Today's Autism story about the vaccine

[DianeG5385]

is identical to what happened to my son. I've been very emotional today because it's a validation of what I ALWAYS felt because his sudden decline including the high fever was right when he got the vaccinations. It's so sad, I accept my son as he is (which is incredibly wonderful) but every now and then days like today jolt me and I think of what could have been. My baby is a strapping 6 foot 16 year old handsome dude, severly disabled, once absolutely normal.

I'm going to look into this mitochondrial condition and see if this is an issue for him too.

[Warpy]

1. It was NOTHING YOU DID.

http://www.quackwatch.com/03HealthPromotion/immu/autism.html

Any link has been disproven again and again, yet the passionate antivax crowd keeps finding celebrities to push their ignorant agenda.

I am terribly sorry your son was diagnosed with this disease, but early diagnosis and appropriate treatment can make a huge difference. 10 years ago, they were still labeling kids with autism "retarded" or worse.

[Th1onein]

5. WHOA THERE! NOTHING HAS BEEN "DISPROVEN."

NOTHING. Disproving something is a lot different than finding no evidence to support a hypothesis. There might very well be a causal relationship between the vaccinations and the disorder, but it hasn't been proven yet. NOR HAS IT BEEN DISPROVEN.

[trotsky]

10. Nor has it been disproven that there's a link between eating bread and autism.

Or riding in car seats! Think about it - we didn't see such an increase in autism until car seats became more prevalent, right? That indicates a link, doesn't it?!?!? Ah the wacky world of anti-vax logic.

One thing that DOES seem to be linked to autism rates is early TV viewing. There's even a very interesting study supporting that, unlike the vaccine hypothesis: http://www.slate.com/id/2151538/

The researchers studied autism incidence in California, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington state. They found that as cable television became common in California and Pennsylvania beginning around 1980, childhood autism rose more in the counties that had cable than in the counties that did not. They further found that in all the Western states, the more time toddlers spent in front of the television, the more likely they were to exhibit symptoms of autism disorders.

[realisticphish]

12. big car seat is keeping us down

:mad:

[cutlassmama]

13. we didn't have cable when my children were little so my son

didn't get it from that. He did, however, get childhood vaccines. If it's ever proven that's the cause I'm suing the shit out of somebody. Believe me, I've had several cases where could (should have) sued someone, but chose not to. In this case I would. Not for me, but for him.

[KamaAina]

14. Eating bread: perhaps not the best example

a lot of families report success putting their children with autism on a GFCF (gluten-free, casein-free) diet. The theory behind this is that, in some cases, leaky gut syndrome may be driving the autistic symptoms.

[DianeG5385]

7. Thank you, I know it's not something I did

And Lawrence my handsome son has been in intervention programs since he was three. His "team" have known him and marvel at his progress (he has some speech now) especially if they knew him early on, so he is doing well considering his level of disability. I KNOW something happened and it happened right at the point vaccines were administered. I realize that vaccinations are a critically important health issue but that does NOT mean there is not a causal effect in certain kids. If this were NOT the case, MANY parents would not have come to the same conclusion and Congress would not have passed a bill immunizing the pharma companies that produce vaccines. I understand why they did that, but I don't want my reality taken away for the greater good. In the 60's there were numerous studies showing no causal relationship between smoking and lung cancer.

[Mnemosyne]

2. My grandson could count to twenty at age 3 1/2, he received

his first? Hep B shot and couldn't make it to even ten afterwards. He is now almost seven and has problems remembering how to count, spell, etc. I saw it happen myself and the vaccination was the only difference.

Hang in there, Dianne! :hug:

[DianeG5385]

8. This is so hard, I try not to relive the past but I have videos

It was around the disneyworld 25 year anniversary and he could sing the 1,2 up to 25 song in the commercials, he played peekaboo (he still does) beauty and the beast was his favorite video he was a regular toddler and then poof!

[Mnemosyne]

11. My heart goes out to you, Diane.

I know there are naysayers that claim we are wrong, but it is not the vaccine that I believe is causing the harm, it's the crap they throw in extra. They seriously piss me off when they brush our observations off as nonsense.

I've done hundreds of hours of research into the mercury controversy. Mercury is the second most deadly toxin on the planet, plutonium is first. My entire family is dealing with the effects of low-level chronic mercury exposure. We were exposed from 1965 to 1985. My mother had three other daughters born in that time. Long story, but the point is that any mercury in a vaccine or in your teeth is dangerous.

We are so very lucky that my grandson only suffers from a less severe reaction.

:hug: to you and your son.

[peace13]

3. Peace and love your way.

There is nothing we wouldn't do for our kids. My heart is with you. Peace, Kim

[glowing]

4. Mine started getting colds that lingered forever, eczcyma, and ADHD

symptoms.. None of these existed before the last round of shots he got.. I don't give a crap what anyone says.. when you see it with your eyes... and you "know" that there is a change.. it sucks.. and just try pursuing a law suit.. You can't.. Wonder why? hmm.

[OhioBlue]

6. I just watched the Larry King show

first - :hug: for you and your son. I know this has to be hard for you.

I have a son - my first. He is 7 months old. (very happy baby) I hadn't really heard of the controversy until I got pregnant and went on babycenter.com a lot. I've been really confused about vaccinations. He is on schedule and we don't notice any problems.

The reason for my post is to add some anecdotal information. This situation has been in my mind for a while. I have private insurance through my place of employment. My brother and sis-in-law have a son just 6 weeks older than my little one. They have Medicaid. We have the same Pediatrician. He can get his vaccinations at the Pediatrician's office b/c he is on Medicaid, but I have to go to the Health Department. I have never understood this. But after watching the show tonight and hearing about the Federal Vax Fund, I wonder if it is b/c the Docs don't want the liability, and if the Vaxs are provided through Medicaid or if you go to the Health Dept, the liability rests on the Govt. This was just something that was going through my mind.

[DianeG5385]

9. My darling son

Lawrence my handsome son has been in intervention programs since he was three. His "team" have known him and marvel at his progress (he has some speech now) especially if they knew him early on, so he is doing well considering his level of disability. I KNOW something happened and it happened right at the point vaccines were administered. I realize that vaccinations are a critically important health issue but that does NOT mean there is not a causal effect in certain kids. If this were NOT the case, MANY parents would not have come to the same conclusion and Congress would not have passed a bill immunizing the pharma companies that produce vaccines. I understand why they did that, but I don't want my reality taken away for the greater good. In the 60's there were numerous studies showing no causal relationship between smoking and lung cancer.

[shenmue]

15. This has been debunked a long time ago.

Vaccines do not cause autism. Please stop reading pseudo-religious fluff.

[happyslug]

16. The reports I have read do NOT dismiss the claim completely.

Most just say that at present there is just no evidence supporting a connection, and no evidence showing no connection exists:
http://specialchildren.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=specialchildren&cdn=parenting&tm=48&f=10&su=p284.8.150.ip_&tt=15&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.autismwebsite.com/ari/newsletter/iom.htm
The IOM report actually said: “Although the committee has concluded that the evidence favors rejection of the causal relationship at the population level between MMR vaccine and ASD, the committee recommends that this issue receive continued attention.... its conclusion does not exclude the possibility that MMR vaccine could contribute to ASD in a small number of children...”

The Actual IOM Report is here:
http://specialchildren.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=specialchildren&cdn=parenting&tm=6&f=10&su=p284.8.150.ip_&tt=15&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.nap.edu/books/030909237X/html

The best paragraph was on page of the report:
here are many examples in medicine of disorders defined by a constellation of symptoms that have multiple etiologies, and autism is likely to be among them. Determining a specific cause in the individual is impossible unless the etiology is known and there is a biological marker. Determining causality with population-based methods such as epidemiological analyses requires either a well-defined at-risk population or a large effect in the general population. Absent biomarkers, well-defined risk factors, or large effect sizes, the committee cannot rule out, based on the epidemiological evidence, the possibility that vaccines contribute to autism in some small subset or very unusual circumstances. However, there is currently no evidence to support this hypothesis either.

Basically, the report indicates that mercury is prob ally NOT related, but based on the report it read it can NOT exclude the possibility of a connection. Thus the issue is still alive and well.

As to other cases of Autism and Vaccines in March 2008 the Government conceded that the vaccine may have been involved in one child's case. The decision was very that child specific and tied in with another problem the child had, but the vaccine was somewhat involved:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23519029/
http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/news/20080306/dad-in-autism-vaccine-case-speaks-out
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5guh37t0Mvb_FztDKIFZs7a3het8QD8V8N98O0

The Government Position is there is no connection:
http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/autism/mmr/

Studies has failed to find a "Scientific" reason for any such connection:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22542677/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22542677/
Please note by Scientific the report basically mean a blind side test, i.e. a group who had the vaccine and came down with autism, and a group with everything else the same, except no vaccine. Given that most people get they kids vaccinated it is hard to have a blind side test. The Scandinavian came close, where they compared populations of children vaccinated after the introduction of the Vaccine and the population of Children before that date in the same area. The problem here is we are talking of a small population AND two different time periods (Pre-1981 and post-1981). This test shows no difference, but still two different time periods.

My own opinion is that the higher Autism rate is tied in with the switch from burning bituminous coal (Which had a low Mercury content AND the ash from Bituminous coal ABSORBED Mercury) to western ligate coal, with higher Mercury content (And ash that does NOT absorb Mercury). Thus since about 1980 (about when this switch occurred in the US) you had more mercury in the air, which leads to more cases of Autism. In such a situation the vaccine may just be a trigger and the cause is the higher mercury in ligate coal.

My point is while the evidence is slowly building to show no connection between Autism and Vaccines, a connection had NOT yet been ruled out. The mercury in the Vaccine may just trigger some people to go Autistic (Like the case in March 2008) but had no connections with most children who are autistic. Thus the evidence right now does NOT show a connection, it also does NOT exclude a connection. More research is needed, not blanket statements that Vaccine and Autism has absolutely no connection.

[GleninDublin]

17. vaccines

have been known to trigger immune-related diseases like M.E. (that's fact, by the way, not speculation) if administered when the body is vunerable. I agree with vickiss's hypothesis, that it's the mercury preservative in the vaccine which does damage.