Apparently 1 in about 100 American boys are now diagnosed with autism. The number has grown steadily over the years. A statement by the CDC (Center for disease control) recently said that they "Simply do not know whether vaccines could be causing autism" ... and that "more research in this area is being done."

Many mothers of autistic children have reported a sudden and dramatic change in behaviour, immediately following vaccination.

Now don't shoot the messenger ... I'm only reporting the story. No need to send me all the stats of how many lives we've saved with vaccines. Just letting you know what was said ... everyone is free to come to their own conclusions.

One thing is certain ... the disorder is devastating to families ... and results in about an 80% divorce rate.

Best to all, C.C.

30-40 bucks per school age kid...big money for the pharmas..
Load em up with Mercury...give a few % autism...now they need more drugs....
and parents need em too....its genious really...

vaccination does not cause autism. This kind of talk leads to dead children and is irresponsible. We've been vaccinating since the days of Polio. Smallpox is eradicated. Where was the autism 60 - 70 years ago?

There is absolutely no proof of vaccines causing autism. On the other hand, there is ample proof of the millions of lives saved.

Stop supporting maniacs by spreading their irresponsible words. What is to be gained by this? Bring back polio and smallpox and diptheria?

mm

Oprah had another guest that jumped up and down on her couch and
claims that psychiatry is a pseudoscience.

The CDC adamantly denies the link between vaccine and autism. The statement at the beginning of this thread is simply untrue.

Here are some valid links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine_controversy

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/whatifstop.htm

http://www.k12academics.com/theories_etiology_autism.htm

mm

Just remember that Oprah's only goal is to increase ratings. She's not out there to tell the truth or have guests that tell the truth.

It's Entertainment, kids, and you'llbe better off remembering that.

I wouldn't get my news from Jon Stewart, either.

For years, the scientific evidence has been accumulating. The latest, published this week, once again showed that thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative long used in childhood vaccines, does not cause the neurological disorders associated with the U.S. autism epidemic.

In fact, scientists at the California Department of Public Health demonstrated that in the years since nearly all thimerosal was removed from vaccines in 2001, the rate of autism has continued to rise there. Had thimerosal been the culprit, those numbers should have decreased.



By 1999, some government scientists were concerned that infants might be getting too much mercury. As a precautionary measure, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics asked pharmaceutical companies to remove thimerosal from vaccines.

Still, according to Dr. Paul A. Offit, the infectious diseases chief at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, doctors kept insisting that parents not worry about the safety of vaccines.

But the firestorm came. "Many parents, frightened by a sudden change in policy, reasoned that thimerosal was targeted because it was harmful - and their faith in the vaccine infrastructure was shaken," Offit wrote in a September issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

The result: worried parents, unvaccinated kids and more expensive vaccines.

http://reason.com/blog/show/124346.html

Science studies items of importance using the scientific method, cross examination, open trials, confirmation, meetings attended by scientists, books, journals, etc. If something works its works. If something is true its true. If something is bad, it is bad.

Hystericals make "claims" based on hunches and are able to con their fellow man for long periods of times regarding many issues. So it goes.

That isn't to say that unethical toy makers slip some lead by, or unethical drug makers slip some questionable products past the FDA from time to time, but truth eventually wins out.

The sad part about the vaccine issue is that innocents, in this case the children, were denied life-saving therapy by nut-job suspicious parents. There's the tragedy.

And don't worry. It won't lead to more expensive vaccinces. Most vaccines should and will be free under any "universal health plan". Vaccinating the masses against ancient preventable disease is a good thing.

Another HUGE review of the safety and issues of the vaccine dilemma was published this week. Let me know if you'd like the link.

I lost another patient of mine this week whose parents were christian scientists and did not allow him to get penicillin as a kid, so he developed rheumatic heart disease. Ended up destroying his heart valves. We got him a valve replacement as an adult but the toll caught up. He died in his fifties after a tough life.

All because of not using 2 dollars worth of penicillin. All because of some "belief" .....okay, I know, its a "free" country yadda yadda... but the "freedom" was not afforded to the child who, at the time, was too young to make the decision for himself.....

mm

Call me cynical, but I smell a rat when it comes to "autism" as well as "ADD".

I'm thinking that there's too many excuses to be made with both "diagnoses" and there are too many folks willing to buy into them...and maybe SELL into them too, if you get my drift.

Kids have quite a lot of variability in their behaviors as they go through various developmental phases. What used to be considered normal variation now gets diagnosed as a "disorder".

Well, as a mild dyslexic myself, I know how incompetent the educational system can be at even recognizing simple problems (even bad eyesight---took my wife over a year to realize that she wasn't bad at math, just couldn't see the black board). A proper diagnosis of these fuzzy "behavioral problems" is hard, but prescribing and labeling is easy.

I've seen a number of ADD kids and in most cases they seem much more in need of some good parenting, exercise, and consistency than drugs. As for autism...I dunno. I had visions of rocking non-functional kids, but I often see what appears to be mildly shy but healthy and happy kids instead.

Mark

That brings us to Kennedy who seems to revel in his profound scientific ignorance.

In a June 20, 2005 Rolling Stone article entitled “Deadly Immunity”, he wrote, “It was only after reading the [testimony of a Centers for Disease Control epidemiologist at a closed door government meeting], studying the leading scientific research and talking with many of the nation’s pre-eminent authorities on mercury that I became convinced that the link between Thimerosal and the epidemic of childhood neurological disorders is real.”

Kennedy’s article had so many significant inaccuracies that Rolling Stone was forced to append to it five paragraphs of corrections.

Undeterred, two years later Kennedy wrote an article entitled “Attack on Mothers.”

Recounting the onset of autism in a 2-year old, Kennedy wrote, “After hearing that story a couple dozen times, a rational person might do some more investigation. That’s when one encounters the overwhelming science -- hundreds of research studies from dozens of countries showing the undeniable connection between mercury and Thimerosal and a wide range of neurological illnesses.” Kennedy went on to accuse the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the pharmaceutical industry of “ginning up” studies “designed to disguise the link between autism and Thimerosal.”

So Mr. Kennedy, is the California Department of Health also a member of the vast Thimerosal conspiracy?

There may be some ideological overlap between Kennedy’s anti-Thimerosal rantings and his jihad against coal-fired electric plants whose emissions include small amounts of mercury.

He recently blogged about the “calamitous externalized costs” of coal, including “global warming…dead forests and sterilized lakes from acid rain, poisoned fisheries in 49 states and children with damaged brains and crippled health from mercury emissions, millions of asthma attacks and lost work days and thousands dead annually from ozone and particulates.”

It’s quite possible that Kennedy chooses to exploit the Thimerosal-autism controversy in order to broaden his base of support for his anti-coal/global warming agenda. Anti-Thimerosal parents groups have proven to be extremely passionate about their cause and they would be a formidable force were they to campaign against coal-fired electricity with the same zeal as they did with Thimerosal.

Though use of Thimerosal has for the most part ended, its vindication is not merely of academic interest. It should serve as yet another data point against Kennedy and others who foment panic and urge a rush-to-action based on flimsy facts and misdirected anger.

http://www.cei.org/gencon/019,06344.cfm

If you want to have the balls to come out and say you think Ted Kennedy is an idiot, than say so.
Scientific research is hard. Its hard enough for responsible scientists to figure stuff out. Then when something that "might" be dangerous for kids is presented to elected representatives, it is their responsiblity to see if there is something wrong for which they need to stand up for the rights of the little guy. Good intentions are good intentions.

Political bashing is political bashing.

Life is short. You can add to good life on the planet or you can stand on the sidelines and bash it. Your life. Your choice.

mm

….. the dangers of false diagnoses of toddlers and preschoolers have been pointed out by Professor Stephen Camarata of Vanderbilt University, who has tested and treated children with autism for more than 20 years and has encountered many cases of inaccurate diagnoses.

A prudent trade-off, as distinguished from a crusade, would weigh the dangers of false diagnoses against the benefits of “early intervention.”

There is already considerable evidence of false diagnoses of preschool children as autistic, and the treatments inflicted on them can be abusive, with incalculable negative effects on their development.

….. Much has been made of statistics showing a sharp increase in diagnoses of autism in recent years.

What has gotten much less attention is the changing definition of autism, which raises the question whether there has been an actual change in the real world or simply a change in the way words are used when collecting statistics.

People today are often spoken of as being “on the autistic spectrum,” rather than as having autism.

While there are some conditions which are much like autism, there are other conditions, such as having a very high IQ or simply being late in talking, which often include characteristics listed on checklists for autism. These are open invitations to false diagnoses.

We would see the dangers immediately if people who wear glasses were included on “the blindness spectrum” or people with harmless moles were included on “the cancer spectrum.”

Blindness, cancer and autism are all too serious — indeed, catastrophic — to use loose definitions that fudge the difference between accurate and inaccurate diagnoses.

Loose definitions of autism produce bigger and more newsworthy statistics, which in turn can attract more children into existing programs and attract more money from the government, foundations and other sources to support those programs.

Many parents have told me that they have been urged to let their children be labeled autistic, or on the autistic spectrum, in order to get money for speech therapy or other conditions from grants that are available to deal with autism.

Professor Camarata points out that the “less precise ‘autism spectrum’” label “has had the unintended consequence of diluting resources, research and services to those children and families who most need the support” — that is, families whose children suffer from genuine autism.

http://www.bizzyblog.com/2007/11/14/early-...as-i-suspected/

Your reply is ignorant. Not sure what your point is and not sure why I'm replying.

Autism Spectrum is very real. There are people, including children, who score high functioning in math and extremely low in verbal. And vice versa. The high verbal low math child would appear "normal" as they chat it up, are social, and carry on conversation, but fall desperately behind in math, science, and logic/practice-related discipines (like learning or memorizing vocabulary). So they would be on the "spectrum", see?

There are children who are extremely LOW functioning, like Asperger's type children who nonetheless may be geniuses in certain fields, but without extreme help wouldn't be able to cross the street. You suggest they are full of sh*t, or their parents are full of sh*t? What kind of senseless insensitive moron are you?

You seem to have a knack for randomly lifting miscellaneous odd ball stuff from odd blogs for some odd reason. Perhaps you are are Scientologist? The Scientologists, for instance, say there is no such thing as mental illness, no such thing as a "chemical imbalance". They refute all known research, simply by stating "it is not so".

Is it possible for you to conceive that mental illness and emotional dysfunction is not fully elucidated yet and that in the meantime working diagnoses and sets of diagnostic criteria are needed in order to develop knowledge and understanding?

Ever worked with an autistic child? Ever dealt with the dismay of a family "stuck" with a child who is off? What's your suggestion, Stocks? Screw 'em? Darwinian? Toss em out there and see if they sink or swim?

sheesh.... mm

MM,

I think your response is improper. I think it's pretty clear that the definitions of autism are being so loosened as to make it totally divorced from what the average person might think of as autism and I'm pretty darned sure that there's an industry there to exploit it just as there is with ADD and for that matter poverty and most other problems that have loosening definitions.

What's more, I think that the take away is that what folks think of as autism isn't on the rise and obviously not a function of vaccinations.

Mark

Autism is real. Children suffer. Families suffer. Childhood vaccines do not cause this. "Experts" who say they do should be shot.

There will always be someone somewhere trying to profit off of someone else's agony.

There are mostly good people trying to help.

Misquoting crap and rubbing in cheap rhetoric is not going to help further the research or help some kid get through the day or give some overwhelmed family some relief for the afternoon.

mm

MM,

I'm going to step out on a limb and say there are folks trying to assert agony where there is only inconvenience and then profit from such.

Is your position that the incidence of Autism is dramatically rising? Are you saying that almost none of the increase in "Autism" entails kids with relatively minor behavioral/developmental issues?

Tangentially, do you buy into the large number of ADD diagnoses? Or do think think that a goodly number of such are more in need of parenting and behavioral modification than chemical intervention?

I in no way deny that many kids legitimately have autism and that they (and their parents) could use every break we can give them. I am also a bit skeptical when I see a dramatic incidence of "diagnoses" of anything, especially behaviorally oriented disorders.

It's kind of part and parcel with the acceptance 12-step programs have gotten from the establishment and the public at large. Looser and looser definitions of "addiction" come into play so that more and more people can be forced into these worthless programs to enrich the addiction industry.

After seeing that I'm inclined to look at any dramatic increase in any disorder with a very jaundiced eye.

Mark

Don't you people realize that Oprah means well and that's all that matters these days?
Truth and facts be damned next to emotion and sick children.

Didn't she save us from "Mad Cow" just a few years ago with the same emotion and lack of facts?

What do you people want?
Leave her alone!