Hi Everyone,
As some of you know here, I am a mother of two ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) children. The New York Times issued an editorial the other day dismissing the autism-vaccination link. They say it is time to move on. Frankly, I do get irritated with the mercury moms that claim the mercury preservative drug, thimersol, caused their child’s autism. Thimersol has been removed from most of teh vaccinations and the CDC has reported that the numbers of children diagnosed with autism has remained steady over the last several years. However, I am not ready to move on.
Something has gone awry with our male population. Did you know that many colleges reject more qualified female applicants over their male counterparts just so that the colleges can retain a 50/50 male – female ratio?
I must point out that 4 boys are diagnosed with autism for every girl that has been diagnosed.
This New York Times article demonstrates that something is occuring in our male population.
The reality is that because young men are rarer, they’re more valued applicants. Today, two-thirds of colleges and universities report that they get more female than male applicants, and more than 56 percent of undergraduates nationwide are women. Demographers predict that by 2009, only 42 percent of all baccalaureate degrees awarded in the United States will be given to men.
I read recently in the Journal of Neuroinflammation and article regarding pioglitazone treatment on behavioural symptons in autistic children. In this article they state that …
Altered immune responses in children with ASD are well documented. Autoimmune disorders of thyroiditis, colitis, myelin basic protein autoantibodies, and diabetes are prevalent in children with ASD. Stubbs (1976) published that 5 of 13 autistic children had no detectable rubella antibodies despite prior immunization.
Other world wide studies have confirmed that..
ASD patients show evidence of immune dysregulation.
Autoantibodies have been described in patients with autism to brain antigens.
There is an increased incidence autoimmune disease in the families of patients with autism.
The question remains on whether this a secondary sympton of autistic patients or can giving a large number of vaccinations to children that are susceptible to autoimmune diseases be causing the neurological disorders.
Please keep in mind that a child born in the 1960’s received 3 vaccinations before the age of 7. In 1983, that number had increased to 10 and now the number of vaccinations a child receives is 36 before they reach the age of 7.
Also, the federal government gives $28,000 to local school districts for every child diagnosed with autism. The Office of Special Education gave out $4.9 billion dollars in state grants in 2000 and that amount increased to over $10.5 billion dollars in 2006.
Here is a good article written by Sharyl Attkisson on why this debate still continues.
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From 1983 to 2007, autism rates have climbed from 1 in 10,000 children to 1 in 150 children, a growth rate of 6,000% (boys are significantly more affected by neurological disorders, accounting for approximately 80% of all cases). ADHD currently affects 1 in 13 children. In the same period, the CDC’s recommended vaccine schedule more than tripled. The simmering debate over the cause of childhood neurological disorders shows no sign of cooling, but no study had ever been done to look at unvaccinated children.
● Autism News
Hi Jill, glad to hear from you once again. All the best to you and your boys.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Hi Oui. It’s great to hear from you as well. Hartelijk bedank for the link to the new survey. They used the same technique that the CDC used when trying to assess the current autism rate. I am sure it will be disputed though.
‘very expensive’..’and not worth it’…yeah right. Healthy human beings aren’t worth it I guess..but the cost emotionally and physically of this massive increase in autism cases to say nothing of the huge expenses incurred by families and to society is ok..maybe we could take one or two days of money spent in Iraq to make sure all kids could get this test.
Isn’t that sad to think about the money being wasted on this war when it could be used for something worthwhile. This disease has torn my whole family apart and I have gone from a happily well off married woman to a single welfare mom overnight.
Sad yes and on certain days almost rage inducing for me when I think of the money being wasted and stolen from taxpayers instead of being used to put in place health care policy for all, preventive health care, support for families who have permanently disabled family members.
There’s nothing I can say about what you are going through that could possibly help, I can only hope you have friends and family members that support you.
I don’t know if it is vaccinations or changes in our environment that have lead to it, but I have noted a huge increase in autoimmune diseases in all the people I know, including myself. Perhaps there is an underlying cause, such as increased UVA or an environmental toxic that is producing this increase in autism alone or in concert with vaccinations.
Strange that you should say this. In the last decade, my wonderful sister-in-law came down with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I don’t think CFS falls into the autoimmune disease category yet but recent research think indicates that it may be. I also had an aunt die of MS last February and then my ex’s cousin died of MS in January 2005. I have another aunt with fibromylagia and many of my relatives have diabetes and they are not overweight. My ex’s aunt died in 1999 from complications of diabetes. I also had a cousin die from a rare autoimmune disease ten years ago when she was only in her 20’s. I wish I could remember the name of it. I will have to write her sister and ask. I know this isn’t scientific but I have heard of so many people getting MS recently but I don’t know if it is because I am getting older or if there is something else going on.
The problem with junk science is that it takes away time, effort and money from finding the real solutions to outstanding problems.
There have been cases where the medical profession has overlooked the evidence for a long time and hindered progress, the connection of Cholera to contaminated drinking water took several decades to become incorporated into public health policy, for example.
And the history of medicine is filled with ineffective treatments being used for centuries, like bloodletting. It is thus wise to always remain a bit skeptical, but science has improved over the centuries and such mistakes become less frequent.
So rather than chase causes which are highly unlikely for things like autism public priorities should be directed at gaining a better insight into the actual causes.
It is not clear that these conditions are more common now or if it that science is better able to detect them. Furthermore in a less technological society people with neurological impairments may have been able to function adequately. Things like herding or farming may have been within the capabilities of such people whereas dealing with computers or highly complicated manufacturing machinery is not.
The issue of autism is clouded by the number of law suits pending which makes it seem that many are in it for the money, and if not directly, than they are being pushed by lawyers who will benefit from such cases.
I don’t consider studies being done at Johns Hopkins, UC Davis and other major universities regarding the autoimmune system and autism to be junk science. It has been established in the scientific community that the majority of autistic children do not develop antibodies for the vaccines that have been given. Autoimmune disorders of thyroiditis, colitis, myelin basic protein autoantibodies, and diabetes are prevalent in ASD children. What they are trying to determine now is whether this is another condition of autism or if their immune system had been compromised and if so, how.
Yes, there are ASD children that are higher functioning (such as Aspergers) and they will be able to blend into society but the problem now is that the majority of ASD children will need assisted living in the future. In Ohio, we have a problem in that there is not enough beds to support these children when they get older. We are working on alternative solutions such as parents donating their homes after they pass away so they can house 3-4 autistic adults with one caretaker. The IDEA laws in place help families now because the children go to school and we have some breaks but the major worry is when they turn 18 and the parents must care for them 24/7. MR/DD is most counties across the country can’t afford to help families and so they issue waivers on an emergency basis only which is ususally when the child turns 18.
About 5-10 % of individuals with autism have ‘secondary’ autism in which an environmental agent, chromosome abnormality, or single gene disorder can be identified. It is the remaining 90-95 percent in which we don’t know the cause. I was also a skeptic of the vaccination – autism link when I first heard of this but after studying this for the past three years, I have learned to keep my mind open. I do wish the mercury moms (and dads) would get off the thimersol bandwagon since the autism rates in California have remained steady after the removal of thimersol from most vaccinations several years ago. The media focuses too much attention on this and glosses over the autoimmune system.
There are other studies like the one at Yale University in which they are looking at the placenta. It appears that ASD children are three times more likely to have trophoblast inclusions in the placenta. Further larger studies have dismissed this but autism is very complicated because I think it may have different causes.
I also want to add that many people mistake autism with mental retardation. There are major differences. For example, my oldest son can ride a bicycle but he doesn’t have any fears so he will ride in the middle of the street and not obey stop signs. These kids are much higher maintenance than people that have only been diagnosed with mental retardation.