Posted on 04/20/2005 8:26:42 AM PDT by agsloss
Lancaster, PA, Apr. 18 (UPI) -- Part 1 of 2. Where are the autistic Amish? Here in Lancaster County, heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, there should be well over 100 with some form of the disorder. I have come here to find them, but so far my mission has failed, and the very few I have identified raise some very interesting questions about some widely held views on autism. The mainstream scientific consensus says autism is a complex genetic disorder, one that has been around for millennia at roughly the same prevalence. That prevalence is now considered to be 1 in every 166 children born in the United States. Applying that model to Lancaster County, there ought to be 130 Amish men, women and children here with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Well over 100, in rough terms. Typically, half would harbor milder variants such as Asperger's Disorder or the catch-all Pervasive Development Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified -- PDD-NOS for short. So let's drop those from our calculation, even though "mild" is a relative term when it comes to autism. That means upwards of 50 Amish people of all ages should be living in Lancaster County with full-syndrome autism, the "classic autism"...
-snip-
I have identified three Amish residents of Lancaster County who apparently have full-syndrome autism, all of them children. A local woman told me there is one classroom with about 30 "special-needs" Amish children. In that classroom, there is one autistic Amish child. Another autistic Amish child does not go to school. The third is that woman's pre-school-age daughter. If there were more, she said, she would know it. What I learned about those children is the subject of the next column.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
No argument here.
I think the term for this phenomenon is "herd immunity" or something to that effect. I have read that as more and more parents do not vaccinate, the "herd immunity" is decreasing, setting the stage for possible recurrence on a wide scale of previously rare childhood illnesses.
We have many old diseases with new diagnoses; my take is that we have way too much well-intentioned diagnosis-by-reaction; something like treating a patient with a headache by whacking him on the foot with a big hammer.
And how many studies does it take to prove to you that it has been looked into and no cause-and-effect relationship has been found? Guess the whole Dow-Corning disaster could happen just as easily tomorrow as it did 10 years ago. You'd think people would learn. I still know a lot of folk, though, who truly believe the breast implants caused scleroderma (it didn't).
Especially when they are well-funded...
thimerosal use had not been declining since the mid 90's. More correctly since the Turn of the Century.
It may also have something to do with being around farms and farm animals.
I remember reading that exposure to the farm environment allows the developing child's immunity system to deal with common ailments which are out and about in the world.
Similar to minimal exposure leads to immunity concept of vaccines.
I just mention it to add to the discussion.
You are correct, and when I found out about it, I nearly took my kids' pediatrician's head off him.
They have since changed their policy, and now inform parents about what company produced the vaccine, and whether or not it contains elements of aborted babies.
Regards,
PS: As a Catholic, I was nearly physically sick when I learned about this, especially since my kids had been vaccinated using Merck's chicken pox vaccine. I know I'm not guilty of anything except ignorance, but it still weighs heavily on my mind. (BTW...I STILL don't see the need for a chicken pox vaccine. I'd really rather they just GOT the chicken pox.)
Where are you getting that?
Here are the current numbers:
Table 1. Thimerosal Content of the Routinely Recommended Pediatric Vaccines
| Vaccine | Tradename (Manufacturer)* | Thimerosal Status Concentration**(Mercury) | Approval Date for Thimerosal Free or Thimerosal / Preservative Free (Trace Thimerosal)*** Formulation |
| DTaP | Infanrix (GSK) | Free | Never contained Thimerosal |
| Daptacel (AP) | Free | Never contained Thimerosal | |
| Tripedia (AP) | Trace(<0.3 µg Hg/0.5mL dose) | 03/07/01 | |
| DTaP-HepB-IPV | Pediarix (GSK) | Trace (<0.0125 µg Hg/0.5mL dose) | Never contained more than a Trace of Thimerosal |
| Pneumococcal conjugate | Prevnar (WL) | Free | Never contained Thimerosal |
| Inactivated Poliovirus | IPOL (AP) | Free | Never contained Thimerosal |
| Varicella (chicken pox) | Varivax (M) | Free | Never contained Thimerosal |
| Mumps, measles, and rubella | M-M-R-II (M) | Free | Never contained Thimerosal |
| Hepatitis B | Recombivax HB (M) | Free | 08/27/99 |
| Engerix B (GSK) | Trace (<0.5 µg Hg/0.5mL dose) | 03/28/00 | |
| Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate (Hib) | ActHIB (AP)/OmniHIB (GSK) | Free | Never contained Thimerosal |
| PedvaxHIB (M) | Free | 08/99 | |
| HibTITER, single dose (WL)1 | Free | Never contained Thimerosal | |
| Hib/Hepatitis B combination | Comvax (M) | Free | Never contained Thimerosal |
| Influenza | Fluzone (AP) | 0.01% (12.5 µg/0.25 mL dose, 25 µg/0.5 mL dose)2 | |
| Fluzone (AP) (Preservative Free) |
Trace (<0.5 µg/0.25mL dose)2 | 09/04/02 | |
| Fluvirin (Chiron/Evans) | 0.01% (25 µg/0.5 mL dose) | ||
| Fluvirin (Chiron/Evans) (Preservative Free) |
Trace (<1ug Hg/0.5mL dose) | 09/28/01 | |
| Influenza, live | FluMist3 (MedImmune) | Free | Never contained Thimerosal |
| Meningococcal | Menactra (AP) | Free | Never contained Thimerosal |
* Manufacturer abbreviations:
GSK = GlaxoSmithKline; WL = Wyeth Lederle; AP = Aventis Pasteur; M = Merck.
** Thimerosal is approximately 50% mercury (Hg) by weight. A 0.01% solution (1 part per 10,000) of thimerosal contains 50 µg of Hg per 1 mL dose or 25 µg of Hg per 0.5 mL dose.
*** The term "trace" has been taken in this context to mean 1 microgram of mercury per dose or less.
1 HibTiITER was also manufactured in thimerosal-preservative containing multidose vials but these were no longer available after 2002.
2 Children 6 months old to less than 3 years of age receive a half-dose of vaccine, i.e., 0.25 mL; children 3 years of age and older receive 0.5 mL.
3 FluMist is not indicated for children less than 5 years of age.
I'm having this vision of Marcus Welby on a white horse, chasing a winged-helmeted man with a fistful of flowers...
The term "autistic spectrum disorders" exists because the symptoms in autism are so hard to "contain." Two clinics, the Amen Clinic and Dr. Eric Braverman's, actually sees all brain disorders as biochemical imbalances (sometimes from trauma).
Our autistic son seems to have a little bit of a lot of different things, and we attribute his problem to a Pitocin-induced delivery not "done well." He had no vaccines until he was 18 months old (we lived very rural until then), and I didn't know enough at that point to request non-thimerosal, but I think he may also have P.A.N.D.E.S syndrome post-antibiotic therapy for strep infection.
He was non-typical at birth for autism (good birth weight and Apgar scores, etc.) BUT he emitted a high-pitched ("cephalic") cry about six hours post-delivery only one time and I have seen subtle things that were "wrong" with his development from that point on, including a cerebral-palsy type curvature in his left leg by six weeks of age, left undescended testicle, lots of subtle things from right after birth on. I have contended for the first 19 years of my son's life (he's now 28) that before mercury-containing vaccines were exhibiting effects on the population, you can find the effect of synthetic-oxytocin induced deliveries, and the evidence exists in part in a four-hospital study out of Japan reported in the 6/91 issue of The British Lancet. At this point, Dr. Eric Hollander of Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC claims about a 2/3rds rate of history of induced deliveries in his autism study population. That was published in Newsweek, I believe, in recent years.
After trying many different types of therapies, all more or less with success, we are looking to the vasodilation approach of Dr. Hammersfahr (of Terry Schiavo fame) probably coupled with hyperbaric oxygen (under pressure in a tank). It is the therapies that enhance vasodilation that we have seen the most improvement from in our son. Brain cells around the perimeter of damaged areas can be "awakened" by vasodilation, and I think that is where hope lies for our son.
To quote a great visionary: "Never give up."
You are comparing Current Numbers to Pre-2000 numbers. Roughly (1988-1999/2K)
In the mid-90s companies introduced the single use vial, instead of the big vial you would draw a dose out of. Therefore there was no need for a preservative. You opened the vial and used the vaccine and threw the whole package away. So while the government mandated removal of thimerosal in 2000, the industry was already removing it before that.
Don't you think that at least part of the increase in diagnosis is also due to a broadening of the definition? I wonder how many of the children who today are diagnosed as being on the "autistic spectrum" would have had a similar diagnosis years ago. Do you think there has been an increase in recognition of relatively mild autism disorders? That could account for some of the increase, anyway.
Not so, epidemiological studies are driven by anecdotal clusters but basic physical science operates from direct observation; we do have the barometer, thermometer, etc. by the work of Torricelli, who unfortunately failed to account for the freezing point of sea water.
Aren't you forgetting that those epidemics occurred PRIOR to all the medical wonders that have since developed? You seem quite comfortable with the amount of children damaged by these vaccines. Why are they expendible? Do you have an autistic child? I do. And it occurred after his second round of the MMR vaccine. Luckily he is on the higher end of the spectrum. My perfectly healthy child was damaged so that the 'greater good' of having a vaccine dependent society can continue. The more I learn about autism the more I have become cynical with the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry.
In a very real sense, parents who vaccinate their children are the ones who make it possible for children who are not vaccinated to live relatively safe, disease free lives, because it is these vaccinated kids which prevent the widespread epidemics that used to kill thousands.
In a very real sense, a not-so-small amount of perfectly healthy children have been irrevocably committed to a lifetime of health problems with NO compensation or redress from these pharmaceutical companies. In a very real sense, they are being told, "Too bad, but we're not monetarily liable for our product that damaged your child." These affected families have a new set of worries, worries that will affect their families' quality of life, money will be scarce, treatments are not covered by insurance companies. The list goes on and on. I will always worry about my little boy as he grows older. According to people like you, it's horrible at what happened to him but it is still worth it that my child was damaged. Thank you very much!
And you know this how? Granted, when we took the manufacturer list in, with us, to our local clinic, we found none. Do you have a list of what remains?
Now, please deal with the main point, considering thimerosal has been declining in use since the mid-90s, why hasn't the autism rate gone down as well?
Another poster alluded to the existence of a correlation. I indicated I would be interested in seeing that study.
I'll ask you the same question: Assuming thimerosol use has declined, and the autism rate hasn't, what is causing autism?
That's the question we're trying to get answered. There is currently no incentive on the part of the drug manufacturers specifically, or the medical community, in general, to answer this question.
What, exactly, is Joe Citizen left with, in the apparent absence of concern by the "experts"? If no one will even acknowledge the existence of the problem, let alone the source, what would you have us speculate on? ...or would you rather just hope you're not a "winning" member of the exponentially growing odds of having a family member afflicted?
Would you rather nobody know of the mounting anecdotal evidence that points to a correlation between immunization and autism? What, exactly, is your connection to the immunization field?
Like I said, since most autism is diagnosed around 3-4 y.o., we should be seeing a decrease in autism rates, and we aren't.
In a very real sense, parents who vaccinate their children are the ones who make it possible for children who are not vaccinated to live relatively safe, disease free lives, because it is these vaccinated kids which prevent the widespread epidemics that used to kill thousands.
Actually, no. Most of the epidemics you refer to accured before antibiotics. The diseases we immunize for are mainly relatively harmless ones. For 20 years all the cases of polio in the US were caused by the live vaccines. The CDC's response was to give the vaccine companies 2 years to use up their existing stocks (who cares about the additional cases these vaccines would cause). The measles epidemics which caused birth defects were caused by the vaccine immunizations wearing off unlike natural ones obtained from getting the disease as a child.
Whether or not the mercury causes autism, it exceeds safe limits of mercury ingestion. Neither the CDC nor the vaccine companies seem to have the children's health as their top priority. Besides anything which you have to sign away your Constitutional rights to do is something you should be cautious about.
I don't mean to say that all vaccines should be done away with just that you need to be sure that the benefits are greater than the problems they may cause.
Arguably, the reason we are still having some of these problems could well be because of all the illegal aliens we are entertaining amongst us -- who arrived without the benefit of inoculation because they're here when they shouldn't be -- oops, does someone think this is racially biased?
Diseases don't usually discriminate by race, but inoculated societies suddenly overwhelmed with un-inoculated populations just might start showing some disease impact -- like, frinstance, tuberculosis, etc.
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