Opinion about autism

PeachPie · Apr 9, 2007

Yes, the increase is alarming. I don't really understand why there isn't more of a sense of urgency to find out why. Everytime some Congressman's child or grandchild gets dxed, there's new and helpful legislation introduced. I'm not complaining because we need the help and will take it any way it comes, but you do sometimes have to wonder why it isn't important to them unless it's in their family.

Yep, it's sad, but we're going to need another Rosemary Kennedy (lobotomy) or Bart Stupak Jr. (commited suicide while taking Accutane) before the autism research and movements. I wouldn't wish it on anybody, but nothing like a public shock with lots of connections will get such actions taken.

Multicollinearity, BSN, RN · Apr 9, 2007

I can't remember where I saw an article talking about apathy and autism. This article compared the climate in the US with the polio epidemic and autism now. Turns out - a child's chances of becoming autistic are many, many times higher than the chances of serious consequences from polio ever was. But the polio epidemic was a national frenzy and race to a cure or vaccine.

There just seems to be apathy about autism. And plenty of famous and powerful people have affected children.

vickynurse · Apr 9, 2007

It makes me wonder what has changed in obstetrics and peds in the last 20 years. I don't work in peds but here are some things that have changed in OB just off the top of my head:
1. Increased use of continuous EFM.
2. Increased rate of inductions.
3. Increased rate of epidurals.
4. Incresed rate of c/s.
5. Almost every pregnant women gets an ultrasound now. Before it was just if a problem was suspected.
6. I'm not sure but I think the breastfeeding rate has increased in the last 20 years.
That's all I can think of. Anyone else?[/quote
What about nutrition, lifestyle factors during and before pregnancy? A LOT has changed there. Not pointing fingers, remember we've only known about the importance of folic acid in recent years. There may be something else in the foodchain that is a factor. It may even be an exposure to something at an early age to the mother's eggs / DNA.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Apr 9, 2007

Has anyone considered that autism has been around for YEARS, and only NOW do we have a definitive, effective, specific set of diagnostic criteria by which to determine who has it and who doesn't? And that for someone to hear their kid is autistic doesn't cause the disaster that such a diagnosis would have brought about fifty years ago, when the stigma of mental illness and disorder was MUCH greater than it is now (not that it's really perfect now either, but hey - we're getting there)? Anyone considered how many folks that were institutionalized way back when (and NOT so way back when) were probably autistic and not "crazy", per se?

Autism is not a new disorder; it's been around for ages. Even AIDS has been found to have been around since the 1950s - it's just we didn't know what it was and it wasn't prevalent like it is now.

You know, it wasn't too long ago that Down syndrome was thought to be a reason for institutionalization....

And if you do some research, which is what my Pharmacology instructor passed on to us, you'll find that thimoseral, the additive with the rightly deserved bad press, had been taken out of vaccinations years before the whole autism thing became big news. No, I didn't believe it either, until she cited information from both the FDA AND the CDC AND the EPA stating it.

I wish I still had the email she sent out.

I don't think combo vaccines are a good idea, because I don't think tiny immune systems are ready for them. I think it's like overloading a circuit - the body is trying to mount an immune response to A, and then there's B floating around in the system, and then....well, now they're finding out that some of these vaccines are ineffective/wear off/don't last as long as they used to - who's to say there's not something to all this?

I also have a distinct problem with someone who's two hours old getting a Hep B vaccine (!!!!!), but that's another story.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Apr 9, 2007

It makes me wonder what has changed in obstetrics and peds in the last 20 years. I don't work in peds but here are some things that have changed in OB just off the top of my head:
1. Increased use of continuous EFM.
2. Increased rate of inductions.
3. Increased rate of epidurals.
4. Incresed rate of c/s.
5. Almost every pregnant women gets an ultrasound now. Before it was just if a problem was suspected.
6. I'm not sure but I think the breastfeeding rate has increased in the last 20 years.
That's all I can think of. Anyone else?[/quote
What about nutrition, lifestyle factors during and before pregnancy? A LOT has changed there. Not pointing fingers, remember we've only known about the importance of folic acid in recent years. There may be something else in the foodchain that is a factor. It may even be an exposure to something at an early age to the mother's eggs / DNA.
Why on earth hasn't SOMEONE in our illustrious pack of researchers in this country come up with FOOD PRESERVATIVES??? They didn't eat this crap twenty, thirty, heck, even TEN years ago like we eat it now. The EU has BANNED most of the garbage we still allow to be processed and injected into our food - when are we going to get with the program?
I am not a hippie, or a treehugger, and I don't even own one pair of Birkenstocks - but I have to wonder about this.

CRNI-ICU20 · Apr 9, 2007

you all are sooo very intuitive and smart people!

yes....i am sure that much of this increase has alot to do with all of the combinations of what you mentioned: vaccines, evironmental factors, diet load of preservatives....(nothing like a good pesticide spray on your fruit, your cereal, your milk, and the coffee beans you just ground into coffee.) imagine this same load going into your child, and they, with their very small bodies, and livers, having to "process" it all...

to judy: thimerisol has not been removed from vaccines....there is still mercury in vaccines on the market today being given to children and adults....along with aluminum in flu vaccines....read the labels.

the fda ordered that thimerisol be removed....but has not enforced it.

i find it completely ironic that we tell pregnant women to not eat more than one serving a week of seafood, because of the potential for mercury poisoning to the fetus while in utero, but we don't seem to have a problem with mercury being injected in a dosage designed for an adult into an infant three months after birth!! (the vaccine companies, ie chiron, merck, etc. have never measured or tested a 'child/infant' dose of their vaccines....they are all based on a 150 lb. male.

for something to have been only 1/10,000 20 years ago, to now being 1/133 in just the last two years, this seems to be more than just better diagnosis and screening tools.

the parents who hae seen their kids change literally overnight after an injection are not being heard.

if the drug companies are so sure their products are safe, why aren't they transparent about it???

if the drug companies are so sure their products are 100% safe, why do they make parents who have declared a vaccine injury to sign a waiver that says that if they receive any compensation from the us government that they cannot then sue the drug company?

the vaccine injury compensation fund topped out at 4 billion dollars last year....huh????

why are taxpayers being asked to subsidize failed medications???? what???

google it....look up what we all paid last year for merck, chiron, genetech and others to continue making a bad, untested, unproven, failed product.....

type in vaers....

the ceo's of these companies, including mr. rumsfeld, have never had to sit before congress and answer for their giant failed test rat experiment using humans as their subjects....

many will not believe that vaccines could cause so much damage....because we all have been 'schooled' to believe that vaccines are a medical miracle that prevents disease....no one would ever suspect that some vaccines are very harmful, and had very little testing done on them before being put on the market and injected into our children.

many want to believe that our own government, ie fda, is a wonderful branch of our government that looks out after us.....when in fact, along with congress, have been bought and paid for by drug company lobbyists....to the tune of three for every congressperson who occupies a seat in our government....(my son was in politics in dc....he was barraged daily by these guys wanting to talk with "the senator"...and for a few mins. of his/her time, a nice check would appear in the coffer for re-election.

yes...it's ugly....and it's wrong...and it"s very real....

it's not conspiracy theory....it really happens....

why else would the federal government set up such a huge fund to shut up parents of injured kids???

i can't think of an answer, other than the above, can you?

http://vaers.hhs.gov/

here's what the fda says about mercury in vaccines....

http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaccine/thimerosal.htm#act

my recollection from chemistry class and hazmat studies is that there is no safe level of mercury for humans.....duh.

http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/thi-table.htm

as you can see by this table, mercury is still in the vaccines....

why is that??? when it was ordered to be stopped????

http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/

here's an article....associated press....

it should give you pause....about combination vaccines....and drug companies who are all about money....

russian prosecutors probe gsk: illegal vaccine experiments on children wednesday, 07 march 2007 experimental vaccine tests on minors are illegal in russia. a report by the associated press indicates that glaxosmithkline is under criminal investigation by russia's prosecutor general for conducting vaccine trials on russian children.

a statement posted on the prosecutor general's web site indicates that investigators began the probe at a hospital about 550 miles southeast of moscow, after several children who received the experimental vaccines without parental consent fell ill and parents raised questions. the statement said that more than 100 children between the ages of one and two were vaccinated during the trials.

the vaccines: varilrix, for chickenpox, priorix, for mumps, measles and rubella, and priorix tetra, would treat all four diseases, have since been halted.

prosecutors said said parents had been told the vaccines were humanitarian aid, while the deputy director of the hospital involved had been paid $50,000 to part

http://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/view/507/31/

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so who would you believe?? parents who see right before their own eyes a complete change in their children.....or some high falutin' government fda worker who spends alot of time enjoying golf with one of gsk's lobbyists???

it makes me sick......

crni

adrienurse, LPN · Apr 9, 2007

Some random thoughts:

#1 there are no drugs without side effects. Acetaminophen has side effects.

#2 Child rearing techniques used to be blamed on autism. Everybody was so sure of that and then it was disproved. Imagine the years and years of judgement and guilt.

#3 Autism is a catchall term. It's actually called Autism Spectrum disorder now and it encompasses many so called types of illnesses. Some are not even thought to be autism or even an illness anymore -- just a particular extreem sensitivity to stimuli (Asperger syndrome) and with the proper support some can live relatively normal lives. It seems unlikely all these illnesses have the same cause just because they've been historically grouped together. This also poses a problem in reserching the incidence of the disorder since what autism is has always been in question. There may not have been many people diagnosed as Autistic 50 years ago, but how many people were "just ain't right"?

#4 Perhaps in the past before medicine advanced, fetuses who were predisposed to be autistic just didn't survive to term? What about infants in their first days of life. Child mortality rates used to be very high, especially for those who had devellopmental issues of difficulty thriving.

#5 It's very easy to say no to vaccines when your child is protected by the immunity of those around them. It's also easy to think that diseases like Polio and whooping cough are harmless if you've never known someone who's suffered from them.

adrienurse, LPN · Apr 9, 2007

No offence to Rosie (I'm sure her training as a neurologist was top notch) but accorning to the National institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the incidence of Autism is 3-6 in every 1000 children.

adrienurse, LPN · Apr 9, 2007

There's a lot of mercury in fish as well. So much so that there are certain types (such as tuna) to which it is recommended that people should not eat more than 4 times a month because of the risk for toxicity.

LydiaNN · Apr 9, 2007

No offence to Rosie (I'm sure her training as a neurologist was top notch) but accorning to the National institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the incidence of Autism is 3-6 in every 1000 children.

According to figures released by the CDC in Feb, 2007, the prevalence is actually 1 in 150 children, but 6 in 1000 children would result in the figure she cited of 1 in 166.

911fltrn · Apr 9, 2007

I do alot of advocacy work for a beautiful little autistic girl. Just thinking of her makes my heart happy. To provide info for your discussion:

RESEARCH

Autistics Clinically Proven Mercury Poisoned

From an organization press release.

http://www.Mercury-freeDrugs.org

Recent peer-reviewed scientific/medical studies by Nataf et al. (2006)

and by Geier and Geier (2006) leave little doubt that many children with

autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are indeed mercury poisoned. These studies

utilized urinary porphyrin profile analysis (UPPA) to assess body-burden and

physiological effects of mercury in autistics. Today, any parent, physician,

or healthcare provider can easily confirm whether a non-chelated autistic is

mercury poisoned by having UPPA testing run at Laboratory Corporation of

America (LabCorp) (CLIA-certified, Test#120980) or Laboratoire Philippe

Auguste (ISO-certified, Urine Porphyrin Profile).

UPPA is a highly accurate, inexpensive, non-invasive, and routinely

available method for estimating body-burden and toxicity of mercury.

Numerous peer-reviewed scientific/medical papers published over the past 40

years, many of them supported by the US NIH, have proven the validity of

using UPPA to identify mercury poisoning.

UPPA profiling, unlike attempts to directly measure mercury in the

blood, urine or feces, or in tissues (e.g., hair and nail), is a proven

method for assessing mercury toxicity.

Using UPPA, Nataf et al. (2006) studied the urinary porphyrin patterns

in French children using the results reported by Laboratoire Philippe

Auguste. Similarly, Geier and Geier (2006) studied the urinary porphyrin

patterns in US children using the results reported by LabCorp.

Both published studies:

. Clearly demonstrated that non-chelated autistics had porphyrin

patterns indicative of clinical mercury toxicity, while normal children and

their normal sibling controls did not.

. Found that the more severely affected the ASD children were the

higher their evidence of mercury toxicity.

. Established that treating autistics with chelating agents resulted

in lower mercury-specific urinary porphyrins, which corresponded to apparent

reductions in the mercury body-burden of these children.

Many other physicians who take care of ASD patients have ordered UPPA

testing and confirmed the observations made by Nataf et al. (2006) and Geier

and Geier (2006).

Thus, urinary porphyrin profile testing is being successfully used to:

. Demonstrate the role of mercury in populations of autistics,

. Identify those children and adults who are mercury poisoned, and

. Track mercury excretion from affected children undergoing

treatment.

For the past several years there has been a raging controversy as to

whether or not mercury in medicines, especially in vaccines, has caused the

dramatic rise in the rate of children diagnosed with an ASD. Many experts

have insisted ASDs are caused by some yet-to-be-identified genetic cause. A

paper recently published in Nature Genetics described the results of

multi-million-dollar genetics study (which studied a thousand-plus families

with at least two autistics using in-depth genetic screening). Tellingly,

the authors reported, "None of our linkage results can be interpreted as

'statistically significant'." (The Autism Genome Project Consortium,

2007).

This makes it unlikely that purely genetic aberrations ! are t he root cause

of most ASD cases.

With the current porphyrin study results, public health officials

should now publicly admit what they have been saying in their private

transcripts and memos all along: Mercury from Thimerosal-containing vaccines

and other medicines has been a major cause of ASD cases, which, according to

recent CDC (2007) estimates, may occur one in every 150 children.

CoMeD's web site, http://www.Mercury-freeDrugs.org contains:

. Further information on how to order these tests,

. Full copies of the Nataf et al. (2006) and Geier and Geier (2006)

papers, and

. Some of the many published papers validating the UPPA test.

n2b8ter · Apr 9, 2007

Vaccinations are not without risks...none of them are. The risk factor may only be 1%, but unfortunately, there are some infants, like yourself, that end up being that 1%.
Some infants die just from being put under anesthesia, but the surgeries, when necessary, go on and there isn't a huge movement to never put babies under anesthesia when neccessary.
I have to disagree that autism is a developmental disorder...there is substantial debate of whether it's an illness or a developmental disorder, primarily because we don't know what causes it.
Another example is Down's Syndrome...which isn't really a syndrome anymore, because the term syndrome is used to determine a set of conditions for which there is no known cause, and we have known what causes Down's Syndrome for quite some time, but the name has "stuck".

I took interest in this topic because I have an autistic son. Im gonna post a link to the following website. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism

Autism is classified as a developmental disorder. You are correct in saying that there is debate on what causes it because we dont know. In my case, he sat up and said mama and dada on time. He walked at 12 months. But its like he regressed some and then did not talk normally until 3 and 1/2 yrs old. Thank God for my husband who is very supportive and a great dad to my son. We have a daughter together and she is normal. So I think its definately genetic. But I dont know for sure that something else didnt cause it. By the way, I have never done drugs nor did I drink during pregnancy. His bio father drank and did drugs. I found out the drug thing after I had already had my son. Maybe because his father did drugs caused something to be wrong with my son? I dont know. Wish there was a cure or surefire way to prevent it.