THE MMR VACCINE, BRAIN ENERGY DEFICIT AND COENZYME Q10

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THE MMR VACCINE, BRAIN ENERGY DEFICIT AND COENZYME Q10

 

By RFD Editor, Nicholas Regush

 

It is time to take a lateral leap in understanding why the MMR vaccine may be

involved in autism and other regressive developmental disorders. Too often in

medicine, scientists and the lay public get trapped in a debate that spins into

a Nowhere Land of acrimony, hostility and the usual know-everything arrogance of

one sort or another.

 

When you do an archeological excavation of the main current of thought, both

scientific and otherwise, on such as subject as the MMR, it becomes clear (or it

should) that the overall science (particularly that which contributed to the

FDA’s approval of the vaccine) is bordering on the zone that spells " zero, " and

yet the fracas surrounding the issue of whether the vaccine is harmful or not

may appear to the uninformed that there is actually some substance to the

debate. Well, there’s isn’t much — yet.

 

Dr. Andrew Wakefield is one person who has been heralded as spearheading much of

the recent debate surrounding the safety of the MMR. To his credit, he has

indeed contributed some forward science on the subject (and continues to do so),

even if it is admittedly preliminary and requires a good deal of follow-up and,

as we shall see, perhaps some additional level of exploration.

 

Wakefield and his colleagues fired up the MMR debate by reporting on a

consecutive series of children who were diagnosed with regressive developmental

disorders and chronic enterocolitis. Nine of the children were autistic. Of

course, as one might expect, referring to an inflammatory bowel disease, autism

and the MMR vaccine in one breath, is bound to draw some immediate reaction from

those who prefer to swallow their science and then dismiss the meal without

first examining the leads it may provide.

 

All these years have passed (Wakefield et al, first published in The Lancet in

February 1998 and have since added to their work)) and those who still proudly

stand behind the total safety of the MMR have apparently forgotten that science

usually (and I say this without rancor) progresses slowly, often meeting up with

the usual political obstacles (the cliques and claques of mainstream thinking)

and knee-jerk protectionist strategies that are often mired in financial

considerations.

 

Be that as it may, what carries on now in regard to the MMR is heavy-weighted

and sand-bagged by the baggage of scientific miasma. Not Wakefield — but those

who oppose any increment of knowledge, preferring to see it as an assault on

their cherished preferences. The usual retreat on the part of those who cling to

fables about sure-fire safety of vaccines (particularly the MMR) is to close the

door on any new form of scientific thinking. Mind you, this is being extremely

polite, because it is likely that this is already molded reflex action and not

due to any attempt to merely dismiss inconvenient facts.

 

Wakefield and his colleagues provided valuable clues which should have generated

considerable research. One clue, for example, might now be taken up as probably

important. As Dr. Richard Fiddian-Green, RFD columnist and former head of

general surgery at the University of Massachusetts, rightly points out,

Wakefield et. al. showed that the children affected by chronic enterocolitis and

regressive developmental disorders had raised urinary methylmalonic acid

compared to controls. Those who understand metabolic disease (or at least claim

to do so) might then consider Fiddian-Green’s suggestion that this raised level

of methylmalonic acid, which is associated with genetic disorders and Vitamin

B12 deficiency, " raises the possibility that autism and the other regressive

developmental disorders [Wakefield] found in his patients might have been the

product of an cerebral energy deficit. "

 

In the above context, Fiddian-Green, in a letter to the British Medical Journal

on March 29, 2003, notes the following:

 

" The apparently complete prevention of the regressive developmental disorders

that occur in children with the Prader-Willi syndrome achieved by the

administration of Coenzyme Q10 is the most impressive evidence I have seen in

support of this hypothesis. "

 

(Note well that Coenzyme Q10, an essential nutrient, plays an important role in

the body’s energy production and that low energy syndromes have been linked to

poor nutrition, digestive disorders, endocrine disorders, Vitamin B

deficiencies, mitochondrial dysfunction, and Coenzyme Q10 deficiency.)

 

Fiddian-Green adds:

 

" Cytokines would appear to be able to cause an energy deficit by increasing the

permeability of or opening the permeability transition pores on mitochondrial

membranes. "

 

So how does the MMR come into this picture of an energy deficit?

 

" …Inflammatory bowel disease and MMR might both trigger the release of cytokines

from tissues which share antigens either with products of injured mucosal cells

or with the MMR vaccine. The antibodies raised against injured mucosal cells

could be directed against any of the many hormones, including serotonin, or

nerve elements in the inflamed gut and which are also present in the brain. "

 

And here’s a look-ahead suggestion for further research (for those who still

believe in research):

 

" If MMR has antigens in common with gut mucosa, it might induce or increase the

severity of preexisting bowel disease as Wakefield has suggested. If, on the

other hand, it has antigens in common with cerebral tissues it might induce or

compound the severity of preexisting brain disease. "

 

And rather than staunchly defend near-zero science, perhaps the strong advocates

of the MMR’s safety should also consider launching research that examines

whether Coenzyme Q10 might be of value to children with autism.

 

Oh come on, what’s there to lose? Except, of course, reputation, status, money,

and a well-entrenched anti-science mental program that is touched off at the

mere flicker of dissidence.

 

 

 

READING

 

A.J. Wakefield et. al, Ileal-Lymphoid-Nodular Hyperplasia, Non-Specific Colitis,

And Pervasive Development Disorder In Children, The Lancet, 351:637-641, 1998

 

Richard G Fiddian-Green, MMR, IBD, Autism And Methylmalonic Acidosis

 

 

 

 

 

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