As I write this blog, names and faces come before me. I know many autistic people.
Being a retired teacher, I am well aware of ‘autism’. Two things I know. The number of children suffering from autism sky-rocketed in recent years and autistic children are intelligent. Some are gifted above the average child.
Meet Carly:
There have been studies showing mercury-based vaccines given to infants and young children could be a cause of autism.
But one theory that’s been discussed and studied all over the world is whether the rise in autism has anything to do with the increase in childhood vaccinations. Why? The controversy was ignited in 1998 by a small study based on reports from parents of 12 children with autism.
Another reason why parents and some doctors thought that childhood vaccines might be one of the potential causes of autism is because they used to contain a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal. While no studies showed a link between any harmful side effects and the thimerosal in vaccines, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Public Health Service agencies decided to remove thimerosal from childhood vaccines in 1999. Today, the only childhood vaccine used with any regularity that contains thimerosal is the influenza vaccine, says McMillan.
Personally, I find it very interesting that the product was removed for ‘no reason’.
Sadly, the cause of autism has become politicized. This should never happen, but often does when money, government, and big companies are involved. Recently in Britain, a conspiracy has come to light involving the British Medical Journal that is largely financed by the vaccine companies:
The BMJ, in essence, has been caught pulling off what may be the largest scientific fraud ever perpetrated by any medical journal in the history of the world. It grossly misrepresented the facts in falsely accusing Dr Wakefield of fabricating the clinical trial data that led to his landmark study being published in The Lancet in 1998. The innocence of Dr Wakefield has now been established by these newly-released documents.
The study of the relationship between autism and vaccines has been very politicized in the US as well and there are those who believe that many who suffer from the disease are victims of the use of thimerosol.
The removal of ‘thimerosal’ is a good step in the right direction, but there is still doubt in the minds of many because:
While it’s still possible to find the occasional study showing evidence that a link between childhood vaccines and autism could be possible, the bulk of the scientific research does not support this view. And the majority of experts say that the theory just isn’t backed up with good scientific evidence.
Perhaps, with break throughs such as the one Carly and her family have experienced, those who are suffering from the condition may be able to take up the cause of finding out the reasons for autism and how to prevent it.
Related articles
- Thimerosal and vaccines (drerindenil.wordpress.com)
- Vaccines and Autism: A Tale of Shifting Hypotheses [Greg Laden's Blog] (scienceblogs.com)
- Autism In America! (waylon1776.wordpress.com)
- Exposed: CDC deliberately manipulated, covered up scientific data showing link between vaccines containing mercury and autism (2012indyinfo.com)
- Autistic Disorders and Thimerosal (ethyl-mercury) (drerindenil.wordpress.com)
