Issue

Comment

http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/jp/journal/v21/n1s/abs/7210627a.html

Good articles to read!

http://www.ironoverload.org/anemia.htm

http://www.cariboo.bc.ca/schs/medtech/rice/irondeficiency.html

  http://www.mercola.com/2003/nov/22/reuters.htm

Note that Mr. Christopher Hogg recently became acting Chairman of GlaxoSmithKline upon the retirement announcement of Richard Sykes.   Given Reuters provides one of the largest news information "feed services" worldwide to other news sources/agencies, is it any wonder the "press" for the pharmaceuticals is heavily weighted in favor of the pharmaceuticals when it comes to issues of autism!   Note that the thimerosal study done in 2000 was done by a man who now works for GlaxoSmithKline... and that this study has been "revised"/"manipulated" several times now in a bogus attempt to manipulate the initial results/outcomes that showed a link between autism and thimerosal!   For more on that issue, go to Reports link on my main webpage..

Let us also not forget that Senator Bill Frist, who now heads the Senate, also has extremely strong ties to the healthcare industry given his family founded perhaps the largest "for profit" hospital chain in the world.   Note that this same corporation was also found to have defrauded the government in filing healthcare claims.  For more on that, go to my link on "Frist First Aid".   Truly, this man, also plays a critical role in all this as he determines the Senate's agenda and needless to say, I am not surprised to see prescription bills that are strongly in favor of the pharmaceutical industry.   Likewise, I expect to see the same type of "medicaid" reform - reform in the form of more "Frist First Aid" and more pHARMaceutical industry aid! 

Now, put that together with the fact that Bush, Sr. sat on the Board of Directors at Eli Lilly, that Bush, Jr. has surrounded himself with Eli Lilly executives, and others, such as Rumsfeld who served from 1977 to 1985 as CEO, President, and then Chairman of G.D. Searle & Co., another pharmaceutical and, clearly, it becomes quite obvious that both the media and politics appear to be anything but "objective" when it comes to matters of vaccine injury.  

In my opinion, there can be no denying that media and politics are both controlled by the pharmaceutical industry when it comes to "what the public and indeed - our military families -  are told" about the safety of vaccines.

If you tell a lie long enough, loud enough and often enough, the people will believe it.  Adolf Hitler

These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination unto him:  A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.   A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.      Proverbs 6:16-19

You should know that you yourselves are God's temple.  God's Spirit lives in you.  If any person destroys God's temple, then God will destroy that person.                   1 Corinthians 3:16-17

And behold, I come quickly... to give every man according as his work shall be.  Revelation 22:12

Given flaxseed is also a plant oil (as is borage), I urge parents to do their homework in this issue and discuss it with their doctors as well.

The concern I have with all this is that when studies are done, we really do not know "other supplements" or "meds" someone may have been taking, or for example, if someone had a B6 deficiency (something that is known to cause or magnify seizures).   Thus, I have "mixed feelings" with this whole issue - especially when I see posts by parents on message boards that state children were helped with things like flaxseed or primrose oil when it came to seizures.  But, again, there was no way to know "the rest of the story"... i.e., the meds, etc. a child could have been on that may have also contributed to the issues with seizures.

I guess right now, I'm at a point of "not knowing what to do" on this one... and unfortunately, I suspect this will very much be another one of those "trial and error things".   Regardless, this was certainly an issue to "keep in mind" or at least be aware of! 

Before giving any oil to a child susceptible to seizures, please consult your doctor!

http://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info/epo.htm (evening primrose)

http://www.pdrhealth.com/drug_info/nmdrugprofiles/nutsupdrugs/bor_0039.shtml (borage)

http://www.sbrc.ca/ncarm/PDF/Borage%20Oil%20Short%20Report.pdf     (borage)

http://www.mercola.com/2000/jan/30/omega_3_recommendations.htm  (possible concerns with flaxseed oil)

http://www.mercola.com/2000/oct/22/infant_formula.htm

http://mercola.com/2003/nov/26/soy_formula.htm

Note:  There are several very informative links below this article.  

Parents choosing formulas as opposed to breastmilk are encouraged to review these as well.

http://mercola.com/2001/jun/23/manganese.htm

http://www.ironoverload.org/facts.html

http://www.vaccinationnews.com/DailyNews/July2002/IronMania&Autism11.htm

http://www.childscreen.org/Iron%20Overload%20and%20Autism.htm

http://www.personalmd.com/news/hemochromatosis_021800.shtml (note that a sign of iron overload is JAUNDICE!!!)

http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/hematol/pubs/hemoch/hemoc.htm

 Geier Study Showing Correlation Between Neurodegeneration and Thimerosal

Holmes Study Showing Children With Autism May Not Detox Mercury As Well As Normal Children

http://www.amalgam.org/ (excellent overview)

http://www.testfoundation.org/dmsahgdetox.htm (half life of mercury in the brain = 20 to 30 years according to Sugita M. The biological half-time of heavy metals. The presence of a third "slowest"
component. Int Arch Occup Environ Hlth 1978; 41: 25-40)

http://www.isn.net/~jypsy/viclette.htm (the secretin story - how it all came about)

http://www.autism.org/secretin.html

Secretin is a hormone found in the digestive tract, pancreas, liver and in the brain.   In the brain, it is said to be found - according to the above link - in the amygdale (emotion integration functions), the hippocampus (formation of new memories), and cerebellum (involved in coordination of motor functions, higher thought processes, language and emotion).   Note that all these areas are areas of the brain impacted by environmental factors - indeed, the cerebellum takes 20 years to mature, and as such, Dr. Jay Geidd of the NIH believes that this argues for a part of the brain most impacted by environmental factors as opposed to genetics - and this would very much be in line with the "functions" found in the cerebellum).  All three of these parts of the brain are very much parts of the brain impacted by "environmental factors" and parts of the brain that would have some of the most immature cells in them... the hippocampus, indeed, was known to develop new cells almost throughout life, and certainly, when it came to emotions, it took a while to "mature".   As such, it did not surprise me to see these three areas among the most impacted in autism and indeed, perhaps most "targeted" by metals such as mercury (and personally, I suspected by other metals as well, such as aluminum and iron).

Note that one of the functions of secretin is to help with the release of insulin... again... a tie to insulin...and iron since insulin and iron modulate one another, a tie to insulin... as I had seen on so, so many occasions.   Note also that the amygdale synapses directly with the frontal lobe - that part of the brain associated with language production... thus, could secretin play a role... yes... the thing that concerns me however is that results so often appear to be so "mixed" with some reporting benefits and others saying it was a rather expensive and non-effective therapy.    Perhaps the "mixed results" could be explained by assessing the presence or absence of "insulin resistant iron overload" in these kids.   That certainly could be a plausible reason or explanation as to why this therapy appeared to work for some but not others!

Another word of caution... the second link above states that secretin is found in the amygdala, hippocampus and cerebellum... and then goes on to states that these are areas known to be deficient in autism... of course, this is absolutely a true statement, however, I would argue that pretty well all areas of the brain are deficient in autism... indeed when you look at the 4 lobes of the brain and their functions, clearly, almost all of them are impacted in autism... and so, my point here is that yes, these are impacted areas... but there are many, many, many other impacted areas too... areas where secretin is not found and thus, my skepticism in terms of secretin as a great therapy for these children... especially given Victoria Beck's account indicated that initial results were not sustained!

Thus, could secretin help?  Perhaps... but, given how "broken" these children are, certainly, there was much, much more to "the fix".   Personally, I would be quite interested in knowing more about the interaction of secretin and insulin and about the interaction of iron and secretin as well.   Also, given secretin promoted insulin production and insulin treatment had been used to treat schizophrenia for decades (and autism used to be called childhood schizophrenia - see book 3 for much, more more on that), it certainly would not surprise me that secretin could be somewhat beneficial... but, the question remained, what was the underlying issue - secretin - or insulin!  

Note that secretin, in addition to stimulating the production of insulin, also stimulated the secretion of bile.   Bile had lactoferrin in it and lactoferrin was known to bind to iron.   Iron and insulin modulated one another... and abnormal iron levels have been found in schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson, and Down Syndrome (DS), etc.... all iron overload disorders.   All of these disorders share many, many parallels to autism... and a dual diagnosis of DS and autism was no longer rare - and indeed, those with DS appeared to have a higher incidence of autism according to work done by Cohen and Patterson.   Note also that those with DS also had a higher incidence of diabetes and leukemia (note that high iron levels in the liver were associated with cancer of the liver and that blood production in the unborn child occurred first in the liver - then migrated to the bone marrow).   DS was NOT considered "hereditary", yet, it was a condition that certainly impacted the child while still in the womb!    DS was very much associated with abnormal iron levels... and as such, again, I could not help but wonder... was it the secretin itself that was beneficial or the insulin and bile that resulted from secretin injection that were providing the true benefits shown in this therapy!  

Perhaps my greatest reason for questioning secretin, however, was what I had read of the text of an interview with the Becks.   From this transcript, it appeared that speech in Parker Beck had really appeared close to 10 days after the secretin procedure.   That alone left me "skeptical" as did the fact that of 200 children given secretin, according to this transcript, only about half had shown positive results.   I personally knew a family who had a child diagnosed with both DS and autism and who had undergone secretin therapy.   According to these parents, this therapy had been of little value to their son. 

Digestive enzymes, hormones, etc., from what I understood of them were produced and used on an "as needed" basis... they did not "stick around for days"... and as such, how could a period of a few days to 10 days pass for this amazing transformation in this young man?   Granted, I was certainly no scientist, but this was certainly a question that lingered in the back of my mind.   Certainly, if secretin was helpful to children with autism, that was a wonderful thing, however, in my opinion, as with so much, I felt this was only but one piece of the puzzle and that other, potentially much larger pieces, were possibly being ignored and/or overlooked - things like insulin and iron imbalances.

The transcript for this interview was provided on the link below along with "a word of caution" as to the use of porcine secretin in humans...  http://osiris.sunderland.ac.uk/autism/sec.htm ... and the potential for adverse long term effects... something all parents needed to seriously consider.   As exciting as something may sound, it was always important to look at things from all sides of the story.  A recent press release by Repligen Corporation entitled Phase 3 Study of Secretin for Autism Fails to Meet Dual Primary Endpoints, Development of Secretin for Schizophrenia to Continue  released Monday January 5, 2004, posted at:   http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040105/nym051_1.html , and also appearing in Reuters at http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=hotStocksNews&storyID=4073857  certainly indicated that things were not going as well as expected.   Interestingly, secretin was also being developed for treatment of schizophrenia... again, to me, this was not surprising given that autism used to be called childhood schizophrenia and that according to research I had done, even NARSAD (National Alliance For Research In Schizophrenia and Depression) had stated in a Fall 98 newsletter that the majority of children with autism go on to develop adult schizophrenia... so, we are told autism and schizophrenia are not the same, but, if you look at symptoms and prognosis, really - they are!   Having investigated both autism and schizophrenia, I had uncovered over 140 parallels between these disorders and the "differences" between them, in my opinion, could certainly be attributed to changes in brain development over the life spectrum.   To compare the brain of a 3 or 6 year old to that of a person between 20 and 40, was not something that, in my opinion, was "valid" in terms of assessing whether or not these were similar conditions.   There was no doubt in my mind that the age at which a person experience an assault on the brain had a great deal to do with what we saw in that person... yet, that certainly did not mean that these could not be "one and the same" - because, in my opinion, they absolutely were... having a same history, same symptoms... and same prognosis!

See "book 3" for much, much more on these issues.

http://www.edelsoncenter.com/Alzheimers/alzheimers_disease_update.htm

Ritalin - Is it safe? 

With virtually no long-term studies... how can we know for sure that the many drugs we give kids for "hyperactivity" are safe?

Are These Drugs Safe?

http://www.narsad.org/news/newsletter/specialreports/fall98related.html

http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaccine/thimfaq.htm

http://www.egregore.com/diseases/nailproblems.html#top

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. Psalm 55:22

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