[aloevera]

what about all the medications people are taking now, pills for everything from anxiety to lonliness....granted some are definately needed but how many are prescribed for the drug co. profit??? what s/s are we going to find out about 20-30 yrs. down the road about all these unwarranted medications....how 'bout those commercials, "are you sad, are you depressed, are you shy, are you unhappy???
Pop a prozac and all will be OK....well, hell, we all get those feelings, they are normal !!!! but now everyone runs to the doc to get a pill...Sorry for the rant, I get so ticked about this...

[yogarita]

I have had thoughts on autism -- having worked in neonatal nursing for more than 27 years. We keep hearing about how the diagnosis of autism has improved and more children are being diagnosed perhaps because of looking at a wider spectrum of symptoms so more children are now "meeting the qualifications" to be diagnosed as autistic.
A few questions I have:
first of all, shouldn't there still be a breakdown of these children, to really show where they fall in the spectrum? Shouldn't there be research to really differentiate the degrees of autism -- and whether the number of children with certain types autism is/or is not increasing? I don't think it should just be said "oh, the diagnosis is getting better" -- which is something I have heard school psychologists state.

another question I have -- when infants receive immunizations, what exactly is happening in their physiology? I believe the gastrointestinal tract is lined with nervous system cells -- you sometimes hear the phrase, "what does your gut tell you".
I have also heard a phrase like, "the gut is the body's second brain."

there have been articles written on autism and its relation to the gastrointestinal system. One which I cannot cite immediately, and will have to search my emails for, was in the periodical Nature a few years back and it discussed this connection between the GI tract, and the brain and immune reactions being set-up in the body.

I realize I am not coming across very scientific with my questioning, but I am hoping to get some feedback from some who might know more about this.


The immune system has a response when infants are given these injections (at very young ages), and this response is registered throughout the body. Sometimes infants have a mild cytogenic response with the first set of immunizations. Perhaps it is the second or third set of immunizations which really sets "into motion" the physiology that leads to autism. Just like infants who have had bad reactions to their immunization when they receive the second or third series of shots. Perhaps certain infant's have genes that make them more susceptible to the immunization and more likely to have a cytogenic response and have their neuro system affected.

The brain and the body are all connected. Messages get sent throughout the body, brain. I think it is quite possible that immunizations could be playing a role in the increase of autism.

There has been an increase in the numbers of immunizations that infants receive in the past two decades. How many years has it been routine to give children the Hepatitis B vaccine now. I know I have seen it given in my hospital for several years.

why do infants need this immunization at such a young age? It is likely they are going to get exposed to hepatitis B at a young age? Of course not. so wait until they are a older. I think there could very well be a connection between autism and immunizations, or the number of immunizations infants receive at a young age.

Is the same practice of immunizations done in European countries and other industrialized countries around the world? What are their rates of autism?

I would appreciate hearing other's thoughts on all of this.

[grace90]

Originally Posted by yogarita

There has been an increase in the numbers of immunizations that infants receive in the past two decades. How many years has it been routine to give children the Hepatitis B vaccine now. I know I have seen it given in my hospital for several years.

why do infants need this immunization at such a young age? It is likely they are going to get exposed to hepatitis B at a young age? Of course not. so wait until they are a older. I think there could very well be a connection between autism and immunizations, or the number of immunizations infants receive at a young age.

I have been reluctant to blame immunizations for my son's (and other cases) autism, but you certainly raise some interesting questions.
Why do newborns get Hep B?
Wouldn't that be a better immunization to get at say, maybe, 10? Or, why do children need to be immunized against it in the first place?

Is there really that big of a risk of community acquired Hep B?

[aloevera]

I just had to get my son the Hep B vaccine to get in to college and wasn't real comfortable about that either....But I do not believe that anyone needs it until they are old enough...
as for all the other vaccines, I always had my doubts about them, too.
When my son had the first DPT, the pertussis made him very ill for 2 days, high fever, weak, anorexic....I didn't allow another pertussis to be given to him. I think some are needed but we are over vaccinating just like we are over medicating....all boils down to big $$$$ for the drug companies.....I would be interested to know if there was a correlation between vaccines and autism, too. Sounds plausible to me.

[drhy]

it is a real problem because the life pattern adopted by many parents leading to ignorance of thier children, i think we need to rise a discussion in a big TV show Like operah for example to increase parents' awarness on how to prevent or deal with such problem by specialists give professional advises.

[hypocaffeinemia]

Originally Posted by aloevera

.I would be interested to know if there was a correlation between vaccines and autism, too. Sounds plausible to me.

16 studies say no correlation.

As for over-vaccinating, I think that's a mindset that comes from years without epidemic diseases prevented by the vaccinations. If polio and measles were as widespread today as they were in the times their vaccinations were developed, we'd be thanking our lucky stars such a preventative tool was developed.

Autism exploded around 1980. So did high fructose corn syrup, cable television, and yuppie lifestyles, not to mention better diagnosis.

Oh wait, what's that? A new measles outbreak: http://uk.reuters.com/article/health...46685120080821

[aloevera]

But who is conducting these studies??? It isn't the drug co.'s is it??
Why on earth does a 3 mo. old baby need a Hep B vaccine????

[hypocaffeinemia]

Originally Posted by aloevera

But who is conducting these studies???

Medical scientists at universities across the globe.

It isn't the drug co.'s is it??

You're familiar with the concept of peer review and meta-studies, right?

Why on earth does a 3 mo. old baby need a Hep B vaccine????

What does this have to do with possible vaccine-autism links? Whether or not the Hep B vaccine is appropriate for three month olds has nothing to do with whether or not vaccines cause autism.

I'm not sure why newborns are required to get Hep B vaccines in low incidence areas. However, in high incidence areas such as Taiwan, the use of the Hep B vaccine has significantly reduced the incidence of not only Hep B infection, but secondary childhood hepatocellular carcinoma: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/...ct/336/26/1855

[rph3664]

Check this out.

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Autism...gony_of_autism

Certainly mental retardation hasn't declined THAT much in 11 years!

[hypocaffeinemia]

Originally Posted by rph3664

Check this out.

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Autism...gony_of_autism

Certainly mental retardation hasn't declined THAT much in 11 years!

Maybe vaccines reduce mental retardation!