Autism and the Microbiome: Dear White House, You MUST Choose Autism
By Teresa Conrick
I continue to pursue the science illustrating my daughter’s regression into Autism nineteen years ago. Megan is a very ill, young woman, who has seizures, is non-verbal, and has an autoimmune diagnosis. She also has a long history of bacterial, fungal, parasitic and viral infections -- Strep, Clostridia, and Giardia leading the pack. High titers of Measles, Mumps and Rubella viruses are continuously and mysteriously present in her blood.
Many parents have reported the same phenomenon as their toddler exited normal development and regressed into Autism. There are increasing numbers of children being diagnosed and examining the clues that effect both body and brain is imperative. The Microbiome is being implicated more and more as the potential source of why so many children are regressing into Autism and the severity of those affected corresponds to pathogens and loss of helpful bacteria. Most have connecting medical issues that often cause behavioral issues. Stopping GI pain, self-injurious behaviors, seizures, and a life of immune/autoimmune issues should be a top priority for those who have the power to create a positive outcome for my daughter and thousands more with a diagnosis of AUTISM. Who might have that power? How about THE White House?
Microbiome Alert = Autism Alert
I recently received this email in a “Microbiome Alert”:
“The White House - President Barack Obama – Office of Science and Technology Policy- What's Next for the Microbiome?”
…Addressing fundamental questions common across the study of communities of microorganisms, or “microbiomes,” can help propel the field forward toward practical applications in areas as diverse as environmental remediation, food production and nutrition, and medical research.
Analysis and modification of the microbiome promises to provide transformative treatments for human health. To take one example, the gut microbiome appears to play a role in several diseases, including obesity. With more research, scientists may be able to treat obesity by using a specific probiotic, prebiotic, or changes in diet that influence the composition of the microbiome. There is precedent that an approach like this could work. To treat the chronic diarrhea caused by an intestinal infection of the dangerous pathogen C. difficile, researchers are investigating how microbiome therapies can help treat this disease that affects half a million people in the United States each year. In a remarkable clinical trial, patients who were extremely ill due to C. difficile infection returned to full health when they received transplants of a donor’s healthy microbiome.
There is also mention of environmental, plant and agricultural microbiomes, but as the parent of a child who regressed into Autism, especially since that regression coincided with her receiving a mercury-containing vaccine and also the MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella combined vaccine), my focus on the Microbiome concerns the human gut and especially how it is vastly different in these vulnerable children who have regressed into Autism http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0076993 . This next part is important in that context:
Given the demonstrated and potential value of microbiome research in such diverse applications, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is issuing a Request for Information to provide a broad community of stakeholders, including experts and members of the public an opportunity to comment on the current status and needs of microbiome research. The Request for Information can be found in the Federal Register here. OSTP encourages experts and interested individuals from across sectors and scientific disciplines to share your feedback on this critically important topic.
Jo Handelsman is Associate Director for Science at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Elizabeth R. Stulberg is a Policy Analyst at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
This is hopeful news. I have been reporting on Megan, immune issues in Autism, and the Microbiome, for a number of years now and I am not about to give up as the Microbiome has every indication of being THE most important avenue to truly helping so many affected children.
So what does The White House want to know about the Microbiome?:
• What are the most pressing, fundamental questions in microbiome research, common to most or all fields?
• Over the next ten years, what are the most important research gaps that must be addressed to advance this field?
• What tools, platform technologies, or technological advances would propel microbiome research from correlative to predictive?
• What crucial types of scientific and technical training will be needed to take advantage of harnessing the microbiome's potential?
• What fields of microbiome research are currently underfunded or underrepresented?
• What specific steps could be taken by the federal government, research institutes, universities, and philanthropies to encourage multi-disciplinary microbiome research?
• Is there any additional information, not requested above, that you believe OSTP should consider in identifying crucial areas of microbiome research?
Regressive Autism – The Microbiome Is Key
That’s a good list and Autism should be considered a priority. What other medical epidemic is making 1 out of 50 children succumb? - “There may be more children with autism spectrum disorder than previously thought," said Stephen Blumberg, a senior scientist at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.”
Late Onset Autism is now being called REGRESSIVE AUTISM. The children have normal development but then regress either gradually or abruptly before age three. Vaccination is often the catalyst. Consider these two unrelated facts that may actually merge together:
• ”By 1985 the incidence of regressive autism had equalled that from birth. By 1997 both types had increased although the regressive form was now >75% of the total occurrence. This suggests that an acquired condition was overtaking birth defects or purely genetic conditions……In the vast majority of cases, the emergence of autistic indications appears to happen in children who had developed normally[10,13,14], and before three years[15,16.]”
• “Infant microbial colonization is affected by delivery mode, dietary exposures, antibiotic exposure, and environmental toxicants. Successive microbiome acquisition in infancy is likely a determinant of early immune programming, subsequent infection, and allergy risk…. Several exposures common to neonatal and infant populations could exert pressure on the development of the microbiome and major diseases including allergy and infection in large populations… children evolve an ‘adult-like’ microbiome within the first 3 years of life, but this time period also marks the greatest intrapersonal and interpersonal variation within these microbial communities, possibly reflecting the differential development of the microbiome in relation to environmental factors…..”
Caution: Failing Microbiome Ahead
Vaccination IS THE MOST COMMON exposure to neonatal and infant populations. We must look at all sources that can alter or damage the Microbiome. That would include:
• Antibiotics, though their effects may be more demonized than studies show:
“…when early fecal samples from antibiotic-exposed infants were compared with a later post-weaning sample, antibiotic resistance was reduced, and overall diversity had increased [31▪]. This may have been due to the plasticity and rapid rate of change within the gut microbiota in the first year of life, suggesting that effects of early antibiotic usage in infants may be diminished over time…” However, mercury exposure may actually cause much more damage to the microbiome that LOOKS like antibiotic damage but more insidious. From that same study – “several studies demonstrated that individuals exposed to mercury were more likely to possess resistance to multiple antibiotics, suggesting a co-selection mechanism.”
• Ambient mercury exposure -, “The relative risk of autism is greater in the geographic areas of higher levels of ambient mercury.”
• Thimerosal, and other medical mercury - Hepatitis B vaccination of male neonates and autism diagnosis, NHIS 1997-2002. : “Boys vaccinated as neonates had threefold greater odds for autism diagnosis…” That was a Thimerosal-containing vaccine.
• Vaccination can alter the microbiome – “….the structure of the microbiome is altered by vaccines. The unintended consequences of this alteration remain to be seen.”
It is not enough to ask THE White House to explore the role of the Microbiome in Autism without looking at ALL sources of damage. Exposing the UNITENDED CONSEQUENCES of both mercury exposure and vaccination is crucial to stopping regression into Autism and to help tens of thousands injured.
From a recent British Medical Journal comment :
Unacceptable omission of documenting vaccine effects on the microbiome
Again in an article that investigates chronic non-communicable disease (NCD) effects of the microbiome and again vaccines are ignored, brushed aside as an "environmental factor".
Vaccines are not an environmental factor.
Vaccines take out commensals and as such change the microbiome more permanently than antibiotics.
It is unacceptable that respectable epidemiologists, research councils, public health departments or editors of medical journals continue to condone that kind of deliberate mis-information.
Amen and thank you.
To offer your input and request for this imperative research, please go here. The deadline for requests is June 15, 2015.
Teresa Conrick is Contributing Editor for Age of Autism.
Sadly, vaccine makers have no incentive to change their ways. They make huge profits but are totally protected from lawsuits because Congress granted them immunity in 1986. We the taxpayers are paying for the damages they are causing. Sound familiar? Privatizing profits while socializing risk!! If you want to change this, please sign this petition
petitions.moveon.org/sign/repeal-immunity-for-drug
facebook.com/pages/Repeal-The-National-Childhood-Vaccine-Injury-Act-of-1986/693229134132332
Kindly pass this on to everyone you know. Together, hopefully, we can make a difference!
Posted by: Num Guy | June 03, 2015 at 10:43 AM
Teresa you are brilliant. Thank you for helping me understand my own son's autism better, his autism is so similar to your daughter's.
Posted by: Katie Wright | June 02, 2015 at 09:15 PM
So which way do you think would have more meaning -- Email, or fax or snail mail?
When I watched the microbiome meeting of the NIH in 2013 The good doctor that was suppose to report on how to make new vaccines from the new knowledge they had gleaned -- did not come all the way from Canada; nope did not come, but sent down a nervous graduate student instead. He began his opening speech about the great things that vaccines have done. HE was suppose to say how they could use the microbiome to make new - vaccines.
But instead he told them that vaccines had been a sledgehammer.
Don't fool yourselves - if every one in the United States wrote them they would not be moved. We are at a stalemate with a federal agency protecting it's foundations. It is the end of us all unless Dr. William Thompson testimony is able to burn it down.
And I have heard nothing for months. It is now June.
Posted by: Benedetta | June 02, 2015 at 12:01 AM
Will definitely do this before the 15th. I am forever grateful to you for all your insight and help now and in the past. Josh is grateful too! maurine
Posted by: Maurine Meleck | June 01, 2015 at 06:56 PM
This is an observation off topic from the microbiome (maybe), and without much personal experience (that I know of), but there seems to be a lot of anecdotal testimonies of high titers from MMR viruses or zero titers for some but really high titers for one or more of the MMR components. I've also heard of zero titers for all three shortly after receiving the vaccine.
I'm wondering if some kind of case report or online compilation of such information with personal info redacted might at least paint a picture of the need to investigate exactly what is going on with the immune system in autism and maybe the MMR in particular? From my perspective, this information makes it hard to argue the immune system is not involved in autism and also hard to argue that there is not need to medically exempt those with the condition from further vaccination.
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | June 01, 2015 at 11:35 AM
Thank you, Teresa.
After watching a recent presentation by Dr. Wakefield where he describes the hushed-up catastrophe of antibiotic resistant bacteria that we now can't keep ahead of in technology, and how we may be encouraging a similar evolutionary process with vaccination that could lead to results we cannot counter...I've been thinking of how some vaccines, or the flu vaccine at least, have been shown to increase risk of other types of infections, and I'm wondering how much credit for the promotion of anti-biotic resistance should be laid at the feet of our out-of-control vaccine program?
Some info you present here suggests TCVs should be particularly investigated for having a role in anti-biotic resistance?
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | June 01, 2015 at 11:22 AM
British Mom
Acquired autism (and you know this which is your point) It went the same way as acquired mitochondria disease went.
For example: My husband back in the 90s had according to Emory clinic "acquired" mitochondria disease - oxidation phosphorylation on the complex I and III.
Where as Hannah Poling's exact same kind of mitochondria disease right on down to the complex I and III - was inherited from her mother - according that fishy language of the vaccine court. Yeah, vaccines don't cause this mitochondria disease, but can make it worse.
Now what are we to believe?
Posted by: Benedetta | June 01, 2015 at 10:09 AM
This is hugely welcome endeavour in the search for what causes autism - quite different to that promoted and encouraged by other camouflage efforts. For my own part I am convinced that testosterone is key - I am confident that any real endeavour will also identify over represented alpha males in the parenthood of autistic children and that autistic kids are somewhat testosteronal especially the girls. I also note that five million US men have taken testosterone shots over the last twenty years. Comments are welcome on this issue.
Tony Bateson, Oxford
Posted by: tony bateson | June 01, 2015 at 10:01 AM
Even vaccine manufacturers should be getting behind an effort like this. If the microbiome can be tested for AND shifted/corrected PRIOR to the people who still want to vaccinate vaccinating themselves and their children, maybe it could help protect those innocent children from vaccine damage inadvertantly done by the still-ignorant population of parents. I think in the past I've heard of people upping their vitamin D and C prior to and after vaccination as an attempt to protect against potential runaway inflammation after vaccination. Probiotics maybe could be used, too.
By getting behind the program, the pharmaceutical manufacturers could gain a couple points in recovering their reputations, as could the CDC and NIH.
Posted by: Jenny | June 01, 2015 at 10:00 AM
I still have some secret hopes for Obama. At least he isn't declaring war on the microbiom
The war on disease is sort of a war on bacteria which include the beneficial so just deciding to let go of the idea of making a war on the microbiom might be a start.
Posted by: kapoore | June 01, 2015 at 09:34 AM
As I asked in a previous posting earlier this year (sorry, haven't the time to search for it now), when did the words "acquired autism" become replaced with "regressive autism"? You see, for about twenty years, this has been part of the cover-up. It's part (and only part) of how the orthodox medical profession has hidden the true extent of the autism epidemic.
Posted by: British Mum | June 01, 2015 at 06:09 AM