The piece below is from the blog justthevax , where it ran as “Independent” the Wakefield way (really something for the fail blog) . I like this piece because, frankly, I wish I had done it. Catherina takes a look at the exact claims made by Dr. Wakefield’s supporters and shows that they are clearly false.
“Independent” the Wakefield way (really something for the fail blog) .
One of the claims that keeps reappearing in the comments sections under articles covering the GMC ruling on Andrew Wakefield and colleagues is that
The key finding (chronic colitis found in ASD children) of Dr. Wakefield’s early case report published in The Lancet in 1998 HAS been independently confirmed by medical researchers in five different countries.
That is a very significant claim. After all, independent confirmation of a recent finding, would make the validity of a finding more likely, and if 6 independent laboratories found the same gut changes in autistic children, then then likelihood that this was a) a fluke or b) made up by Andrew Wakefield would be drastically reduced.
Finally, one of those commenters has posted those ‘independent confirmations’ – so I thought it might be worth having a look at them.
Krigsman, A. (Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, New York University School of Medicine Director of Gastroenterology Services), et al.,Ileocolonoscopy in Children with Autistic spectrum Disorder and Chronic Gastrointestinal symptoms. Autism Insights 2010:2 1-11.
Gonzalez, L., et al., Endoscopic and Histological Characteristics of the Digestive Mucosa in Autistic Children with gastro-Intestinal Symptoms. Arch Venez Pueric Pediatr, 2005;69:19-25.
Balzola, F., et al., Panenteric IBD-like disease in a patient with regressive autism shown for the first time by wireless capsule enteroscopy: Another piece in the jig-saw of the gut-brain syndrome? American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2005. 100(4): p. 979-981.
Balzola, F., et al., Autistic enterocolitis: Confirmation of a new infammatory bowel disease in an Italian cohort of patients. Gastroenterology 2005;128(Suppl. 2);A-303.
Galiatsatos, P., et al., Autistic enterocolitis: Fact or fiction. Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology. 2009;23:95-98.
Let’s look at number 1, Krigsman et al. The name sounds vaguely familiar. In fact, anyone who has read a little about the MMR-autism affair will know Arthur Krigsman as the clinical director of Thoughtful House , which happens to be the same Texas Clinic out of which Andrew Wakefield practises. One editor of “ Autism Insight ”, the journal in which this “independent confirmation” was published, is Andrew Wakefield (another one the senior author of the study, Carol Stott ). Gosh, I bet peer review was harsh for this one.
Gonzales et al, number 2, has been published in “Arch Venez Pueric Pediatr” which stands for Archivos Venezolanos de Puericultura y Pediatría. It was a bit tricky to get my hands on the paper, especially since the citation was not quite right, but I did manage and was not surprised to find that indeed the authors cannot replicate Wakefield’s 1998 “findings” of a distinct autistic enterocolitis, although they do report a higher incidence of gastrointestinal problems in their autistic group.
Balzola et al, number 3, is a case report of one adult autistic patient with inflammed bowel.
Similarly, Balzola et al, number 4, is a meeting abstract (if anyone has access, could they email me that abstract, please) that never saw the light of day as a peer reviewed study.
Finally, number 5, Galiatsatos et al., is a case report, featuring two adult patients with gastrointestinal problems and an ASD diagnosis. The authors call for “more investigations” in their discussion.
So what do we have here? Three (3) genuinely published cases of autistic adults who had consulted a doctor for gastrointestinal problems and were found to have gastrointestinal problems. One conference report from April 2005 that has not gone through peer review and has not appeared in a real journal in the 5 years since the conference. One real study looking at over 50 autistic children which does not confirm Wakefield’s findings. And finally, one study by Wakefield’s buddies in a freshly founded journal run by Andrew Wakefield and his buddies, to say that their buddy Andy was really right all along – how is that for “independent” confirmation?!
If you want to reference this post in your site, use the code below to link to me from your website.
<a href="http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2010/04/does-autistic-enterocolitis-exist/">Does autistic enterocolitis exist?</a>
The piece below is from the blog justthevax , where it ran as “Independent” the Wakefield way (really something for the fail blog) . I like this piece because, frankly, I wish I had done it. Catherina takes a look at the exact claims made by Dr. Wakefield’s supporters and shows that they are clearly false.
“Independent” the Wakefield way (really something for the fail blog) .
One of the claims that keeps reappearing in the comments sections under articles covering the GMC ruling on Andrew Wakefield and colleagues is that
That is a very significant claim. After all, independent confirmation of a recent finding, would make the validity of a finding more likely, and if 6 independent laboratories found the same gut changes in autistic children, then then likelihood that this was a) a fluke or b) made up by Andrew Wakefield would be drastically reduced.
Finally, one of those commenters has posted those ‘independent confirmations’ – so I thought it might be worth having a look at them.
Let’s look at number 1, Krigsman et al. The name sounds vaguely familiar. In fact, anyone who has read a little about the MMR-autism affair will know Arthur Krigsman as the clinical director of Thoughtful House , which happens to be the same Texas Clinic out of which Andrew Wakefield practises. One editor of “ Autism Insight ”, the journal in which this “independent confirmation” was published, is Andrew Wakefield (another one the senior author of the study, Carol Stott ). Gosh, I bet peer review was harsh for this one.
Gonzales et al, number 2, has been published in “Arch Venez Pueric Pediatr” which stands for Archivos Venezolanos de Puericultura y Pediatría. It was a bit tricky to get my hands on the paper, especially since the citation was not quite right, but I did manage and was not surprised to find that indeed the authors cannot replicate Wakefield’s 1998 “findings” of a distinct autistic enterocolitis, although they do report a higher incidence of gastrointestinal problems in their autistic group.
Balzola et al, number 3, is a case report of one adult autistic patient with inflammed bowel.
Similarly, Balzola et al, number 4, is a meeting abstract (if anyone has access, could they email me that abstract, please) that never saw the light of day as a peer reviewed study.
Finally, number 5, Galiatsatos et al., is a case report, featuring two adult patients with gastrointestinal problems and an ASD diagnosis. The authors call for “more investigations” in their discussion.
So what do we have here? Three (3) genuinely published cases of autistic adults who had consulted a doctor for gastrointestinal problems and were found to have gastrointestinal problems. One conference report from April 2005 that has not gone through peer review and has not appeared in a real journal in the 5 years since the conference. One real study looking at over 50 autistic children which does not confirm Wakefield’s findings. And finally, one study by Wakefield’s buddies in a freshly founded journal run by Andrew Wakefield and his buddies, to say that their buddy Andy was really right all along – how is that for “independent” confirmation?!
If you want to reference this post in your site, use the code below to link to me from your website.
<a href="http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2010/04/does-autistic-enterocolitis-exist/">Does autistic enterocolitis exist?</a>