What complete rubbish.I am and was totally teetotal throughout all of my childrens pregnancies yet two of my lads were still autistic.I have always lead a healthy lifestyle as has my hubby.The real cause will never be known what happened to the saying Autism has no known cause or cure.The medics need to really tell the truth and look at the research and effects of jab overload on children.Have you seen the amount of jabs a baby has before they start school YES too many.Print the facts not the media hype for maximum public effect and reaction!!!!

nathalie, Kent, uk

I hardly had a drink when i was pregnant my son stopped breatheing after his 1st hib/dpt jab and lost his speech etc after his 1st mmr jab.He now has severe autism/learn diff's and thats why i'm down in euston on thurs 27th with many other people.The truths stareing us in the face mercury and vaccines dont go .

louise blick, leicestershire, england

I read somewhere that they once said that mothers of Downs Syndrome children were of low class and drinkers.Times really haven,t changed much.My four year old grandson is on the autistic spectrum,allthough he is yet to be diagnosed.I know for a fact his mother hardly drank during her pregnancy.Blaming the the mothers for their childrens autism is shameless.

lynne , Rushden,

I find this article absolutely astonishing. How dare this be published without the research and definitive proof. My son had autism and i have been tee total all my life. Parents with children who have autism find the finger pointed at them too often for their childrens behaviours. We blame ourselves enough for the condition that our children are afflicted with, we do not need others to do the same! what we do need is more public awareness of what our children have to cope with and a more understanding view of differences within our society

Mrs Claire Coker, Dunstable,

Why even publish an article such as this without discussing the methodology of the study? There is an implication that the researcher only reviewed cases of substantial fetal-alcohol damaged infants, and yet the recommendation is made for no alcohol in any circumstances.

This is a huge part of the problem that exists -- women are encouraged to make their health-related decisions out of fear, not based on their ability to assess the available information.

Caitlin, Seattle, WA

'Dr Andrew Wakefield linked autism to the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella, but the research was discredited'

No it wasn't, unless vilification and character asassination count.

He said the possibility of a link could not be discounted, and urged further research. This didn't happen, he works in America now.

So let's turn on the mothers, not the medical establishment ...

Keiran Gillespie, Glasgow, Scotland

I do not drink alcohol, yet I have two children with autism.

While I admire Raja Mukherjee for attempting to decrease prenatal alcohol consumption, perhaps he may be putting the cart before the horse.

Please stop using the sensational "threat" of autism to control the behavior of others. It does nothing to help those living on the spectrum.

Please start funding applicable research and infrastructure that will bring relief and support to real people, with real medical issues, in real time.

deb, Port Angeles, USA/Washington

"has now found that the consumption of alcohol by expecting mothers can also cause autism. "

But the method used is statistical, so there is no chance that causation has been demonstrated. Further the report (above) even suggests that this guy's findings are effectively anecdotal.

Greg Lorriman, Leatherhead, UK

I drank no alcohol for the 8 years preceding getting pregnant. While pregannt, I drank no alcohol, no caffiene, no drugs (prescription, over the counter, or illegal), ate a well balanced diet and engaged in light excercise under my doctor's supervision. I had no problems while pregnant and gave birth to a healthy, full term infant who developed normally. Shortly after recieving his MMR, , he lost all the speech he had developed and did not speak again for two years. He also developed moderate to severe asthma and allergies within three months. He later went on to be diagnosed with chronic constipation, chronic sinus infections, hypothyroidism, learning disabilities, ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome. He had all his vaccines according to the CDC schedule and all contained thimerosal/mercury (except MMR cause the thimerosal would KILL the live viruses contained in the vaccine). My son has also been scientifically determined to be mercury poisoned.

Laura, Montgomery, USA/Texas

I continue,

Due to the work of Dr. Wakefield and his collegues at Thoughtful House Center for Children in Austin, Texas, USA, my son is slowly regaining his health. We no longer go to the ER every week in response to his severe asthma attacks. His allergies have abated and he can enjoy the world outside again. He is overcoming his learning disabilities and is in a mainstream 3rd grade classroom.

Great Britian's loss is the USA's gain. Thank you for sending Dr. Wakefield here!

Laura

Laura, Montgomery, USA/Texas

If drinking alcohol whilst pregnant causes autism, why is the autism rate so high in teetotal Utah, USA?

- 1 in 133 Utah children has autism — 3rd highest rate in 14 US states (according to US Centers for Disease Control 9/2/07 - http://unews.utah.edu/p/?r=020807-2)

- Utah 2.5 million population - (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/49000.html)

- approx 75% of Utah is Mormon (http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/contact-us/usa-utah)

- approx 49% regular church attenders (http://www.sltrib.com/ci_2886596).

"Latter-day Saints generally adhere strictly to their health code which prohibits the use of tobacco and alcohol. These practices have always shown up in national health data, which consistently rate Utah as having the lowest rates of smoking, alcohol use, lung cancer, etc. The National Institute of Mental Health ranked Utah as the second-lowest U.S" (http://www.adherents.com/largecom/lds_dem.html)

Clifford G. Miller, Beckenham, England

After working in the field of FAS as an advocate and teacher as well as the adoptive parent of a daughter now 25, we as parents have seen this coming for years. FAS or FASD is a diagnosis that even a clinician trained in the diagnosis is reluctant to give. There are many reasons why
It is the number one drug of choice and tax dollars as well as our last legal way to relax and celebrate could be taken away!If you diagnose it then you have to treat the person/persons who created the child, either with some sort of alcohol program or in the mental health arena because of the shame and guilt this diagnosis holds. So where do you send the child and family after the diagnosis?Even after 30 years we still do not recognize FASD as a eligibility door for services. If we want to get our FASD child/adults in a system of care we have to use another diagnosis. There is a difference between the 2 but much easier for the clinician to say autism than FASD!

Vicky McKinney , Centralia , WA

Years ago the government announced that they were going to give 3 million pounds to investigate the causes of autism but stated they would not be looking at the MMR. The then Minister for autism Dr Stephen Ladyman gave a talk locally and said that they felt that autism was caused by something that happened to the mothers while the child was in the womb. He had no idea what so I suggested that perhaps they were abducted by aliens!! It seems to me that the medical profession will suggest any cause other than vaccines and they always forget to look at REGRESSUVE AUTISM.
The children that Dr Wakefield is interested in have REGRESSIVE AUTISM but to the majority of the medical profession our children do not exist.

Deborah Nash, Dartford, uK

"Mukherjee ...believes that even low levels of alcohol may endanger babies. ....Drinking during pregnancy can cause .......from minor anomalies such as low birth weight to .. the symptoms of which include mental retardation......Unlike genetic conditions, this is 100% preventable."

Interestingly therefore Mukherjee provides yet more circumstantial evidence for the involvement of vaccination in autism and retardation. Children of mothers who smoke and /or consume alcohol/and or are of low birth weight or have slow weight gain due to smoking (smoking and alcohol oft related) are more likely to develop autism; vaccines contain neurotoxic adjuvants such as aluminium (additional to that delivered via alocoholic and caffeinated drinks) and mercury, both cause chronic microglial cell activation in the brain - a condition related to autsim. Add excitotoxin like alcohol itself and the probability of brain damage leading to autism and/or retardation increases. Mukherjees is half the story!!

Jack Humphries , Leeds, UK

Talk about scraping the barrel!

I did not drink or smoke when I was pregnant and trained in nutrition & dietetics, I ate all the right foods too…yes, you have guessed it, I had a perfectly healthy baby of ideal weight and with top birth ratings!

My precious baby flourished and achieved all his milestones well ahead of his age and continued to do so until he had the MMR at eighteen months. That vaccine shot his brain to pieces and he came through with a diagnosis of regressive autism.

So all this article goes to prove is that a toxin can cause autism, only and as usual, it is aimed at covering up the real culprit…vaccines!

Dr Wakefield was the only one, courageous enough to reveal what we mothers have known all along and we will demonstrate that, with the support we intend to give him and his two colleagues, at the GMC hearing in London on 27 March 2008!

Elaine, Kent, UK

This is pure rubbish. I did not drink while pregnant with my son who has regressive autism. But oddly, back in the early nineties, while pregnant with my oldest son, my OBGYN recommended I drink red wine to help my blood pressure. Guess what... my oldest son does not have autism. Funny how that worked out.

Also, I was under the impression FAS was caused by heavy drinking while pregnant. Is this guy saying we were all in the cups? That's funny. Maybe this is some kind of early April Fools joke. Yep, that's it.

Jeanne, Cordova, TN, USA

We've had 'refrigerator mothers', old fathers, now alcohol as possible causes of autism. Whatever next? Oh yea and television!!!!
As far as I know back in history adults and children drank mead as part of their stable diet. This article is an insult to us mothers who have vaccine damaged children.

Joan Campbell, Glasgow, Scotland

As Jane says Dr Wakefield's research was not discredited and the results still stand. Nor did the fall in vaccination begin with the publication of the Lancet paper.

Uptake of MMR vaccination began to fall in 1994 when parents reported their children's serious neurological problems following vaccination. This followed on from the announcement by the then chief medical officer in 1992 of the withdrawal of two of the three brands of MMR because of their link with serious neurological reactions. Many of the children had been given these withdrawn brands.

Following a major development in the US recently where the Department of Justice concluded that a child had become autistic, epileptic and had a serious bowel condition following the administration of multiple vaccines which included MMR and another child also awarded vaccine damage compensation following MMR and subsequently found to have measles virus in the spinal fluid. This is surely an area which needs further research.

Jackie Fletcher, Warrington, UK,

I understand that FAS is evident at birth so how does this research explain the large number of children who were born normal, developed normally meeting all developmental milestones and then regressed into autism many after being vaccinated. Also, autistic children are testing for heavy metal toxicity -lead, mercury, etc and once removed are showing huge progress even recovering from autism. Do FAS children share this same heavy metal profile? This research holds no answers for the mothers of autistic children who did not drink whilst pregnant (me included) and whose children joined the increasing numbers who regress into autism.

Gillian Loughran, London , UK

This is very interesting and suggests an insult if it be alcohol, drugs (including Vaccinations) are the cause of this increase of autism! Very interesting suggestions! Wheres the proof alcohol is? I am glad this psychiatrist is stating that alcohol amoung other causes can result in Autism without a genetic link...this only strengthens Wakefield's arguement!

Becky, Leeds,

Dr Wakefield's research was not "discredited." Some of the authors of the 1998 Lancet paper retracted an interpretation in the paper, but the results of the paper still stand. The paper is a citeable reference, according to the Lancet itself.
It's very tiresome to read this same error over and over again.

Jane Johnson, New York, NY