Having an autistic child is not the end of the world--far from it. It is my hope that through this blog, at least a handful of people will get to understand that. My child is amazing, she brings us tremendous joy. We have good days & bad days, but we CHOOSE to focus on the good. Our belief is that by loving our daughter, giving her the most comfortable environment we can, and by most of all accepting her differences, she will continue to blossom--in her OWN way.

3/8/08

"Evidence of Mitochondrial Dysfunction In Autism and Implications for Treatment"

That caught your eye, huh? Please read this publication: www.scipub.org/fulltext/ajbb/ajbb42208-217.pdf

Sounds rather startling at first. But then, when you dig a bit further, the reality of it all gets much clearer.

First of all, having mitochondrial dysfunction is NOT the same as having mitochondrial disease. It is not surprising that people with various neurological disorders would have abnormal lab results for these various markers. But it is a big leap to take those irregularities to mean someone has a mitochondrial disease. Or, to make an ever bigger leap to assume that those "cases," are those in which toxins played a role. This article wants you to assume that your child is not born with autism.

Then you come to the part where the "treatment" for these autistic children with "mitochondrial dysfunction" is, guess what? The DAN! Protocol, followed by supposed evidence of the benefits of HBOT. OH BOY! So, I do a few checks, and the two authors of this "piece" (it's not a study, merely a 4 3/4 page article, with 5 pages of references) are, no shock here, DAN! doctors. They have a facility in Melbourne, FL. They encourage IV chelation, HBOT, etc. to "treat" autism. They have now put a big fancy new label of "MtD" on autism, perhaps to convince more parents to "treat" their child?

The label and use of "MtD" instead of autism suggests that autism is in fact a physical disease, an illness, which requires treatment or a cure. This is precisely what TACA, DAN!, and others who view and depict autistics as less than human, that is what they would like you to believe. That also inflates their already fat pockets. This is all a disgusting ploy to get more money. And, we've all seen how parents struggling to "cure" their autistic child instead of love and accept them, we've seen the damage that can result in. I now see exactly where Mr. Kirby was going with his article. I'm fairly certain I have tracked down all of these so-called studies he is referring to and where his "fuzzy" statistics (depicted as fact, backed by scientific evidence & studies) came from.

I think I am more appalled then ever. I see now why this frenzy was started, and the vaccine lawsuits are the tip of the iceberg. It goes way beyond those court cases. I realize now that it is indeed all about money for the DAN! doctors and treatment centers and spreading their hurtful message. This furthers their agenda, that we should not accept autism or autistics.

14 comments:

kristina said...

Have the Polings said anything about the "treatments" they have used for their daughter---any biomed?

Mitochondrial dysfunction is listed on the table comparing mercury poisoning and autism in Autism: A Unique Type of Mercury Poisoning by Sallie Bernard et al.

What goes around, comes around.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Ms. Poling used to post on a Yahoo group detailing things like this:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RecoveredKids/message/5131

kristina said...

The usual, it seems.

Anonymous said...

"The usual, it seems"- Kristina you crack me up!

Well at least Terry Poling advised the other mom not to trust the doc that was recommending acupressure to test for allergies! : ) The things you read on those biomed groups...

Anonymous said...

IT'S AUTISM--NOT THE END OF THE WORLD

so if both my children are autistic is not the end of the world?

hey! i was suffering so much, but now that you reveal me this truth... i feel a lot better!
thank you!

Anonymous said...

Your post persuaded me to read the Rossignol and Bradstreet article. I was only part-way through the introduction when I found an obvious "mistake".

The authors claim that a 2005 study by Oliviera et al found that 35% of autistic children in their study had "mitochondrial disorders". I've read that paper - recently - and it says nothing of the sort.

The Oliviera et al study was not very well done, with questionable selection of subjects and a high percentage (~40%) of subjects who did not complete the entire testing series. Even so, they only reported that 7% had mitochondrial disorders, revised to 4% (which is more in keeping with their data) in later papers.

How Rossignol and Bradstreet could have "morphed" even the inflated 7% all the way to "35%" is baffling. It appears that they took the number of children, (14) who had muscle biopsies as the denominator - not realizing that they only biopsied the children who had elevated blood lactate levels (14 out of 69 who had lactate levels done - out of 102 subjects total).

It is hard to imagine that this is a simple "mistake", since it would take a careful reading of the original Oliviera et al article to find these numbers. It appears to be a deliberate attempt to inflate the numbers. It also is an indicator of the rigor of their "research".

The rest of the Rossignol and Bradstreet paper is, I fear, of much the same quality. As you pointed out, there is no new data, simply a review (and, in some cases, a revision) of data published by other researchers.

In the end, it seems that this "piece" is nothing more than an elaborate "infomercial" for their questionable therapies.

Prometheus

S.L. said...

Prometheus,

Thanks for all that information. I'm glad you figured out the math, and how the statistics were wrong there. Not surprising that they are once again fudging their numbers.

Unknown said...

S.L., are you retarded by any chance?

Anonymous said...

Daniel, Seriously. . .

Please exercise your brain and either make a well stated argument, or counterpoint.

Being intellectually honest is fulfilling.

Anonymous said...

When I first learned that DAN! docs were using IV therapies, I just said outloud (literally) you gotta be f(_fill n the blanks_)ing kidding me ?~!
I wondered if they knew how dangerous this was. To me, it was as bad as just administering a straight dose of street drugs into their systems. Poison is poison.
You cannot cure toxicity with more toxicity....pure stupidity.

I'm glad that there are a great number of parents out there who are not following their bunk.

just my tuppence worth!

Peace~

Anonymous said...

It floors me sometimes that people are so judgemental as to what other parents with autist children are doing to help their children. We have done biomedical and hbot and many more therapys for our some and relish in the fact that he is doing wonderful. He amazes me everyday. We have found what is right and what works for our child and I would not critize other parents for doing the same. I believe you have to do what you believe is right for your child and not judge others who are doing the same.

Mom said...

My child was the adorable dear love of my life when he was on the spectrum, now through biomedical intervention he is beyond the spectrum, he is still the adorable love of my life plus he is AMAZING (fun, articulate, playful) beyond my dreams! We went to responsible DAN doctors, not quacks, did serious diet changes GFCF+SCD, supplements of omega + E, homeopathic treatment for yeast, gut and homotoxicology ... it was a ton of hard work, and we avoided all pharamaceutical product (because they made me nervous) and I prayed alot. I figured my kid's life and future was worth trying very very hard - its like a flower blooming - his brain wasn't injured - it just wasn't getting the right nutrients because his gut and immune system were messed up. And now he is wicked smart! (he was before but it was hidden)

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