Over on Autism Street, Dad Of Cameron (“Do’C”) has assembled a list of sources that have questioned the strength of the evidence about hyperbaric oxygen therapy for Autism. I’m flattered that he included the entry from EBD Blog.
Sphere: Related ContentTag Archive for 'therapy'
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“Hyperbaric treatment for children with autism: a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial” by Daniel A. Rossignol, Lanier W. Rossignol, Scott Smith, Cindy Schneider, Sally Logerquist, Anju Usman, Jim Neubrander, Eric M. Madren, Gregg Hintz, Barry Grushkin, Elizabeth A. Mumper appeared as an on-line publication 13 March 2009 and will appear in print in BMC Pediatrics. The article URL is http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2431/9/21
The recently published study by Rossignol and colleagues about hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for Autism has generated lots of commentary and is sure to lead to more. Because it is a treatment study and employs more careful methods than are common in many of the therapies promoted these days, I sat up and said, “Hmm. I ought to read this one.”
So I did. And I found it to be, indeed, a cut above much of the ersatz research that’s passed off as evidence in the Autism arena. But, I found some concerns, too.
Those concerns led me to poke about a bit on the Internet to see whether there were any others who were raising questions. There are. And I still have some more poking to do. But, I thought I ought to record my concerns. Thus this post.
Continue reading ‘Does Rossignol et al. show HBOT’s effective?’
Sphere: Related ContentIn “Lack of Association between Measles Virus Vaccine and Autism with Enteropathy: A Case-Control Study” published on line by the Public Library of Science, Mady Hornig and colleagues knocked out another argument supporting a causal link between vaccinations (specifically, those for measles, mumps, and rubella) and Autism. The research team—composed of scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health’s Center for Infection and Immunity, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Trinity College Dublin (IR)—examined the cornerstone studies that started many down the road to the hypothesis that vaccinations cause Autism. They examined material from the gastrointestinal systems of children with and without Autism to see whether those with Autism harbored the genetic remnants of the measles virus. No go.
Abstract
Background
The presence of measles virus (MV) RNA in bowel tissue from children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances was reported in 1998. Subsequent investigations found no associations between MV exposure and ASD but did not test for the presence of MV RNA in bowel or focus on children with ASD and GI disturbances. Failure to replicate the original study design may contribute to continued public concern with respect to the safety of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
Methodology/Principal Findings
The objective of this case-control study was to determine whether children with GI disturbances and autism are more likely than children with GI disturbances alone to have MV RNA and/or inflammation in bowel tissues and if autism and/or GI episode onset relate temporally to receipt of MMR. The sample was an age-matched group of US children undergoing clinically-indicated ileocolonoscopy. Ileal and cecal tissues from 25 children with autism and GI disturbances and 13 children with GI disturbances alone (controls) were evaluated by real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR for presence of MV RNA in three laboratories blinded to diagnosis, including one wherein the original findings suggesting a link between MV and ASD were reported. The temporal order of onset of GI episodes and autism relative to timing of MMR administration was examined. We found no differences between case and control groups in the presence of MV RNA in ileum and cecum. Results were consistent across the three laboratory sites. GI symptom and autism onset were unrelated to MMR timing. Eighty-eight percent of ASD cases had behavioral regression.Conclusions/Significance
This study provides strong evidence against association of autism with persistent MV RNA in the GI tract or MMR exposure. Autism with GI disturbances is associated with elevated rates of regression in language or other skills and may represent an endophenotype distinct from other ASD.
Hornig M., Briese T., Buie T., Bauman M. L., Lauwers G., et al. (2008) Lack of association between measles virus vaccine and autism with enteropathy: A case-control study. PLoS ONE 3(9): e3140.
Link directly to the Hornig et al. article. See the press release from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Link to Science Daily coverage of the story.
Sphere: Related ContentWriting for the Associated Press, Dan Nephin reported that charges against Dr. A. T. Nadama related to the death during chelation therapy of a young boy with Autism have been dropped.
Continue reading ‘Chelation death charges dropped’
Alert readers will know that I have found fault with the recommendations on about.com about Learning Disabilities, so this post endorsing an article on about.com may come as a surprise. In “How to Choose the Wrong Treatment for Your Child with Autism,” about.com’s Lisa Jo Rudy got a lot right. Ms. Rudy provides an extensive list of don’ts that merit support.
Continue reading ‘Autism treatment recommendations’
Over at Respectful Insolence Orac has a worth-a-read post about a law suit arising from the use of chelation as a therapy for Autism. Chelation, in this sense, is a process in which a compound that binds to metal atoms is injected into a person in hopes of extracting those metals from the person’s body. Some people who believe that mercury causes Autism advocate the use of chelation to remove mercury from individuals who have Autism. A couple of years ago I pointed to this case in an entry here at EBD Blog. There was an extended series of comments in which I described the evidence about chelation. Orac, who harbors an opinion of similar verticality as mine—which is to say very low—about chelating as therapy for Autism, comments on the suit brought against a doctor who treated a boy by chelation and during the therapy the boy died.
Continue reading ‘Orac revisits chelation story’
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