The medical community is in an uproar over tonight's premiere episode of the new ABC drama “Eli Stone,” which portrays a mother winning a court case against a pharmaceutical company after claiming a childhood vaccine caused her son's autism.
Because of the controversy – including requests to cancel the show – ABC will air a disclaimer at the end of the episode, stating the story is fictional, but won't make any changes to the episode itself.
This has prompted the editors of the medical journal, Pediatrics, to lift its embargo on a new study in the February issue that debunks the link between autism and vaccinations.
Some parents and even pediatricians have blamed the spike in autism diagnoses on thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative routinely used in several childhood vaccines until the late 1990s. While many scientific studies have failed to show a link between the two, the worry persists.
This new research from the University of Rochester suggests that infants' bodies expel the thimerosal mercury much faster than originally thought, leaving little chance for the toxic metal to build up in their bodies. Read the entire study at http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/pr/news/story.cfm?id=1848.
Also, in anticipation of the episode, Drs. David Best and Michael Banks, founders of The Doctor's Channel (www.thedoctorschannel.com), a Web site that allows doctors to learn from one another through concise, one- to two-minute streaming video clips, have posted a video about autism and vaccines. See it at http://www.thedoctorschannel.com/video/521.html?specialty=38
As always, if you have any concerns about vaccinations or autism, talk to your own pediatrician. And enjoy the TV show for what it is – just entertainment.
Karina Bland is raising her 9-year-old son in Tempe with a lot of love, humor and support from her friends and family. A longtime journalist covering child welfare and education issues for The Arizona Republic, she blogs about raising good kids.
oo. interesting, im going to
oo. interesting, im going to have to try and catch it.
Thanks for sharing I will
Thanks for sharing I will watch too.. Also I will read your links... Good info!
Elizabeth is a discussion leader for arizonamoms she writes about everything from her needing mommy advice to crazy and silly stuff that happens. She lives in the West Valley with her husband and 3 children.
I beleive that some children
I beleive that some children to have suffered severe allergic reactions to vaccines. I've seen it happen on my own 2 month old son years ago. Nobody could or would convice me otherwise. I was ignorant about the possible terrible side effects. Thankfully my son recovered. But I learned my lesson. Read a Shot in the Dark. Or visit http://www.nvic.org/ To some this issue is more than just 'entertainment'.
I was so worried about my
I was so worried about my daughter after we moved her and the idiot doc didn't read her immunization form properly and gave her an extra shot of the IPV. I stayed up all night freaked out. She's normal, but as a mom you do worry about getting the wrong vaccines, meds, etc. and how it will affect them later.
Rant alert!!!! You know,
Rant alert!!!!
You know, I've read the studies and get why the medical community backs them so fervently, but...and it's a big but!... the more I read about autism (I have kids with autism) the more I believe that some people's bodies hold on to toxins more than others. That's why there are chelating agents out there. People have used them for years to cleanse their bodies and get rid of stuff like mercury and other metals. I know of people who have had their kids chelated and the kids have begun to talk and develop appropriately after being totally non-verbal! I have a friend whose autistic child is currently undergoing similar therapy and is having more and more "normal" days as each metal and toxin leaves his body.
For most people this is not and never will be the cure for them. This is not their problem. But for those who are suffering debilitating developmental delays because of this, why wouldn't the medical community deal with this??? MONEY! The pharmaceutical companies drive the research. No one wants to be blamed, or open themselves up to the lawsuit that would occur if either the medical community or the pharmaceutical companies accepted responsibility.
My experience with doctors that treat my sons is that they won't even look at alternative therapies. I've been made to feel really bad about wanting to try something else. And if I do decide to go out on my own, it would cost me thousands of dollars to try a therapy that may or may not work. Why isn't the medical community focusing on these other therapies? With 1 in 150 kids being autistic? It's all about the MONEY! It's also unconscionable!
And don't get me started on the insurance companies responsibility is this mess. Simple blood tests and genetic could reveal a whole lot about what's going on with autistic kids. They may find that the body is not expelling the metals like they should. They may find all sorts of things, but it all costs MONEY! There's that word again!
Grrrrrrrrr.....!!!!
Why doesn't a random, double
Why doesn't a random, double blind, study of thousands of kids, show the same effect from the therapy? It doesn't make sense that it only works for hopeful, desperate parents, who relay their story. If this therapy works, it should show a statistically significant difference. I'm not playing devil's Advocate - I'm really curious....
"Only a life lived for others, is the life worthwhile" - Albert Einstein
I think the therapies that
I think the therapies that we currently treat our children with are behavioral ones. Ones that will help them cope with life in the present and the future. Parents who use alternative therapies are looking at **curing** their kids. The problem comes with the diagnosis of autism itself. Since it's a spectrum disorder that includes 5 different types of disorders (autism, aspergers, retts syndrome, kawasaki and...?) with different causes and prognoses for each kid within the spectrum, there's too mush to deal with. A double blind study of thousands of kids just can't focus on the individual causes of this disorder. For instance, researchers have found a broken strand on gene 23 in autistic kids, BUT...it only accounts for 10% of the autistic population. It cannot account for the cause in autism in the other 90%.
Odds aren't good for finding the cause of this disorder when there are so many variables. There are autoimmune tendencies, allergy connections, genetic components, environmental worries etc. The scientific community is just starting to research this disorder in a meaningful way. In the meantime, we parents have to try anything and everything we can in the hopes of a cure for our kids. And, we've learned that we really can't rely on our doctors for real help right now. We go with our gut and try new things.
I hope I answered your inquiry. It's a valid one!
When my oldest was born and
When my oldest was born and had to have shots it scared me, like a lot of parents. More from the forms they hand you that tell you what to look for in case of a reaction. Things that could go wrong. My husband freaked and asked why are we doing this? It was a tough thing to do. I am thankful they were fine.
I have a girlfriend who refused to have her boys shots done all at the same time. She would come back every couple of weeks for the shots.The doctors office wasn't so happy, but it was her choice and she was making the best choice she could for her children.
KarilouMomof2 is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Tempe. Her daughters are 9 and 6.
The Centers for Disease
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the Institute of Medicine, the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics have all largely dismissed the notion that thimerosal (a mercury-containing preservative once used routinely in vaccines) causes or contributes to autism. Five major studies have found no link.
This is quite confusing as in July, 1999 the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Public Health Service released a joint statement urging vaccine makers to remove thimerosal as quickly as possible. Manufacturers began switching to single-dose containers. By 2002, thimerosal was present only in trace amounts in routine vaccines. (This seems counter-productive.)
Because of this conflicting evidence many parents of autistic children continue to blame vaccination, have filed more than 4,800 lawsuits, and propelled a grassroots movement challenging the medical and research community. (The diagnoses of autism is at an all time high from roughly 1 case for every 10,000 births in the 1980's to 1 in 150 births in 2007.)
Neurological problems such as autism certainly impassion (and enrage) us to find answers. Since these disabilities affect not only individual families but society as a whole we cannot discount anecdotal evidence of parents, teachers, or caregivers of children who are autistic, learning, or behaviorally different. Nor can we turn a deaf ear to any body of science committed to solving the Rubik’s cube of autism.
The central nervous system is the most vulnerable of all body systems to developmental injury. Genetics control neuron numbers; where the neurons go, establishment of connections, neurotransmitter activity, receptor numbers; and myelinization. Environmental influences are ever present during vulnerable times of gene expression.
There is compelling data regarding genetic abnormalities, exposure to toxic agents, and brain stem injury at the time of neural tube closure – giving us the first glimpse into the embryonic origin for autism -three weeks into gestation.
The vitamin D council coincides the rise in autism at the same time we were told to “stay out of the sun.” Six years ago, researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia, pointed out that vitamin D was crucial for proper brain development; including neuroprotection, neurotransmission, and hormones that affect behavior. Estrogen has multiple enhancing effects on vitamin D metabolism while testosterone does not. Boys are at four times the risk of developing autism than girls.
The malformation of other organs can also affect the developing brain. The small intestines develop shortly after the neural tube. Poor formation of cells lining the small intestines (ileal) can result in malabsorption of vital nutrients. Gastroenterologist, Dr. Andrew Wakefield discovered that impaired absorption of vitamin B12 could interfere with nerve mylenization which conducts the action potential between neurons – impairing nervous system development.
Much of the data including innate gut immune abnormalities and food intolerances (casein-gluten) point us in the direction of a strong brain-gut connection in autism.
Researchers from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University, Atlanta are investigating hormones, oxytocin and vasopressin, which prompt a constellation of social behaviors, including social recognition, communication, parental care, territorial aggression and social bonding and their deficiencies in autism.
To say that there is one causal factor such as childhood vaccines that choreographs the suite of spectrum disorders found in autism is naive in the extreme. Until an alliance (including co-authored scientific publications*) is formed between medical, psychiatric, nutritional, environmental, and bio-developmental research communities, the answers to the neurodevelopmental trauma our children face with alarming incidence will continue to frustrate and elude us.
*For laypersons like you and me – think of the diverse media attention.
A TV show? Let's take the wheelbarrows of money from commercial sponsorship and set up subsidies for families without medical coverage for their children with neuro-developmental challenges. Unbelievable.
Jan Katzen-Luchenta
Nutritional therapist - www.iluminahealing.com - Montessori educator - www.nutritionforlearning.com
It was my understanding that
It was my understanding that the American Academy of Pediatrics called for the removal of themerisol from vaccines, because it was not necessary as other replacement perservatives were available and they wanted the variable removed from question, once and for all. Presummably, the incidences of autism should decrease in populations who don't vaccinate and those who vaccinate with themerisol free vaccines. Unfortunatey, the worldwide data has not shown this to be the case. Themerisol just isn't the smoking gun that we all wish we had found.
"Only a life lived for others, is the life worthwhile" - Albert Einstein
The problems is not the new
The problems is not the new vaccines but the older ones still in doctors' offices! After buying and stocking the vaccines, many doctors have refused to throw out those doses they already have. Many don't even know what's in the vaccines that they have in their own offices. I've asked...no one seems to know or they don't want to tell me.
While I agree that thimerisol isn't THE smoking gun, I do think it is one of them along with a wide range of other toxins that we pollute our society with. And, I don't think that thimerisol is as bad as the medical community's reaction to the public outcry was. When a group like the medical community corners hundreds of scared and frantic "Momma Bears" there's going to be a heap of trouble! We're just asking for help, honest help, in dealing with a situation we instinctively know is not right.
I'm wondering if the spike
I'm wondering if the spike is caused not by the drugs, but all the processed foods we and our children eat day after day. Food has changed so much even since my kids where little. Preservatives, additives, dyes, pesticides it doesn't seem to end. I also find it interesting that many folks have found success with diet changes in their children with autism. Could our food sources be the issue? If I had to do all over again I would have a garden planted where I would eat my own veggies and use only organic products. And use no processed foods of any kind.