Autism and Vaccines Researcher for CDC, Indicted for Fraud and Money-Laundering
SafeMinds demands long-overdue independent review of vaccine/autism research for data manipulation and conflicts of interest. Vaccine safety remains questionable.
ATLANTA, April 14, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Poul Thorsen, the principal coordinator of multiple studies funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) used to deny a vaccine/autism link was indicted on April 13th on 13 counts of fraud and 9 counts of money-laundering. The charges relate to funding for work he conducted for the CDC, which claimed to disprove associations between the mercury-based vaccine preservative, thimerosal, and increased rates of autism.
SafeMinds first voiced concerns in 2003 regarding a series of epidemiology studies out of Denmark and under the jurisdiction of Thorsen that provided the basis for the Institute of Medicine's claim that there was no association between thimerosal and autism. That claim has been responsible for the continued unsafe use of mercury in influenza vaccines in the United States and infant vaccines around the world.
"The quality of this epidemiological research has always been questionable," states Sallie Bernard, SafeMinds president. "Many biological studies support a link between mercury and autism, but these Danish studies have been used to suppress further research into thimerosal. With clear evidence of Dr. Thorsen's lack of ethics, it is imperative to reopen this investigation."
From August to October of 2003, three articles on the autism-mercury controversy were published in close succession, all of which used data from a Danish registry for psychiatric research to assess the relationship between autism trends and the use of thimerosal. SafeMinds accessed the registry at the time and reported that a large percentage of diagnosed autism cases are lost from the Danish registry each year and that most of those lost cases were older children. Since the studies were based on finding fewer older thimerosal-exposed children than younger unexposed children, the validity of their conclusion exonerating thimerosal in autism was questionable and likely a result of missing records rather than true lower incidence rates among the exposed group.
In addition, internal emails obtained via FOIA document discussion between the Danish researchers and Thornsen which acknowledge that the studies did not include the latest data from 2001 where the incidence and prevalence of autism was declining which would be supportive of a vaccine connection.
The emails also include requests from Thornsen to CDC asking that the agency write letters to the journal Pediatrics encouraging them to publish the research after it had been rejected by other journals.
A top CDC official complied with the request sending a letter to the editor of the journal supporting the publication of the study which they called a "strong piece of evidence that thimerosal is not linked to autism."
As fraud charges regarding Thorsen surface, and as we believe the registry was unreliable, SafeMinds is calling for an independent federal investigation of these studies for data manipulation and scientific misconduct. Further background information on these studies, the charges against Dr. Thorsen, and documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act that support SafeMinds' concerns are available on our website, www.safeminds.org.
SOURCE SafeMinds
Monday, April 18, 2011
Researchers Boost Cholesterol To Treat Autism
Researchers Boost Cholesterol To Treat Autism
POSTED: Friday, April 15, 2011
COLUMBUS -- Researchers at the Ohio State University Nisonger Center are expanding research to see if boosting cholesterol levels could help ease the symptoms of autism.
“Up until a few years ago, I thought of cholesterol as being a bad thing,” said Dr. L. Eugene Arnold, the principal investigator. “I mean, we spend a lot of money on a lot of treatments to try to reduce cholesterol. But then I realized that it's kind of like blood pressure -- too much is bad for you. But if you don't have enough, that could also be bad.”
To much cholesterol is bad for the heart, but not enough can affect brain development and function.
“There is a great tendency for children with autism to have cholesterol below the normal range,” said Arnold. “In fact, it appears to be twice as much from our preliminary look, at what we've screened so far.”
To better understand the potential link between autism and low cholesterol, researchers at Ohio State University Medical Center teamed up with the National Institutes of Health. In a randomized, double-blind study, doctors will enroll children with autism between the ages of 4-11 who have lower levels of cholesterol. For 12 weeks, half of the children will be given extra cholesterol to see if it helps ease their symptoms.
"It's possible that too-low cholesterol could be one of several causes of autism, affecting a subgroup of children with autism," said Arnold.
One family said the treatment has already helped their 5-year-old daughter.
WATCH: Doctors Boost Cholestorol To Treat Autism
“Rose was about 18 months old when we started noticing almost a digression of skills” said Rose's mother, Angela Barker. “She started losing eye contact; she never did begin to talk; her motor skills seemed to decline. She never hugged me or kissed me until she was 3.”
Rose Barker was part of the first round of studies involving cholesterol. The Barkers added small packets of cholesterol to Rose's yogurt twice a day.
“Personally, for us, the cholesterol has changed our life, said Angela Barker. “It was exactly what she needed. Her development started almost immediately. She smiles again; she runs; she has awesome motor skills. She can keep up with her siblings; she can learn; she can write her name. It's truly, truly, truly been life-changing.”
"The nice thing about this is that we can do a test, a blood test, to find out if a youngster is likely to respond to this particular treatment," said Arnold.
But researchers have a word of caution for parents.
"It's important that we not just rush out and try to give everybody with autism cholesterol, because for some of them it may be harmful," said Arnold.
For additional information about the current study at Ohio State, contact Stacey Moone at 614-292-3971 or email Stacey.Moone@osumc.edu.
Copyright 2011 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
POSTED: Friday, April 15, 2011
COLUMBUS -- Researchers at the Ohio State University Nisonger Center are expanding research to see if boosting cholesterol levels could help ease the symptoms of autism.
“Up until a few years ago, I thought of cholesterol as being a bad thing,” said Dr. L. Eugene Arnold, the principal investigator. “I mean, we spend a lot of money on a lot of treatments to try to reduce cholesterol. But then I realized that it's kind of like blood pressure -- too much is bad for you. But if you don't have enough, that could also be bad.”
To much cholesterol is bad for the heart, but not enough can affect brain development and function.
“There is a great tendency for children with autism to have cholesterol below the normal range,” said Arnold. “In fact, it appears to be twice as much from our preliminary look, at what we've screened so far.”
To better understand the potential link between autism and low cholesterol, researchers at Ohio State University Medical Center teamed up with the National Institutes of Health. In a randomized, double-blind study, doctors will enroll children with autism between the ages of 4-11 who have lower levels of cholesterol. For 12 weeks, half of the children will be given extra cholesterol to see if it helps ease their symptoms.
"It's possible that too-low cholesterol could be one of several causes of autism, affecting a subgroup of children with autism," said Arnold.
One family said the treatment has already helped their 5-year-old daughter.
WATCH: Doctors Boost Cholestorol To Treat Autism
“Rose was about 18 months old when we started noticing almost a digression of skills” said Rose's mother, Angela Barker. “She started losing eye contact; she never did begin to talk; her motor skills seemed to decline. She never hugged me or kissed me until she was 3.”
Rose Barker was part of the first round of studies involving cholesterol. The Barkers added small packets of cholesterol to Rose's yogurt twice a day.
“Personally, for us, the cholesterol has changed our life, said Angela Barker. “It was exactly what she needed. Her development started almost immediately. She smiles again; she runs; she has awesome motor skills. She can keep up with her siblings; she can learn; she can write her name. It's truly, truly, truly been life-changing.”
"The nice thing about this is that we can do a test, a blood test, to find out if a youngster is likely to respond to this particular treatment," said Arnold.
But researchers have a word of caution for parents.
"It's important that we not just rush out and try to give everybody with autism cholesterol, because for some of them it may be harmful," said Arnold.
For additional information about the current study at Ohio State, contact Stacey Moone at 614-292-3971 or email Stacey.Moone@osumc.edu.
Copyright 2011 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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