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A Baffling Brain Defect Is Linked to Gut Bacteria, Scientists Say (sciencealert.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the frontier-of-human-biology dept.

Gina Kolata from The New York Times writes about a baffling brain disorder that is linked to a particular type of bacteria living in the gut (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternate source) The new study, published on Wednesday in Nature, is among the first to suggest convincingly that these bacteria may initiate disease in seemingly unrelated organs, and in completely unexpected ways. The researchers studied hereditary cerebral cavernous malformations -- blood-filled bubbles that protrude from veins in the brain and can leak blood or burst at any time. When Dr. Mark Kahn, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, began this work, the microbiome was the last thing on his mind. Dr. Kahn and his colleagues studied cerebral cavernous malformations as part of a larger effort to understand the development and function of blood vessels. Three genes have been linked to the disorder, and Dr. Kahn and his colleagues tried to figure out what these mutations really do. The scientists were able to mimic the condition in mice by deleting a gene that is mutated in many patients. A year ago, the scientists moved to a new building, and something unexpected happened. The experimental mice stopped developing the brain malformations. Dr. Kahn's student, Alan T. Tang, had been deleting the gene by injecting a drug into the abdomens of the mice. Sometimes a mouse would get an infection that would lead to an abscess, and bacteria leaked from the gut into the blood. In the new building, only those mice still developed the brain defect. The other gene-deleted mice did not. He and his colleagues finally identified the culprit: Gram-negative bacteria, named for the way they stain, that carry a molecule in their cell walls, a lipopolysaccharide. Without a functioning gene, the lipopolysaccharide can signal veins in the brain to form blood bubbles.

55 comments

  1. Dyslexia strikes again. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A Baffling Brain Defect Is Linked to LinkedIn...

    I knew was something wrong with the people that use LinkedIn! ;)

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re: Dyslexia strikes again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I like their other network, the dumb-blowjob.org

  2. Possibly other diseases? by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

    Curious if we have a similar cause from Parkinson's or ALS, the later of which has seemingly no identifiable congenital cause.

    I recall when nobody knew that bacteria caused ulcers, and this was long after we knew about bacteria.

    1. Re:Possibly other diseases? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Informative

      Parkinson's has some connections to the gut. For instance, it is correlated with constipation. Also people who drink a lot of coffee or tea are less likely to be afflicted. But I don't think it is cause by bacteria, because there is no cure. If gut bacteria caused the disease, some people would be cured inadvertently when they take high doses of antibiotics for other reasons, and that doesn't happen.

    2. Re:Possibly other diseases? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Alternatively, what if taking antibiotics wipes out good intestinal flora, resulting in these maladies in some patients? Diet can also affect intestinal flora, so that is a factor to consider too. Perhaps a poor diet wipes out the good bacteria or causes the bacteria to generate harmful waste products?

      I think scientists have yet to discover the full extent of intestinal flora's relationship with overall bodily health and mental health (I think the enteric nervous system plays a role in the latter as well). It's very exciting when I read articles like this about scientists researching the topic, because I think they are very close to making a breakthrough in understanding how digestion/diet affects overall health.

    3. Re:Possibly other diseases? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Autism. Vaccines damage the gut, and the problems spread from there...

    4. Re:Possibly other diseases? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If gut bacteria caused the disease, some people would be cured inadvertently when they take high doses of antibiotics for other reasons, and that doesn't happen

      Presuming that the antibiotics in question are appropriate for the type of microbe in question, that they permeate the appropriate part of the body in appropriate concentrations, and that it's a straightforward "presence of bacteria directly causes X" relationship. Oh, and that it would take the length of a course of antibiotics, maybe a couple of weeks, for the symptoms to reverse before the microbes re-established themselves and start aggravating it again, presuming that the symptoms are reversable at all.

      Not saying you're wrong, but it might be more complicated than "antibiotics should cure it". I've been seeing my GP a lot recently for a longering chest issue which is apparently microbial in nature but which has survived two different courses of antibiotics. Many antibiotics don't kill microbes, they prevent them from replicating to give your immune system a chance to wipe them out, so if they've some way of hiding from the immune system (and many pathogens have really clever ways of doing just that) then antibiotics may not actually do much.

      Hell, maybe it's a viral connection, whether human-pathogen or bacteriophage. Antibiotics would be worthless then.

    5. Re:Possibly other diseases? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm going to laugh my ass off when one day we find out that a strain of HPV causes autism, and all that the retarded anti-vax movement was started because some bimbo MTV VJ did one too many of her colleagues and caught autism-hpv, and that's why her kid had autism, and then in the irony of ironies, she started the anti-vax movement right as the HPV vaccine became available, resulting in millions of more autism cases that could have been prevented.

    6. Re:Possibly other diseases? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "If gut bacteria caused the disease, some people would be cured inadvertently when they take high doses of antibiotics for other reasons, and that doesn't happen."

      Not at all. The bacteria can cause the disease, but then removing the bacteria will not necessarily cure it. Take the brain malformations from TFA, there's no way removing the bacteria that caused them will fix them, the damage has already been done.

    7. Re:Possibly other diseases? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well if the truth comes out, no point in laughing, we will all just know. Consider the alternative, what if all the people that screamed for forced vaccinations found out that had given autism "by force" to millions of people.

    8. Re:Possibly other diseases? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One of the effects of Parkinson's Disease can be constipation. Voluntary muscle movement is more difficult due to less dopamine being present. It just takes more effort to move (I'm avoiding dropping a pun here).

    9. Re:Possibly other diseases? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what if all the people that screamed for forced vaccinations found out that had given autism "by force" to millions of people.

      It'd still be better than polio and measles.

    10. Re:Possibly other diseases? by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      Yes but the science was well against it all along, and the guy who claimed it had a financial interest in developing something lawyers could sue over.

      Meanwhile, Jonas Salk died thinking his polio vaccine introduced AIDS to humans. His original vaccine, used only about a year before better ones came out, was created using monkey kidneys, which he feared may have had the simian AIDS believed to have spawned it.

      We now know it preceded that date in humans by decades, but how horrible to think one of the greatest triumphs was also a deadly stroke.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    11. Re:Possibly other diseases? by Quince+alPillan · · Score: 2

      Or even like in this case where there's a genetic cause and a gut flora cause. It takes both scenarios in combination to cause the disease, which is why it's hard to reproduce an exact cause.

    12. Re:Possibly other diseases? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly this. Vaccines is never without risk. (You could get ill/killed from a dirty needle. Or perhaps fall down the stairs to the doctors office. Or suffer an unknown side-effect of the vaccine, even.)

      The point is that all those other risks are a lot smaller than the risk of getting killed/maimed by the disease the vaccine prevents.

      1% of each measles case dies. And it is highly contagious, practically a bioweapon. It is known to have obliterated many native americans. similiarly, most polio victims get crippled to some extent. Wheelchair, or a walking stick for the lucky.

      A measles vaccine that have side effects (be it autism, disease or even death) in substantially less than 1% of the cases is good under such circumstances. Because it saves many more than it damages.

      This is why new vaccines are tested on smaller groups first - to prove that any side-effects are negligible (even long-term) compared to the fearsome disease it prevents.

      Of course, one can argue against some vaccines. There may be no point in vaccinating kids against rubella - the disease is mild and then you're immune anyway. Perhaps that is an useful exercise of the immune system. There is certainly no point in *forcing* this on people.

      But a killer disease like the measles? Vaccinate at gunpoint if need be. Deciding to spread epidemics like that, is very much like having fun throwing grenades from overpasses. Occationally, someone else gets killed.

    13. Re:Possibly other diseases? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But I don't think it is cause by bacteria, because there is no cure. If gut bacteria caused the disease, some people would be cured inadvertently when they take high doses of antibiotics for other reasons, and that doesn't happen.

      Lung cancer has been linked to smoking, but if smoking causes cancer, some people would be cured inadvertently when they stopped smoking for other reasons.

    14. Re:Possibly other diseases? by Vegan+Cyclist · · Score: 1

      This. (I don't know why you were downvoted, I think you're right on target.)

      Let's just look at something that's seemingly common: fiber. About 97% of the US doesn't eat their daily recommended amount of fiber. What do the good flora like to eat? Fiber.

      And this isn't to say Parkinson's (and other diseases) can be cured this way, but may be alleviated in some ways (which can still be really meaningful) with a more positive gut situation....and in a really easy way.

    15. Re:Possibly other diseases? by rogoshen1 · · Score: 1

      a disease that is entirely preventable, and transmitted through risky behavior (in probably 95% of cases?) vs a disease that maims and scars children for life -- even if Salk's vaccine had caused AIDS, it probably still would have been a net positive. Hopefully he took a bit of comfort in that calculus (as bleak and depressing as it may be.)

    16. Re:Possibly other diseases? by Alsn · · Score: 2

      But I don't think it is cause by bacteria, because there is no cure. If gut bacteria caused the disease, some people would be cured inadvertently when they take high doses of antibiotics for other reasons, and that doesn't happen.



      As a medical student I can say that while common sense and gut feeling would seemingly agree with you, the science of how our bodies work does not. Bacteria do not have to be directly present in order to cause problems. As an example you can take blood types, which most people are familiar with (A, AB, O). The antibodies that you have against the surface proteins of red blood cells of the different types are actually antibodies that are created against gut bacteria. However, mechanisms exist in each of us such that we do not develop antibodies against proteins that exist on our own cell structures, thus hindering our immune system from attacking our own proteins and cells.

      This system is not fail-safe however and many auto-immune - where the body attacks itself - diseases exist (the field of rheumatology especially deals with a lot of these diseases). In short, just because antibiotics may wipe out a particular strain of gut bacteria that is present, the effect of that gut bacteria may indeed persist through many diverse mechanisms (of which the above is only one example), some of which we don't yet fully understand, as hinted at by this paper.
    17. Re:Possibly other diseases? by luis_a_espinal · · Score: 1

      Parkinson's has some connections to the gut. For instance, it is correlated with constipation. Also people who drink a lot of coffee or tea are less likely to be afflicted. But I don't think it is cause by bacteria, because there is no cure. If gut bacteria caused the disease, some people would be cured inadvertently when they take high doses of antibiotics for other reasons, and that doesn't happen.

      Damage caused by bacteria could be irreversible. So even if you kill the germs, the damage remains, incurable.

  3. Is this for real??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Gina Kolata"? Does it rhyme with Pina Colada??? :-D

  4. CCM for short by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Cerebral Cavernous Malformations was the name of my punk rock band in college.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:CCM for short by dr.Flake · · Score: 2

      Now you know why everybody thought you guys played like shit

      --
      Why are other peoples sig's always more witty ???
    2. Re:CCM for short by rogoshen1 · · Score: 1

      they were just waiting for their big break. (Alternatively to burst out onto the scene?)

  5. A Baffling Brain Defect Is Linked to systemd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Slashdot confirms it

  6. Blood-brain barrier by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Once you open up the Blood-brain barrier (with microwave radiation), this sort of thing is to be expected.

    1. Re:Blood-brain barrier by HiThere · · Score: 1

      IIUC, if you want to open the blood-brain barrier, you use ultrasound rather than microwaves.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    2. Re: Blood-brain barrier by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your mom blows blood bubbles when she queefs.

    3. Re:Blood-brain barrier by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The closest research I could find on the topic said they were unsuccessful in modulating the blood-brain barrier via microwave radiation.

  7. Wakefield discovered this and was villified... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Google Wakefield's discovery of the gut-brain connection in the 90s.

    He was destroyed by media and scientists around the world, yet they didn't even seem to notice he wasn't even studying vaccines at all.

    Take some time to listen to a very reasonable explanation about his discovery. If you can be patient hearing about anti-vaccine slant, you will hear a fascinating story of discovery about the gut-brain connection.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeMXlh-f7p8

    He's a calm and reasonable man that explains simply and clearly what he did and how he came to his conclusions. If we could all be patient and calm, and listen to all sides of an argument, we may end up at the truth sooner (20 years ago) instead of just today...

    1. Re:Wakefield discovered this and was villified... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some people write, talk, copy, post utter rubbish without bothering to check actual data.

      The work done by the team at the Royal Free, led by Prof Walker-Smith and with Dr Wakefield as a specialist paediatric gastroenterologist has not only NEVER been discredited nor countered - - neither he nor any member of that team ever said MMR vaccine causes Autism - it was merely smeared by a hack journalist hired by the owner of the Sunday Times (R Murdoch) who, with his son who manages the paper, are active board members of Glaxo, the manufacturer of the MMR vax - BUT it also now has over 75 follow on scientific papers all available on PubMed that completely bear it out and go even further.

      They did say that there appeared to be a link between the MMR sourced version of the measles virus and the type of gastroenterological infection in the bowels of the autistic children being worked with and that that should be investigated. All Pharmaceutical companies have been given immunity from prosecution for vaccines by the US government in the 80s as they are admitted to being "inherently unsafe" and having know toxic side effects on a small percentage of recipients.

      ALL this data is available so for people to suggest Wakefield is getting rich off people suing big Pharma is actually a demonstration of an serious inability to think or read scientific data and is the sort of thing that has wound up with the now several million severe cases of autism around the globe.

    2. Re:Wakefield discovered this and was villified... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only 11 children in first autism study... must mean autism doesn't exist, not enough children studied.

      1943: American child psychiatrist Leo Kanner, M.D., publishes a paper describing 11 children who were highly intelligent but displayed "a powerful desire for aloneness" and "an obsessive insistence on persistent sameness." He later names their condition "early infantile autism."

      http://www.parents.com/health/autism/history-of-autism/

    3. Re:Wakefield discovered this and was villified... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      His research couldn't be independently reproduced, and there were serious questions raised by colleagues and assistants about him ignoring data that did not fit his hypothesis. For example: subjects being diagnosed with Autism before any vaccination, or even not having the claimed symptoms at all. There are huge numbers of independently verified studies that have found no link between vaccines and Autism. He has been discredited, using his own research data and the medical records of his subjects. Unsurprisingly, he then backtracked on his claims.

      The genetic aspect of Autism has been known, if not fully understood, since the 1930s. The alleged epidemic of Autism is down to the fact we are able to identify and diagnose Autism earlier and in less severe forms than we could; plus Autistic people are able to meet, socialise, and raise families in ways that was difficult or impossible in the past. Autism has been with us for a long time, indeed possibly for as long as modern humans have been around.

      Also, Wakefield is *not* a paediatrician. He was a gastrointestinal surgeon.

    4. Re:Wakefield discovered this and was villified... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who would bother even trying to reproduce someone research that was so horrible destroyed in the media? No normal scientist with a life would try, knowing full well their study would be attacked if they found any support for Wakefield at all.

      Being a paediatrician is likely not relevant, as it's the gut that was his study.

      If you start doing research on this topic, the amount of evidence now available online that was not as easily found 10 years ago is staggering.

      For instance:
      1. The law protects vaccine producers from harm they cause people. No other industry in the world has this protection.
      2. There is no human tests on any vaccine, even Viagra has more safety checks and testing than vaccines.
      3. There's been not a single efficacy test done on any vaccine. None, zero.
      4. All diseases that are supposedly cured with vaccines have an absolute connection to other modern health changes in society to explain their decrease in existence. (cleanlyness, nutrition, proper housing, etc...)

      Finally, vaccines can't be logically discussed, the pro-vaccine groups tend to break down into irrational hysterics instead of logic and scientific proof.

    5. Re:Wakefield discovered this and was villified... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lalalalalalalal!! not listening! You are a nut!

    6. Re:Wakefield discovered this and was villified... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Okay, I'll bite and feed the troll...

      2. There is no human tests on any vaccine, even Viagra has more safety checks and testing than vaccines.

      There have never been any human tests on vaccines? Not a single one? Are you absolutely sure on this?

      Wow! That means every single laboratory, every government around the world, every pharmaceutical company, even well documented traditional vaccination methodologies going back centuries are involved in a monumental cover-up! I can't believe we didn't work this out after the moon landing hoax was exposed.

      3. There's been not a single efficacy test done on any vaccine. None, zero.

      Are you for real?

      4. All diseases that are supposedly cured with vaccines have an absolute connection to other modern health changes in society to explain their decrease in existence. (cleanlyness, nutrition, proper housing, etc...)

      Finally, vaccines can't be logically discussed, the pro-vaccine groups tend to break down into irrational hysterics instead of logic and scientific proof.

      Speaking of logic and scientific proof, I'd recommend understanding the science of how vaccinations work. They don't cure diseases, they use an immunogen to train your immune system to recognise and respond to a disease before a live exposure.

      I'm curious as to how you can explain why the incident rates of certain diseases are higher in areas where vaccination for those diseases is uncommon, even if those areas have modern health systems that match the low-prevalence areas. Weird how the only difference is vaccination rates. Best of all, the western world is seeing increased rates of such diseases in areas where the pro-polio brigade are effectively discouraging parents from protecting their kids; meanwhile poorer nations with less-developed health systems are seeing a drop in such diseases as vaccination programs improve. But of course, it's all a conspiracy.

      Vaccines can be logically discussed, and indeed they are discussed logically every day. Sadly, most members of the pro-polio brigade, tears streaming down their faces, wail that vaccinations are evil without giving a shred of evidence to back their claims. Questioning the science is fine, but you need verifiable facts to back up your claims.

  8. Alternative headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Gut bacteria use this one weird trick to cause strokes. Neurologists hate them.
    captcha: illness

  9. But how do we control this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The evidence seems to support gut bacteria affecting or at least being able to help rather than hamper mood and concentration. But it always seems like the probiotics are mostly non-permanent shit-through products which provide vague promises rather than sticking around and say increasing seritonin or dopamine sensitivity. Why is it only the bad stuff seems to take root and why doesn't bombarding with antibiotics and then reseeding seem to have an affect?
    I have ADHD, Asperger's, depression, and panic attacks. Some of it is PTSD from 20 years as a firefighter paramedic until a career and mobility ending on the job injury. I am going broke trying to bootstrap a second career as a pilot and while flying safely is pretty easy and the engineering behind everything from navigation to engines really occupies my inner geek the testing and test prep in a non-native language are stress killers. I have to get over that hump before my money runs out and I cant feed my wife and gob of kids.
    Some of of my issues seem to be hard wired neurology, and I actually wouldn't trade the IQ points away to loose the high functioning autism. But if we accept that our stress affects our gut and our gut affects the stress we feel then how is it that we seem to spend most of our time trying to push rope?
    I have found that nootropics and a keto diet help quite a bit but I would rather grow my own meds in the old fermentation tube.

    1. Re:But how do we control this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      With "ADHD, Asperger's, depression, and panic attacks" it seems high risk to pursue a job as a pilot, which the depression and panic attacks might disqualify you for.

      Meanwhile you mention the engineering satisfying your inner geek.
      May I suggest looking into becoming an aircraft mechanic?
      Pay is pretty good and the fact that you work in the same place is easier to combine with family life.

    2. Re:But how do we control this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      " and I actually wouldn't trade the IQ points away to loose the high functioning autism"

      And yet you can't tell loose from lose. I suggest you stop smelling your own farts about your self-reported "high IQ" and get over yourself, you ain't special.

      " I cant feed my wife"

      How did you even get close enough to a woman just to talk never mind marry? I don't believe you are as "ADHD, Asperger's, depression, and panic attack" as you think you are.

      Again, get over yourself. If you did have all these "ADHD, Asperger's, depression, and panic attack", you would be sleeping 20 hours a day and barely going outside.

      You big fat liar.

  10. so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A healthy body leads to a healthy brain.
    Who would have guessed it ?
    The brain may still be full of crap thoughts etc,but it will be healthy..

  11. You are what you eat! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The old saying is slightly true. You are what you it. It is the food you eat that determines your gut bacteria, which in turn can influence your body. To what extent you may ask? More research is being done, but it hints at way more than what was previously thought.

    1. Re:You are what you eat! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your physiology affects your psychology, and vice versa. Science once again proves ancient religion correct. There is nothing new under the sun.

  12. Fad Dieting = Baffling brain defect? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe there is some connection?

  13. I am scientifically predicting by silentcoder · · Score: 0

    it will take approximately 25 seconds before some idiot antivaxxer holds this study up as somehow vindicating Andrew Wakefield...

    --
    Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
    1. Re:I am scientifically predicting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bad news.....
      https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/449525268529815552?lang=en

      "Healthy young child goes to doctor, gets pumped with massive shot of many vaccines, doesn't feel good and changes - AUTISM. Many such cases!"

      In other twitter news, "Fake tan causes Alzheimers, they don't know they're mentally defective, Sad"

    2. Re:I am scientifically predicting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Wakefield wasn't studying vaccines, and at the time wasn't even against vaccines when he was attacked in the media.

      He's a gut specialist, and seems to know his field of study, what do you know about gut/brain connections?

      If the truth is that Wakefield is vindicated because of this, then you are now the denier.

    3. Re:I am scientifically predicting by HiThere · · Score: 1

      Too late. It happened before you posted.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    4. Re:I am scientifically predicting by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      I was predicting the time from the story hitting the frontpage.

      That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
  14. "the microbiome was the last thing on his mind. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, nice pun there, pal.

  15. Gut-ter talk. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A Baffling Brain Defect Is Linked to Gut Bacteria, Scientists Say

    My gut tells me this may not be the case.

  16. Anecdotal patient reports have once confirmed by sichbo · · Score: 2

    There was an interesting segment regarding shit replacement therapy in a documentary "Life on Us". One of the patients had reported an inexplicable sudden loss of a long term depression after the treatment.

    More research in this area would be really great, since a correctly balanced microbiome seems to have positive impacts on a pretty wide range of maladies from obesity to cognitive defects. I've recently been wondering whether or not the only difference between the skinny guy and the fat guy, both eating more or less the same garbage with the same sedentary activity level, is simply gut bacteria/digestive efficiency.

  17. Asthma and gut bacteria? by Traf-O-Data-Hater · · Score: 1

    As a life-long asthma sufferer, I've had this odd observation. A few months ago I went to the doctor for an infected foot, which had swelled up. I was prescribed an antibiotic which I duly took.
    Apart from taking care of the foot, something else totally unexpected happened to me. My mild but chronic asthma (wheezing, coughing etc) all but completely disappeared. Not just a bit, but totally. I had not changed my prescribed corticosteroid medication and reliever during this time.
    I remarked to my wife I hadn't felt this good for years, my nose was clear, breathing perfectly, felt super-fit. After I finished the antibiotic the good feeling gradually tapered off, and I am back to the occasional asthma. But it was noticeable how much of a beneficial side-effect it was.

  18. There was this guy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Another doctor, Dr. Barry Marshall, was roundly criticized for concluding that Helicobacter pylori survived in stomach acid. Treatment of this condition threatened to destroy the acid-reflux drug market.

    In the end, Dr. Barry Marshall was vindicated by the facts and won the Nobel Prize in Phisiology or Medicine.

    Science follows the facts. Your personal mention of Dr. Andrew Wakefield indicates that you have a bias, making you prone to ignoring facts.

    Over time, the facts will eventually confirm or dispel Dr. Wakefield's research. Given that a nail-in-the-coffin longitudinal study was based partly on faked CDC data, continued research may be merited.

    Though many researchers have borne personal attacks throughout history, the above mentioned study indicates a possible connection between a specific gut bacteria and other organs at the genetic level. In the absence of facts, you are dismissing YOUR OWN THEORY that one or more of Measles, Mumps, or Rubella could transfer their genes in a similar fashion. Isn't it worth the time and effort for someone investigate the possibility?

    Whether Dr. Wakefield is vindicated or not, it does not change the fact that your behavior is inappropriate. Personal attacks are neither needed nor warranted in science. Remember, when you assume, you make an ASS out of U and ME.