David Kirby:

I realize my Huffington essay was rather long and complicated. Here is a brief synopsis of just SOME of the larger points raised in the piece. I will probably alter this a little, but it hits most of the main topics. Please feel free to circulate - DK

● Up to 1 in 50 children (2%) may have a genetic mutation that puts them at risk for mitochondrial dysfunction.

● Up to 20% of all children with autism may have an underlying mitochondrial dysfunction

● Children with mitochondrial dysfunction are more likely to regress into autism between the ages 1 and 2 years, if they have fever or illness from viral infections or vaccines.

● The CDC is aware of this difficult situation and is taking measures immediately to address the current national vaccine schedule.

● The genetic susceptibility for mitochondrial dysfunction in autism is inherited through the father, not the mother, as previously thought, and is not rare at all.

● The DNA mutation might not be enough in itself to confer cellular dysfunction, and many doctors believe there is an environmental trigger as well.

● They note that thimerosal, mercury, aluminum, pollution, pesticides, medicines and prenatal alcohol exposure have all been shown to damage mitochondria.

● Other doctors believe that a corn-byproduct based diet in America has put children in a constant inflammatory state, thus making the DNA mutation more pathogenic.

● While some children with mitochondrial dysfunction regress into autism following fever and illness from a viral infection; other kids, like Hannah Poling, clearly regress following a reaction to vaccines.

● The exact percentage of people with vaccine induced autism is unknown. But even a 1% rate could mean 10,000 Americans with vaccine related autism, at a cost of many billions of dollars for lifetime care.

*promote

Self promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Monday, July 11th, 2011 4:13pm PDT - promote requested by original submitter marbles.

its still misleading to think vaccines cause the autism--
---
A literature review identified 40 studies suitable for meta-analysis. For each exposure, investigators calculated a summary effect estimate by means of a random-effects model.

Collectively, the studies examined more than 60 perinatal and neonatal factors. Meta-analysis showed that 16 of the factors had significant associations with autism:

Abnormal presentation, umbilical-cord complications, fetal distress, birth injury or trauma
Multiple birth, maternal hemorrhage, summer birth, low birth weight
Small for gestational age, congenital malformation, low five-minute Apgar score, feeding difficulties
Meconium aspiration, neonatal anemia, ABO or Rh incompatibility, and hyperbilirubinemia
The magnitude of the risk conferred by any one factor ranged from a relative risk of 1.14 for summer birth (P=0.02) to 7.87 and 7.34 for neonatal anemia and meconium aspiration, respectively (P=0.02, P=0.001). Use of healthy versus abnormal control groups for comparison increased the effect size for all of the factors.

Additionally, the analysis ruled out several factors as possible etiologic culprits:

Anesthesia
Assisted vaginal delivery
Post-term birth
High birth weight
Head circumference

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/Autism/27484

I'm sick of having intelligent conversations with "no vac" ppl only to have twisted stubbornness overshadow logic and science. I'm not saying the "big pharm" isn't a greedy bunch of asses, but swallow your pride and realize that though they are greedy it also is PROVEN to work.

It's worth noting that while vaccines might have a ever so undetectably small chance of causing autism, narcolepsy, athletes foot, diabetes or any number of crazy stuff. The diseases they protect one from are a lot worse, and some of them will even trigger stuff like autism, paralysis, death or worse.

I'm voting this down, as I thought it was some new revelation that had gone against what the studies and investigations had ACTUALLY found out, but it's not, this is from 2008. This has been shown to be false, in that the age at which kids generally start showing Autism is the same age at which they get vaccines.

It is NOT a cause and effect, it is not causation, they just happen around the same time.

This digging up things from the past that have been shown to be false and passing it around as if it's something new is what conspiracy theorists do.

The people who think that vaccines do more harm than good are gravely mistaken and misguided I'm afraid.

Anyone who's child appears to suddenly change from 'normal' to autistic is naturally going to want a scapegoat, but I'm afraid vaccines are not it, they just aren't.

Have a watch of this very good video on all of this 'outrage' about vaccines.

With Spoco on this one. Downvote from me.

>> ^spoco2:

I'm voting this down, as I thought it was some new revelation that had gone against what the studies and investigations had ACTUALLY found out, but it's not, this is from 2008. This has been shown to be false, in that the age at which kids generally start showing Autism is the same age at which they get vaccines.
It is NOT a cause and effect, it is not causation, they just happen around the same time.
This digging up things from the past that have been shown to be false and passing it around as if it's something new is what conspiracy theorists do.
The people who think that vaccines do more harm than good are gravely mistaken and misguided I'm afraid.
Anyone who's child appears to suddenly change from 'normal' to autistic is naturally going to want a scapegoat, but I'm afraid vaccines are not it, they just aren't.
Have a watch of this very good video on all of this 'outrage' about vaccines.


No-one claimed it was causation. The only one talking in absolutes is jackasses like yourself.
So thousands of parents are looking for a "scapegoat" and blaming vaccines for their child's autism? And I'm the conspiracy theorist?

US CDC Actively Investigating Vaccines As A Cause of Autistic Conditions
Posted on April 22, 2011 by childhealthsafety
CDC Autism/Disability Study: Mercury and Vaccines Are “High Priority” Targets

High Rates of Autism Found in Federal Vaccine Injury Program: Study Says More Answers Needed
Posted: 05/10/11 12:41 PM ET
For the past two decades, according to the group, "the federal government has publicly denied a vaccine-autism link, while at the same time its Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) has been awarding damages for vaccine injury to children with brain damage, seizures and autism."

Their investigation, "based on public, verifiable government data, breaks new ground in the controversial vaccine-autism debate," and reports that "a substantial number of children compensated for vaccine injury also have autism -- the evidence suggests that autism is at least three times more prevalent among vaccine-injured children than among children in the general population."

>> ^marbles:

>> ^spoco2:
I'm voting this down, as I thought it was some new revelation that had gone against what the studies and investigations had ACTUALLY found out, but it's not, this is from 2008. This has been shown to be false, in that the age at which kids generally start showing Autism is the same age at which they get vaccines.
It is NOT a cause and effect, it is not causation, they just happen around the same time.
This digging up things from the past that have been shown to be false and passing it around as if it's something new is what conspiracy theorists do.
The people who think that vaccines do more harm than good are gravely mistaken and misguided I'm afraid.
Anyone who's child appears to suddenly change from 'normal' to autistic is naturally going to want a scapegoat, but I'm afraid vaccines are not it, they just aren't.
Have a watch of this very good video on all of this 'outrage' about vaccines.

No-one claimed it was causation. The only one talking in absolutes is jackasses like yourself.
So thousands of parents are looking for a "scapegoat" and blaming vaccines for their child's autism? And I'm the conspiracy theorist?


Um, yes you did, you're title is CDC's Julie Gerberding Admits Vaccines can Trigger Autisim, that's suggesting causation, sir ass of jack.

And whaaaa? I don't even know what the hell the second part of your answer is saying.

There are kids with autism, seemingly more than there used to be, there are a number of different thoughts as to why this is (not least being it's better at being diagnosed now than it used to be). I'm all for people wanting to find the causes of it, but leaping at something that just happens to happen at around the same age as they start showing signs is not good science, it doesn't help anyone, and is doing huge amounts of harm by making people stop being vaccinated.

Children have DIED because parents have not got them vaccinated because of this fear that idiots like Jenny McCarthy have stirred up. I have family and friends who have thought that there actually a link between the two when THERE IS NOT.

David Amaral, PhD, Director of Research, University of California, Davis M.I.N.D. Institute. PBS, April 2011:

In general, vaccines are not the culprit, (but) there may be a small subset of children who may be particularly vulnerable to vaccines if the child was ill, if the child had a precondition, like a mitochondrial defect. Vaccinations for those children actually may be the environmental factor that tipped them over the edge of autism.

Duane Alexander, MD, former Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), current Senior Scientific Advisor to NIH's Fogarty International Center. Interview, October 2009:

One question [is] whether there is a subgroup in the population that, on a genetic basis, is more susceptible to some vaccine characteristic or component than most of the population, and may develop an ASD in response to something about vaccination. The trigger could be some adverse or cross-reacting response to a vaccine component or a mitochondrial disorder increasing the adverse response to vaccine-associated fever.

Geraldine Dawson, PhD, Chief Science Officer, Autism Speaks. July, 2009:

It remains scientifically plausible that the challenge to the immune system resulting from a vaccine (or other immunological challenges) could, in susceptible individuals, have adverse consequences for the developing brain. Evidence does not support the theory that vaccines are causing an autism epidemic. However, it is plausible that specific genetic or medical factors that are present in a small minority of individuals might lead to an adverse response to a vaccine and trigger the onset of autism symptoms.

Story Landis, PhD, Director of the National Institute of Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), former member, IACC. Statement, October 2009:

It is important for autism researchers to study the children who have been most profoundly affected by their response to vaccines.

Julie Gerberding, MD, former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, current President of Merck Vaccines. CNN, March 2008:

If a child was immunized, got a fever, had other complications from the vaccines. And if you're predisposed with the mitochondrial disorder, it can certainly set off some damage. Some of the symptoms can be symptoms that have characteristics of autism... I think we have to have an open mind about this.

Martha Herbert, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, Pediatric Neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. PBS, April 2011:

I think it's possible that you could have a genetic subgroup. You also might have an immune subgroup. There are a variety of subgroups. But the problem with the (vaccine-autism) population studies is they don't... they aren't necessarily designed to have the statistical power to find subgroups like that if the subgroups are small.

Autism Speaks, Official Statement. February 2009:

We will continue to support authoritative research that addresses unanswered questions about whether certain subgroups of individuals with particular underlying medical or genetic conditions may be more vulnerable to adverse effects of vaccines. While large scale studies have not shown a link between vaccines and autism, there are lingering legitimate questions about the safety of vaccines that must be addressed.

Upvote controversy.

Spoco2, Videosift Goldstar, July 2011:

This has been shown to be false, in that the age at which kids generally start showing Autism is the same age at which they get vaccines.

It is NOT a cause and effect, it is not causation, they just happen around the same time.
[...]
I have family and friends who have thought that there actually a link between the two when THERE IS NOT.

You can quote as many people as you like going 'Yeah, there is a possibility that there may be some small subgroup of people that are already predisposed to become autistic who may get a fever (from vaccines or not) that may then trigger it'. You can quote as many 'investigations' by biased groups who are looking for these links in the first place as you like.

Vaccines do not cause Autism in anyone who isn't already predisposed to get it. All they've currently said is that it's possible that these kids could be triggered into Autism by a fever, from any source, and that a vaccine can bring on a fever being that it's making you mildly sick.

So, even if you didn't have the vaccine, and then got sick, you'd still have the Autism triggered.

And if enough people stopped getting vaccines because they were afraid that they'd get a fever from it that may trigger autism, then the diseases that are being vaccinated for will re-surge back into being, start hurting and killing children in and of themselves, and on top of that causing sickness and fever that will trigger the darn Autism in those predisposed to it anyway.

It's people who don't understand medicine, science, causation, etc. etc. trying to find one thing to pin the pain of having their child be Autistic on.

Heaven forbid they look at their own genetics for f*ck's sake.

So long as circumcision doesn't cause autism I'm safe.

>> ^spoco2:

You can quote as many people as you like going 'Yeah, there is a possibility that there may be some small subgroup of people that are already predisposed to become autistic who may get a fever (from vaccines or not) that may then trigger it'. You can quote as many 'investigations' by biased groups who are looking for these links in the first place as you like.
Vaccines do not cause Autism in anyone who isn't already predisposed to get it. All they've currently said is that it's possible that these kids could be triggered into Autism by a fever, from any source, and that a vaccine can bring on a fever being that it's making you mildly sick.
So, even if you didn't have the vaccine, and then got sick, you'd still have the Autism triggered.
And if enough people stopped getting vaccines because they were afraid that they'd get a fever from it that may trigger autism, then the diseases that are being vaccinated for will re-surge back into being, start hurting and killing children in and of themselves, and on top of that causing sickness and fever that will trigger the darn Autism in those predisposed to it anyway.
It's people who don't understand medicine, science, causation, etc. etc. trying to find one thing to pin the pain of having their child be Autistic on.
Heaven forbid they look at their own genetics for f ck's sake.

"It's people who don't understand medicine, science, causation, etc. etc."


Brilliantly put.

I sound like a broken record; 3 greatest medical discoveries ever;
Antibiotics
Immunization
Anesthesia

This video has been discarded due to negative votes by members.

snoozedoctor: 3 greatest medical discoveries ever;
Antibiotics
Immunization
Anesthesia

3 of man's greatest achievements:
Fire
A bed off the ground
Cake