Posted on 09/23/2008 3:51:59 AM PDT by rellimpank
Ever since psychiatrist Leo Kanner identified a neurological condition he called autism in 1943, parents whose children have been diagnosed with the most severe form of the illness -- usually in the toddler stage, before age 3 -- have found themselves desperately searching for some way not to lose their children to autism's closed-off world. Unfortunately, such parents have often found misguided doctors, ill-informed psychologists and outright charlatans eager to proffer help.
Paul A. Offit, a pediatrician and the chief of infectious diseases at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, has gathered this sorry parade of self-styled samaritans for "Autism's False Prophets," an invaluable chronicle that relates some of the many ways in which the vulnerabilities of anxious parents have been exploited.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
"As Dr. Offit reports, the autism bogeyman is now the use of thimerosal, a preservative in vaccines. Thimerosal, as many studies in several countries have shown, is safe; whatever may be causing the increase in autism diagnoses, thimerosal isn't it."
No, thimerosal is not the CAUSE.
It may be a TRIGGER.
There are all kinds of irresponsible people commenting on this condition. It is a genetic disorder and it is also a real problem.
If thimerosal were the cause, or even just a trigger, banning thimerosal would have caused a drop in autism cases, or at least a decline in the rate of increase. The statistics seem to show it had neither effect. No change at all.
The book seems to be titled somewhat harshly. Many of the treatments that have been tried have been proposed by sincere people who genuinely thought they worked. These people may be wrong, but they are not charlatans.
The author would apparently have preferred for no treatments to have taken place for the last six decades. As we have no idea how to treat this awful condition, we just won’t do anything at all. This is not realistic for parents, who will try something when nothing is the other option. It might work, after all.
Offit is the patent-holder for the Rotashield vaccine that was pulled from the market following a rash of infant deaths. He is not an objective commentator on this issue.
JMHO but, the wide ranging effects of these chemicals on the human body might contribute to the rise in cases of Autism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_disruptors
Health effects attributed to endocrine disrupting compounds include a range of reproductive problems (reduced fertility, male and female reproductive tract abnormalities, and skewed male/female sex ratios, loss of fetus, menstrual problems,[5] changes in hormone levels; early puberty; brain and behavior problems; impaired immune functions; and various cancers.[6]
I have an in box, an out box and an ignorant crap box. Dr. Offit, Columbia or not, lands in the ignorant crap box.
I have an in box, an out box and an ignorant crap box. Dr. Offit, Columbia or not, lands in the ignorant crap box.
As of now, there is no credible evidence supporting the MMR as a cause or the cause of autism, and several large studies done in different countries by different investigators show absolutely NO association.
Accusations of "bias" are empty unless one can show that bias actually entered into the decision and/or opinion by examination of the data.
So you have six boxes...
Exactly my point. Irresponsible.
He does have a point about the scare tactics, but he is a jerk.
Unfortunate parents of autistic children have nothing to gain from their position except a cure, or no more autistic children. All of the research currently being funded is being funded by pharmaceutical companies with a strong financial interest in finding “no association.” People like you will never see an association because your livelihood depends on you not seeing an association.
Thimerosal is mercury. Mercury is a neurotoxin. There ARE studies showing thimerosal to be 900 times more toxic than “regular mercury.” There are studies showing the effects of thimerosal on primate brains. Thimerosal suppresses the immune system, allowing the MMR, which contains a live measles virus, to cause a low-grade, chronic measles infection.
Wakefield found an active measles infection in the gut of autistic children. Their symptoms are similar to CNS inflammation that occurs with measles. Measles RNA was found in their cerebral spinal fluid. DNA testing matched it to the vaccine strain. None of this evidence has ever been refuted—just name-calling; “Wakefield’s a charlatan.”
You can keep injecting your children with “the safe mercury” (Yes, it’s still in the flu and Hep B vaccines)if you want, but why is this the only medical procedure over which I am not allowed to exercise informed consent? And over what had been considered for years to be benign childhood diseases!
Nope. Check it out...the Euro governments paid forit as did our CDC and NOT drug company money.
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