New study discredits link between MMR and autism
The theory that the MMR vaccine could be linked to autism in children has been discredited by a new study.
A group of researchers from Great Ormond Street Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital and the University of Edinburgh used urine samples to compare 65 children who had autism or Asperger's Syndrome with 158 control children. They found no evidence to support the idea that children with autism have dangerous proteins, called opioids peptides, leaking from their intestines, which then affect the brain.
Neither the autistic children's urine nor that of the controls contained any opioids at all.
This would discredit the 'leaky gut' theory, which originated over a decade ago from a study using rats and was built on by other studies, including the controversial paper led by Dr Andrew Wakefield, which claimed that the MMR vaccine contributed to the breaking down of the intestine walls.
Co-author Paul Gringras said, 'We were struck by the autism investigations and urine tests being offered to parents on the internet - these cost a lot of money. In fact, we found no opioids in the urine at all. These testing labs are finding nothing different in autistic children's urine and what they claim or think they are finding is not even there.'
FURTHER INFORMATION
The study 'Absence of urinary opioid peptides in children with autism' is published in Archives of Disease in Childhood.
