A girl with autisml performs on stage during Autism Awareness Day celebration in Mumbai, India,
Saturday,April 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
CNN reports on two separate studies and a court decision that say autism isn't caused by the MMR vaccine.
It also states that the original 1998 theory--that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine caused autism, with the theory being that the vaccine caused gastrointestinal problems and that those problems caused autism--was debunked and discredited a few years later. However, many parents didn't accept the "debunking" and stopped immunizing their children.
In the past year the two studies and court decision declared unequivocally that vaccines do not cause autism.
The original study was even recreated--in the original laboratory in one case--and the result was that the MMR vaccine not only doesn't cause autism but it doesn't cause gastrointestinal problems either. CNN reports, "...many experts said this study is conclusive and 'puts the issue to rest'...."
Daniel Campbell, Vanderbilt University, says he has "found a reasonable explanation for why many children also have GI problems. According to his research, a genetic variation of a protein called MET contributes to both autism and GI problems, rather than GI problems causing autism."
And in February, a special vaccine court ruled in three different cases that there is no proof that vaccines cause autism. The judges showed empathy toward the families, but couldn't rule in their favor.
This by no means will end the debate. Families want, and need, to know what causes autism. Some studies are even saying there are many causes because there are many, many types of autism. We all know that prevention is vital, but prevention won't help the kids who have autism right now.
Families will continue to fight for the answers, just as they'll continue to fiercely protect their vulnerable children while searching for more effective treatment methodologies.
The conversation continues with you.
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Comments
AS the parent of a late teenager originally diagnosed with another metabolic/genetic disorder and later re-diagnosed as autistic (Aspergers), the penultimate paragraph is key - research shouldn't override care, support and development of those already diagnosed or the need to approach the search for 'answers' with a modicum of pragmatism.
Two links on this page offer up, on the one hand, vinyl flooring as a possible causal factor (despite citing a 'small' sample; never a good thing in medical research) and on the other the possibility that tropical storms during pregnancy increase the risk of a child having ASDs.
While research and prevention is important, loving, enjoying and being there for your child is more so - preemptive speculation on cause or cure, for any disorder or disease, can play havoc with the hopes and emotions of those with ASDs and their loved ones.
Ever heard of Bailey Banks or Hannah Polling. The vaccine court ruled their autism was caused by vaccines. Kinda interesting how you didn't include those or mention there has never been a study comparing vaccinated vs. unvaccinated. That might be a study worth undertaking. The CDC has the money. Last week they announced a study that showed...wait for it...pets cause people to trip.
Also, children today receive 36 shots by the age of two. That is the most in the world.
Maybe you could update your entry with some facts.
These latest studies are only the latest in a long line of scientific studies, all of which have come to the same conclusion: childhood vaccines have no, as in zero, correlation to the onset of autisim. The court case that the original commenter referred to was a COURT CASE, a LEGAL ACTION. That is not SCIENCE but rather OPINION based on legal statutes and probably reflects a particularly good presentation by a lawyer.
Every SCIENTIFIC study, however, does show a very high correlation between the use of the MMR vaccine and the elimination of those childhood diseases, which are linked to deafness and, in extreme cases, death of babies and children. When large numbers of parents in an area refuse the vaccine, the incidence of autism remains the same as in areas where children are getting the vaccine, but the incidence of these other childhood diseases jumps tremendously, to the point that in San Diego a few years ago schools had to be closed and in at least one case a baby too young to be vaccinated nearly died. This was reported on This American Life, btw.
The net: if you want to protect your children, get them vaccinated.
While I feel empathy for parents with special needs, I completely support vaccinations. Being a nurse practitioner, I have the opportunity to see children and adults suffer from not getting vaccines. I do not feel vaccines cause an increase risk of ASDs. I support that the benefit far outweighs the risk. Having a child with Type 1 Diabetes, I support research to find cures and disease prevention. Putting children at risk is not the answer. I understand parents wanting a reason for autism. Having had a foster child with Aspergers, I have empathy for any parent and child that suffers with this. Let's support research into this disease but let's not put our children at risk while we do it.
I can only share my personal experience regarding vaccines. When I cam on board as a Hartford examiner, it was to write as a parent of autism. However, I also am a mother of quadruplets, one has autism.
They were all inoculated. Only one has autism. My gut tells me genetics plays a huge part in this puzzle.
What environmental influences have impacted the rise in autism remain to be seen, with significant research and awareness.
Public health is by definition political. Agencies are established and controlled by the political process. Because they are political, even though concerned with scientific matters, disputes are settled in courts, not on peer reviewed panels of scientists who answer to nobody. The cigarette science that is offered as proof of no link between vaccines and autism should be evaluated skeptically. Independent research has yet to be done. The matter is far from closed.
The word vaccine, be it MMR or any of those 36, should be changed to the "VACCINES". That is way many of those "scientists", "MD's" and "PhD" are intelligently using one by one vaccine approach to prove vaccines innocence. Nobody is talking about the big cumulative effect of all vaccines combined together. A little bit of this vaccine and a little bit of that vaccine and our children are screwed forever. Of course plus all that junk GMO food and who knows what else. I have spent more then twelve years in the medical device industry designing anything from the catheters to the blood glucose meters, and honestly, I do not trust to many of those “scientific” investigations at all. So be informed and very careful and do not rely on these reports either. Try to postpone the MMR as much as possible, at least until your kids gets five years old. Or, do not let them get vaccine combos at all (that’s what Tony Blair has done to his child but never has admitted it). Definitely avoid the hepatiti
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