In a discussion on the Huberman Lab podcast, Dr. Andrew Huberman and guest Dr. Chris Palmer tackled one of modern medicine’s most contentious debates: the relationship between vaccines and autism. Rather than taking an extreme position, Palmer provided a nuanced examination of inflammation, mitochondrial function, and neurodevelopment that challenges both sides of the vaccine debate.
The conversation began with Huberman asking whether vaccines could disrupt mitochondrial function, given their central role in brain health. Palmer’s response was deliberately measured, refusing to declare vaccines either completely safe or definitively harmful.
Instead, he built his argument on established science: inflammation unequivocally impairs mitochondrial function, and certain inflammatory cytokines directly affect cellular energy production.
Palmer highlighted decades of evidence showing that maternal infections during pregnancy increase autism risk in offspring. Historical data from rubella outbreaks in the 1960s and contemporary animal studies demonstrate that inflammatory responses during critical developmental periods can lead to neurodevelopmental disorders. This creates a complex equation: while vaccines can trigger inflammation, the infections they prevent pose even greater inflammatory threats.
Crucially, Palmer acknowledged that individual responses to vaccines vary significantly. He referenced a court case involving a child with a pre-existing mitochondrial disorder who developed severe neurodevelopmental symptoms following vaccination. The court ruled the vaccine contributed to her condition, underscoring that vulnerable individuals may experience disproportionate inflammatory responses.
However, Palmer also noted that current epidemiological studies suggest unvaccinated children may actually face higher autism risk than vaccinated ones, likely because natural infections cause more severe inflammation than vaccines. The challenge, he explained, is that these studies don’t control for all relevant factors, including metabolic health conditions that independently increase autism risk.
Perhaps most striking was Palmer’s emphasis on metabolic health as a overlooked factor in the autism epidemic. He cited research showing that maternal obesity and diabetes dramatically increase autism risk—obesity doubles the risk, diabetes doubles it, and both together quadruple it. With only 7% of Americans metabolically healthy across five key biomarkers, Palmer suggested society may be missing “the elephant in the room” while fixating exclusively on vaccines.
Rather than simply assigning autism diagnoses and accepting lifelong disability, Palmer advocated for comprehensive interventions when children show neurodevelopmental symptoms. He called for thorough workups examining vitamin deficiencies, autoimmune reactions, and metabolic dysfunction, with treatments like ketogenic diets on the table alongside traditional therapies.