BMJ: Vaccine-Autism Researcher Andrew Wakefield Is a “Fraud”

Discover Blogs reported on the "research" of Andrew Wakefiele.

More than a dozen years have passed since the 1998 study in The Lancet in which researcher Andrew Wakefield argued his case that vaccines are the cause of autism. We here at DISCOVER have long considered his claims to be dubious and damaging to public health, but in the last few years the edifice upon which the anti-vaccination movement was built has been falling down. In 2004 most of the coauthors on the Wakefield study retracted the interpretation section of the paper, and early last year The Lancet officially retracted the entire paper. Now, this week, target="_self">the British Medical Journal’s investigation calls Wakefield an out-and-out “fraud.”

Infant's Gaze May Be an Early, but Subtle, Marker for Autism Risk

ScienceDaily for September 1, 2010 reported on a correlation between infrequent gazing by infants and risk of Autism.

Researchers found that, like the low risk group, the high-risk siblings exhibited typical levels of social gazing when their caregivers actively engaged them, such as pointing at the toy and expressing excitement. However, high-risk sibs spent less time looking to their caregivers and more time fixated on the non-social stimuli (toy or joystick) when the caregiver was not engaging them, which could indicate a disruption in development related to joint attention. Joint attention is often a core deficit for children with autism.

Autism: Lack of Evidence for Antidepressants, Study Concludes

ScienceDaily for August 9, 2010 reported on Autism and antidepressants.

Autistic spectrum disorders are difficult to treat because of the range of symptoms experienced by patients, including difficulties with social interactions and communication. SSRIs are among the most commonly prescribed medications, although none have been specifically approved by any drug authority for use in autism. In the UK, most antidepressants are not approved for children for any condition. The rationale behind the use of SSRIs in autism is that they act on serotonin, the same chemical in the body that is responsible for some of the psychological processes affected by the condition.