Autism's Link to Parents' Schizophrenia

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I have to agree with "random blogger." I'm a doc specializing in dev. disabilities who frequently interfaces with parents of autistic children. A large percentage are extremely difficult to deal with. I'll also add that there are children with severe mental illness (psychotic type mental illness) who "shop" until they find someone who'll diagnose autism. So, we have TONS of misdiagnosed kids (think of this next time you see the question "why is there so much autism?")

Dr. Denny of NY 11:20PM August 11, 2010

http://schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/sbn022v1
The above is a link to work on the possible triggering of abnormal neurodevelopment by exposure to infection prenatally. There is evidence that the mother's immune response, not the infection itself, causes these abnormalities. It is possible that a double whammy (exposure prenatally plus exposure through postnatal infection or vaccination) could lead to autism as opposed to schizophrenia. The correlation with schizophrenia is a smoking gun pointing to a common pathway, perhaps a genetic mechanism involving ineffective compensating antiinflammatory response. It is precisely these families who would be better off taking their chances with natural routes of exposure than inevitably triggering inflammation through vaccination. The rest of the population should maintain the herd immunity. Hopefully in the future there will be some test so that preventative measures can be taken by the minority who are susceptible to this kind of damage

Juana 11:58PM October 28, 2009

This is not the only study linking schizophrenia to autism. After working with parents of children with autism for 15 years, I can tell you that MANY parents DO have psychiatric diagnoses... NOT ALL. If you are insulted by this study, you are either: a) not in the percentage of parents who are affected by a psychiatric illness, b) see no merit in genetic studies of autism (in which case, please don't complain that there isn't enough autism research being done), c) want to absolve yourself from any responsibility of having passed on something genetic (not your fault either), d) have not met enough parents of children with autism to have a say here, e) taking this a bit too personally, which may indicate narcissistic tendencies. The mentally ill parents of these children are making me leave the field. They are impossible to please, irrational, egocentric, and feel overly entitled. I won't even include those parents who beg for the diagnosis of autism for their children when it clearly (to an experienced professional in the field) does not exist. I've also worked with MR, seizure disorders, cerebral palsy, etc., and I would go back to those in a heartbeat. Again, I do not believe all parents of autistic children are mentally ill. But it was one of the first things I noticed when I started in this field. I commend all of you parents. This is the most difficult diagnosis to manage. I feel your desperation and commitment to your children, and I absolutely commend you. For those who are mentally ill, go easy on the people who work with your kids! Don't take out your anger on them. They want your child to succeed. Believe me. THERE IS NO CURE, I don't care what Jenny McCarthy says. THERE IS NO CURE.

random blogger of CA 5:31PM April 27, 2009

my son was diagnosed with autism at 2, after 7 months of frantic visits to nurses and doctors after dramatic changes immediately following vaccination. This was 19 years ago when mercury was present in the vaccination. I come from a very large family [13 siblings and huge numbers of nieces, nephews ect ] no-one in my immediate or extended family has autism or mental illness and i was a fit healthy 18year old when i gave birth to him. I have went on to have 3 more children who are all non autistic and have all been vaccinated albeit with a vaccine not containing mercury. So having pretty much ruled out inherent genetic factors, age factors and knowing myself to be a dedicated and loving mother, was this just a coincedence?

michelle ferns 6:41PM June 07, 2008

Which is apparently what this study should have been titled.
I was appalled when the "results" of this study came out. The fact that it came out just before Mother's Day makes the insult even worse.
As a parent whose austistic children participated in a couple of North Carolina's earlier studies into autism and a non-participant as far as the vaccine lawsuit or any other lawsuit is concerned, I will take a moment to point that I come from a large family and no one else in the family current or past within anyone' memory, was, is, or has ever been autistic, schizophrenic, or mentally ill. The two children who are autistic did develop a large welt at the injection site and respectable fevers after their immunizations were given. Since the immunizations were mandatory and because they were considered necessary at the time for a child's well being I went ahead and completed the series of shots. My other two children's (one older and one younger) reactions were limited to mild fevers and fussiness for a day or two. By the way, North Carolina should you figure out who I am please don't call. My family's participation in your studies ended with this article.
To the person who wrote this article. There have recently been some stories in the news about university studies being funded by outside sources. Was that part of your research?

Jan of MO 12:55PM May 12, 2008

This is exactly the same thing as the "refrigerator moms" theory of the 50s, this study is so full of holes I am angered the media felt it newsworthy. The fact that the medical community continues to look past vaccines as at least a partial cause while now blaming a mothers "depression" is shameful. It took decades for the medical community to stop blaming mothers for Autism and now we have come full circle and they are doing it again. If we as parents of autistic kids were not depressed before this so called "study" we are now.

of OH 10:17AM May 08, 2008

First, to the person who says that autism is NOT genetic, I would love to hear your credentials qualifying this statement. Autism is clearly a mental disorder and studies clearly show abnormal brain development. For those of you without any biological background, brain development is controlled by... you guessed it, genetics. So unless you have some other explanation that refutes all the scientific research available on autism at the time, I'm not entirely sure how you could possibly argue that autism is not genetic.
Secondly, to nkrumah kwame, I understand your concern that autism could be caused by vaccination and I understand your decision to not vaccinate your second child, but I think your concerns might be misplaced. Vaccination has been blamed as the cause for a number of diseases and disorders in the past, and most of these claims have been disproved. I'm very sorry to hear that your child developed autism, but I think the timing of its onset with the vaccinations is just coincidence. The symptoms of autism do not usually appear immediately, and autistic children can appear perfectly normal for the first few years. The highly abnormal brain physiology seen in autistic children is fairly significant evidence of a genetic dysfunction present before birth, which is then exacerbated and made evident by the early stages of brain development. So I would ask you to hold your judgement on vaccinations being the cause of autism. Vaccination is very important in preventing a number of diseases down the line, so I would suggest that you obtain the proper vaccinations for your second child.

Ryan of MA 5:55PM May 07, 2008

Everyone knows the saying "mad as a hatter." Mercury poisoning makes people go insane - this has been known since time immemorial.
Apparently modern medicine doesn't remember the lessons of history. Thus adults have their teeth filled with mercury amalgam fillings, which are the population's major source of mercury exposure. Those who are genetically more susceptible to mercury poisoning go insane and are mis-diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder.
Then with the explosion of vaccines containing mercury, quacks - bad doctors who poison their patients with mercury - tried to poison all the little babies in the develpoped world. Of course, those most at risk were those who had the genes for susceptibility to mercury's toxic effects, such as the children of those who were susceptible.
If you want to figure out whether you have this problem, see www.noamalgam.com/hairtestbook.html.
If you want to figure out what to do about it, see www.noamalgam.com.

Andy of WA 3:11PM May 07, 2008

The underlying (genetic) vulnerability to photoperiod explains the comorbidity. See photoperiodeffect.com
Staying up with the lights on severely affects our entire hormonal system, with dramatic epigenetic effects, as well. The answer is as close as your light switch.

Joe Thorpe 1:39PM May 07, 2008

I wonder if we can recover from schizophrenia just like my grandson is recovering from autism by using the DAN! protocol.
The fact that there is improvement has al kinds of implications.
Perhaps doctors should look at some kind if poisoning for schizophrenics.
Both the parents and the child may be geneticly triggered by the vaccines.

F. Navarra of NJ 7:13AM May 07, 2008