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Teresa Binstock
Researcher in Developmental & Behavioral Neuroanatomy
October 25, 2009
Recently, a respected group of researchers evaluated blood levels of
mercury in normally developing children and in children with an
autism-spectrum disorder. Hertz-Picciotto et al reported that levels were similar in the
two groups (1). However, an increasing body of evidence demonstrates
that tissues including the brain sequester more mercury (Hg) than is
present in blood (2) and that autistic children process mercury
differently (cites below). Furthermore, a significant
proportion of deliberately injected thimerosal (present in some
vaccines) enters the brain (3), and causes adverse effects in some
children (cites below).
In 2008, Sajdel-Sulkoska et al published a study which had evaluated Hg
levels in cerebellar tissue from autistics and from controls (4). Table
2 on p77 reports cerebellar Hg
levels:
Diagnosis Hg (pmol g(-1) tissue)
Control 14.93±3.26
Autism 25.11±8.25
These data are from autopsied individuals. The N in
controls and N in autistics are not large. Two ramifications ensue:
i) The difference between Hg levels in controls (14.93±3.26) and
autistics (25.11±8.25) is substantial.
ii) However, since cerebellar tissue from deceased humans is not
abundant, the project's N of autistics and N of controls were small,
thus the substantial
Hg-levels differences did not attain statistical significance.
Is there evidence indicating why children who develop autism or one of
the other autism-spectrum disorders (ASDs) store more Hg in brain and
other body tissues? Or, why such children suffer more adverse effects
from otherwise similar exposures?
Studies by S. Jill James & colleagues have found
genetic and clinical markers of abnormal processing of Hg (eg, 5-8),
findings which are consistent (a) with the cerebellar
homogenate data of Sajdel-Sulkowsja et al (1), and (b) with other
findings regarding thimerosal sensitization (9) and thimerosal's
inhibition of glutathione-transferases (10).
'Tis no surprise that Stony Brook's Goodman & Gallagher found that
thimerosal-containing vaccinations given to neonatal infants were
associated with a triple-risk of becoming diagnosed with autism (11)
and a 9-times greater
likelihood of eventually needing special education services (12).
Further clues regarding blood mercury versus Hg in other tissues can be
found in Adams et al (13), wherein the research methodology included a
chelation challenge in a manner similar to medical evaluations by some
clinicians.
First bottom line: Many autistic children process and retain mercury differently
from
the ways Hg is processed by neurotypical children. This principle is
consistent with the finding of increased Hg in cerebellar tissue of
autistic children (vs controls).
Second bottom line: Evidence mounts that officials of the American
Medical Association (AMA), CDC, and FDA are ignoring data which reveals the
ineffectiveness of some vaccines (eg, 14) or the adverse effects of
some vaccinations (eg, 11-12).
References:
1. Blood Mercury
Concentrations in CHARGE Study Children with and without Autism
Irva Hertz-Picciotto et al.
http://www.ehponline.org/members/2009/0900736/0900736.pdf
2. Mercury exposure from "silver" tooth
fillings: emerging evidence questions a traditional dental paradigm
Lorscheider FL et al. FASEB J. 1995 Apr;9(7):504-8.
http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/reprint/9/7/504
3. Comparison of blood and brain mercury
levels in
infant monkeys exposed to methylmercury or vaccines containing
thimerosal
Burbacher TM et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2005
Aug;113(8):1015-21.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1280342/pdf/ehp0113-001015.pdf
4. Oxidative Stress in Autism: Elevated
Cerebellar 3-nitrotyrosine Levels
Elizabeth M. Sajdel-Sulkowska, et al.
American Journal of Biochemistry and Biotechnology 4 (2): 73-84, 2008
http://www.scipub.org/fulltext/ajbb/ajbb4273-84.pdf
5. Cellular and mitochondrial glutathione
redox imbalance in
lymphoblastoid cells derived from children with autism
James SJ et al. FASEB J. 2009 Aug;23(8):2374-83.
6. Abnormal
transmethylation/transsulfuration metabolism and DNA
hypomethylation among parents of children with autism
James SJ et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2008 Nov;38(10):1966-75.
7. Metabolic endophenotype and related
genotypes are associated with
oxidative stress in children with autism
James SJ et al. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet. 2006 Dec
5;141B(8):947-56.
8. Metabolic biomarkers of increased
oxidative stress and impaired
methylation capacity in children with autism
James SJ et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Dec;80(6):1611-7
9. Homozygous gene deletions of the
glutathione S-transferases M1 and
T1 are associated with thimerosal sensitization
Westphal et al. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2000 Aug;73(6):384-8
10. Inhibition of the human erythrocytic
glutathione-S-transferase T1
(GST T1) by thimerosal
Muller M et al. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2001 Jul;203(5-6):479-81
11. Hepatitis B vaccination of male
neonates and autism
CM Gallagher, MS Goodman
Annals of Epidemiology
Vol. 19, No. 9 ABSTRACTS (ACE)
September 2009: p. 659
Stony Brook University Medical Center, NY
12. Hepatitis B triple series vaccine and
developmental disability in US
children aged 1-9 years
Gallagher C, Goodman M. Toxicol Environ Chem 2008 90(5):997-1008.
http://fourteenstudies.org/pdf/hep_b.pdf
13. Severity of Autism Is Associated With
Toxic Metal Body Burden and Red
Blood Cell Glutathione Levels
Adams J et al Journal of Toxicology, 2009
Provisional PDF:
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jt/aip.532640.pdf
14. Does the Vaccine Matter?
Whether this season’s swine flu turns out to be deadly or mild, most
experts agree that it’s only a matter of time before we’re hit by a
truly devastating flu pandemic—one that might kill more people
worldwide than have died of the plague and aids combined. In the U.S.,
the main lines of defense are pharmaceutical—vaccines and antiviral
drugs to limit the spread of flu and prevent people from dying from it.
Yet now some flu experts are challenging the medical orthodoxy and
arguing that for those most in need of protection, flu shots and
antiviral drugs may provide little to none. So where does that leave us
if a bad pandemic strikes?
by Shannon Brownlee and Jeanne Lenzer
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200911/brownlee-h1n1
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