Posted in 
Unsolicited Advice
Sign In >>
Dr Shapiro completed his undergraduate education at UC San Diego earning a B S in Biochemistry and Cell Biology and a B A in Political Science He furthered his education at UCLA where he earned a Masters Degree in Public…
FAST FACTS
The History Behind the MMR Vaccine Controversy
I do hope by this time those who have come across my writings realize I try to maintain a balanced perspective on things. Sure, a common premise I live by and one I enjoy promoting involves the role parents and caregivers should be playing in their children's lives, but frankly, I'm pretty sure most agree parents need to be firmly involved in the lives of their children. But by and large, my intent is to listen to others, respecting all viewpoints and opinions, because, at the end of the day, we all have something to learn from one another.
So with this principle in mind, I have extended it to include the controversy surrounding vaccines...in particular the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine...and autism despite the significant amount of research disproving any association. However, what infuriates me to this day is how the controversy appeared to evolve from a personal agenda rather than good solid scientific research. And therefore, when I came across a recent article in the Times Online (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5683643.ece), I must admit a sad smile came across my face as it appears a personal agenda was at play.
But before jumping ahead, I'd like to remind you all of exactly what sparked this controversy in the first place. Approximately eleven years ago, a research article appeared in The Lancet spouting the claim that the families of eight out of 12 children felt their children's development of autistic-like characteristics was to be blamed on the MMR vaccine as they occurred shortly after its inoculation. Furthermore, and possibly more interestingly, the researchers also described an association between gastrointestinal disease...some type of inflammatory process...and these behavioral symptoms in all twelve of the children.
And so the release of this one article, with its roots in a single hospital in Great Britain and a population size of just twelve, ignited a world-wide debate that continues to this day. It has clearly led to decreased rates of MMR vaccination and increased numbers of measles cases...take, for example, in England and Wales there were nearly 1,350 cases (with two deaths) diagnosed in 2008 compared to just over 50 cases in 1998. And more than enough research has been produced over these last ten years to refute these orginal claims where I believe some of the resources could have been better used to study the complexity of autism and its related disorders.
But before I deviate further, I would like to share the most recent developments surrounding the article and its three remaining authors as ten of the original 13 gave a partial retraction in 2004, and accordingly, removed themselves from the original article. So while I refer you to the Times Online article for complete details, the short of it is the remaining researchers have been charged by the United Kingdom's General Medical Council (GMC) of changing and misreporting results in their research. Specifically, the investigation by the GMC has noted only one of the 12 cases appeared to have behavioral problems shortly after the MMR inoculation and, per the hospital pathologists, most of the cases had a normal gut and not an inflammatory process at the time of examination.
So while I do feel some vindication of what will probably become of the authors of this study, it is a sad smile in that I think of all the damage that has resulted since the article was first published.
Dr. Jeremy
Previous:
Athletes: Role Models or Just Jocks?
Next 
:
Your Child's Cold
:
Your Child's Cold
CATEGORIES:
News
CONDITIONS AND COMMUNITIES:
ADHD / ADD
•
Adoption
•
Anxiety Disorders in Children
•
Asperger Syndrome
•
Autism / Autism Spectrum
•
Bipolar Disorder - Teen
•
Breakups & Divorce
•
Breastfeeding
•
Caregivers
•
Child Support & Custody
•
Children Of Divorced Parents
•
Depression - Teen
•
Depression in Children
•
Epilepsy & Seizures
•
Family Issues
•
Foster Care
•
Gay Parenting
•
Grandparents Raising Children
•
Home Schooling
•
Homeschooling
•
Immunizations
•
Interfaith Relationships
•
Interracial Relationships
•
Mental Challenged
•
Military Families
•
Parenting 'Tweens (9-12)
•
Parenting Big Kids (5-8)
•
Parenting Newborns & Infants (0-1)
•
Parenting Preschoolers (3-5)
•
Parenting Teenagers (12-18)
•
Parenting Toddlers (1-3)
•
Parents of Children with ADHD
•
Pregnancy
•
Pregnancy - Teens
•
Pregnancy After Loss/Infertility
•
Premature Birth
•
Single Dads
•
Single Parenting
•
Step Families
•
Teen Anxiety
•
Twins, Triplets & More
Displaying comments 17-1 of 17
Got a Question?
If you are interested in understanding possible causality, check this:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/...
Mainstream doctors and scientists continually discredit the loads of research and evidence in this area, but cannot provide science backed causality themselves. Who can you believe? I am not against vaccinations in themselves, but how they are being administered as well as the propaganda around how they are safe and effective. There is no long term evidence that vaccines are safe and effective for everyone. If the risks/benefits were honestly explained to you, you would not get them for your child. You would, at minimum, wait until your child matured. The risks are reduced after a child starts maturing.
The real problem is there are government and social agendas already in place, and will not be changed easily. Proponents of mandatory mass vaccinations only view this problem at a macro scale: it appears to stop endemics and epidemics. Short of our children falling over dead in the clinics, there will be no change. For proponents, the end justifies the means. They expect some percentage of casualties as a result of these programs. Otherwise, they wouldn't have the vaccination court and VAERS vaccine side effect data logging site. It is all for the perceived "greater good". The drug companies love it because they won't be sued! We are living in the new world order, folks. Get used to it.
These vindication studies are justified as in a court of law: found "not guilty". This in no means proves innocence. O.J. was also found "not guilty".
Root cause is usually not about a single factor only. If the MMR vaccine is studied in isolation, you only get part of the story. The MMR vaccine used to contain Thermisol (mercury based) and now uses Aluminum. Some vaccines still use Thermisol. There is no question that mercury and aluminum (at the doses administered) are toxic, especially to infants. Statistics are irrelevant at this point! Now you need to look at potential effects of these toxins and also when delivered at a given age and in combination with other factors, such as other vaccines, environment, diet, and genetics (predisposed conditions and vulnerabilities). Vaccine loading is likely more significant than a MMR vaccine in itself. A key factor for infants is swelling of the brain after vaccination. This factor can cause all kinds of neurological problems and side effects. Autism is just one small piece of this picture, and the reason why correlation is difficult.
There is always more to a story than what is on the surface. What about the combination of other toxic exposures in our food, water and air, as well as the deficient diets our kids are raised on. Remember, there is ALWAYS a root cause! The westernized world is more diseased and sicker than ever before. Our government and general medical community have chosen to ignore this fact, because they are only focused on their grandiose social goals...and stuffing pockets with cash. Stop with the statistics and fix the problems!
Example: I can prove with 95% confidence that software I write works as designed. I run lots of tests and collect data. But I know that I have never tested the design thoroughly, even though it had some odd behavior at times...just thrown together and then checked if it worked. No big deal you say! Well, this device happens to deliver drugs to a patient. 1 out of every 100 patients is harmed or dies due to a minor malfunction that delivers an overdose. But I can statistically prove, with high confidence, the software works! Is that good enough?
Did you hear how the pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers were lobbying to ban research that would help determine what medical treatments work best? Dr. Shapiro I think doctors need to unite and stop the conventional medicine insanity that currently exists. We need answers now and the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies are not going to provide us with unbiased answers.
Personally, I believe all these parents who claim the vaccine caused autism. Moms know what did it as well as Jenny McCarthy knows what did it to her son.
Not a single vaccine company has asked the government for a bailout. mmmmmmmmm..............
http://health.usnews.com/articles/...
Paul
The Lancet is not as highly regarded like Science, Nature, NEJM and JAMA... Every now and then The Lancet does crank out highly peer reviewed scientifically interrogated articles. Of course, 10 years ago, Lancet did have an excellent editorial board...
The other issue is autism is a polygenetic disorder with quite a bit epigenetics that needs ferreting out. With hap-maps and genome wide windowing, the array tech could prove beneficial, although there will be terabytes of info to map and more statistics that we have develop, beyond Bayesian analysis.
That all says, these last 8 years, there has been no money to do research, period. So, our minds have not been on a quest to solve these issues.
That is why I no longer do research... However, health issues are only going to increase over time.
Dr. G-
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/3346281/the-witchhunt-against-andrew-wakefield.thtml
Here is an excerpt from her article:
"What the Sunday Times did not report was that the GMC investigation into Wakefield was triggered by a complaint from... Brian Deer, who furnished the allegations against him four years ago. He has thus been reporting upon the hearing into his own complaint. Since when has a reputable paper published a story by a reporter who is actually part of that story himself -- without saying so – and who uses information arising from the disciplinary hearing which he himself has instigated and which is investigating allegations he himself made in the first place?"
That same article contains a response by Dr. Andrew Wakefield to the allegations.
Your infuriated that the controversy evolved from a personal agenda (meaning Dr. Wakefield)? I think you need to give parents more credit than that. If you want to give credit to the evolution of the controversy, you may want to credit the internet - because that is how thousands of parents discovered so many others that had a remarkably similar story to tell - an apparently healthy child went in for a shot, became very ill with chronic gastrointestinal problems and stopped communicating. There are a lot more than 12 children. My two autistic nephews both have severe chronic gastrointestinal problems and the pediatrician of one nephew told his mother 'it's just the autism'. It seemts that even pediatricians are aware of the strong correlation of gastrointestinal problems to autism. It is also noteworthy that there have been numerous recoveries from autism by addressing the gastrointestinal issues. The strongest gains in my one nephew (who is 10) has occurred in the last two months after beginning the gluten/casein free diet, along with antifungals and probiotics.
If you were truly maintaining a balanced perspective, then you would reserve your sad smile not only for the damage resulting from non-vaccination, but also for the damage done by vaccination, for there are casualties on both sides.
Dr. G-