Bartholomew Cubbins on Autism

The Neurobiology of Autism - conference notes

2007-06-04T00:00:00.000-04:00

These are some verbal notes from a recent meeting I attended. There are some pictures, but it's mostly an audio thing. One thing I forgot to note was that in the Mirror Neuron presentation, an experiment was discussed that focused on sarcasm and the ability of an ASD child to "get it". "A balloon, oh great." Said by 2 different people means two entirely different things depending upon the tone. One person is excited about the balloon and the other is expressing disappointment following the balloon having popped. The ASD kid doesn't pick up on the meaning unless s/he's told to pay attention to the tone prior to hearing the phrase. Only then does the ASD kid "get it" and the appropriate spots light up on the MRI.

Running time - a 22 minute beast that I failed to get under 10 minutes for youtube consumption.

For Quicktime version, click here(pops)

It's pretty rough, but Bonferroni and Venn have been taking up much of my non-sleeping time lately. Enjoy.

From the IOM: an N of 1; Ep 31

2007-04-21T21:38:00.000-04:00

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For quicktime format click here

running time = 6m 21s

Part 2: Verbal Notes from an Autism Conference, BC on Autism Ep 30

2007-02-12T02:02:00.000-05:00

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Part 2: Rett syndrome and an overview by Mehlmer

Again, more of an audio thing.

Running time ~8 minutes

Verbal Notes from an Autism Conference Part 1: BC on Autism Ep 29

2007-02-10T16:06:00.000-05:00

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Here is the verbal version of my notes on several talks at an autism conference last December. It's more of an audio thing to be honest.

BC on Autism 28: Bipolar Autism Speaks

2007-01-19T01:19:00.000-05:00

Autism Speaks is trying to be the voice in the autism community but I want to focus on two of its members: Kevin Barry and Dr. Andrew Shih. Kevin Barry is a consultant and a lawyer who is a mercury enthusiast whereas Dr. Shih seems to be a straight-up scientist. Guess which one has a real problem with Roy Grinker's latest book that challenges the notion that there's an autism epidemic? I'll give you a hint: the other one bodyslams Montel Williams on his own pathetic show.

Running time is ~ 7 minutes. Enjoy.

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It appears that Kevin Barry of Autism Speaks is having some fun with rallying the troops to disparage Roy Grinker's new book. What a loser. Dr. Grinker really stepped into a pit of vipers. The silent majority is behind you, Dr. Grinker.

Click here for the QuickTime version.

BC on Autism 27: California isn't special

2007-01-15T21:58:00.000-05:00

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David Kirby tries to reduce the impact of the fact that the California autism rates aren't going down in accordance with a severely reduced exposure to Thimerosal by claiming that California is different because California is getting poisoned by mercury from China.

What a load.

Running time ~ 10 minutes.

Click here for the QuickTime version (pops)

BC on Autism Ep 26: Revisiting Burbacher 2005

2007-01-12T02:21:00.000-05:00

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There has been a number of people touting this paper yet only a few have really read it. Here's the paper in pictures. In short, only about half of the real experiment was done. I can't speculate why the authors stopped short, but I can say that their decision renders this paper almost worthless.

Running time ~ 10 min

Click here to get the QuickTime version

BC on Autism 25: Brian Deer Shines a Light on the Big Money Earners of the MMR Scare

2006-12-31T09:58:00.000-05:00

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Wow. Brian Deer really shows us just how much money someone can make in generating panic over nonsense. One guy in particular is reported to have pulled in almost a million US dollars. I'm in the wrong business.

BC on Autism 24: Microarray, Schmicroarray

2006-12-26T22:42:00.000-05:00

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A quick look at a paper which allows me to launch into my favorite criticisms of microarray data. In short, most people doing Affy arrays don't have any idea what they're doing. Good for Affy. Bad for science. Bad for the public. These guys even try to pull in autism into their analysis. Blech.

Running time ~7min

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)

Tags: science, autism, rna, microarray, blood

Is DMSA/Succimer use in the absence of high lead a dangerous experiment? BC on Autism Ep 23

2006-11-15T23:45:00.000-05:00

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A recent paper caught my eye since it claimed that the use of the chelation agent, DMSA/Succimer, may contribute to cognitive deficits if used in the absence of lead contamination of an animal model.

This is a good paper, but I'm just not entirely convinced the the data. Dunno, maybe it's just me. The bottom line is that if one is convinced by their data that succimer treatment can alleviate lead-induced cognitive deficits, then I believe that one has to be convinced by their data that succimer treatment in the absence of lead contamination induces cognitive defects itself - that's a huge and scary statement.

Check it out.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Tags: dmps, chelation, autism, experiment, science, succimer

Frosted mini RNA, a cure for Autism: BC on Autism Ep 22

2006-11-13T03:00:00.000-05:00

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Two different short bits dealing with RNA and autism. One funny and tasty, the other dealing with an ill-informed (euphemism) money hound. In part 2, the individual actually uses the recent awarding of the Nobel Prize for the discovery of RNAi to help drum up some dollars for the Drinkee Drinkee Cure Autism RNA lady.

Runtime is 10 minutes.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Tags: skeptic, rna, science, autism, salesman

BC on Autism Ep 21: Hey, hey, it's EDTA

2006-11-11T02:30:00.000-05:00

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Just a quick accompaniment to a great article at Autism Street delivering some punishing blows to those who are pushing EDTA chelation therapy for autism despite the amazing health risks involved, risks that have been known and admonished by the government for over 30 years.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Running time = 10 minutes

My previous stuff on chelation:

Chelation part 1 (mov)

same but small 3GP format

Chelation part 2 (mov)

same small 3GP format

BC on Autism 20: What do I do for therapy?

2006-11-05T01:00:00.000-05:00

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I get asked all the time about what therapies or interventions I use for our child. Outside of school we simply live life. That's it, but here are some snippets.
Run time is 4min 44sec.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)

Advertising Techniques, RNA, and Autism: BC on Autism Ep 19

2006-10-28T22:40:00.000-04:00

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This is it, my heart can't take any more of this talk about RNA curing Autism. No amount of ribobabies could get me to do any more. So here's the last bit I have to say about it. If you buy it and drink it, well, it's on you. But please, spare the kids.

Other Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

BC on Autism 18: Gettin' the RNA Out (of yeast)

2006-10-28T22:21:00.000-04:00

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Q: Why would anyone want to get the RNA out of yeast so they can ingest it?

A: I don't know, but I know it won't cure Autism.

Here's how to do it...

Running time: ~3 minutes

Click here for Quicktime (pops)

BC on Autism 17: A PCR Primer

2006-10-13T02:13:00.000-04:00

Click icon for flash version.

click here for Quicktime version (pops)

Why do some people find measles virus RNA anywhere they look and then link the MMR to autism?? Hmmmm...

A look at how bad PCR can fuel an MMR conspiracy theory.

running time ~10 min

Ep 16 Part A: Deeper into the RNA Quagmire

2006-09-24T22:50:00.000-04:00

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I simply had to go to the source of information about RNA drops curing autism and boy, oh boy. A feller could have an entire blogging career taking these sales pamphlets / presentations / mockery of science apart, piece by piece.

btw, I guess last week's injesting/ingesting/in-jesting fun was either too low-brow or too brief. Come on and give me some affirmation love. Maybe more voice-over video fun is the ticket, but it'll have to wait until this RNA drop series is done.

running time: ~9m 30sec

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

BC on Autism Episode 15: RNA Quackery: Shaken, Not Stirred

2006-09-13T14:45:00.000-04:00

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Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)
running time = 7m 11sec or so.

Why the blazes would you ever want to put a mole of nucleotides or oligonucleotides into your mouth? Very simple: because you've been told it'll cure autism, that's why. It'll also cure heavy wallet syndrome, and who really wants a big old lump in your back pocket making the derrier look all lopsided and such? Just a quick look at pH and RNase-induced transesterification. Remember, you have a filthy mouth, whether you swear like Cartman or not.

For the RNAphiles, I'm not even getting into depurination or anything. Just the basics.

BC on Autism Episode 14: From Chelation Quackery to RNA Quackery

2006-09-10T01:05:00.000-04:00

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Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)
runtime = 1min 11sec
Just some fun with an old JB vid. Had to get this out of my system before I get into some papers and RNA quackery debunking mode.

BC on Autism Episode 13: Institutional Affiliation Oddities

2006-06-09T20:48:00.000-04:00

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Which university are you working for?

BC on Autism Episode 11: 2 Angry guys

2006-06-05T22:28:00.000-04:00

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Anger, anger everywhere, and not a drop to drink.

BC on Autism Episode 12: Trolling for... why do they troll?

2006-06-05T22:23:00.000-04:00

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What does trolling achieve? Self-gratification is the only thing I can think of.

Memorial to a murdered autistic 3 year old

2006-05-23T21:48:00.000-04:00

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Guilt: It's the Arrogance of Me versus the Acceptance of We

2006-05-23T12:12:00.000-04:00

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I've swung hi and low on the cure / notcure scale and on the who and/or what made my kid autistic scale. What I've come to realize that the only way to be at peace is to accept, which is not synonymous to giving up on someone.

I'm using this as a preview before tomorrow's blogging about murder.

/hiatus complete

2006-03-25T21:51:00.000-05:00

BC on Autism Episode 10: If I were a cartoon

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The idea of simple, pointless cartoons as stress release has been percolating in my mind for some time now. The punchline, if it can be called such, is blatantly stolen from some forgotten cartoon. Either that, or I've deluded myself into thinking I saw it somewhere before. Meh.

2006-03-25T21:46:00.000-05:00

BC on Autism Episode 9: Who are these people? (mov)

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Just a quick look at some sites while I'm wondering about what goes into a blog, specifically the who and why. While it seems obvious that beliefs are interfering with objective analysis, it is also apparent that there are more than one way to interpret iffy or gray-area results. But what baffles me is the outright extremism that is nonchalantly expressed by some. Whatever.

2006-03-04T15:00:00.000-05:00

BC on Autism Episode 8: How to Win With Excel and Influence People, an Example of How Not to Do Science (mov)

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A brief look at how one can take a contiguous set of data and make trendlines to try and prove a point, even if the data doesn't support it.

Fair Use, ahoy!

Small file for easy downloading and phones, ect:
http://blip.tv/file/17232

2006-02-21T23:43:00.000-05:00

BC on Autism Episode 7: Loopy Lupron, a Horrible Mistake or Something Worse?

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A quick look at Kathleen's post on Lupron and some of the characters she describes in the recent effort by some extremists to tie the reduction of testosterone to improving chelation for mercury. It's a huge pile of IFs and sadly, this drug, Lupron, is nothing with which to be experimenting.

2006-02-12T15:22:00.000-05:00

Bartholomew Cubbins on Autism Episode 6: The Challenges of a Chelator Part II.5 (mov)

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Just some more disjointed thoughts on the chemistry of chelating for mecury in an autistic person.

To download click on the icon and open the new window. Then try File>Save as and rename as desired.

For a small file version, try
http://blip.tv/file/13845

Or go to http://blip.tv/posts/?user=Bartholomew%20Cubbins

2006-02-04T18:10:00.000-05:00

Bartholomew Cubbins on Autism Episode 5: The Challenges of a Chelator (mov)

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Just a quick and qualitative look at some of the reasons why I believe that conventional chelators will likely have a difficult time binding mercury ions that are bound within cells. Let's not even get into the difference of binding and lifetime kinetics of the different forms of mercury.

For smaller versions of the video and to download the files instead of watching a streaming video, please check out the main file site.

2006-02-04T11:59:00.000-05:00

Bartholomew Cubbins on Autism Episode 4: Welcome to NotMercury.blogspot.com (mov)

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A big welcome to a new blogger to join the ranks of those interested in autism discussion and research.

For smaller (3GP) files and to watch it by downloading rather than streaming, go to the source, right-mouse-click, and have fun!

2006-01-23T13:04:00.000-05:00

BC on Autism Episode 3: Thimerosal in the Water Bottle (mov)

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or Google video:

A quick and dirty discussion of the following article:

Determination of methylmercury, ethylmercury, and inorganic mercury in mouse tissues, following administration of thimerosal, by species-specific isotope dilution GC-inductively coupled plasma-MS. Qvarnstrom J, Lambertsson L, Havarinasab S, Hultman P, Frech W. Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Umea University, S-901 87 Umea, Sweden. johanna.qvarnstrom@chem.umu.se

For a smaller file size try the (http://blip.tv/file/11044/) 3GP file format (small viewing window) here.

2006-01-14T23:06:00.000-05:00

Interverbal's blog has a great discussion about the significance of the recent California autism numbers.

He's following up on a post on Ginger's blog that tried to demonstrate a perceived drop in the increase of autism cases in the state and also attempted to correlate that the drop (given the corresponding time lag) with the reduction of thimerosal in the vaccines given to young children.

On Interverbal's blog you'll get dry data and conservative but accurate analysis. He skips the posturing and melodrama all too common in discussions of autism. So check it out.

Bottom line: the jury's still out about the roots of autism.

-BC

2006-01-12T08:05:00.000-05:00

Bartholomew Cubbins on Autism Episode 2: Waly et al, Mol Psych 2004

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A rough discussion of Waly et al, Mol Psych 2004. Overall, the work is very interesting but the materials and methods description leaves a lot to be desired and the effect on PLM was marginal, often only 2-fold across several orders of magnitude of effector concentration. Further, many questions arise such as the form of the metals (counterion description?) and ensuring that the ionic strength and the pH remained constant across the effector titrations. What would be particularly interesting is comparing this assay (using maybe a mouse neuro line) with a side-by-side animal model experiment.

-BC

2006-01-09T21:39:00.000-05:00

For a great rundown on logical fallacies, check out Interverbal's blog detailing fallacies 1-23. Go to his main splash page for many more.

I'd bet a paycheck that most of us have committed one or more these at some point in the recent past. I'm sure I have and so I'll be keeping this close as a reminder.

-BC

2006-01-02T17:50:00.000-05:00

Bartholomew Cubbins on Autism Episode 1

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A detailed look at Burbacher et al, EHP 2005

Comparison of blood and brain mercury levels in infant monkeys exposed to methylmercury or vaccines containing thimerosal.

2006-01-02T17:45:00.000-05:00

Introduction to Bartholomew Cubbins on Science

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Short intro about the topics I'll cover in detail: Autism, RNA, Immunology, and General Science.

2005-07-10T00:05:00.000-04:00

With friends like these...

The whole RFK book-driven thimerosal/autism controversy really hit the media over the last several weeks. I've waited to read as much from the book that I could, without actually purchasing it, before I ponied up to the trough. I'll avoid nitpicking language and sources as that's been done both more eloquently and in great detail (here and here). But I would like to take a look at why relatively famous people, who have no direct interest in autism, are throwing their hats into this fight.

It surprises me that the likes of Don Imus and RFK, neither of whom have autistic children or any formal biomedical training, are actively taking a side. Further, prior to this latest wave of the controversy, both were already quite famous and financially secure. So from the vantage point of a believer in the autism-thimerosal connection, it seems that they are the perfect advocates: just a couple of guys with media-commanding names who strongly believe in the connection.

What if each of these guys were using this controversy to their advange in an effort to further their careers?

Imus has a strong presence on the airwaves, so unless he was panicking about running out of material (unlikely) or trying to actively increase his fan base, I can't see the autism/thimerosal issue as one that would help him professionally. But it also seems that he regularly takes on contentious issues, takes a side, and really hammers the other guy. So as a non-listener, I have to think that he actually believes in his crusade, although I cannot discount the possibility that he cherry picked this issue to generate buzz.

RFK Jr is a lawyer who has made a career working for environmental causes. The mercury connection between thimerosal and the environment then makes some sense. But what bothers me about this guy is the political aspiration possibility. He was born into a political family. It seems he really messed up earlier in life and I can only imagine that he now wants some way to remedy that. One way is to position himself as an environmental crusader who fights for children and against lying, cheating government agencies and multinational corporations. It's perfect. On the other hand, given his family name, just how hard would this guy have to work in order to get elected to a desireable position?

I am left with the bad feeling that these guys are taking up the cause simply for air time. Then what happens if the mercury-autism connection is never proven? What happens to these guys if it's debunked? I think that they're banking that neither one of those possibilities happens in the near future. Even if their names are brought up, they have an out: David Kirby and the parental organizations that fervently believe in the connection.

Assuming that thimerosal is not the cause of autism, does this debate help or hurt autistic causes in general? I submit the answer is hurt. My experience is that the boy-who-cried-wolf phenomenon is a strong one. Many people are going to shut out the claims of possible environmental contributions to autistic disorders simply because they believe the first people who have spoken about a tangentially associated topic are quacks or shysters. I liken this to a more lethal version of the spiderman guy who climbs buildings in the name of fathers' rights. I am a strong believer in a genetic component being the driving force behind autism, but I cannot discount that some environmental variable also plays a role, perhaps actually triggering the disorder.

So my wish for the day is that the thimerosal/autism talking heads claiming to represent parents of autistic children chill on the angry and slanderous rhetoric. Stop labeling big pharma and government officials as liars and nazis. Instead of trying to build their position up by tearing the other side down, I wish their efforts were put into solid research and documentation. I don't think that's too much to ask. Well, maybe it is. -BC

2005-07-06T23:12:00.000-04:00

A recent NY Times article, “On Autism's Cause, It's Parents vs. Research" (6/25/05, sorry just first 50 words), has stirred up a lot of anger among the parents of autistic children who are also homeopathy supporters. My take on the piece is that hopeful and desperate (when did desperate become such a horrible moniker) parents, like myself, of children on the spectrum are bombarded with advice (often from MDs and PhDs) like:

Stop drinking fluoridated tap water.
Place your child in an infrared light-powered sauna.
Don't vaccinate: mercury in vaccines is neuro-toxic and measles in the MMR shot causes an immuno-neurological response.
Bathe your child in metal-chelating magnetic clays.
Eat only organic food.
Give your child expensive oral, topical or intravenous chelation therapy.
Stop consuming dairy products.
Feed your child concentrated algae.
Shine green light on your child.
Feed your child drops of RNA.
Give your child antifungals to kill yeast in their digestive tract.

Where does science end and the snake oil begin?

From what I have seen, a graduate degree guarantees neither sound ethics nor dedication to altruistic public service. And currently, the only thing certain about the roots of autism is that confusion abounds. It's too bad that some people have the "insight" to take advantage of this situation. Depressing. -BC

2005-06-29T11:34:00.000-04:00

I was thinking about responsibility and the desire to have more children. Is it irresponsible to have more children if you already have an autistic child? Or is it just crazy? A "friend of mine" and his wife are having this discussion as we speak. So naturally the question of how likely is it that they would have another child on the spectrum arises to the forefront of the discussion. There are some statistics out there, but the problem with these numbers is that they are impacted by the large number of those who practiced stoppage.

To further complicate matters, what if our friends had a girl who appeared to be developmentally typical? Is she in the clear, or could she be a carrier of the autism mutation(s)? Should the parents talk to their daughter as she gets older and advise her that this might be a problem when she starts to want children of her own?

At what point do the emotional, spiritual, and financial drawbacks of possibly having another autistic child tip the decision scale toward stoppage? And what about adoption? Adoption seems like it could fit the bill. But the younger the child, the more likely the chance s/he will have an undiscovered developmental delay. Does this ever end?

A good bit of me just wants to take our ball and go home. We've got it pretty good right now - I've certainly seen those who have it worse. It seems like the understanding husband hat and the conservative pragmatist hat may be mutally exclusive in this one.
-BC

2005-06-27T12:57:00.000-04:00

So I've been thinking a lot about guilt and autism lately. Who's fault is it? If it's an X-chromosome disorder, does that get me off the hook? Should I care, and more importantly, should I even be asking the question?

When wearing my Dad hat, I find it's easy to try and place the blame elsewhere. It feels good to me to rid myself of guilt. But as I point my finger I remember the addage that those who point have three fingers pointing right back at them. What good is it for either my marriage or our son's well-being to think of ASD in these terms? And so I come back to feeling the question should remain right under the very rock that I overturned to get at it in the first place.

However, switching to my scientist sombrero, I think it's an important and essential question to ask. Determining maternal or paternal responsibility will help determine the mechanism, assuming, as I do, there is a genetic component to ASD.

So I'll be exploring the ins and outs and what-have-yous of both the current state of autism research and life as a parent of a child on the spectrum. If you enjoy this blog, great. If not, enjoy life elsewhere.

-BC