vaccines and your microbiome

If you have followed my blog, you are aware that the chances of a child developing AUTISM now stand at a shocking one in thirty two (HERE).  The same link reveals something that can be easily researched online —- that the Guts (both the microbiomes and BARRIER SYSTEMS) of children with Autism are different than the Guts of children without Autism.  It was nearly two and a half years ago that the February issue of Current Psychiatry Reports (The Gut Microbiome: A New Frontier in Autism Research) raised similar questions.  The thing is, these questions were not new when they were asked in this study.  In fact, I would challenge you to do your own research on “GUT AUTISM” and see what comes up.  Although there is enough information to write a book (actually several books), one of the more interesting things I found was published in the May, 2014 issue of the medical journal Pediatrics (Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-analysis).

“It is clear that greater clinical and research scrutiny is needed to increase awareness on this topic and thus support development of the best standards of care. Previous controversy surrounding the MMR vaccine and proposed causal link between ASD and infection of the GI tract probably deterred investigators from dedicating resources to examine GI functioning in this population while fostering uncertainty in the ASD community regarding the validity of this line of inquiry.”

So; it seems that despite his many sins, Dr. Andrew Wakefield was at least in the ballpark.  Let’s however, stop doing what Forbes did (Blame Wakefield For Missed Autism-Gut Connection).  Because vaccine science is largely funded by the PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY itself, or various government agencies (CDC, FDA, etc) charged with creating legislation to FORCE CITIZENS TO GET SHOTS, this issue was a proverbial hot-potato (CAREER DESTROYER) long before Wakefield came on the scene.  

Which brings us to “The Controversy” brought up by the quote above  —- are ‘Gut Health’ issues or vaccines causing Autism?  In this day and age of unbridled Antibiotic use (ESPECIALLY IN INFANTS AND CHILDREN) as well as exposure to dose after dose of aluminum vaccine adjuvants (HERE), no one really wants to tread the ground that Wakefield did — proposing the possibility of a “causal” link between the two.  If you think I am overstating my position, just realize that Wakefield was crucified before some of the crazy things he did ever came to light.  But I regress.

The brand new study in ERV has some interesting tidbits on vaccines and Gut Health.  It begins by telling us that, “Vaccines are tremendously successful in protection against a broad range of diseases.”  If you look at THIS CDC GRAPH, you’ll see that vaccines did not affect mortality rates to anywhere near the degree touted.  Furthermore, if you’ll take a look at my link on the “HYGIENE HYPOTHESIS,” you’ll see that while one may argue that we are largely controlling morbidity rates (as opposed to mortality rates) with said vaccines, CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DEGENERATIVE DISEASES and AUTOIMMUNITY are breeding like New York City rats.  In fact, I would go as far as proposing that we are likely trading one set of diseases for another. 

The authors went on to say that, “the prevailing hypothesis is that exposure to harmful microbes could alter the composition of bacteria in the gut, and the composition of the gut may influence vaccine immunogenicity.”   This statement is interesting because what they are really saying is that germs (viruses and bacteria) can affect the Microbiome, which in turn effects the ability of vaccines to work on said germs.  This seems very backwards — especially in light of what we know about “adjuvants“.  What are adjuvants?  Glad you asked.

“Most vaccines contain a complex mixture of functional components designed to interact with host receptor molecules and induce specific immune responses. These components are either the antigens themselves or the adjuvants in which they are formulated to stimulate innate immune receptors.”  What is the most common ‘adjuvant’ in many Vaccines?  The most common — in fact it’s usually considered “the universal adjuvant” —- is aluminum (a known cause of both Autism and ALZHEIMER’S). 

According to these authors, “interaction of commensal gut microbiota with the host cannot be characterized simply by determining microorganism abundance, relative percentages of larger or narrower microorganism families or microbial gene expression within the host.”  In other words, looking at a stool sample is not good enough to tell us who is going to react to their shots.  The authors go on to discuss various experiments where PROBIOTICS were given prior to inoculation in hopes of boosting efficacy, “during weeks to months prior to vaccination. Immune responses post-vaccination were then determined and compared. Overall, these ‘gain-of-function’ experiments showed inconsistent results.”  Whether dealing with nutritional supplement or probiotics, “inconsistency” rules the day (see previous link).  Why?  Because “MONOTHERAPIES” are frequently not applicable to the real world.

As a little side note to this study, one of the six keywords that the authors listed was “DYSBIOSIS“.  However, after not seeing the word mentioned in the study, I used the “search” feature to find it and could not. You cannot understand this topic without understanding something about dysbiosis.  I would challenge you to do another search — this one on “Dysbiosis Vaccine”.  After spending some time reading, take a moment to think about what that next shot might be doing to your child’s Microbiome.  Also remember that these shots are not only affecting Microbiomes, according to the most current research (see the quote at the very top of the page) they are affecting the way that people’s epithelial barrier systems work at the cellular level.   When this system dysfunctions it causes something I refer to as “THE LEAKIES” (Leaky Gut, Leaky Lung, Leaky Brain, Leaky Cord, etc, etc).  If you want to start learning how to help your child start healing their Autism-afflicted Gut, just follow the links in SOME OF THESE POSTS.