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Posted on Thu, Feb 3, 2011 : 5:58 a.m.

University of Michigan will get $22.5 million for role in massive study that seeks causes of asthma, autism, other child health concerns

By Juliana Keeping

University of Michigan researchers have joined a nationwide effort to study 100,000 children from birth to adulthood in order to shed light on the mix of environmental and other factors that may lead to conditions ranging from asthma to infant mortality.

The U-M Institute for Social Research in Ann Arbor is scheduled to receive $22.5 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health for its contribution to The National Children's Study. ISR will recruit 5,000 study participants statewide and manage a database for the effort. Researchers hope to follow the children from birth to 21 years.

Overall, the study will take an in-depth look at the environmental, social and other factors that influence a child’s health before, during and after birth, said Nigel Paneth, a Michigan State University pediatrician and perinatal epidemiologist who is leading the statewide effort.

The hope is that the study will shed new light on how a child’s “environmental matrix” - the mix of factors like water, air, sound, family dynamics, community, and cultural influences — relate to issues like infant mortality, premature birth, obesity, autism, asthma, mental retardation, behavioral problems and other conditions, he said. “Most of these conditions are still huge mysteries.”

And they’re costly, he added.

Caring for a baby born weighing only 2 pounds is three times as costly as performing three heart transplants, Paneth said. “That kid is going to be in the hospital for 90 days. In the hundreds of thousands of dollars per case.”

There is a high risk of developmental disabilities for premature babies, he said, and premature births are more common among the poor and more common in blacks.

“We don’t know why,” he said. “It’s one of the biggest puzzles in children’s health, and it’s a huge burden of expense, and I haven’t even mentioned the human toll, the suffering of the parents who have a child in intensive care.”

The study analysis will hone in on differences between groups of people from across the country. It will look at factors like health-care access, disease occurrence and other issues in order to address these disparities, according to The National Children’s Study’s website.

Dan Keating, a U-M professor of psychology, is heading the ISR’s efforts. This week, the ISR launched the effort to recruit and enroll women who are pregnant or are thinking of becoming pregnant in Wayne county, he said. Enrollment in Grand Traverse, Lenawee, Genesse and Macomb counties will follow. Enrollment is expected to take about four years, he said.

The ISR will retain a copy of data collected in Michigan over the years and send it to a central site, Keating said. ISR is also providing secure laptops that can only be used to collect data for the study across the state.

Paneth and others created an entity called the Michigan Alliance for the National Children’s Study to execute the years-long undertaking. Members of the alliance include MSU, U-M and Wayne State University, the Henry Ford Health System, the Michigan Department of community Health and local health departments in the study areas.

Congress created The National Children’s Study with the Children’s Health Act of 2000. Overall, the study has been launched in 37 of 105 locations across the United States.

Those locations were selected to ensure a diverse sample of ethnic, racial, economic, religious, geographic and social groups were represented, according to The National Children’s Study website.

According to Paneth, knowledge gained will offset costs by deepening understanding of the conditions known to take a toll worth billions in healthcare costs each year.

Juliana Keeping is a health and environment reporter for AnnArbor.com. Contact her at julianakeeping@annarbor.com.

Comments

practicalpsychopath

Fri, Feb 4, 2011 : 3:44 p.m.

Thanks, Meg. I know I won't change anyone's mind. I hope that someday the prevalence and clarity of scientific finding will. I'm glad the study noted in this article continues to grow, and I'm confident that its findings will continue to refute Wakefield's guesses (as have so many studies in the last decade) and point us toward real diagnoses and cures. Sadly, Wakefield is autism's Madoff.

Meg

Fri, Feb 4, 2011 : 5:29 a.m.

Once again, mercury was removed from routine childhood vaccines in 2001.The exception is the multidose flu vaccine, which is available in a single-dose thimerosal-free version. The MMR, which Wakefield blamed for autism, has never contained thimerosal. Once again, Asperger syndrome was not added to the DSM until 1992. Without a DSM listing, there is no diagnosis. Not a surprise that diagnoses of ASD increased after there was, you know, a name for them. Once again, peer-reviewed research has refuted any link between vaccines and autism. I'm the parent of an autistic child and pretty damn tired of having to answer the same old ridiculous allegations time and again. Vaccines do not cause autism. Vaccine-preventable diseases, though, can and do cause death and disability. Oh, and incidentally? My son was unvaccinated at the time of his diagnosis.

John B.

Thu, Feb 3, 2011 : 9:29 p.m.

If there is anything that I have learned in my 50+ years living here on the Mother Ship, it's that when one person has a problem with the rest of the world, the problem isn't the rest of the world, it's the one person. Pretty simple.

Technojunkie

Thu, Feb 3, 2011 : 6:33 p.m.

There were 3 companies producing MMR vaccines at the time. The British company's vaccine was the defective one and there wasn't much of an outcry until NHS removed the single vaccines as an alternative (I wonder why they did that?). With nationalized health care you get what Big Brother gives you. But any vaccine, given too soon and in combination with too many others, can cause damage. Otherwise why are children given a fever reducer, usually Tylenol since the Reye's Syndrome scare, with at least some vaccinations? Tylenol inhibits the liver's ability to metabolize vaccine ingredients, BTW, there are articles on pubmed about the problems with that. Deliberately stressing immature immune systems is risky! The most recent article "proving" the case against Dr. Wakefield was written by Brian Deer, a freelance journalist previously employed by the pharmaceutical industry to discredit the doctor. There are some very interesting personal and business relationships between pharma, the Lancet and NHS. Learn to think for yourselves people. Dr. Wakefield isn't the one who's lying.

Kafkaland

Thu, Feb 3, 2011 : 4:35 p.m.

@G.Orwell: Correlation does not establish causality. Just that the number of autism cases has gone up as more people get vaccinated does not mean that vaccines cause autism. In fact, study after study has failed to produce any credible link. By your argument, you could blame air travel or indoor plumbing or any other modern accomplishment for causing autism as well.

Lady Audrey

Thu, Feb 3, 2011 : 4:15 p.m.

Great article in Science about the fear of vaccines <a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/01/why-the-prius-driving-composting.html?rss=1" rel='nofollow'>http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/01/why-the-prius-driving-composting.html?rss=1</a>

G. Orwell

Thu, Feb 3, 2011 : 3:50 p.m.

@practic, Dr. Wakefield demands retraction from the British Medial Journal after proven innocent of alleged fraud! It is the establishment that is lying, not Dr. Wakefield. It was Mr. Brian Deer, who wrote for the BMJ that lied. Not Dr. Wakefield. Please inform yourself before accusing people. <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=dr.+wakefield+demands+retraction&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=&oe=" rel='nofollow'>http://www.google.com/search?q=dr.+wakefield+demands+retraction&amp;sourceid=ie7&amp;rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&amp;ie=&amp;oe=</a>

G. Orwell

Thu, Feb 3, 2011 : 3:36 p.m.

@AMOC, Childhood vaccinations have increased drastically during the past couple of decades and the austism rate has skyrocket to 1 in 80 children. Injecting little babies with mercury, a dangerous neurotoxin, is unconscionable. Can you say cover-up. Why isn't this all over CNN, ABC, NBC, etc. <a href="http://www.thefreelibrary.com/CDC+Scandal+Emerges+--+Study+Attempts+Cover+Up+of+Autism-Mercury+Link...-a0109578845" rel='nofollow'>http://www.thefreelibrary.com/CDC+Scandal+Emerges+--+Study+Attempts+Cover+Up+of+Autism-Mercury+Link...-a0109578845</a> <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-autism-association-questions-iom-and-cdc-cover-up----how-far-will-they-go-to-protect-toxic-vaccines-74110397.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-autism-association-questions-iom-and-cdc-cover-up----how-far-will-they-go-to-protect-toxic-vaccines-74110397.html</a>

practicalpsychopath

Thu, Feb 3, 2011 : 3:30 p.m.

Echoing AMOC: Study after study has disproven any link between autism and MMR, and, frankly, the only authoritative source who hasn't called Dr. Wakefield's studies fraudulent is Dr. Wakefield. As AMOC noted, thimerosal was eliminated from vaccines years ago. Studies on the efficacy and effectiveness of vaccines happen continuously, and they're updated and revisited as new information becomes available. Please pay attention to the science and not the hype. And please vaccinate your children. As a global society, we completely eradicated smallpox. We were ever so close to eradicating polio and well on our way to eliminating the measles and other diseases that are now so unnecessarily infecting and even killing children.

AMOC

Thu, Feb 3, 2011 : 3:17 p.m.

I am appalled at the mis-information in the comments from G. Orwell and Technojunkie. There is overwhelming evidence that vaccines do NOT cause autism. While some infants with temporarily (respiratory infection) or permanently compromised immune systems should not receive vaccines, most infants and the public at large benefit significantly from the full or partial immunity the vaccines provide. Because of public concern about mercury (not evidence of danger) thimerosal has been eliminated from the vaccines given in the US. That's why flu shots got so much more expensive a few years ago. Vaccines do not cause autism, and measles can cause death, permanent disability and blindness. Mumps can cause sterility when contracted by adults. Last spring and summer we had multiple hospitalization in Washtenaw County due to whooping cough. Please people, vaccinate your children unless your child is one of the very, very few that a medical doctor, not chiropractor, recommends not be vaccinated. Or keep them home - all the time, and especially keep them out of the schools my kids attend.

Lady Audrey

Thu, Feb 3, 2011 : 4:07 p.m.

Thank you for bring rationality to this &quot;conversation.&quot;

G. Orwell

Thu, Feb 3, 2011 : 2:47 p.m.

@techno, It is possible defective vaccines caused autism. However, the fact that it has been happening for years and all around the world, it is more likely its the toxins being added to vaccines that are causing autism, asthma, allergies and many other childhood illnesses. We should ban all vaccines that contain thimerosal (contains 49% mercury), squalene, etc. I hope UM will do an honest study.

Technojunkie

Thu, Feb 3, 2011 : 2:37 p.m.

I hope that they track when and what vaccinations are given. Dr. Wakefield's initial concern was with a defective MMR vaccine produced in Britain, he recommended using single vaccines instead of that, but has evolved into advising delaying and spreading out the vaccine schedule to minimize the assault on developing immune systems. Some doctors still haven't gotten the message that giving vaccines to already sick children is very, very bad, let alone the dangers of the standard schedule. I also hope that they track diet, though that may be too expensive to do. Inflammatory response to certain foods is a big problem. Heavy metals testing every several years would be interesting too.

G. Orwell

Thu, Feb 3, 2011 : 2:22 p.m.

I hope UM will look at Dr. Wakefield's research that clearly links autism to the MMR vaccine. His research has been confirmed and replicated all around the world. Our media and the international media have attempted to smear Dr. Wakefield but it is failing. Google Dr. Wakefield and listen to his interviews. Massive cover-up is occurring that involve the CDC and IOM.