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SCHAFER AUTISM REPORT "Healing Autism:

No Finer a Cause on the Planet" ________________________________________________________________

Wednesday, December 17, 2003 Vol. 7 No. 250

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AWARENESS

* Working Mom Chose To Take Detour From Career Path, Autism

PUBLIC HEALTH

* Parents Show Increased Concern About Vaccine Safety

* New Support for MMR Doubts

* UK Department of Health Website Devoted Solely To Refuting

Dr Wakefield's Claims

* IOM Meeting On Vaccines And Autism Set For February 9

TREATMENT

* A Look at Melatonin: Hormone Puts Sleep Back in Night's Rest

ADVOCACY

* An Asperger's Syndrome Sufferer Sues for Compensation in UK

RESEARCH

* Repligen Affirms Data Release Timeline for Phase 3 Clinical

Trial of Secretin

AWARENESS

Working Mom Chose To Take Detour From Career Path, Autism

Charlotte, N.C. - (KRT) - "Q: Why don't more women get to the top? A: They choose not to."

That was the provocative headline on Lisa Belkin's recent New York Times Magazine story examining the growing number of educated professional women rejecting the workplace.

Belkin writes that not so many years ago, feminists predicted a future that included women making equal pay, holding equal power and running the world, or at least half of it.

Through college, that future seems to have come true. Women graduates outnumber men. Nearly half of medical students are women. Some law schools graduate more women than men.

But once women begin having children, the numbers change, Belkin says. The number being cared for by stay-at-home moms increased nearly 13 percent in less than a decade, according to the 2000 census. Two-thirds of mothers aged 25 to 44 now work less than 40 hours a week. And between a quarter and a third of professional women are out of the work force.

Belkin acknowledges that this trend applies mostly to successful, well-educated women whose partners' salaries allow them to quit or cut back. But those are the women who were supposed to be professional equals of men, she argues, and that's why this is so significant.

Belkin suggests that women who opt out are gradually forcing employers to change policies, making it easier for men to take family leave. As they choose a life that doesn't center on the office, perhaps these women will help redefine success for everyone, she says.

We talked with three local women who've defined success on their terms. Janie Mines took a pay cut to launch a business that gives her more time with her teenage son. Dr. Khanh Eagle dropped to part time and turned down a partnership with her medical practice. And Elizabeth Phillippi quit completely.

--- As a student at Emory University in the late '70s, Elizabeth Phillippi, 46, assumed that if she worked hard enough, she could do anything. At First Union, now Wachovia, Phillippi, who has an accounting background, moved up the managerial chain. When she gave birth to twin boys in 1991, she returned to work after just three months.

Phillippi's husband, Jeff, is a dentist with commitments to patients, so she usually handled child-care emergencies. That worked, she says, until one of her boys, Daniel, began having seizures following a vaccine. At 4, he was diagnosed with autism.

Phillippi cut her bank hours to four days a week, but was still nagged by doubts. "Over time, I started saying, this is getting nutty. How can I do the kind of job I want to do at work and still be there for my children, especially Daniel?"

The incident that finally tipped the scales occurred on a sweltering morning, as she was trying to drop Daniel off at summer camp.

"Daniel wouldn't get out of my car. Ultimately, I thought, he's not happy. He didn't have the language skills to tell me. I just recall he was telling me with the best way he had."

She asked for a leave of absence. And she never returned.

Had Daniel not had health problems, Phillippi doesn't know if she would have given herself permission to quit. "Or it would have taken longer," she says.

It took time to feel comfortable as a stay-at-home mom. "It's very hard when you've had all this responsibility," she says. But she became an active volunteer, serving on the local autism society board and a school system panel on children with disabilities.

"I've allowed myself to create a life that gives me the most flexibility. If Daniel has seizures and can't go to school, whatever's on my calendar, I just wipe it off. It's a much less of a stressful way to live. I've been very fulfilled and met lots of fascinating people in the volunteer sector."

Phillippi also rejects the notion that we only wield power through careers. "I think we have influences in different ways, and we're just picking and choosing how and when we influence," she says.

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* * *

PUBLIC HEALTH

Parents Show Increased Concern About Vaccine Safety

Four out of five doctors surveyed in 2000 reported at least one instance of parents refusing to have a child vaccinated during the previous year, according to a new study.

More than two-thirds of those doctors said parents showed more concern regarding vaccine safety than parents did in the past.

Researchers Gary L. Freed, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Michigan and colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed data from a survey of 743 physicians. Their findings appear in the January issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Most of the physicians said they recorded the parents' refusal of vaccines in the child's medical record, Freed says. Responses varied by specialty, however. Pediatricians were more likely than family physicians to provide additional information regarding vaccines to parents or to discuss the issue with parents at later visits.

Some parents may refuse to have their children immunized due to vaccine safety fears, whether those fears are real, unsubstantiated or even disproved, he says. Parents' most common fears focused on short-term reactions to the shots and pain from multiple injections. The doctors surveyed said that parents were also concerned about immune system effects, long-term serious complications, and the overall need for vaccines.

Many questions about the benefits and risks of immunization are addressed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's series of Vaccine Information Statements. However, Freed says, the physicians said that parents often expressed worries about issues not contained in the statements -- such as alleged (but now-discredited) associations with autism or multiple sclerosis.

"Both pediatricians and family physicians must be sensitive to parents' concerns and well prepared to respond to such concerns," he says. "Although physicians should provide Vaccine Information Statements at every vaccine visit -- as required by law for universally recommended childhood vaccines -- they may also need to provide supplementary materials to address all parental concerns adequately."

* * *

New Support for MMR Doubts

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The safety of the MMR vaccine has again been called into question as a study appeared to back the British doctor who first linked it to autism and

bowel disease. Dr Andrew Wakefield's findings have been dismissed as

flawed by Government scientists and the Department of Health, who say they have not been replicated by other researchers.

But experts at New York University School of Medicine have found independent support for his concerns over the measles, mumps and rubella jab.

In a study of 22 children whose parents said they had been made ill by MMR, Dr Arthur Krigsman made the same findings as Dr Wakefield's group at London's Royal Free Hospital.

Dr Krigsman said he had seen the same pattern of illness and discovered similar abnormalities in the youngsters' bowels.

Speaking on Channel 4 News, Dr Krigsman said: 'Their descriptions, much to my surprise, matched what the Royal Free group had stated.

'I got 22 results back that were identical before I was convinced that this pathology is real and that these kids have got something that we are now aware of and we need to look at further.' More controversy over MMR was stirred last night by a Channel Five drama, Hear The Silence, which starred Juliet Stevenson as a mother who is convinced that the jab caused her son's health problems.

The programme was criticised in an open letter signed by 11 leaders in child health, who called it 'irresponsible and reckless'.

They said worldwide use of MMR over 30 years showed it to be safe and effective. And they warned that the drama could lead to a measles epidemic by deterring more parents from letting children have the jab.

The number of two-year-olds having the vaccine in the UK has hit a new low of 82 per cent. Thousands of parents are seeking single vaccines.

The National Autistic Society said the drama highlighted the need for further research.

* * *

UK Department of Health Website Devoted Solely To Refuting Dr Wakefield

The Department of Health is aware that, as a result of reports in certain newspapers, many parents have become concerned about the safety of MMR vaccine. Many are unclear about the facts concerning the vaccine and want to have accurate, scientific information. These pages aim to provide that information.

Background

How the Government has looked at the suggested link between MMR and inflammatory bowel disease and autism.

The research about MMR, inflammatory bowel disease and autism

Separate (single) vaccines

Immunisation policy in other countries Other recent concerns about MMR vaccine

Conclusion

Other useful links: ccollaborative.org

* * *

IOM Meeting On Vaccines And Autism Set For February 9

On February 9, 2004, the Immunization Safety Review Committee of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) will hold an information-gathering meeting on the topic Vaccines and Autism. The registration deadline is February 2, 2004. The committee is seeking input on the topic; the deadline for submitting input is January 16, 2004.

For additional information or to submit input, contact Amy Grossman at

(202) 334-1361 or (202) 334-1342.

* * *

TREATMENT

A Look at Melatonin: Hormone Puts Sleep Back in Night's Rest

PRWeb - The warm milk and sheep aren't working. Its 2 a.m. and the bed feels like a trampoline. There is a bottle of medicine on the dresser that you picked up at the health food store to help you sleep. The pills contain melatonin, a hormone hyped on television, in magazines, in books, and on the internet as the next wonder drug. Still, your not sure as you reach for the pill bottle.

Go ahead, say doctors at Georgia Sleep Center at the Medical College of Georgia. While there is no evidence for the claims that melatonin slows aging or increases sexual potency, it is fine to take for occasional sleeplessness, doctors said.

"It's supposed to be relatively safe." said Dr. Bashir Chaudhary, director of the sleep center. "If people have occasional problems, this is one thing that they can try."

At the center of all the hype is a pea-sized gland in the brain that philosophers once called "the seat of the soul." The pineal gland, whose exact function eluded scientists for centuries, senses changes in light and helps control the cycle of sleeping and waking. The tiny gland senses when light is shifting to darkness and begins to change one hormone - serotonin - onto melatonin, which signals the body to sleep. Exactly how melatonin does that is still not fully understood, sad Dr. Yomg Park, a pediatric neurologist and associate director of the georgia Sleep Center.

The hormone lightens the skin pigmentation and inhibits estrus. Sunlight inhibits its secretion. generally, as people age, their bodies produce less of it.

One Caveat: An Augusta melatonin researcher (Albert N. Milliron) said that those who have depression or other mental disorders or those suffering from "winter blues" should not take the hormone because their natural melatonin cycles may not be working properly.

Such concerns have not slowed sales. After cover stories and television specials trumpeted its benefits, melatonin was in short supply, said Jana Saverance, a sales woman at New Life Natural Foods and Snack Bar in Augusta. "We used to couldn’t keep it on the shelves," she said. "Lately it's died down." But that may be partly because its available everywhere now - in drugstores and grocery pharmacies, said New Life saleswoman Chista Cook. "That’s the hot one, as of late," said Lamar Bishop, manager of Foods for Better Living in Augusta. There is a big market out there for it: About one in three people suffers from some sort of sleep disorder, said Dr. Chaudhary. "There are not many people who have not had one night of insomnia," he said. About 10% of the population have frequent sleep problems, he said.

Some customers come in saying their doctor directed them to the supplement, said pharmacist Tommy Mansfield at Thifty Rexell Drugs in Augusta. Others have read all the hype but are wondering if it is right for them, he said. "I know alot of people are waiting to see what comes out of it," Mr. Mansfiled said.

Studies have found that the hormone is usually abundant in young people, Dr. Park said. But some children - including those who are mentally retarded or autistic - also seem to have trouble getting on a regular sleep cycle. Dr. Park is seeking approval from the college to study whether the children are producing melatonin and what dosages might be effective in treating the "chaotic sleep patterns." He said he already has seen some evidence it can help. Dr. Park charted the sleep patterns of a child who suffered a brain infection and epilepsy. The child's mother complained the boy never slept. Dr. Park found the child did not follow any regular sleeping pattern - awake until 4 a.m., asleep for a few hours, then awake until midnight. "There was no day and night pattern," Dr. Park said. Dr. Park suggested that the mother give the boy melatonin, and that seems to have helped the child go back to a regular sleeping cycle, he said. he hopes through research to find out why.

Melatonin also may be the culprit behind the "winter blues." Augusta researcher Albert Milliron and others studied soldiers in Alaska, where the amount of daylight varies from 21 hours a day in the summer to three hours in the winter. Studying soldiers who followed a highly regimented schedule, they found that during the summer the soldiers had trouble sleeping and where producing little melatonin. During the winter, melatonin would peak at 8 a.m., when soldiers were supposed to be coming wide awake, leaving them depressed. The hormone may also play a part in depression among some people as days grow shorter and winter approaches, a condition known as seasonal affective disorder. In fact, those whore are depressed or manic should steer clear of the melatonin supplement. And with the shorter days, those who feel the winter blues coming on may want to cut back on their dosage, he said.

A lack of melatonin could play a role in alcoholism, said Mr. Milliron, who works with substance abuse with the Department of Veterans Affairs. "What’s the biggest complaint you hear from alcoholics? They have trouble sleeping," Mr. Milliron said. They often drink to get to sleep, he said. Alcoholics also age faster, and melatonin is reputed to help slow the aging process by strengthening cells, he said.

Mr. Milliron is writing a proposal to study the link between melatonin and alcoholism, which may lead to its use in treating the disease. "not to make them alcoholics that can drink, but to make them alcoholics that can survive without it," Mr. Milliron said.

Mr. Milliron now regularly fields questions about melatonin on the internet. he took the supplement himself for a while, and it helped him sleep. But he grew concerned about the continuing a supplement whose long term effects haven’t been studied.

That doesn’t seem to concern too many people in Augusta. The supplement's popularity can be seen in its abundance on New Life's shelves. There are 1 milligram tablets, 3 milligram and 5 milligram tablets; it comes in peppermint or orange flavor; you can get a tablet, a caplet, or a lozenge. Price ranges from about $8 up to $26.25.

Most people seem content just to know it works, even if scientists like Dr. Park are still trying to find out why.

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* * *

ADVOCACY

An Asperger's Syndrome Sufferer Sues for Compensation in UK Claims his life has been wrecked by Greenwich council's failure to educate him properly. Now he faces an anxious wait for the outcome of his High Court compensation fight.

=13730466_method=full_siteid=50100_headline=-Compensation-fight-by-mentally-

ill-man-name_page.html

The 23-year-old's school days were marked by a catalogue of expulsions and repeated failure, according to his counsel, Anthony Phillips.

Mr Phillips told the court his client is now compulsorily detained in a mental hospital.

Teachers found it difficult to "contain" him and, in what was a nightmare for his long-suffering family, the council failed to assess, diagnose or provide for his special needs, he claimed.

Instead, the man - referred to in court only as D - descended into a spiral of ever-more disturbed behaviour, culminating in pleading guilty to a string of arson offences in 2001 and being sent to a mental hospital.

D is suing Greenwich for substantial damages, claiming "educational negligence" was a "substantial cause" of his current predicament.

However, the council denies all blame and its counsel, Andrew Warnock, condemned D's case as doomed to failure.

He told Judge Sean Overend that D did not suffer from any educational handicap or deficit and that his "real problems are psychiatric or organic".

There was no treatment or cure for Asperger's syndrome - a form of autism - and his problems had been worsened by a 1987 road accident in which he suffered brain damage, said Mr Warnock.

His "organic personality disorder" resulted in difficulty controlling his impulses and emotions and that was the likely explanation for his inability to control his "urges to set fire to things".

The barrister said any alleged failings in D's education could not realistically be said to have caused or contributed to his current mental health problems.

His placement at a school for children with behavioural and emotional problems had been "actually relatively successful" until the placement began to break down due to his "extreme behaviour" in 1994 when D was going through adolescence, said Mr Warnock.

He added that, during his school-days, D's needs had been regularly assessed and he had been subject to detailed monitoring. Finding an appropriate school for a boy with such complex needs was "clearly not an easy task", he added.

And Mr Warnock told the judge that, apart from his education, "there are a host of environmental factors which could have influenced his development, including his home life and behavioural choices".

After a four-day hearing, Judge Overend reserved his decision in the case and will now give his ruling at a later date.

* * *

RESEARCH

Repligen Affirms Data Release Timeline for Phase 3 Clinical Trial of Secretin

PRNewswire-FirstCall -- Repligen Corporation affirmed today its previous guidance for the release of the results from the first Phase 3 clinical trial of secretin for autism. The study will remain blinded through the end of the year and the company intends to release the top line results of the study by press release sometime during the week of January 5, 2004.

[More information can be found at the above website.]

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Edward Decelie Debbie Hosseini Richard Miles Ron Sleith Kay Stammers

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