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"Healing Autism: No Finer a Cause on the Planet" ________________________________________________________________

RESEARCH

* Infants Learn Early to Spot Faces – Scientists

PUBLIC HEALTH

* UK Reports MMR Vaccine Rates Returning to Normal

AUTISM AWARENESS

* Victim's Spirit Of Giving Endures

* Letter to the NY Times over "Autistic Simplicity"

TREATMENT

* Alternative Medicines May Pose Risk, WHO Warns

* Euro Parliament Classifies Vitamins As Drugs - US Next?

Infants Learn Early to Spot Faces - Scientists

Discoveries may lead to aid in diagnosing of autism

Never underestimate the intelligence of an infant.

Six-month-old babies can distinguish the faces of two monkeys better than adults or older children which scientists said on Thursday suggests babies have some early capabilities that do not increase, but lessen, with age.

"Babies already have certain abilities and the environment they are presented with could help them retain some of these abilities," Michelle de Haan of University College London told a news conference.

Rather than starting out as a clean slate and adding on more skills as they get older, there seems to be a peak time between six and nine months when babies' brains take in and process visual information to hone their perception skills.

"Something important is going on for setting up the way we recognize faces as adults," said de Haan.

As they get older, the infants' brains filter out information and their perception narrows, so that by the time they are nine months old they have a more difficult time or can no longer distinguish the differences between the two monkeys.

"We usually think about development as a process of gaining skills, what is surprising about this case is that babies seem to be losing ability with age," she explained.

Insights Into Human Development

De Haan, whose research is reported in the journal Science, said the study could provide important insights into human development, particularly in the first year of life.

It may also help scientists identify peak times during an infant's development when they are very responsive.

In the future she and her colleagues believe their findings could lead to earlier diagnosis and intervention in children suffering from development disorders such as autism.

"This is an important step forward in differentiating when perception arrives in the first year of life. It may be very important for understanding human development," Peter Stern, an associate editor of Science, added.

The scientists assessed the face recognition ability of 16 six-month-old babies and an similar number of nine-month-olds and adults.

Each group was shown color photographs of an adult and a monkey and then the same photo along with an additional human or animal face.

By videotaping and recording the time each group stared at the new photo the scientists detected their face recognition ability.

All of the groups recognized the difference between the human faces but the six-month-old babies could tell apart the monkey faces much easier than the adults and the nine-month children.

Copyright 2002 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved.

* * *

UK Reports MMR Vaccine Rates Returning to Normal

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Reuters Health - The number of British children who received the controversial measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine dropped over the winter but rates are picking up again, public health officials said on Thursday.

Vaccination rates for children aged 16 months--around the time the first shot is normally given--fell from 76.2% in December 2001 to 70.1% in March 2002, the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) said.

Officials note that the drop coincided with "the intense adverse publicity about MMR over the Christmas and New Year period," but say that uptake at this age had risen again to 72% by April.

The new figures also showed that the percentage of 2-year-olds receiving the vaccine fell from 85.8% in December 2001 to 84.4% in March, but had reached 85.9% by April.

Before Christmas last year, newspapers fueled speculation over whether British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s baby son, Leo, was given the MMR vaccine.

In January, more than 1,000 British families joined a legal battle for millions of pounds compensation for harm they claim was caused to their children by MMR vaccines.

A month later, Blair's official spokesman accused journalists of whipping up "media hysteria" over the issue and warned that increasing unfounded fears about MMR could have dangerous consequences.

"We frequently see falls in vaccine uptake associated with periods of adverse publicity, but the falls are usually temporary and followed by a degree of recovery," said Dr. Mary Ramsay of the PHLS. "This appears to have been the case over recent months and now many parents are 'catching-up' with the vaccination schedule." Concern that the triple childhood vaccination might trigger autism has led some parents to refuse to have their children vaccinated, resulting in outbreaks of measles in various parts of the country.

Ramsay said there was "an overwhelming body of evidence" supporting the safety of the triple combination.

"By contrast there is no good evidence on the safety and effectiveness of using single vaccines, as some are suggesting," she added.

* * *

Victim's Spirit Of Giving Endures

Endowment Funds quickly raised for $25,000 scholarship for ABA named for man killed in World Trade Center attacks.

Adam Arias' family remembers him as a giver.

The 37-year-old executive, who was killed when Tower Two of the World Trade Center collapsed on Sept. 11, loved to learn and loved to help others in need, they said.

Due to the establishment of a $25,000 endowment scholarship created in his name at Florida State University-Panama City, Arias will continue to give, even in death.

"Knowing Adam the way I do, I know he's looking down on us right now, with one of his patented grins, proud of the way we are honoring his memory by combining two things he held very dear to him," Arias' widow, Margit, said at an FSU-PC ceremony on Tuesday.

She wore Arias' wedding ring, which was recovered with his body at Ground Zero, on a chain around her neck as she addressed the crowd of family members, friends, and FSU-PC students and staff who gathered to celebrate the scholarship fund reaching its goal.

The Adam P. Arias Applied Behavioral Analysis Endowed Memorial Scholarship will fund the education of a student who is learning to help people with autism.

Arias' nephew, Vincent, who is the son of Tyndall Air Force Base Maj. Don Arias and teacher Karen Arias, is autistic.

"His strong family ties were apparent to all and he loved us all very much," Don Arias said. "So, as we remember him, that is one of the finest legacies he could leave us, and that is his love." Efforts to raise funds for endowment scholarships often take about five years, Dean Ed Wright said. Publicity for the Arias fund, however, generated wide and rapid response, from classrooms of students to author Tom Clancy.

Most of the contributions were small, the largest being $500, but they came from far and wide, Wright said.

"It's just remarkable, the outpouring of support from all around the country," he said. "We got checks from people who claimed not to know (Arias), but of the scholarship." The money will go to one graduate student every year. There are currently 20 students in the ABA program, which is one of four in the state, Wright said.

The ABA program specializes in behavioral modification, a theory of autism therapy that addresses individual needs. If an autistic person has trouble speaking, for example, therapists work on developing that specific skill.

The goal of the therapy is to integrate autistic students into mainstream classrooms.

Adam Arias was vice president of Euro Brokers, Inc., an international brokerage firm based in New York City. He never finished his college education, but was planning to go back to school, having applied to Baruch College in New York.

Margit Arias received her husband's acceptance letter from the school after his death.

According to reports from friends and witnesses who saw Arias on Sept. 11, she said he was helping others until the moment he died.

"A few of Adam's co-workers have called me to tell me that as soon as Adam got word from his brother, Donald, that the towers were under attack, he ran around the floor telling everyone to get out before leaving himself," she said.

"Based upon where he was found and our conversations with numerous friends who were on the scene and saw Adam, even after he got out of the buildings, Adam stayed around to provide support for the people leaving the buildings, which ultimately led to his death when the towers collapsed."

* * *

Letter to the NY Times over "Autistic Simplicity"

Dear Editor,

This confuses me because autism is such a complex disorder that it is defined as a spectrum of manifestations resulting in a spectrum of presenting behaviors. Intelligence can range from the savant to the moronic or lower. Thus, "autistic simplicity" is oxymoronic. Where does one suppose the writer intended "autistic" to fall on the scale of simplicity, anyway? Is it closer to the low intelligence of Down Syndrome, or more like the flat affect of Alzheimer's? When attempting to coin stereotypes, even the avant-garde must take care.

Lenny Schafer

* * *

Alternative Medicines May Pose Risk, WHO Warns

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Reuters - Increasingly popular alternative medicines, from Chinese herbal remedies to acupuncture and spiritual therapies, are often misused and may harm patients, the World Health Organisation warned on Thursday.

The United Nations health agency called for further clinical research into the safety and efficacy of such products, consumed by up to 80% of people in developing countries.

WHO urged its 191 member states to regulate what it calls traditional medicines and make them safer and more accessible. Only 25 have policies to license providers and check on authenticity, safety and efficacy of products, it said.

Incorrect use of alternative therapies has caused deaths in wealthy countries, where more and more patients rely on them, according to "WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2002-2005."

The herb Ma Huang (ephedra), used in China to treat short-term respiratory congestion, was marketed in the United States as a dietary aid. But its long-term use "led to at least a dozen deaths, heart attacks and strokes," the WHO said.

"In Belgium, at least 70 people required renal transplant or dialysis for interstitial fibrosis of the kidney after taking the wrong herb from the Aristolochiaceae family, again as a dietary aid," it added.

In France, three in four people have used complementary or alternative medicine at least once, according to the report. In Germany, three out of four clinics treating pain offer it.

"Many developed countries are now seeing that complementary or alternative medicine issues concerning safety and quality, licensing of providers and standards of training, and priorities for research, can best be tackled within a national policy framework," the report said.

"The need for a national policy is more urgent, however, in those developing countries where traditional medicine has not yet been integrated into the national health care system," it added, noting more than a third of people in developing countries lack access to essential medicines.

Worldwide, only China, North Korea, South Korea and Vietnam have fully integrated traditional products into their health systems, according to the Geneva-based agency.

* * *

Euro Parliament Classifies Vitamins As Drugs - US Next?

Imagine dropping by your favorite health food store to find it boarded up and out of business. So you go around to your local drug mart to pick up some vitamin C, but the only dosage on the shelf is ridiculously low. The druggist informs you that 60 mg is now the maximum dosage available without a prescription. So if you've been taking a mega dosage of vitamin C to help fight heart disease or build up your immunity against cancer, you'll have to find a doctor willing to prescribe that dosage - you're no longer free to decide on your own how much of this natural vitamin you want to take.

Sounds like a nightmare? It gets worse.

Imagine that all of this is the result of new legislation imposed by lawmakers with direct ties to pharmaceutical companies - powerful companies that will use the law to create an enormous new source of profits. Now that's a real nightmare. But what makes it truly nightmarish is that, incredibly, it will soon become a reality in the United Kingdom and most of Europe - if the global pharmaceutical industry has its way.

On March 13th the European Parliament - a 626-member legislative body representing the 15 European Union countries - passed the "EU Directive on Dietary Supplements," which classifies vitamins as medical drugs rather than food supplements. The Directive grants a transition period of three years for vitamin supplements already on the market. But in 2005, every EU country will be required to implement the Directive.

As it currently stands, in just three years a wide range of natural remedies will be banned across most of Europe, making as many as 300 ingredients - including chromium picolinate, yeast, lysine, and selenium - illegal for over-the-counter sale. Other supplements that remain in stores will contain very low dosage amounts - not enough to provide any real therapeutic value.

It's almost like they're passing a law against prevention. So not only are the pharmaceutical companies eliminating competition from natural products for treating illnesses, they are essentially forcing greater need for prescription products for citizens of the EU. After all, without prevention, where will people be forced to turn when they get even the slightest bit ill? To physicians who will prescribe mainstream pharmaceuticals or super-strength, prescription-only vitamins supplied by - guess who - the Pfizers, Mercks, and Bayers of the world.

Nothing strange about these bedfellows To make things even worse, a number of European Union Commissioners have direct links to international pharmaceutical companies. For instance, a prominent EU Commissioner, Frits Bolkenstein of the Netherlands, is also a member of the supervisory board of the second largest pharmaceutical company in the world - Merck, Sharp and Dohme. The blatant pharmaceutical industry influence on this directive would be laughable if the consequences weren't so great.

In a smooth double-speak that's almost frightening, the EU Directive

states: "In order to ensure a high level of protection for consumers and facilitate their choice, the products that will be put on the market must be safe and bear adequate and appropriate labeling." The good news is that the "consumers" are not buying it. "Protection?" To "facilitate their choice?" More than 600 million people read that and shouted back a resounding, "No!" In what is believed to be the largest global online petition ever, a staggering 604 million people (to date) have added their names, demanding continued free access to natural remedies.

And for those of you who think this is a European issue - that this couldn't happen here - consider this: the United States and the European Union are each other's largest trade and investment partners. In 2000, two-way trade in goods and services between the EU and the US totaled more than $557 billion. With economic ties this deep, any European law that gives the global pharmaceutical industry such sweeping power over the health choices of millions, will have global effects. Once they've conquered Europe, how long before they set their sights on the US marketplace? Just look at recent directives from the FDA; it's already happening.

The EU Directive is not yet law. Our HSI associates in London believe that by the time the Directive is implemented in 2005 there's a chance that the most oppressive aspects of the legislation might be eliminated, especially if enough people raise their voices and mobilize against it. But you can be certain that the Commissioners of the European Parliament, with special interests and billions of dollars in the balance, will not back down without a prolonged fight.

In the meantime, we'll be watching, and I'll keep you informed of developments as they unfold. And we encourage you to sign the petition demanding open, unrestricted access to natural medicine and supplements for ALL of us.

To Your Good Health, Jenny Thompson Health Sciences Institute Sources: Health Confidential; May 2002, Vol 1, No 3 European Union "Directive on Dietary Supplements," healthchoice.org.uk European Union in the US: eurunion.org Petition 450/2001: vitamins-for-all.org Copyright (c)1997-2002 by Institute of Health Sciences, L.L.C.

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