Carnal Reason

People want to understand things, especially bad things. We need explanations, and sometimes some of us grasp at straws. Via McGill University Health Centre:

A new MUHC study provides conclusive evidence that the Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) vaccine is not associated with the development of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The study, published in the scientific journal Pediatrics, reveals fundamental errors in previous molecular studies that falsely implicated the MMR vaccine as a risk factor for autism. This study arose from a cross-disciplinary collaboration between Dr Brian Ward, Chief of Infectious Diseases at the MUHC, and Dr Eric Fombonne, Director of Pediatric Psychiatry at the Montreal Children’s Hospital of the MUHC

“The hypothesis linking the MMR vaccine to autism was initially supported by molecular studies that found the measles virus persisting in certain biological tissues of children with autism who had received the MMR vaccination,” says Dr. Eric Fombonne. Yasmin D’Souza, a graduate student in Dr. Ward’s laboratory, used a carefully-structured approach to uncover errors in the techniques that had been used in these earlier studies which led to the false identification of the measles virus.

“The reluctance of parents to inoculate their children due to widespread fear of the MMR vaccine generated by these early studies has resulted in measles outbreaks, likely contributing to the deaths of several infants in the United Kingdom,” says Dr. Brian Ward. “We hope that our investigation of these earlier studies will finally clear the MMR vaccine of its link to autism and give parents confidence in their choice to accept vaccination their children against this potentially fatal disease.”

Here is a link to the abstract of the article published in Pediatrics.

ASD incidence is way up; there is talk of an epidemic. Here, for instance is what Wikipedia has to say:

The advent of a possible autism epidemic has become a concern in many communities around the globe, as the number of reported cases of autism has increased dramatically over the past decade. Members of the medical and scientific community are generally quite skeptical about characterizions of the increasing numbers as indicators of a true ‘epidemic’.[1][2] These scientists attribute the dramatic rise in autism rates to more effective and inclusive diagnostic criteria and detection tools, noting that the diagnosis of autism was only created in the 1940s and that the autism spectrum concept only entered the mainstream in the 1990s. When psychiatrist Leo Kanner of Johns Hopkins University first described the constellation of symptoms of eight boys and three girls in 1943, he described the novel condition as differing “… markedly and uniquely from anything reported so far.” In Europe, Hans Asperger coincidentally described a similar syndrome during the same period. Various authors have speculated that genetic causes, pollution, food additives, or childhood vaccinations may play roles. Other speculation attributes increased diagnoses to screening, better recognition and even a form of collective hysteria. Changes in diagnostic categories in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders affect the numbers diagnosed as autistic, especially changes set out in DSM-III-R,[3] and DSM-IV [4]

Here is some wild speculation, based on little more than a hunch. A factor I have not seen mentioned is the age of the parents of autistic children at time of birth. For various reasons, people have been deferring child birth. I suspect older parents may tend to have autistic children more frequently than younger ones. The machinery breaks down. If anyone reading this can cast any light here, I’d appreciate it.

The beauty of my theory is that were it true, there would be something people could actually do: have kids earlier.

(Update:) I did a bit of googling and found quite recent articles that rather tentatively support my guess. I wish I had known some years ago.

Posted on October 24th, 2006 by pwyll
Filed under: General