July 15, 2010

We Finally Get a Vaxxed v. Unvaxxed Study, Vaccinated Primates Have Brain Changes Seen In Autism

We finally get a vaccinated v. unvaccinated study. No... no actual children yet, but infant rhesus macaque monkeys.



And no wonder main stream medicine doesn't want vaccine studies with an actual baseline (completely unvaccinated), because the results are dramatic.

The infant primates vaccinated according to the US vaccine schedule (equivalent to their size/development rate, pre 2002 shots WITH full doses of mercury) showed the same brain changes found in children with autism. The amygdala, the fear and anxiety center, did not mature properly in the vaccinated group, and those differences did not appear until AFTER the 12 month vaccines were given.

The abstract:

Influence of pediatric vaccines on amygdala growth and opioid
ligand binding in rhesus macaque infants: A pilot study

Acta Neurobiol Exp 2010, 70: 147–164
©2010 by Polish Neuroscience Society - PTBUN, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology

Laura Hewitson1,2,*, Brian J. Lopresti3, Carol Stott4, N. Scott Mason3 and Jaime Tomko1

1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA;
2Thoughtful House Center for Children, Austin, TX, USA; 3Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh School of
Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; 4Independent Chartered Scientist, Cambridge, UK;
*Email: lch1@pitt.edu

This longitudinal, case-control pilot study examined amygdala growth in rhesus macaque infants receiving the complete US childhood vaccine schedule (1994-1999). Longitudinal structural and functional neuroimaging was undertaken to examine central effects of the vaccine regimen on the developing brain. Vaccine-exposed and saline-injected control infants underwent MRI and PET imaging at approximately 4 and 6 months of age, representing two specific timeframes within the vaccination schedule. Volumetric analyses showed that exposed animals did not undergo the maturational changes over time in amygdala volume that was observed in unexposed animals. After controlling for left amygdala volume, the binding of the opioid antagonist [11C]diprenorphine (DPN) in exposed animals remained relatively constant over time, compared with unexposed animals, in which a significant decrease in [11C]DPN binding occurred. These results suggest that maturational changes in amygdala volume and the binding capacity of [11C]DPN in the amygdala was significantly altered in infant macaques receiving the vaccine schedule. The macaque infant is a relevant animal model in which to investigate specific environmental exposures and structural/functional neuroimaging during neurodevelopment.

Key Words: rhesus macaques, Macaca mulatta, non-human primates, animal model, neuroimaging, PET, MRI, amygdala, opioids, ethyl mercury, thimerosal, neurotoxicity

The full paper: Hewitson et. al.

The editorial written by the editor of the journal, who says:

An alarming finding is reported by Hewitson and coworkers showing that, in infant monkeys that were immunized, the amygdala does not show the normal pattern of maturation but is hypertrophied. Although these are only preliminary data, given the well-known role of the amygdala in generation of fear and other negative emotions, they support the possibility that there is a link between early immunization and the etiology of autism.

Mark Blaxill and Dan Olmsted's discussion of the paper: New Study Shows Vaccines Cause Brain Changes Found in Autism

It should be noted that in the spring of 2008, The American Academy of Pediatrics was informed of this study. At the conclusion of the DAN conference in Cherry Hill, NJ in April of 2008, Dr. Jerry Kartzinel personally discussed it with Dr. Louis Cooper who was there representing the AAP. Cooper skirted the issue, acting as if he was concerned with the cost of the study, and Kartzinel replied that the study was fully funded and underway. Cooper was clearly not comfortable with the discussion of the study, and changed the subject. In their discussion of what Cooper had seen at the conference and how to proceed with some sort of partnership between ARI and AAP, Cooper had already stated to Kartzinel:
"I’m concerned about immunization policy and how you protect immunization."

To my knowledge, AAP never got back to anyone on their input into, or involvement with, this primate study. Note that the study was not published by Pediatrics, where it belongs, as it is AAP's journal and AAP is Pharma's main vaccine distributor. I am sure they want this buried as deep as is possible.

I am interested to see what AAP's public comment will be on this. If there is one.

AAP's (@ameracadpeds)twitter page can be found here: http://twitter.com/ameracadpeds

Feel free to call this post to their attention.

3 comments:

Minority said...

Bet they attack the authors. Then they attack the journal where it was published. After that, the peer review process.

Let's see. Then they'll move on to claiming that the study abused the monkeys by injecting them with mercury.

Finally, they'll claim that the study was too small.

cwaldman said...

On the AAP: years ago a relative of mine worked for the AAP in public relations. She was concerned because the AAP had strong evidence cow's milk was bad for children, but they were not going to go public with it because it would be bad for the dairy industry! This disturbed my relative greatly and has colored my opinion of the AAP ever since. Truth isn't the first priority.

Then you have Dr. Ari Brown's paper trying to lull parents into thinking vaccines are safer than they are. Read Dr. Wakefield' et al's "Response to Dr. Ari Brown and the Immunization Action Coalition" to know what the AAP leaves out when they tell parents about vaccines. I used to have the link; it's online. The article is published in Medical Veritas 6 (2009) 1907-1924.

Jim said...

Medical Veritas 6 (2009) 1907–1924

Response to Dr. Ari Brown and the Immunization Action Coalition