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Time to regroup on autism by Alison Singer - 02-03-2010
Back to All News ItemsNew York (CNN) -- You might not know it to read the news of the discredited research that had long linked vaccines to autism, but there really is good progress on the autism research front.
- A study published last year in the journal Nature identified a genetic variant that could account for up to 15 percent of autism cases. Once we can determine which proteins are associated with various risk genes, we can start to understand the mechanisms of action that may cause autism. And once we understand the mechanisms of action, we can start to develop targeted therapeutics.
- Elsewhere, researchers working with the younger siblings of children with autism are identifying biomarkers that could enable autism to be detected as early as the first few weeks of life.
- Clinical trials are under way investigating a compound that has proved effective at rescuing mice from the symptoms of Fragile X syndrome, which may be related to autism.
- In addition, stem cell and genome scanning technologies hold great promise for autism research.
But all of this has been overshadowed by a seemingly relentless preoccupation with the notion that vaccines might cause autism, despite mountains of scientific evidence that have concluded there is no link. It's time for us all to put that behind us.
On Tuesday, the medical journal The Lancet retracted the controversial 1998 paper that linked the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism. Last week, the British General Medical Council ruled that Dr. Andrew Wakefield's "conduct in this regard was dishonest and irresponsible" when he published the research. The panel's chairman said he'd shown a "callous disregard" for the suffering of children.
The original Lancet publication had launched an era of anti-vaccine activism. At a news conference after the publication, Wakefield said there were "sufficient anxieties for a case to be made" to separate the three vaccines. Vaccination rates plummeted, and measles outbreaks swept across the United Kingdom. Hundreds of children were hospitalized, and several died. Across the country and around the world, parents became stricken with an unfounded fear of vaccination.
Because my older daughter had been diagnosed with autism, I read Wakefield's study carefully. I followed his advice to separate the shots when it came time for my younger daughter to be vaccinated in 1999. Looking back, I realize now that that decision left her needlessly vulnerable to vaccine-preventable disease and, frankly, did nothing to reduce the likelihood that she too might be diagnosed with autism.
Eventually, Wakefield's collaborators withdrew their names from the Lancet paper. Later it was revealed that he had received funds from lawyers representing the children enrolled in his study and that he obtained control blood samples from children who attended his son's birthday party, paying them 5 pounds apiece.
Since the publication, millions of dollars have been spent on multiple international studies examining the Wakefield hypothesis. No study has ever replicated his results. In fact, one study published in 2008 specifically tried to replicate Wakefield's original work and found no evidence that the vaccine had a connection to either autism or GI disorders. (You can read all the autism/vaccine studies here.)
Finish reading the complete article here: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/02/03/singer.autism.study.vaccines/