The Age of Autism: CDC probes vaccines
By DAN OLMSTED
UPI Senior Editor
The CDC is continuing to investigate whether a mercury preservative in childhood immunizations has caused cases of autism -- despite the fact a report it paid for said such research should end.
The agency wants to determine whether exposure to the vaccine preservative, called thimerosal, can be linked to autism spectrum disorders, Glen Nowak, director of media relations at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Age of Autism on Friday.
The study includes 300 children with ASDs, 200 of whom have full-syndrome autism, as well as a comparison group of children who do not have the disorders.
In 2004 a CDC-funded report by the independent Institute of Medicine concluded there was no evidence of a vaccine-autism link and efforts should go instead to "promising" autism research.
"Further research to find the cause of autism should be directed toward other lines of inquiry," the immunization review panel said. "It's really terrifying, the scientific illiteracy that supports these suspicions," said Dr. Marie McCormick, chairwoman of the IOM panel, in a New York Times article in June.
And the head of the CDC's immunization program said the same year that only "junk scientists and charlatans" take such a link seriously.
Nevertheless, spokesman Nowak said the CDC -- which sets the childhood immunization schedule that states adopt -- has not eliminated thimerosal as a suspect.
"We do agree the preponderance of evidence to date suggests there is no association between thimerosal and autism," said Nowak when asked why the CDC was continuing to pursue the issue. But he said CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding is committed to exploring all possibilities until the cause or causes of the disorder are identified.
"Dr. Gerberding has made it clear the CDC has not ruled out anything as possible causes of autism, including thimerosal," Nowak said. "Science is a dynamic process. We have continued to fund studies to look at the role, if any, of thimerosal."
The study was designed in 2003 and data collection -- which includes evaluation of each child and their immunization history -- began last year, Nowak said. A letter dated Nov. 8 and an accompanying brochure were provided by a parent who received them.
"In this study, the CDC wants to find out if children who received vaccines and medicines with Thimerosal as infants are more likely to later have developmental problems such as Asperger's Syndrome or autism," says the letter, sent on behalf of the CDC by a research firm and Kaiser Permanente, one of three HMOs involved.
"Your participation in this study may help doctors learn about the possible risks of vaccines and medicines that contained thimerosal."
The mother who received the letter expressed dismay because most medical experts and federal health authorities have reassured parents thimerosal does not cause autism and is not responsible for the large increase in diagnoses beginning in the 1990s.
In 1999 the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics urged manufacturers to phase out thimerosal from childhood immunizations as soon as possible, based on the concern that the total amount of mercury received by a child could exceed some government guidelines.
But, citing five subsequent epidemiological studies, the CDC and other health authorities now say there is no evidence of an association.
The CDC continues to recommend flu shots -- most of which contain thimerosal -- for pregnant women and for children 6 to 23 months of age. The agency has declined to express a preference for the thimerosal-free version, citing concern that it might cause some parents to forego immunizing their children against flu if they cannot obtain it.
In addition, tens of millions of children around the world are being injected with thimerosal-containing vaccines, based heavily on the assurances of U.S. health authorities that it is safe and does not cause autism.
Results of the study should be available in September 2007, Nowak said.
2 comments:
The preponderance of evidence shows a causal connection between heavy metal toxicity, especially Mercury and Autism. Autism has risen in direct correlation to our children's exposure to Mercury and other neurotoxins. The research and evidence is out there and it is only a matter of time before this is acknowledged by the medical community as undisputed fact. The developing brain is most vulnerable in early childhood to Mercury exposure, either through parent's amalgam Mercury fillings, or vaccinations, both of which represent exposure's to the child hundreds of time the EPA acceptable level. It's logical that no level of neurotoxin in the vast majority of cases could be GOOD for the developing brain and prepostrous to state that exposure to any level of Mercuy much less the amount found in vaccines and amalgams is "safe".
The most obvious solution to mitigate this disruption of normal brain and nervous system functioning and developing is to rid the body of the cause of the problem, which is primarily due to effects of Mercury. This can be done through either chelation or clathration treatments that bind the loosely attached Mercury to sulfur groups on intracellular proteins to molecules with a greater affinity for the metal. Human evolution has provided us with a mechanism to cope with heavy metal toxicity and this is mainly through binding with the body protein glutathione; unfortunately the fact that exposure to Mercury and other heavy metals have increased a hundred fold over the last hundred years has exceeded our capacity to evolve mechanisms to excrete the neurotoxins.
If you buy the mainstream idea that Autism is some MYSTERY illness, no doubt perpetuated by the ADA and pharmaceutical companies whose liability most probably reaches into the hundreds of billions of dollars, then by all means leave the accumulated potent neurotoxins in your childs body to their continued detriment.
In considering removal of the heavy metal burden from the body, do a lot of research and be very selective and careful with the advice and treatments you choose to follow. DMPS has been known to cause severe disabilities in patients for which the level of Mercury release exceeded their bodies capacity to excrete. Make no mistake there are LARGE stores of Mercury in the body, for with the average person with Autism or amalgam fillings would result in a fatal exposure if it were to be released at any one time. These Mercury stores have accumulated over time and the only safe way to release them as of now, is slowly and over time, through a vehicle that can effectively bind the Mercury so that it is not reabsorbed while the body is excreting it.
How did I come across this knowledge? Through hours and hours of careful research, analysis, and concern for my own health. The 8 years I spent in higher education has helped as well. I encourage all of you to do more research on the subject, and rather than resigning yourselves to a fatalist position, learn the true causes of the disorder, dangers of Mercury in the body, and myriad maladies it has caused and siege it has lain on millions of unsuspecting lives. Knowledge is power, and through knowledge and awareness we can hope to put an end to the truly needless and pointless suffering caused by industries putting their bottom line over that of people's well being. We as a people can see now why careful government regulation and continued scientific anlaysis and research needs to be done to protect our health. Most importantly is that people need to be aware that we can't always follow blindly something that is the established norm, we are all responsible for our health and need to be proactive both at the societal and individual level to ensure our continued prosperity and well being.
Through the removal of the neurotoxin from malaised bodies, the body may not return to a fully 100% nominal state; however you will have given your body its best chance to develop normally from that point out and to repair the damage that has been done to the furthest extent genetics will allow. I worked with an autistic child for quite a while, and while we may huge leaps through ABA and discrete trial therapy along with a close personal affinity the child developed for me, It makes me so angry to hear from doctors the phrase "well we don't know what causes Autism"; We do know all the evidence is there, it's just the influence of the powerful industries that have vested interests and liabities running into hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars in liability that have obfuscated and delayed progress in solving this crisis. Progress is being made however, many European nations now have banned the use of Amalgam fillings, and the FDA has disallowed the use of Thimersol(Mercury) in childhood vaccinations as of 2002. Good luck and best wishes to all afflicted by this needless tragedy.
The CDC and large industries on whom the liability for the continued exposure of these neurotoxins to the general public for so many decades bear the great burden of responsibility and guilt. Such as was the case with these same organization's and groups like them who took the similar positions on LEAD, nuclear radiation,and a litany of other issues, the TRUTH eventually came out. That is just the natural course of human development and discovery. Here is a most applicable quote by a 19th century philosopher ;
"All truth passes through three stages: first it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third it is accepted as self-evident."
The problem with people today in general is such that because a large entity with a high level of actual and perceived authority ,such as the government or large corporations, make a statement that "there is no observed link between Mercury and Autism" we as a people tend to accept that at face value.
The truth is, and if we as a people could embrace this concept, is that these large entities who's word we have come to embrace as gospel, do not have authority over TRUTH. The body of scientific evidence obtained through careful research, and discovery as well as experience has proven Mercury to be a potent neurotoxin. We all know the spectrum of effects a neurotoxin can have on the brain, from subtle ones, to flat out death. Why is it that despite the CLEAR and LOGICAL connection that Mercury in the human body MUST and is proven to be bad, we accept these assinine and ludicrous positions by the CDC and industries? We as a people need to learn to be more critical thinkers and not sacrifice what it means to be human, FREE and RATIONAL thought, for complacent and conformist positions. When we give up our ability to think, we are giving up what it is that makes us human.
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