Autism, Melatonin, and the MMR
What an interesting week it has been with regards to autism news. The week started off with mass reporting of a new study confirming the fact that there is no statistical link between the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccination and autism. Yes, another study detailing this lack of a link. Here are a few different blog entries discussing the study that I found interesting:
New Study Confirms No Link Between MMR and Autism at Autism News Direct
Surprise Surprise: No link between the MMR and Autism at Autism Vox
MMR Still Doesn’t Cause Autism (and never did) at Left Brain/Right Brain
My daughter has had one dose of the MMR vaccine - she received it after her autism diagnosis. She also had a nasty local reaction with a huge knot in her leg that didn’t go away for nearly six months. About a year after she received the innoculation, we found out she was allergic to eggs - ah hah!
Now on to the other study of the week, Vanderbilt University revealed the results of their research study looking at the benefit of melatonin usage to help children with sleep problems who are also on the autism spectrum. Melatonin is a mainstay in our house and we use it almost nightly. From the study:
“Twenty-five percent of parents reported they no longer had sleep concerns after using melatonin, 60 percent of parents reported the sleep problems had improved, 13 percent still had major concerns and only 1 percent (one child) had worse symptoms.”
My son falls into the 60 percent of children who have seen an improvement in sleep. My daughter falls into the 25 percent of children who no longer have sleep issues. Sure every now and then she has a sleepless night but between the melatonin and the weighted blanket, I think we’ve found the solution for her sleep problem. Our pediatrician is one of the more progressive-thinking doctors in the area and suggested melatonin to us over a year ago. Go Dr. L!
