Wakefield, Murch, Anthony, Linnell, Casson, Malik, Berelowitz, Dhillon, Thompson, Harvey, Valentine, Davies, Walker-Smith. 1998. Lancet. Vol. 351, February 28, 1998.
Dr. Wakefield’s team investigated a consecutive series of children with chronic enterocolitis and regressive developmental disorder.
12 children were referred to the pediatric gastroenterology unit with a history of normal development followed by loss of skills and language, diarrhea and stomach pain. In 8 of these children, the parents believed their behavioral deterioration began after the MMR vaccine. In two others, the problems began after a measles infection in one and an ear infection in the other. All of them had intestinal problems, which is not surprising since Dr. Wakefield was a gastroenterologist. One of the test results, showing abnormal urinary methylmalonic-acid excretion in the patients compared to controls is shown in Figure 1 above. It indicates a possible functional vitamin B12 deficiency even though blood levels of B12 were normal, and this, in turn, may contribute to developmental regression.
Endoscopic findings showed colon and rectal abnormalities. Wakefield discusses other studies which had found similar colon abnormalities in autistic children, leading to a conclusion that this connection is actually a feature of autism rather than just an accidental occurrence.
QUOTE: These (other) studies, together with our own … would support the hypothesis that the consequences of an inflamed or dysfunctional intestine may play a part in behavioural changes in some children.
NOTE: When Dr. Wakefield was attacked by his medical board, it was alleged (among other things) that because some of the raw data in charts had been changed, he had faked the data. He explained in his book, Callous Disregard, that at one point some of the test results were read by a doctor not an expert in the field, and corrections were made. This happens, and the changes were noted, not hidden.
Wakefield discusses the part possibly played by food peptides such as gluten and casein, as well as sulfation (the phenol sulfotransferase enzyme also called PST or SULT1A) and increased gut wall permeability, may be related to detoxification problems of dopamine, tyramine, serotonin, etc. Work on identifying such problems may lead to reversal of symptoms. Wakefield also mentions that others have found a connection between viral encephalitis caused by measles, and a connection between the combined MMR vaccine, but not the individual vaccines. He noted that both the measles virus and measles vaccine have been implicated in Crohn’s disease, and a persistent measles vaccine-strain virus infection has been found in children with autoimmune hepatitis.
QUOTE: We did not prove an association between measles, mum,ps, and rubella vaccine and the syndrome described.
CONCLUSION: We have identified a chronic enterocolitis in children that may be related to neuro/psychiatric dysfunction. In most cases, onset of symptoms was after measles, mumps, and rubella immunisation. Further investigations are needed …
Full Text || A statement by The Royal Free and University College Medical School and The Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust998-comment
