Autism Studies

It is confusing for parents to read many of the comments in the mainstream media about autism and other neurological disorders ("NDs"). Typically, these NDs are described as having "no known cause and no known cure" and any link between vaccines and NDs is typically said to have been "disproven".

In fact, the evidence supporting the position that NDs are environmental illnesses with vaccines as a primary trigger is well documented, published in peer-reviewed journals, and growing every day.

Please note that most of the published science deals with autism, which we feel is equally relevant for a child with ADD/ADHD. What can parents learn from the existing science today? Generation Rescue believes the following has been proven to be true:

1. The prevalence of neurological disorders amongst children is growing, which means the environment must be playing a role (because genetic conditions can only grow at the rate of population growth).

   • Report to the Legislature on the Principle Findings from The Epidemiology of Autism in California: A Comprehensive Pilot Study

   • National Autism Prevalence Trends From United States Special Education Data.

   • The Changing Prevalence of Autism In California

   • What's Going On? The Question of Time Trends in Autism.

   
   

2. When environmental toxicity in children with neurological disorders is measured, it is meaningfully higher than neurotypical (normal) children.

   • Porphyrinuria in Childhood Autistic Disorder: Implications for Environmental Toxicity

   • A Case Control Study of Mercury Burden in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

   • A Case Series of Children with Apparent Mercury Toxic Encephalopathies Manifesting with Clinical Symptoms of Regressive Autistic Disorder

   • Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and blood mercury level: a case-control study in chinese children

   • Reduced Levels of Mercury in First Baby Haircuts of Autistic Children

   
   

3. The brains of children with neurological disorders are experiencing severe oxidative stress and inflammation, suggesting an environmental cause.

   • Large Brains in Autism: The Challenge of Pervasive Abnormality.

   • Neuroglial Activation and Neuroinflammation in the Brain of Patients with Autism.

   • Evidence of Toxicity, Oxidative Stress, and Neuronal Insult in Autism

   • Oxidative Stress in Autism

   
   

4. Children with neurological disorders are often suffering from severe gastrointestinal distress and inflammation. A trigger of this inflammation and the resultant behaviors is the MMR vaccine.

   • Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children

   • The Significance of Ileo-Colonic Lymphoid Nodular Hyperplasia in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

   • Detection and Sequencing of Measles Virus from Peripheral Mononuclear Cells from Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Autism

   • Dysregulated Innate Immune Responses in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Their Relationship to Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Dietary Intervention.

   
   

5. One preservative used in vaccines, Thimerosal (mercury), enters the bloodstream of the child and ends up in the brain after being administered.

   • Iatrogenic Exposure to Mercury After Hepatitis B Vaccination in Preterm Infants.

   • Comparison of Blood and Brain Mercury Levels in Infant Monkeys Exposed to Methylmercury or Vaccines Containing Thimerosal.

   
   

6. Higher levels of environmental mercury has been shown to produce higher rates of autism.

   • Environmental mercury release, special education rates, and autism disorder: an ecological study of Texas.

   
   

7. The preservatives in vaccines, most notably Thimerosal (mercury) and aluminum, are highly toxic and damaging to the nervous system and immune system of a developing child, and reactions to these toxins may vary greatly by child.

   • Thimerosal Neurotoxicity is Associated with Glutathione Depletion: Protection with Glutathione Precursors.

   • Uncoupling of ATP-mediated Calcium Signaling and Dysregulated IL-6 Secretion in Dendritic Cells by Nanomolar Thimerosal

   • Activation of Methionine Synthase by Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 and Dopamine: a Target for Neurodevelopmental Toxins and Thimerosal

   • Neurotoxic Effects of Postnatal Thimerosal are Mouse Strain Dependent.

   • Thimerosal induces DNA breaks, Caspase-3 Activation, Membrane Damage, and Cell Death in Cultured Human Neurons and Fibroblasts.

   • Organic Mercury Compounds and Autoimmunity.

   • Mercury and autism: Accelerating Evidence?

   • Retrograde Degeneration of Neurite Membrane Structural Integrity of Nerve Growth In Vitro Exposure to Mercury.

   
   

8. The symptoms of autism and the symptoms of mercury poisoning appear to be very similar.

   • Autism: A Novel Form of Mercury Poisoning.

   
   

9. The Government Reform Committee of the U.S. Congress has published reports on the relationship between mercury and autism and on the conflicts in policy-making for the national immunization schedule.

   • Mercury in Medicine - Taking Unnecessary Risks

   • Conflicts of Interest in Vaccine Policy Making