICAL JOURNAL Volume: 78 Issue: 1
Pages: 37-44 Published: JAN 2009
Times Cited: 0 References: 91 Citation Map
Abstract: Background Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is part of a broader
spectrum of developmental disorders appearing in early childhood, known as
pervasive developmental disorders. Although its etiology is not yet known today,genetic, immunological and environmental factors are considered relevant for the
development of autism. Among the latter, there is also a mercury poisoning
though opinions regarding its influence are divided. Some results obtained in
recent times reject, while other support the hypothesis that ethyl-Hg in
thimerosal, which is used in children's vaccines, influences the development
of ASD. Some studies that point to metabolic disorders caused by certain amino
acids, oxidative stress and immunological disorders in children with ASD are
presented. In addition, some basic findings on the retention, toxicokinetics and biological mechanisms of Hg activity that could influence the development of
ASD.
Conclusions The presented studies support the assumption that in children with
specific metabolic disorders caused by amino acids that reduce glutathione
content in cells, and immunological disorders, ethyl-Hg in thimerosal may
enhance oxidative impairment in astrocytes and neurons, affect immunological
response, and disturb the glutaminergic, serotonergic, holinergic and the
central dopaminergic activity. In children with increased susceptibility to Hg,thimerosal in vaccines may be a significant factor in the pathogenesis of ASD.
Toxicology. 2009 Apr 19. [Epub ahead of print] Links
Expression of metallothionein mRNAs on mouse cerebellum microglia cells by thimerosal and its metabolites.Minami T, Miyata E, Sakamoto Y, Kohama A, Yamazaki H, Ichida S.
Department of Life Sciences, School of Science & Engineering, Kinki University, 3-4-1 Kowakae, Higashi-osaka, Osaka 577-8502, Japan.
Effects of thimerosal and its metabolites, ethyl mercury and thiosalicylate, on the expression of metallothionein (MT) mRNAs in mouse cerebellum microglia cell line, C8-B4 cells, were studied. The level of MT-1 mRNA significantly decreased at early hours and recovered time-dependently 24h after thimerosal was added to the C8-B4 cells. However, MT-2 and MT-3 mRNA expressions did not change from the control group. In contrast, the expression of MT-1 mRNA increased in a mouse neuroblastoma cell line 6h after incubation with thimerosal. In addition, the level of MT-1 mRNA decreased in C8-B4 cells 6h after the addition of thiosalicylate, but ethyl mercury induced MT-1 mRNA expression. When cell viability was compared with thimerosal, thiosalicylate, and ethyl mercury, the viability of C8-B4 cells decreased dose-dependently 24h after either thimerosal or ethyl mercury was added; however, the viability increased dose-dependently until 15muM thiosalicylate was added. From the present results, it is concluded that the expression of MT-1 mRNA may be mediated by different factors than the expression of MT-2 mRNA in C8-B4 cells. The reduction of MT-1 mRNA level by thiosalicylate may affect the proliferation of C8-B4 cells.
Cell Biol Toxicol. 2009 Apr 9.
Induction of metallothionein in mouse cerebellum and cerebrum with low-dose thimerosal injection.Minami T, Miyata E, Sakamoto Y, Yamazaki H, Ichida S.
Department of Life Sciences, School of Science & Engineering, Kinki University, 3-4-1 Kowakae, Higashi-osaka, Osaka, 577-8502, Japan, [email protected].
Thimerosal, an ethyl mercury compound, is used worldwide as a vaccine preservative. We previously observed that the mercury concentration in mouse brains did not increase with the clinical dose of thimerosal injection, but the concentration increased in the brain after the injection of thimerosal with lipopolysaccharide, even if a low dose of thimerosal was administered. Thimerosal may penetrate the brain, but is undetectable when a clinical dose of thimerosal is injected; therefore, the induction of metallothionein (MT) messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein was observed in the cerebellum and cerebrum of mice after thimerosal injection, as MT is an inducible protein. MT-1 mRNA was expressed at 6 and 9 h in both the cerebrum and cerebellum, but MT-1 mRNA expression in the cerebellum was three times higher than that in the cerebrum after the injection of 12 microg/kg thimerosal. MT-2 mRNA was not expressed until 24 h in both organs. MT-3 mRNA was expressed in the cerebellum from 6 to 15 h after the injection, but not in the cerebrum until 24 h. MT-1 and MT-3 mRNAs were expressed in the cerebellum in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, MT-1 protein was detected from 6 to 72 h in the cerebellum after 12 microg/kg of thimerosal was injected and peaked at 10 h. MT-2 was detected in the cerebellum only at 10 h. In the cerebrum, little MT-1 protein was detected at 10 and 24 h, and there were no peaks of MT-2 protein in the cerebrum. In conclusion, MT-1 and MT-3 mRNAs but not MT-2 mRNA are easily expressed in the cerebellum rather than in the cerebrum by the injection of low-dose thimerosal. It is thought that the cerebellum is a sensitive organ against thimerosal.
As a result of the present findings, in combination with the brain pathology observed in patients diagnosed with autism, the present study helps to support the possible biological plausibility for how low-dose exposure to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines may be associated with autism.
I have alwayst thought that thimerosal is one of the many environmental exposures related to the ASD( including xenobiotics from different sources and the combination of antibiotics use plus vaccines-full composition, full schedule)
Now my questions
How these findings are correlated with the known degradation of thimerosal to EtHg+ and Hg+2 and
If Hg+2 is so difficult to cross the BBB such as it is published, how the thimerosal induces this at the brain level-mainly cerebellum? How it is transported thimerosal to brain- if it is?
How these findings are understand considering the Burbacher findings?
Why are not more studies to give light to these questions?
Posted by: María Luján | May 07, 2009 at 07:27 AM
Once again. One man defending his home and family can fight off 1000 paid mercenaries. I applaud you for being a leader in this fight which is not your own but you share our pain. I was told the other day by a smart --- Teenager you know you can get anywhere you want to go in this world if you know you belong there. No Suit or fancy degree will hold the families back. We know we are not just fighting for the status quo but for that which is right. Thank you for Age of Autism and all you do for our community.
Posted by: Tanners Dad | May 07, 2009 at 07:16 AM
Yes -- early morning--make that s-e-r-e-n-d-i-p-i-t-y.
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | May 07, 2009 at 07:07 AM
Dear Dan,
Thanks for the early morning compliment. It is a fascinating hypothesis and is turning out to be quite the "poster presentation."
Now all I need is to call one of these local neurologists who may be able to help us figure out whay Megan had a seizure at age 16 ....(hmmmm, insert "poster presentation" here) who was walking by with that soft bagel and thought to himself, "Well my goodness, maybe some of those autism patients I have are mercury toxic still, as where does that stuff go?"
And then I call them today and instead of, "Oh, your daughter is mentally retarded and needs medication," I hear, "This is not a "wiring" issue but something must be happening to cause this, maybe diet, or hormones, or some X factor (insert "poster presentation here")and let's explore these hypothoses and see how we can help get to the root of the cause."
That would be perfect. That would be seredipity ------ and we are getting closer.
Thanks for this early morning hopeful message.
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | May 07, 2009 at 07:03 AM