Commentary
Why do media report 'the other side' of scientific fact?
by Haddayr Copley-WoodsThe American media's bad science is making us sick.
The results? Frightened and ill-informed parents who don't vaccinate their children. Self-righteous blowhards who demand their religion be taught in my kids' science classes as a scientific theory. Politicians who deny the overwhelming evidence that human beings are causing global warming.
Of course, when you come right down to it, everyone is responsible for her own actions. But when we depend on the media for guidance in making those decisions, we are depending on a deeply flawed presentation of the facts.
Well, reporters, what do you have to say for yourselves? Why do you allow unscientific people to spout their harebrained schemes side by side with genuine doctors and scientists who follow the scientific method?
Is it in the name of balance? When was it written into journalistic theory that each story has two equally legitimate sides? When did fact-checking become too odious?
There are some givens in science: The theory of evolution. The origin of global warming. The lack of any connection between autism and vaccines, despite exhaustive studies searching for one.
Perhaps you can find one person with an M.D. or Ph.D. after his name who will say otherwise. But this does not mean he or she belongs in your stories, especially when this supposed expert has no credibility in the scientific community. You are spreading misinformation, and this misinformation kills.
Do I sound melodramatic? It's a fact: Measles outbreaks have become a problem in communities with low vaccination rates, and measles, mumps and rubella infections have killed people. Recently. Like, this year.
I do not know how many children have been killed or damaged by parents and doctors attempting to chelate them for nonexistent mercury poisoning, or subject them to pressurized oxygen chambers due to unscientific claptrap.
My child has Asperger's and Tourette's. I understand the panic parents feel when a child reacts to the world in frightening and unpredictable ways. I understand the instinct to go with emotional reactions rather than scientific evidence.
But let me tell you something: I do not appreciate these parents risking my children's lives so that they can indulge their superstitions. Vaccinating a kid is not just about that individual child. It's about herd immunity.
Because people all react differently to vaccines, my fully vaccinated kids could still come down with polio if someone else's unvaccinated children exposed them to it. Babies who have not completed their vaccinations are particularly at risk of dying from measles and mumps.
Just to be clear: A parent's decision to take healthy skepticism and twist it into some bizarre inability to comprehend basic scientific principles, or to trust the preponderance of scientific evidence, could very well kill the neighbors' baby. All because some parents think vaccinations will make their kid turn out like mine.(For the record: They won't. And also, my kid is awesome -- you should be so lucky.)
Perhaps parents wouldn't be so easily misled if more reporters actually did some hard-nosed reporting on this and other scientific topics.
But what I mainly see and hear are vapid point/counterpoints in which the real scientist becomes more and more frustrated with the evangelist, or the writer uncritically reports a totally unsubstantiated claim made by a celebrity like Jenny McCarthy -- who got her "doctorate from Google" (her words, not mine) -- with no follow-up or refutation.
We need fewer debates about whether humans have caused global warming and more vigorous work on stopping it before we destroy the planet -- if it isn't too late. We need genuine research into possible environmental triggers for autism that is not muddied by bad science and hysteria.
And for our intellectual and physical health, not to mention that of our planet, we need kids to learn science in school and religion in their homes and places of worship.
If I can't have what I really want -- a solid and respectable education in the sciences for every person in America -- can I at least get the journalistic profession to do its job?
Anybody? Anybody willing to just do your job?
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Haddayr Copley-Woods, Minneapolis, is a copywriter, blogger and mother.
Comments (121)
Thank you for telling journalists what they should already know. Thanks to NPR for printing this piece.
Thought I'd throw in some praise for this piece, too, before the anti-science crowd comes discovers it. The sentiments expressed by Copley-Woods in this article need to be repeated over and over and over again.
In addition to global warming and vaccines, may I also suggest to the media that pro-torture views and racist Birther conspiracy theories are also not positions that deserve to be treated as if they are reasonable?
There is an alarming number of people who believe in astrology. It's only a matter of time before it will have to be taught in Science class. The journalists will of coarse present both sides of the debate.
Thank you. I am baffled, too. Do we print claims that "The Earth is flat" without extensive rebuttal from respectable sources? I hope your challenge is heard.
Thank you. I am baffled, too. Do we print claims that "The Earth is flat" without extensive rebuttal from respectable sources? I hope your challenge is heard.
Thank you. I am baffled, too. Do we report claims that "The Earth is flat" as a respectable scientific hypothesis? I appreciate your article.
Thank you thank you. I have had the same frustrations with the media for years but have not been able to state it quite as eloquently. I wouldn't put all journalists in the same bucket, but all to often it is too easy to hide behind so-called "objectivity" and say things like "he said" and "she said," attempting to show both sides. Never mind that one side is total bs.
An alarming number of Americans have no understanding of how scientific inquiry or rational investigation works. Sadly journalists often fall into that category.
Too many people seem to think that conclusions based on research and evidence are somehow not "real facts." They believe that scientific facts are doscovered spontaneously and fully formed, failing to understand that all scientific knowledge has been developed through a process of inquiry and rational thought. This self-correcting process is science's strength, but anti-science groups constantly attempt to exploit ignorance to portray it as a weakness.
Great piece. Thanks for saying it. Now let's hope people listen!
It's one thing to present equal time in a debate over political positions, and I find that sort of equality laudable. However, carrying over a false idea that *everything* should carry equal weight, regardless of evidence to the contrary, can be dangerous. Thank you for expressing it so eloquently.
Thank you, Ms. Copley-Woods, for articulating several of the bees that are currently in my personal bonnet.
Reporting junk science from, say, a tabloid perspective is one thing -- e.g., while it may be true that someone said he saw Elvis at the grocery store, that fact does not mean Elvis Presley still walks among us today. (Although, a zombie Elvis would be pretty cool...but I digress.) Professionals in reputable media sources passing off misinformation as "news", however, is no laughing matter.
Wonderfully articulated. Thank you!!
Bravo! I am so tired of pseudo-scientific morons getting airtime in the interest of "balance". Balance isn't just someone gainsaying; it's logical arguments built from -solid- evidence. Something Creationists, anti-Vax bozos and alternative medicine quacks always seem to misplace.
Standing ovation! It is a cheap kind of "balance" that pits reality against emotion. Thank you for calling journalists on it.
"Why do you allow unscientific people to spout their harebrained schemes"... I have a theory: Neither the "journalists" nor their editors understand or know how to apply the scientific method! They are not bad people; just ignorant and unwilling to admit it. As I was taking courses in Biology, Geology and Chemistry and learning the scientific method and its importance to our world, they were avoiding those courses and taking anything but. Little wonder they grew up to do what they do.
Excellant write-up!
I've posted a link at my page:
http://thefastertimes.com/evolution/
Logic and the ability to apply reason to questions is the basis of our civilization-- we are surely lost without it.
Mainstream journalists are expert journalists. They know how to interview people and present information in a quickly digestible and interesting way.
They are not experts in science, religion, law, etc. As such, when they do decide to evaluate claims in these areas and present only the credible ones, they tend to do a bad job of it. They aren't qualified to make that decision.
Journalists do a better job when they echo what they hear, because that's they're job--say what this important or influential person said. When important or influential people are saying incredible things, journalists should report it and public figures should take it as a signal to write op eds setting the record straight. I know that's just what's been going on, but I like that a lot better than I like having people with journalism degrees trying to decide for me how to interpret scientific data, the political history of the Middle East, and the theological merits of the Pope's latest decree.
C. Gallagher, C, Goodman, M. Hepatitis B Vaccination of Male Neonates and Autism. Annals of Epidemiology. 19(9):659-659.
Science that isn't getting covered....hope you have time to look into it. More research needs to be done regarding this, just as their is stupidity in the public, their is stupidity in public health, when all are treated the same with no regard to their individuality.
After reading all the comments, it seems that opposing views to the author's have been weeded out. I hope it's not true. You all seem to forget that we did vaccinate our children and that's why they are so sick. The majority of chilren nowadays have regressive autism. They are on target in development and then after being vaccinated-lose what they have gained. Are you all aware that the numbers are now 1 in every 58 boys will develop autism? Care to give us a reason for the epidemic? You cannot say it's better diagnosing or expanded diagnosing because nobody has yet to find the 40, 50 and 60 years olds in those numbers with autism. In the autism community, we believe the media is on the side of the CDC and Paul Offit. There is total bias against us in the media so i am confused by this article. Obviously nobody here has any understanding that autism is a total metabolical disorder affecting every organ and causing oxidative steress, immune dysfunction, often mitochondrial disorder etc. Read some books--this is SCIENCE.
Maurine Smiler Meleck
@Maurine - Your comment is here so it looks like there is no weeding going on. Here's a link to a study on adult with ASD. (0.1 of the adult population. The same rate as in children.) http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1927415,00.html
Sue,
I have seen these studies and they are a joke. Nobody can tell me where these older ones with autism are kept. In case you are not aware, the schools are in crisis in trying to deal with the numbers of those with autism. Many are starting to reach the age where they will be out of schools and states are very concerned because there are no seervices or facilities for them. If you thing the social security system is bad now-wait until the all start collecting SSI at the age of 18. It will bankrupt our government to a point we will never be able to recover. The study you see is what our government does in order to again hide the truth about vaccines. Big Pharma runs the show and it would be ruins for them to admit what they already know.
I have no idea how kosher it is for a writer to respond to her own article, and I will not bother to respond to junk science, but I do have to say this and say it loud and clear:
I AM a member of the "autism community." My son has autism.
It's been said 'money makes the world go round' so it's best to make your decisions about what's fact and fiction by following the money trail and conflicting interests! Wise up folks, choose your sources very carefully!
The new education statistics have just come out(this is not junk science as it comes from all school districts in the 50 states) Minnhesota is just reported to have the highest number of 8 year olds in the school system receiving services for autism. It is 1 in every 67 children. If that doesn't scare anyone in Minnesota, I don't know what does.
PS I am an autism grandmother-I have recovered one grandson from the spectrum and the other child is in recovery. I grew up in Minnespolis.
A very well written article. What was written needs to be written again and again. Strong, clear words like this are needed.
Ms. Copley-Woods states, "Because people all react differently to vaccines..." Of course, that's precisely why some people do not vaccinate -- because they CANNOT. Ask an immunologist; one size does not fit all.
Look at the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, or cases in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and ask whether any scientific
revelations are being gleaned to prevent further such injuries.
Then consider the daily fears of people whose children cannot physically tolerate vaccines. These parents hope that vaccines work for others, and they pray that their children do not become ill. Vigilant healthmonitoring is essential.
Medical doctors treated Jenny McCarthy's son, based on lab tests. While she works with media, the doctors remain behind the scenes healing more sick children. But too many hobby bloggers rushing out columns don't bother to investigate these documented medical realities.
Responsible journalists should refer readers to peer-reviewed studies, free of conflicts of interest, and should realize that epidemiology lies at the bottom of the evidentiary scale. No one benefits from an emotional rant that merely inflames, rather than informs.
When in doubt, ask an expert. Mercury researcher Boyd E. Haley, PhD has compiled an extensive list of Thimerosal toxicity studies here -- chromosomal aberrations, disruption of calcium homeostatis, allergic
responses, links to multiple sclerosis, and more. Dr. Haley is a former chair of the University of Kentucky's Chemistry department. And he's just a phone call away.
http://www.iaomt.org/testfoundation/thimstudys.htm
The next .pdf link contains more than 600 study citations on autism and mitochondrial dysfunction, gastrointestional inflammation, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, environmental toxicities, and immune
dysregulation.
http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/medical/autism-studies-jan-2009.pdf
Lately the mainstream media rarely report the "other side of scientific fact" when pharmaceutical advertising revenue is at stake. To understand
the undue influence on medical journal articles and skewed data, read "On The Take" by Dr. Jerome Kassirer, and "The Truth About Drug Companies" by Dr. Marcia Angell. Both doctors are also former editors of the New England Journal of Medicine.
It was only in recent years that stomach ulcers were discovered to be caused by h.pylorii bacteria rather than stress. Scientific theories are continually evolving, so that door must never be shut -- especially if simply because a conclusion harbors inconvenient consequences.
How many times does it have to be shown that autism doesn't come from vaccines? Look at the 2006 study about the age of fathers linked to autism. In my opinion, much more likely. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/04/AR2006090400513.html
What's missing in this report is the acknowledgement that this isn't just about science. It's also about who will be held responsible if it's clearly shown that the vaccine schedule is the cause of the epidemic increase in autism in our children. We allow the people in charge of the vaccine program to do the studies, often with funding from the vaccine makers. We pretend that having one in every 91 children/one in every 58 boys with ASD is nothing new. They've always been around; we just called them something else. We ignore the fact that since 1983 the vaccine schedule has been tripled, without a single study on the cumulative effect of so many shots, so soon on the health of a child. Officials have refused to do studies comparing vaccinated vs unvaccinated children for autism rates. They have refused to look at the children who were normally progressing until they were vaccinated.
What's undeniable is that when we talk about autism, we're talking about children with autism. There has never been a study that could the 30, 50, and 70 year old adults with autism at rates even remotely close to what we see in our children. Autism is diagnosed by very specific criteria and if these adults were out there somewhere in group homes and institutions with a diagnosis of mental retardation, we would be able to find them. No one has ever done it.
Stories are coming out across the U.S. about the crisis we face from the aging out of hundreds of thousands of autistic children into adulthood with nowhere to go. This is what will reveal the reality of the autism epidemic.
I agree that global warming is real, but there are lots of people with a vested interest in denying that it's happening. The same thing can be said about the controversy over vaccines and autism.
Anne Dachel
Media editor: Age of Autism
As I type here around 1 pm in the afternoon, my 13 year old is sleeping soundly under the effects of 2 zyprexa's (that's an anti-psychotic folks) I had to slip him since he went off the deep end this morning. He is non verbal and seems to be experiencing some undisclosed pain he can't tell me about. I haven't used a medication on him in well over a year. I have controlled his behaviors through diet, supplements, and behvioral interventions for well over a year, actually years. But, every now and again a medical issue arises and we resort to subuing him with drugs. For some reason this morning showed something is quite awry. It's very difficult to figure out what is wrong when a child can not tell you. Do you know what that is like autism blogger mom? Autism may be no big deal to a freckled faced blogger mom like you- but it is to me. Unfortunately, outside in the real world (where I and so many live) - kids like mine are suffering - I blame the vaccines. A serious and severe change happened to my son after his 12 month vaccines. I want this conversation to happen and I want to get to the bottom of things. My son went away and got very sick after his mandatory government approved vaccines. This is happening every day to children and families. You will never shut us up or down. We are here to spare others from the hell we know as "autism". Oh, and do you know how many children like mine have been killed or damaged by anti-psychotics? I smell a topic for another ranting blog post. Have a nice day.
And yet ANOTHER poster does not seem to understand that Copley-Wood's son -- like her own -- has autism. The difference here is that Copley-Wood, unlike some, pays attention to the scientific studies that have demonstrated over and over (and over! and over!) that there is NO LINK between autism and vaccination.
We still don't know exactly what causes or triggers autism but we do know that it is NOT VACCINATIONS and NEVER WAS.
Minnesota has seen a particularly high rate of autism among Somali immigrant children; this was never seen in Somalia. One theory that I think is now being investigated is that autism is caused by Vitamin D deficiency, possibly during pregnancy.
@Autism Mother "Unfortunately, outside in the real world (where I and so many live) - kids like mine are suffering - I blame the vaccines."
Therein precisely lies the problem. You are suffering and your child is suffering and you want answers, you want certainty. Science is not like that - and autism is not like that, so you blame something conveniently handed to you by people with Google doctorates.
Ironically, by insisting on a fake cause that has been shown to be a research dead-end, people like you and Jenny who are preventing the real research on causes and treatments for autism from moving forward.
Thankyou Ms Copley Woods for your insightful article. I hope that someday the real causes and effective treatments for autism are found, despite the agonizing but wrong-headed pleas from anti-vaxxers.
Does this quailify as science;
0.5 parts per billion (ppb) mercury = Kills human neuroblastoma cells (Parran et al., Toxicol Sci 2005; 86: 132-140).
2 ppb mercury = U.S. EPA limit for drinking water .
20 ppb mercury = Neurite membrane structure destroyed (Leong et al., Neuroreport 2001; 12: 733-37).
200 ppb mercury = level in liquid the EPA classifies as hazardous waste based on toxicity characteristics.
25,000 ppb mercury = Concentration of mercury in multi-dose, Hepatitis B vaccine vials, administered at birth from 1991-2001 in the U.S. and no other industrialized country.
50,000 ppb mercury = Concentration of mercury in multi-dose DTaP and Haemophilus B vaccine vials, administered 8 times in the 1990's to children at 2, 4, 6, 12 and 18 months of age and currently "preservative" level mercury in multi-dose flu, H1N1, meningococcal and tetanus vaccines. This can be confirmed by simply analyzing the multi-dose vials.
Do you know what happens to unused flu vaccine in Wisconsin? It needs to be treated at a hazardous waste collection site due to the huge amount of mercury it contains. In fact, it is 250 times higher than what is classified as hazardous waste.
Michael Wagnitz
Senior Chemist
University of Wisconsin
This article and the people responding to it truly frightens me. And by the way, I am very much pro-vaccination.
But the group-think, the lack of intellectual curiosity, and the dismissing and smearing of opposing points of view, by people who want to portray themselves as standing for "tolerance and diversity" is truly amazing.
Science is never settled. People who claim so, are anti-science by definition, and must be completely ignorant of both history and science to even claim such a thing.
What you are really against is opposition and dissent to your very narrow point of view.
Why do public health agencies withhold support for pending federal legislation that seeks to fund an independent study of "vaccinated vs. unvaccinated" populations to ascertain, once and for all, if BOTH populations suffer the same dramatic, inexplicable, increase in chronic autoimmune disorders, such as, autism, allergies, asthma, juvenile type 1 diabetes, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, ADD, ADHD, etc...which were far less common in ALL previous, less vaccinated generations?
Common sense dictates THIS study would do much to recover the lost trust that many parents have regarding our unnecessarily aggressive childhood vaccine policies. Indeed, THIS study would provide credible evidence the vaccines are as safe as public health officials insist they are...so what in God's name are they afraid of finding?
Please...don't tell me about the lame excuses being offered as "scientific reasons" such a study cannot be done. After all, we all know how the vast resources of public health agencies can identify, isolate and contain an outbreak of E Coli..and...within weeks can identify the contaminated source no matter how small that source may prove to be.
So...why can't they find enough unvaccinated children to do the study?
Parents with children with autism would like to know why the press wasn't covering this in the 1980's. Because the rate of autism, such as in Maryland did not even reach a three digit number. In 1990 there were 28 children in the Maryland school system that had autism, now close to 10,000, I volunteered in high school with special ed, children who could not be in a regular classroom. In a large high school there was a total of nine childen. Most of them today would be mainstreamed into the regular class, because they were high-functioning. All of the students in this class were girls. They did not have autism. Autism is mostly boys, about 80%, because boys are suspectable to mercury poisoning. Just like the American Indians cannot handle alcohol and one in one humdred people cannot handle pennecillin, there is a subset of children that cannot eliminate it from the body. What we are saying now is all these children were in institutions before, where were these institutaions? How come they are building more and more special schools, did not they have them before? Was Walter Cronkite, Harry Reasoner, David Brinkley, Chet Huntley, not doing there job? Were the pediatricians practicing in the 1980's idiots? I don't think so, they never saw these kids before. Shame on the media, who has become nothing more that ads and promotions for the medical community and the drug companies. Children getting 35-40 vaccines is insanity and the statement "the benefit outweighs the risk" is playing God." During this religious time of the year we should remember who we are supposed to be worshipping and stop putting harmful policies and money at the top of importance. Elaine Dow
I don't know where to begin. What a bunch of nonsense. And the Minnesota public is paying for this? Oh wait, if you're anything like PBS, you have commercials now. Oh I'm sorry, they aren't commercials, they're 'promotional spots', and they don't in any way control content, ahahah.
How about I start with this horrible outbreak in measles. Except that I don't want to talk about measles, I'd rather talk about whooping cough. Interesting that my own children were all fully vaccinated for whooping cough, but that didn't stop them from getting whooping cough a few years ago.
You refer to the parents who dare to question the safety of vaccines as frightened. Fair enough. You refer to them as ill-informed. I've spent the last six years reading about this issue. You, I would venture to guess, have interviewed only people whose careers or profits depend on the public perception that vaccines are safe. You refer to them as self-righteous. I guess, looking the word up on dictionary.com, that this is meant to imply that I am intolerant of the opinions of others. Ironic, given how many times I've been censored and threatened with arrest simply for asking questions about vaccines or politely asking people if they'd like information about vaccines. You call parents blow-hards if they dare to question the safety of vaccines. Ah that means that I am exceptionally talkative and boastful? I'm not sure what all of the name calling has to do with science, and I've grown tired of trying to understand what your point is with all of it.
Perhaps I CAN find one person with an MD or phD after their names who will support parents who question the injection of toxic, untested levels of mercury into children and newborns. Perhaps, just PERHAPS, I can find many.
Dr. Jay Gordon, former head of the National Institute of Health Dr. Bernadine Healy, former Chief Scientific Officer at the UK Department of Health Dr. Peter Fletcher, Dr. Bryan Jepson, Dr. Jon Poling, Dr. Jill James, Dr. Russell Blaylock, Dr. Bob Sears, Dr. Phillip DiMio, Dr. Larry Palevsky, Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, Dr. Andrew Zimmerman, Dr.Boyd Haley, Dr. Martha Herbert, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, Thomas Burbacher, Dr. J. Anthony Morris (formerly Chief Vaccine Control Officer at the FDA), Dr Jeff Bradstreet, Dr. Chun Wong, Dr. Jerry Kartzinel. Dr. Usman.
And you know, I haven't really even been at this that long. So there.
You say that it's a fact that measles outbreaks have become a problem in communities with low vaccination rates, and you say that infections have killed people. Um, I'm missing something here. If you are so convinced that these vaccines are so very safe, and you and yours have received them, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO FEAR FROM THE PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE TO REMAIN UNVACCINATED??? Unless you happen to be either very very old or very very young or very very sick and cannot receive the vaccines?
And even if you happen to be, where do you get off telling people that they must sacrifice their children for YOUR health??
You say you don't know how many children have been killed or harmed by chelation? Well then why do you imply that the proceedure is dangerous?? I know of one instance where a boy was killed and that was not because the proceedure in and of itself is dangerous, it was because the Doctor used the wrong chemical . Just because a Doctor makes a mistake, that usually doesn't mean that a medical procedure is off limits. Oh, except in the instance of autism, that's right. When it comes to vaccine damage, none of the usual rules seem to apply.
Just like there is no recourse to seek damages in a regular court of law. Oh no, because vaccines are too important to be allowed to fail. Why don't you inform your readers about THAT? Why don't you tell them about the Special Vaccine Court that the parents of the vaccine damaged have been forced to make their claims in?
Oh btw, I have four children, all of them healthy. Not a one with any autism spectrum disorder, or any other major medical health problems. So before you start in with the 'oh well of course these parents are desperate, and they want somebody to blame' speil, please, spare me.
How incredibly, pathetically inept you 'journalists' have become.
Robin Nemeth
http://wideopenwest.com/~r_nemeth/vaccine_flyer.htm
I agree with you that the media is giving us deeply flawed reporting on the vaccine safety issue in general and on the autism connection in particular, but I must respectfully disagree that "science" has answered the question. Indeed, it is the responsibility of the "media" to carefully investigate the claims of "science" and not accept uncritically whether something is proved or not proved. Science does not speak with a single voice; it is a process of constantly testing and evolving hypotheses, and must be distinguished by "faith," accepting a belief as "fact" without some level of proof. Can vaccines cause autism? Absolutely yes, so says federal Vaccine Court since 1991, even though precise biomarkers and mechanisms to distinguish vaccine-caused from other causes have yet to be determined. Are vaccines safe? Yes and no. Nobody will contend that vaccines are perfectly safe; there is some risk of acute and chronic injury. The nagging question is how much is this risk? Without a comprehensive study of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated kids [retrospective and ongoing], this risk simply cannot be determined. You are right in observing that as infection is all but eliminated, the rational parent will opt out of vaccines [and the risk, small or large] and rely on herd immunity. But the "blame" for this LACK of science belongs with industry and government, not with media and vaccine safety advocates. The senior government vaccine policy committee just noted this gap in the safety science and called for a study. See rec. 7 at http://www.hhs.gov/nvpo/nvac/NVACRecommendationsISOScientificAgendaFinal.pdf. See fourteenstudies.com for an excellent critique of the "studies" supposedly exonerating vaccines. See here for a roadmap to a "safety first" agenda: http://www.safeminds.org/pubs/12-08ScienceSummary.pdf. See here for some recent science raising grave concerns about vaccine safety: http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/09/blockbuster-primate-study-shows-significant-harm-from-one-birth-dose-of-a-mercurycontaining-vaccine.html.
As expected, the anti-vaccination people are out in force. They care, but evidence suggests they're easily mislead.
This article isn't about them; it's about the media that give the conspiracy-mongers a megaphone to spurt their nonsense.
Let them have the comments section. The article stands on its own and needs to be read by journalists everywhere.
wow. I dare you to ask a doctor what ingredients are in the flu vaccine that he/she wants to give you and how that vaccine is made.
I know, do you know, does he know?
We actually (and I assume you meant me in the diatribe) are pro-science and very frustrated when we don't see science.
There is so much
don't know where to start
Vaccine dangers are MORE than mercury which you hear so much about
(and often they tell you the vaccine they are giving you doesn't have mercury and it does - they are giving mercury vaccine to pregnant woman (there are some mercury-free flu vaccines for infants but not usually for pregnant women as they think it is no problem)
Also NO VACCINE gives immunity................even though they try to tell you they do - show me science that proves that they do
There are many problems with vaccines.
Mercury, the preservative, is one of the dangers, but IS NOT the only danger with vaccines.
1. Mercury has NOT totally been removed from vaccines
A. Those that say mercury-free, private testing has shown there is still mercury
B. Many still have a trace of mercury
C. And many have full amounts of mercury - many flu vax (adult & children) DT, tD, etc.
D. How is mercury toxic before it goes into a vaccine and when dumping a vaccine, but it is fine in your child or your mouth?
2. Mercury is NOT the only problem with vaccine
3. Other problems with vaccines
Contamination with mycoplasma and bacteria
Contamination with monkey viruses
Contamination with RNA, DNA
Aluminum and other adjuvants
The new preservative replacing mercury in some vaccines - 2PE
Other additives in vaccines - vary according to the vaccine - msg, formaldehyde, antibiotics, phenol, sorbitol, gelatin and more
The antigen itself and how it effects the immune system (live or killed)
The whole theory is in error - stimulation of antibodies does not give immunity - antibodies do not mean immunity - the are signs of exposure, but one small aspect of the immune system
No long term research
No comparison in research with placebo group - only another vaccinated group
Ignoring post marketing data of reactions, injury and death
No individualization - one size fits all
No screening for immune problems and allergies
Children and adults have reacted with injury and death before & after MMR which never had mercury in it
And what about aluminum - have you read the research about what aluminum does in the body?
Sheri Nakken, RN, MA, Hahnemannian Homeopathy
Vaccination Information & Choice Network
http://vaccinationdangers.wordpress.com/
http://www.wellwithin1.com/vaccine.htm
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vaccinations - yahoo groups on vaccine dangers
My child is un-vaccinated and I hope he sneezes all over yours. Parents have EVERY right to not want to over medicate their child with more vaccines they should ever have to get. Recently there were all these warning about not over medicating a child with over the counter meds so what does it matter if parents don't want to over medicate with worthless vaccines? Mercury, aluminum, animal parts like monkey kidney, to hamster brains to aborted human fetal tissue exists in many vaccines. Your crazy if you think any of it is ok. Some people "might" be helped by vaccines but just as many are harmed by vaccines from reactions. So I don't see the benefit. And I'm not un-educated or mislead on the issue either despite what you people like to believe.
Science has shown us some absolutes. We know by science that the earth is not the center of our solar system. What science seeks to do today is make everything a universal truth. The scientific method can not control for every single variable when it comes to the human body. Vaccines are only used on such a grand scale because they show no immediate ill effect. That is only a half truth. The resistance to vaccinate should not be regarded as superstitios. Since you put science on such a pedestal, what is your reaction to those who have been shown to have blatantly manipulated data vis-a-vi global warming? They are desecrating science by lying with it.
The media isn't saying much from the point of view of scientists who show that vaccines do harm some people. The media would better serve us if they had some experts on telling of the research to that effect. Or have a debate between two experts on opposing sides.
A recent study just showed that primates injected with Hep B vaccine containing mercury, in proportional amounts to infants, showed significant developmental delays. The authors concluded: "Our study design does not enable us to determine whether it is the vaccine per se, the exposure to thimerosal, or a combination of both that is causing the observed effects. "
A study by the US CDC found clear links:
In their very first examination of the risk of thimerosal exposure in infants, the single most startling finding was this: infants who received the largest exposure of thimerosal in the first month of life showed the highest risk of autism and several other NDDs.
Buried deep in a pile of statistical tables that SafeMinds received under FOIA was a risk analysis conducted by CDC analyst Thomas Verstraeten, showing statistically significant risk multiples for the most exposed infants.
These ranged from 5 times the risk of unexposed infants in the case of sleep disorders to 11.5 times for autism.
3. Annals of Epidemiology September 2009: 19(9);659 -- Male infants who received thimerosal-containing hepatitis-B vaccinations had a three-fold risk of developing autism.
5. Toxicology & Environmental Chemistry September-October 2008: 90(5);997-1008 -- Male infants who received thimerosal-containing hepatitis-B vaccinations were nine times as likely to be receiving special education services.
Yes, the media needs to do a much better job of presenting the science on vaccine safety concerns. Then parents can make an informed decision on the risks and benefits.
" I do not appreciate these parents risking my children's lives..."
2 things:
1) I won't risk my child's life (by vaccinating) for your child's life. Your child is NOT more important than mine, sorry.
2) If you believe vaccines are effective (and I presume that you do), then *my* unvaxed child doesn't pose a risk!
HA! Actually it is the sheeple who are ill-informed. Those who blindly accept the status quo, mainstream media as a source of reliable inofrmation and the government run alphabet soup orgs as the gospel. Parents willing to invest their time and do their own research have no problem understanding that all vaccines are not safe. Period! Those same parents recognize that one size doesn't fit all and by following the recommended vaccine scheule, they would be playing Russian roulette with the child's life and health. Not to mention that we really and truly do not have any idea as to the safety of multiple vaccines given simultaneously as is common place today. The truth be known, we don't have any evidence of their actual efficiency other than anecdotal evidence, which is not accepted as evidence in any court of law. So.......
If you have so much faith in your vaccines then HOW would my unvaxed children make YOURS sick?
You lost all credibility in my book with that statement!
Thanks you for this story. This story and many others like it need to be spread out to the masses. Unfortunately I see the Anti-vax trolls have already struck, I hope you have a flame suit and flak jacket on cause they are a vicious bunch.
Why is it that collectivists on the left worship science as if it were a religion. Google Barbara Starfield JAMA 2000 and explain away 106,000 deaths every year due to "scientific" allopathic medicine. If that's too abstract for you, you've checked your humanity at the door to worship at the altar of the Church of Biological Mysticism.
@Sheri, the homeopathy "RN", can you point to a peer reviewed paper? Or even better, a peer-reviewed paper on actual tested results from homeopathy? Spare us your histrionics. Homepoathy is little more than drinking water dressed as woo. How many people have died using soi-dissant cures? Not counting those that may have drowned in the BS you shovel?
I don't vaccinate my children because I am a good mom.
Last I checked, the First Amendment requires neither accuracy nor fairness. Don't like what you're reading? Find another source.
Vaccines poison children. PERIOD.
It is very painful to read these comments from one loving, caring mother of a child with ASD to another. I also have a son on the spectrum too and I am already tired of this conversation. Not because I want the author to be quiet, but because I want the biomedical community to settle down. There is NO proof of the vaccine theory. Yes, there are people out there that are currently disabled by vaccinations and I am not talking about autism. There is a chance, a very, very small chance you are taking when you vaccinate. I know of one person that is physically disabled because of inoculations. Not every person can handle vaccines, but how on earth could the medical community know who can and cannot? Go ahead and be mad at the dr's for poking your child, but damn it, it's your fault for blindly moving forward with vaccines without asking questions. It is so easy to blame and build a case against big brother, isn't it?
These parents and these celebrities shouting about vaccinations are sending a VERY scary message that has serious, long term consequences to the masses. This is much more serious than a child possibly becoming autistic. I feared nothing, nothing more than ASD for my children. I was so scared to have a child with an invisible disability and here I am with this beautiful boy who doesn't understand language. Who doesn't understand gestures or appropriate play, but he is so beautiful and I have so much faith that it will all be ok. We are so scared of autism, but aren't we afraid of death? I choose autism; you go ahead and kill future children because they didn't have proper protection from fatal diseases.
The problem is ...we all need someone to blame. But the bigger issue here is we all want to know why. How on earth to we protect the future? Stop pointing fingers. We all want the same thing for each other at the end of the day. We want to know what this is and how to make it go away.
Haddayr Copley-Woods (Self-righteous blowhard) seems to think she has it all figured out . Let's put her (unscientific person spouting her harebrained schemes ) in charge of what the media should report and not report.
It's about herd mentality, not herd immunity.
I guess the science is settled! Thank you! Now I will just ignore Climategate emails where the vaunted guardians of the "scientific method" collude to destroy those scientists with whom they disagree. This article is another example of the closing of the American Mind. How sad.
"Because people all react differently to vaccines, my fully vaccinated kids could still come down with polio if someone else's unvaccinated children exposed them to it."
You got it right Haddayr vaccines don't work, they can't even protect your child from polio.
Shame on the media and you for bringing that to "the herd's" attention. So contrary to corporate sponsored science.
Main stream media is media, but not journalism. NPR and writers like Haddyr Copley-Woods have long abandoned journalism.
We are in a vaccine-induced environmentally-influenced explosion of children with severe neurological and medical illnesses.
"Exhaustive" studies, my foot. The only exhaustion is the parents burning the mid-night oil as they attempt to repair the damage that vaccinations and other toxic insults have had on the children.
Your comment at the end,"can I at least get the journalistic profession to do its job?
That's what thousands and thousands of parents have been asking for years and all we get are pathetic writers like Ms Cooply-Woods.....certainly not good investigative journalist to report on "all" that is known and not selectively use what fits their point of view.
Ms Cooply-Woods, next time, try to be a journalist, and not just another lazy writer with limited knowledge and facts.
Parents must be given the right to choose for themselves and their children what is right for them based on whatever religion or science they believe in! There are natural consequences either way. I am happy with my decisions and the consequences which have not included repeated illnesses of any type, chronic disease, and not even ONE ear infection among my 5, only to mention a few of the problems that I see vaccinated children dealing with constantly. I can live wth that just fine and could care less what Science says today. It will say something different tomorrow anyways. Homeopathy cures and has been the mainstay in our household for over 20 years. Believe what you want but please don't insist that you are superior or absolutely RIGHT. Belittling others only dimishes any crediblity that you might bring to the debate!
Herd Immunity? We've never had it in the US I bet we never will...they call that science? What a joke.
Homeopathic Research - here it is
Let me know when you've read all
Why Skeptics Love to Hate Homeopathy
http://onlinehealthnews.org/2009/12/why-skeptics-love-to-hate-homeopathy/
[3] Shang, A. et al. "Are the Clinical Effects of Homeopathy Placebo Effects? Comparative Study of Placebo-Controlled Trials of Homeopathy and Allopathy," The Lancet, 366, pp. 726-732 (2005).
An extensive refutation of the results of this study, including statistical analyses and evidence of foul-play, can be found here: http://www.liebertonline.com/toc/acm/11/5.
[4] Linde, K. et al. "Are the Clinical Effects of Homoeopathy Placebo Effects? A Meta-Analysis of Placebo-Controlled Trials," The Lancet, 250, pp. 834-843 (1997).
[5] Kleijnen, J. et al. "Clinical Trials of Homeopathy," British Medical Journal, 302, pp. 316-323 (1991).
[6] Jacobs, J. et al. "Treatment of Acute Childhood Diarrhea with Homeopathic Medicine: A Randomized Clinical Trial in Nicaragua," Pediatrics, Vol. 83, No. 5, pp. 719-725 (1994).
[7] Bell, I.R. et al. "Improved Clinical Status in Fibromyalgia Patients Treated with Individualized Homeopathic Remedies Versus Placebo," Rheumatology, 2004b; 43 (5):577-82.
[8] Taylor, M.A. et al. "Randomised Controlled Trial of Homoeopathy Versus Placebo in Perennial Allergic Rhinitis with Overview of Four Trial Series," British Medical Journal, 321, pp. 471-476 (2000).
[9] For more trials, see www.nationalcenterforhomeopathy.org (under Articles, click Research).
[10] Rao, et al. "The Defining Role of Structure (Including Epitaxy) in the Plausibility of Homeopathy," Homeopathy, 96, pp. 175-182 (2007).
[11] Davenas, et al. "Human Basophil Degranulation Triggered by Very Dilute Antiserum Againt IgE," Nature, Vol. 333, No. 6176, pp. 816-818 (1988).
[12] Aissa, J. et al. "Transatlantic Transfer of Digitized Antigen Signal by Telephone Link," Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 99:S175 (1997).
[13] Brown, V. and M. Ennis. "Flow-Cytometric Analysis of Basophil Activation: Inhibition by Histamine at Conventional and Homeopathic Concentrations," Inflammation Research, 50, Supplement (2), S47-S48 (2001).
[14] Montagnier, Luc, et al. "Electromagnetic Signals Are Produced by Aqueous Nanostructures Derived from Bacterial DNA Sequences," Insterdiscip Sci Comput Life Sci, 1:81-90 (2009).
[15] http://homeopathyresource.wordpress.com/2009/01/01/successful-use-of-homeopathy-in-over-5-million-people-reported-from-cuba/
[16] Reichenberg-Ullman, J. "A Homeopathic Approach to Behavioral Problems," Mothering, Number 74, pp. 97-101 (1995).
http://www.healthnews.com/blogs/melanie-grimes/natural-health/alternative-medicine/research-supporting-homeopathy-2596.html
The first double-blind crossover study ever performed was conducted by homeopaths in 1906. This study was run concurrently in eleven different cities on fifteen subjects. The documentation of this experiment consisted of 665 pages, published as Research Provings of Belladonna. Also at the turn of the nineteenth century, a book on homeopathic research was published called The Logic of Figures or Comparative Results of Homeopathic and Other Treatments. This book provided dozens of charts comparing disease and death rates in homeopathic and allopathic (mainstream) hospitals. This research also investigated statistics on the epidemic diseases of scarlet fever, yellow fever, and typhoid. The research showed that homeopathic hospitals had an average of 50 to 80 percent fewer deaths per 100 people, depending on the disease compared.
more at webpage
http://www.homeopathic.org/content/homeopathy-research-evidence-base-references
http://www.homeopathy.org/research/research_reviews/ENHR.pdf
http://homeopathyworldwide.org/Research/Positive-Homeopathy-Research-and-Surveys.php
http://www.homeopathyusa.org/uploads/Homeopathy_references.pdf
http://www.hpathy.com/research/
http://homeoinst.org/
http://www.homeopathicrevolution.com/
http://www.vithoulkas.com/content/view/1963/145/lang,en/
http://www.pcrm.org/resch/anexp/beyond/homeopathy_0601.html
http://www.ccrhindia.org/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WXX-46SY2DB-7&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1129765048&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=ff4c614ec0099d8b1954a587953effaa
How about getting some facts before sounding off about vaccinations? Please read "Jabs, Jenner and Juggernauts: a Look at Vaccination" that will explain what you obviously don't know.
Dr. Russell Blaylock, a neurosurgeon mentioned above says pediatricians know little about brain injuries from any source including vaccines. Get on his website and read how vaccines overstimulate the immune system when given on the schedule they are given today. http://www.russellblaylockmd.com
I think a neurosurgeon would know more about the brain than doctors like Offitt.
I know what it feels like to have mercury in the brain. My dentist put it there in 2001 when he unsafely removed a silver amalgam dental filling which is 50% mercury, exposing me to mercury vapor.
http://www.MercuryPoisoned.com/marie.html
Bravo and thank you for a wonderful article!! Keep up the good work.
Keep up the good work???? LMFAO. Wow...it's amazing to me how many of you are BRAINWASHED!!
Dear Ms. Copley-Woods:
You said "There are some givens in science: The theory of evolution. The origin of global warming. The lack of any connection between autism and vaccines, despite exhaustive studies searching for one."
The latter is NOT a given!
For instance, take the mercury that is STILL in the majority of flu shots. While mercury is regulated by the USEPA at levels 25 times LOWER than lead, because mercury kills brain cells, there are 25 micrograms of it in EACH flu shot that uses Thimerosal as a preservative. A half cup of water (4 ounces) with that much mercury has 0.2114 parts per million mercury and is considered a liquid hazardous waste, number D009. See http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/get-cfr.cgi?TITLE=40&PART=261&SECTION=24&TYPE=TEXT
Please look at the autism data on graph 16 of http://www.nomercury.org/science/documents/ThimerosalVSDstudy_2-29-00.pdf . Using a linear regression (Microsoft Excel) with an average reference dose of 15.65 micrograms of mercury, per page 21, gives the slope for graph 16. Using an x intercept of 15.65 micrograms of Hg (average reference dose) for linear regression, the slope is 0.013 (RR)/(microgram Hg). The equation is Y = 1.00 + 0.013x - 0.2035, and R^2 equals 0.6821. Y equals Relative Risk, and x equals micrograms of mercury injected using Thimerosal vaccine preservative with n > 50.
And please look at the Simpsonwood transcripts at http://www.safeminds.org/government-affairs/foia/Simpsonwood_Transcript.pdf .
And please read Luis Maya's report at http://www.safeminds.org/research/AnFacMedLima2006-67(3).pdf .
And finally please read Lyn Redwood's testimony to the US Congress at http://www.whale.to/a/redwood.pdf .
Lol, 'anti-vax trolls'....and yet those 'trolls' have far better, far more accurate information that the ugly, pointless rant contained in this 'news article'.
Thank you for this excellent article. And kudos on not responding to the low-hanging fruit being offered by some of the commenters. They only serve to prove your point.
One of the strengths of medical science, and science in general, is its openness - that there is not one person declaring by fiat "how things are", but rather a plethora of voices (usually arguing) working out what's really going on.
The tragedy, however, is when a few single examples of bad science are brought in as an attempt to dismiss the weight of the research. Like the climate change emails that were stolen and released publicly being used to dismiss all climate research for the last two to three decades - as if three people in one University were producing the thousands of analyses from the many fields of science, and so could invalidate it with some personal communications.
But conspiracies are interesting, easy to justify to oneself, easy to maintain - someone disagrees? They're just a fool, or in on it too. It means good science, that shows vaccines do not cause autism, is thrown into doubt by crackpots and bad research.
Ms. Copley-Woods is exactly right. The media should not justify, nor help spread, lies under the auspices of "balanced reporting."
You'll probably never make it down past the blizzard of nonsense above, but I'll leave you this note anyway.
I really appreciated your article. This question should be asked day after day until the news media gets it. Even the PBS NewsHour, which I greatly admire, is guilty of this (December 8 broadcast, for example, regarding the Copenhagen conference).
Please show me where it has been proven that polio was caused by the polio virus.
Please show me a case where someone caught polio from another person diagnosed with polio.
Please show me a case where a doctor or a nurse 'caught' polio from a patient.
Polio was never proven to be infectious or contagious or caused by a virus.
Polio is a condition after exposure to toxic subtances
http://www.wellwithin1.com/PolioJimWest.htm
But they didn't want to acknowledge it in the 50' and still don't want to acknowledge it because there is lots of money to be made
Sheri Nakken, RN, MA, Hahnemannian Homeopathy
Vaccination Information & Choice Network
http://vaccinationdangers.wordpress.com/
http://www.wellwithin1.com/vaccine.htm
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vaccinations - yahoo groups on vaccine dangers
The most horrific aspect of this article and the comments directed at parents who question and research vaccines is that the original article and support comments are fueled by fear, and not by true scientific inquiry regarding vaccine injury. Rather than examine the data as the author so fervently asks the media to do, she and her supporters are complicit with the conventional wisdom that is not based on any scientific certainty. No one has proven that vaccines do not harm children; quite the opposite. HRSA is just a sliver of the horrific reality we are discussing here. The unknown certainties are to what degree and at what risk. But conventional wisdom is comforting, it helps us sleep at night to feel like we may not have injected our most precious child with something other than a cure for some terrible disease. But we cannot be blinded by our need to feel like we are the good parents and the others are bad, stupid, anti-vaccine psuedo-science trolls.
On the contrary, I find the comments actually applying the methods of scientific inquiry coming from the anti-vaccine camp, while the illogical, kill-the-messenger rhetoric to be fueled by commenters touting the pure goodness of vaccines, lacking any showing of actual scientific inquiry other than parroting things that they have heard in sound-bites.
@ "Scientific Inquiry"
"I find the comments actually applying the methods of scientific inquiry coming from the anti-vaccine camp, while the illogical, kill-the-messenger rhetoric to be fueled by commenters touting the pure goodness of vaccines, lacking any showing of actual scientific inquiry other than parroting things that they have heard in sound-bites."
Unfortunately what you call "applying the methods of scientific inquiry", real scientists call "cherry picking" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_picking). Sheri Nakken's many links posted above are excellent examples of this pseudoscientific process at work.
Unfortunately what you call "applying the methods of scientific inquiry" real scienctist call "cherry picking". Sheri Nakkens
To David King:
Here are two quotes from a REAL scientist.
For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.
See http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/51-l/docs/rogers-commission/Appendix-F.txt .
So I have just one wish for you, the good luck to be somewhere where you are free to maintain the kind of integrity I have described, and where you do not feel forced by a need to maintain your position in the organization, or financial support, or so on to lose your integrity
Some remarks on science, pseudoscience, and learning how to not fool yourself. Caltech's 1974 commencement address. See http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/51/2/CargoCult.pdf .
I look for the other facts because sometimes the scientists are not very ethical. Look at the case of the global warming where the data was value added and the original data was tossed. I do not trust because I have been given reason not to trust. You feel free to criticize thinking people and go ahead and follow whatever you are told. I will do my research and make an educated decision based on many thoughts, data and research from both sides.
For the record, I do not vaccinate my children but you should feel safe since you believe that the vaccination will prevent your children from contracting the diseases that you were told they would. Or do you? Hmmm...maybe you should look at some of the opposing research into how effective they really are...
The first law of thermal dynamics proves that anthropogenic generated C02 cannot possibly be responsible for global warming. Go to:
http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/ice_ages.html for the real story on global warming!
With all due respect Mrs. Copely-Woods, but if you believe that your child can contract Polio from an unvaccinated child, then what do you think would happen if your child were to be stung by a polio carrying mosquito? After all, isn't the Minnesota state bird the mosquito? (I mean that in jest) What do you say about children who pass these diseases to other people via live vaccines? My un-vaxed niece was excluded from school for a week, because a freshly vaccinated child contracted chicken pox from his vaccine, and brought it to school.
If you have such faith in vaccines, then you shouldn't worry about your child contracting these diseases. Your child is "protected".
You worry about your child, and I'll worry about mine.
I don't know where to begin. What a bunch of nonsense. And the Minnesota public is paying for this? Oh wait, if you're anything like PBS, you have commercials now. Oh I'm sorry, they aren't commercials, they're 'promotional spots', and they don't in any way control content, ahahah.
How about I start with this horrible outbreak in measles. Except that I don't want to talk about measles, I'd rather talk about whooping cough. Interesting that my own children were all fully vaccinated for whooping cough, but that didn't stop them from getting whooping cough a few years ago.
You refer to the parents who dare to question the safety of vaccines as frightened. Fair enough. You refer to them as ill-informed. I've spent the last six years reading about this issue. You, I would venture to guess, have interviewed only people whose careers or profits depend on the public perception that vaccines are safe. You refer to them as self-righteous. I guess, looking the word up on dictionary.com, that this is meant to imply that I am intolerant of the opinions of others. Ironic, given how many times I've been censored and threatened with arrest simply for asking questions about vaccines or politely asking people if they'd like information about vaccines. You call parents blow-hards if they dare to question the safety of vaccines. Ah that means that I am exceptionally talkative and boastful? I'm not sure what all of the name calling has to do with science, and I've grown tired of trying to understand what your point is with all of it.
Perhaps I CAN find one person with an MD or phD after their names who will support parents who question the injection of toxic, untested levels of mercury into children and newborns. Perhaps, just PERHAPS, I can find many.
Dr. Jay Gordon, former head of the National Institute of Health Dr. Bernadine Healy, former Chief Scientific Officer at the UK Department of Health Dr. Peter Fletcher, Dr. Bryan Jepson, Dr. Jon Poling, Dr. Jill James, Dr. Russell Blaylock, Dr. Bob Sears, Dr. Phillip DiMio, Dr. Larry Palevsky, Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, Dr. Andrew Zimmerman, Dr.Boyd Haley, Dr. Martha Herbert, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, Thomas Burbacher, Dr. J. Anthony Morris (formerly Chief Vaccine Control Officer at the FDA), Dr Jeff Bradstreet, Dr. Chun Wong, Dr. Jerry Kartzinel. Dr. Usman.
And you know, I haven't really even been at this list making all that long. So there. It's obvious that you've made no attempt whatsoever to speak with anyone on the other side of this issue.
You say that it's a fact that measles outbreaks have become a problem in communities with low vaccination rates, and you say that infections have killed people. Um, I'm missing something here. If you are so convinced that these vaccines are so very safe, and you and yours have received them, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO FEAR FROM THE PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE TO REMAIN UNVACCINATED'? Unless you happen to be either very very old or very very young or very very sick and cannot receive the vaccines?
And even if you happen to be, where do you get off telling people that they must sacrifice their children for YOUR health?
You say you don't know how many children have been killed or harmed by chelation? Well then why do you imply that the proceedure is dangerous? I know of one instance where a boy was killed and that was not because the proceedure in and of itself is dangerous, it was because the Doctor used the wrong chemical. Just because a Doctor makes a mistake, that usually doesn't mean that a medical procedure is off limits. Oh, except in the instance of autism, that's right. When it comes to vaccine damage, none of the usual rules seem to apply.
Just like there is no recourse to seek damages in a regular court of law. Oh no, because vaccines are too important to be allowed to fail. Why don't you inform your readers about THAT? Why don't you tell them about the Special Vaccine Court that the parents of the vaccine damaged have been forced to make their claims in?
Oh btw, I have four children, all of them healthy. Not a one with any autism spectrum disorder, or any other major medical health problems. So before you start in with the "oh well of course these parents are desperate, and they want somebody to blame" spiel, please, spare me.
How incredibly, pathetically inept you 'journalists' have become.
Robin Nemeth
http://wideopenwest.com/~r_nemeth/vaccine_flyer.htm
Why has Mr. Obama spent over $1.5M paid to Perkins Coie Law Firm to keep his original birth certificate, college transcripts, passport and other records hidden from the American public?
Why was his first order of business after the inauguration to sign an executive order ensuring these records are kept sealed?
You are delusional. I quote:
"Because people all react differently to vaccines, my fully vaccinated kids could still come down with polio if someone else's unvaccinated children exposed them to it. Babies who have not completed their vaccinations are particularly at risk of dying from measles and mumps."
You are right - people do react differently to vaccines - like your own child apparently. Sad that you cannot see that.
@sheri the "R.N." What Bull.
Have you read these?
1. Kaufman M. Homeopathy in America. Baltimore, 1971, The Johns Hopkins University Press.
2. Hill C, Doyon F. Review of randomized trials of homeopathy. Review of Epidemiology 38:139-142, 1990.
3. Jacob J and others. Treatment of childhood diarrhea with homeopathic medicine: a randomized clinical trial in Nicaragua. Pediatrics 93:719-725, 1994.
4. Sampson W, London W. Analysis of homeopathic treatment of childhood diarrhea. Pediatrics 96:961-964, 1995.
5. Homoeopathic Medicine Research Group. Report. Commission of the European Communities, December 1996.
6. NCAHF Position Paper on Homeopathy. Loma Linda, Calif.: National Council Against Health Fraud, 1994.
7. Wise, J. Health authority stops buying homoeopathy. British Medical Journal 314:1574, 1997.
8. Dantas E. A systematic review of the quality of homeopathic pathogenetic trials published from 1945 to 1995. Homeopathy 96:4-16, 2007.
9. Hauck KG. Homeopathy and coronary artery disease. Homeopathy Today 17(8):3, 1997.
10. Michels DL. Regulatory letter to James M. Lyons, Dec 11, 1984.
11. Biotherapeutic Index. Baden-Baden, Germany: Biologische Heilmittel Heel GmbH, 1993.
12. Biotherapeutic Index, 5th revised English edition. Baden-Baden, Germany: Biologische Heilmittel GmbH, 2000.
13. Faline JJ. Regulatory letter to Josephine Perricone, June 11, 1987.
14. Barrett S. Letter to FDA Office of Freedom of Information, Feb 7, 1995.
15. Davis H. Letter to Stephen Barrett, M.D., April 24, 1995.
16. Pinco RG. Status of homeopathy in the United States: Important ominous developments. Memo to Willard Eldredge, president, American Association of Homeopathic Pharmacists, Jan 17, 1985.
17. Kessler DA. Panel discussion on herbal dietary supplements. Consumer Safety Symposium on Dietary Supplements and Herbs, New York City, March 3, 1998.
People living with Autism spectrum in the 40-60 age range are everywhere. I live with my brother-in-law who is definately in this category. He just spent the last four years trying to live independantly and failed spectacularly. My family lives with him now and gives him the support he needs.
These are the kids we went to school with who were mainstreamed and called "normal" even though they obviously weren't. They were teased and mocked for years - everyone had a kid like this in their grade.
Most adults haven't been diagnosed, because they were told a long time ago they are fine.
The Truth About the Flu Shot
Sherri Tenpenny, DO
What's in the regular flu shot?
* Egg proteins: including avian contaminant viruses
* Gelatin: can cause allergic reactions and anaphylaxis are usually associated with sensitivity to egg or gelatin
* Polysorbate 80 (Tween80[TM]): can cause severe allergic reactions, including
anaphylaxis. Also associated with inferility in female mice.
* Formaldehyde: known carcinogen
* Triton X100: a strong detergent
* Sucrose: table sugar
* Resin: known to cause allergic reactions
* Gentamycin: an antibiotic
* Thimerosal: mercury is still in multidose flu shot vials
Do flu shots work?
Not in babies: In a review of more than 51 studies involving more than 294,000 children it was found there was "no evidence that injecting children 6-24 months of age with a flu shotwas any more effective than placebo. In children over 2 yrs, it was only effective 33% of the time in preventing the flu.
Reference: "Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy children." The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2 (2008).
Not in children with asthma: A study 800 children with asthma, where one half were vaccinated and the other half did not receive the influenza vaccine. The two groups were compared with respect to clinic visits, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalizations for asthma. CONCLUSION: This study failed to provide evidence that the influenza vaccine prevents pediatric asthma exacerbations.
Reference: "Effectiveness of influenza vaccine for the prevention of asthma exacerbations." Christly, C. et al. Arch Dis Child. 2004 Aug;89(8):734-5.
Not in children with asthma (2): "The inactivated flu vaccine, Flumist, does not prevent influenza-related hospitalizations in children, especially the ones with asthma...In fact, children who get the flu vaccine are more at risk for hospitalization than children who do not get the vaccine."
Reference: The American Thoracic Society's 105th International Conference, May 15-20, 2009, San Diego.
Not in adults: In a review of 48 reports including more than 66,000 adults, "Vaccination of healthy adults only reduced risk of influenza by 6% and reduced the number of missed work days by less than one day (0.16) days. It did not change the number of people needing to go to hospital or take time off work."
Reference: "Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults." The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 1 (2006).
Not in the Elderly: In a review of 64 studies in 98 flu seasons, For elderly living in nursing homes, flu shots were non-significant for preventing the flu. For elderly living in the community, vaccines were not (significantly) effective against influenza, ILI or pneumonia.
Reference: "Vaccines for preventing influenza in the elderly." The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.3 (2006).
http://drtenpenny.com/the_truth_about_the_flu_Shot.aspx
Autism Studies Evidence: Published Studies
http://www.generationrescue.org/studies.html
Autism Studies
Evidence: Published Studies
It is confusing for parents to read many of the comments in the mainstream media about autism and other neurological disorders ("NDs"). Typically, these NDs are described as having "no known cause and no known cure" and any link between vaccines and NDs is typically said to have been "disproven".
In fact, the evidence supporting the position that NDs are environmental illnesses with vaccines as a primary trigger is well documented, published in peer-reviewed journals, and growing every day.
Please note that most of the published science deals with autism, which we feel is equally relevant for a child with ADD/ADHD. What can parents learn from the existing science today? Generation Rescue believes the following has been proven to be true:
1.
The prevalence of neurological disorders amongst children is growing, which means the environment must be playing a role (because genetic conditions can only grow at the rate of population growth).
We cite four published studies that support this position:
Report to the Legislature on the Principle Findings from The Epidemiology of Autism in California: A Comprehensive Pilot Study
MIND Institute, UC Davis, Oct 2002.
Robert Byrd
Using data from California, the state perceived to maintain the best data on autism, this report demonstrates clearly that the rise in autism is not due to improved diagnosis and expanded diagnostic criteria, but is rather a REAL rise for which some external factor must be playing a role. Excerpt:
"There is no evidence that a loosening in the diagnostic criteria has contributed to increased number of autism clients...we conclude that some, if not all, of the observed increase represents a true increase in cases of autism in California...a purely genetic basis for autism does not fully explain the increasing autism prevalence. Other theories that attempt to better explain the observed increase in autism cases include environmental exposures to substances such as mercury; viral exposures; autoimmune disorders; and childhood vaccinations."
National Autism Prevalence Trends From United States Special Education Data.
Pediatrics, March 2005.
Craig J. Newschaffer, PhD [Johns Hopkins University].
This study shows that the rise in the incidence of autism is real and that the greatest increase took place between 1987 and 1992, which matches the timing of the near-tripling of vaccines given to our children and the tripling of mercury within those vaccines.
The Changing Prevalence of Autism In California
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, April 2003
Mark Blaxill, MBA
This study helps to refute the supposition made by some researchers that autism's epidemic may only be due to "diagnostic substitution". Excerpt:
"They have suggested that 'diagnostic substitution' accounts for an apparent increase in the incidence of autism in California that is not real. This hypothesized substitution is not supported by proper and detailed analyses of the California data."
What's Going On? The Question of Time Trends in Autism.
Public Health Reports, Nov-Dec 2004.
Mark F. Blaxill, MBA.
This detailed analysis of reported rates of autism in the United States and United Kingdom serves to further refute the assertion made by some that the "epidemic" of autism is nothing more than better diagnosis.
2.
When environmental toxicity in children with neurological disorders is measured, it is meaningfully higher than neurotypical (normal) children.
We cite five published studies that support this position:
Porphyrinuria in Childhood Autistic Disorder: Implications for Environmental Toxicity
Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 2006.
Robert Nataf, Corinne Skorupka, Lorene Amet
This new study from France utilizes a new and sophisticated measurement for environmental toxicity by assessing porphyrin levels in autistic children. It provides clear and unequivocal evidence that children with autism spectrum disorders are more toxic than their neurotypical peers. Excerpt:
"Coproporphyrin levels were elevated in children with autistic disorder relative to control groups...the elevation was significant. These data implicate environmental toxicity in childhood autistic disorder."
A Case Control Study of Mercury Burden in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Journal of American Physicians and Surgeon, 2003.
James Adams, PhD [Arizona State University].
This recent study shows, through active chelation with DMSA, that autistic children excrete significantly higher levels of mercury than their neurotypical peers, leading to the conclusion that autistic children bear a much higher load of mercury in their bodies and that chelation may be an effective treatment for removing the mercury. Excerpt:
"The data from this study, along with emerging epidemiological data showing a link between increasing mercury doses from childhood vaccines and childhood neurodevelopmental disorders, increases the likelihood that mercury is one of the main factors leading to the large increase in the rate of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. It is hoped that removing thimerosal from all childhood vaccines will contribute to a decline in the numbers of new cases of autistic spectrum disorders."
A Case Series of Children with Apparent Mercury Toxic Encephalopathies Manifesting with Clinical Symptoms of Regressive Autistic Disorder
Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, 2007
David A. Geier, Mark R. Geier
This study reviewed the case histories and medical profiles of nine autistic children and concluded that eight of the nine children were mercury toxic and this toxicity manifested itself in a manner consistent with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Excerpt:
"...these previously normally developing children suffered mercury toxic encephalopathies that manifested with clinical symptoms consistent with regressive ASDs. Evidence for mercury intoxication should be considered in the differential diagnosis as contributing to some regressive ASDs."
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and blood mercury level: a case-control study in chinese children
Neuropediatrics, August 2006
P.R. Kong [Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, The University of Hong Kong].
This study demonstrates that blood mercury levels are higher for children with ADHD. Excerpt:
"There was significant difference in blood mercury levels between cases and controls, which persists after adjustment for age, gender and parental occupational status. The geometric mean blood mercury level was also significantly higher in children with inattentive and combined subtypes of ADHD. CONCLUSION: High blood mercury level was associated with ADHD. Whether the relationship is causal requires further studies."
Reduced Levels of Mercury in First Baby Haircuts of Autistic Children
International Journal of Toxicology
Dr. Amy S. Holmes, Mark F. Blaxill, Boyd E. Haley, Ph.D.
March 14, 2003
This recent study demonstrates that the levels of mercury in the birth hair of autistic children were significantly lower than their control peers. While this may at first appear contradictory, it highlights one of the critical insights to understanding mercury poisoning and autistic children: many autistic children are non-excretors of mercury. This means their capacity to excrete mercury is significantly lower than their neurotypical peers and contributes to their condition.
3.
The brains of children with neurological disorders are experiencing severe oxidative stress and inflammation, suggesting an environmental cause.
We cite four published studies that support this position:
Large Brains in Autism: The Challenge of Pervasive Abnormality.
The Neuroscientist, Volume 11, Number 5, 2005.
Martha Herbert, MD, PhD [Harvard University].
This study helps refute the notion that the brains of autistic children are simply wired differently and notes, "neuroinflammation appears to be present in autistic brain tissue from childhood through adulthood." Dr. Herbert suggests that chronic disease or an external environmental source (like heavy metals) may be causing the inflammation. Excerpt:
"Oxidative stress, brain inflammation, and microgliosis have been much documented in association with toxic exposures including various heavy metals...the awareness that the brain as well as medical conditions of children with autism may be conditioned by chronic biomedical abnormalities such as inflammation opens the possibility that meaningful biomedical interventions may be possible well past the window of maximal neuroplasticity in early childhood because the basis for assuming that all deficits can be attributed to fixed early developmental alterations in neural architecture has now been undermined."
Neuroglial Activation and Neuroinflammation in the Brain of Patients with Autism.
Annals of Neurology, Feb 2005.
Diana L. Vargas, MD [Johns Hopkins University].
This study, performed independently and using a different methodology than Dr. Herbert (see above) reached the same conclusion: the brains of autistic children are suffering from inflammation. Excerpt:
"Because this neuroinflammatory process appears to be associated with an ongoing and chronic mechanism of CNS dysfunction, potential therapeutic interventions should focus on the control of its detrimental effects and thereby eventually modify the clinical course of autism."
Evidence of Toxicity, Oxidative Stress, and Neuronal Insult in Autism
Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Nov-Dec 2006.
Janet Kern, Anne Jones
"This article discusses the evidence for the case that some children with autism may become autistic from neuronal cell death or brain damage sometime after birth as result of insult; and addresses the hypotheses that toxicity and oxidative stress may be a cause of neuronal insult in autism..the article discusses what may be happening over the course of development and the multiple factors that may interplay and make these children more vulnerable to toxicity, oxidative stress, and neuronal insult."
Oxidative Stress in Autism
Pathophysiology, 2006.
Abha Chauhan, Ved Chauhan
This study provides a helpful overview of the growing evidence supporting the link between oxidative stress and autism. Excerpt:
"Upon completion of this article, participants should be able to: 1. Be aware of laboratory and clinical evidence of greater oxidative stress in autism. 2. Understand how gut, brain, nutritional, and toxic status in autism are consistent with greater oxidative stress. 3. Describe how anti-oxidant nutrients are used in the contemporary treatment of autism."
4.
Children with neurological disorders are often suffering from severe gastrointestinal distress and inflammation. A trigger of this inflammation and the resultant behaviors is the MMR vaccine.
We cite four published studies that support this position:
Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children
Lancet 1998 Feb 28
Wakefield AJ, Murch SH, Anthony A, Linnell J, Casson DM, [University Department of Medicine, Royal Free Hospital and School of Medicine, London, UK]
This study demonstrates that the MMR vaccine triggered autistic behaviors and inflammatory bowel disease in autistic children. Excerpt:
"Onset of behavioral symptoms was associated, by the parents, with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination [MMR] in eight of the 12 children, with measles infection in one child, and otitis media in another... We identified associated gastrointestinal disease and developmental regression in a group of previously normal children, which was generally associated in time with possible environmental triggers."
The Significance of Ileo-Colonic Lymphoid Nodular Hyperplasia in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.
European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, August 2005.
Andrew J. Wakefield, MD [Royal Free & University College Medical School, London].
This study demonstrates that, to a much higher degree, children with an autism spectrum disorder suffer from Ileo-Colonic Lymphoid Nodular Hyperplasia (LNH) a serious disorder of the intestinal tract. Excerpt:
"Both ileal and colonic LNH are significantly more prevalent, and of greater severity, in ASD children compared with developmentally normal controls."
Detection and Sequencing of Measles Virus from Peripheral Mononuclear Cells from Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Autism
Digestive Diseases and Sciences, 2000
Hisashi Kawashima, Takayuki Mori, Yasuyo Kashiwagi, Kouji Takekuma
This study shows that the measles in the bowels of autistic children is from the MMR vaccine. Excerpt:
"Additionally, a new syndrome has been reported in children with autism who exhibited developmental regression and gastrointestinal symptoms (autistic enterocolitis), in some cases soon after MMR vaccine. It is not known whether the virus, if confirmed to be present in these patients, derives from either wild strains or vaccine strains. ...The sequences obtained from the patients with ulcerative colitis and children with autism were consistent with being vaccine strains. The results were concordant with the exposure history of the patients. Persistence of measles virus was confirmed in PBMC in some patients with chronic intestinal inflammation."
Dysregulated Innate Immune Responses in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Their Relationship to Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Dietary Intervention.
Neuropsychobiology, 2005.
Harumi Jyonouchi, MD [New Jersey Medical School].
This study examines the link between autistic behaviors and gastrointestinal disorders and notes a possible link "between GI and behavioral symptoms mediated by innate immune abnormalities."
5.
One preservative used in vaccines, Thimerosal (mercury), enters the bloodstream of the child and ends up in the brain after being administered.
We cite two published studies that support this position:
Iatrogenic Exposure to Mercury After Hepatitis B Vaccination in Preterm Infants.
Journal of Pediatrics, May 2000.
Gregory V. Stajich, PharmD [Mercer University].
This study measured mercury levels in infants before and after the administration of a Hepatitis B vaccine containing Thimerosal and found that a "comparison of pre and post-vaccination mercury levels showed a significant increase in both preterm and term infants after vaccination."
Comparison of Blood and Brain Mercury Levels in Infant Monkeys Exposed to Methylmercury or Vaccines Containing Thimerosal.
Environmental Health Perspectives, Aug 2005.
Thomas Burbacher, PhD [University of Washington].
This study demonstrates clearly and unequivocally that ethyl mercury, the kind of mercury found in vaccines, not only ends up in the brain, but leaves double the amount of inorganic mercury as methyl mercury, the kind of mercury found in fish. This work is groundbreaking because little is known about ethyl mercury, and many health authorities have asserted that the mercury found in vaccines is the "safe kind." This study also delivers a strong rebuke of the Institute of Medicine's recommendation in 2004 to no longer pursue the mercury-autism connection. Excerpt:
"A recently published IOM review (IOM 2004) appears to have abandoned the earlier recommendation [of studying mercury and autism] as well as back away from the American Academy of Pediatrics goal [of removing mercury from vaccines]. This approach is difficult to understand, given our current limited knowledge of the toxicokinetics and developmental neurotoxicity of thimerosal, a compound that has been (and will continue to be) injected in millions of newborns and infants."
6.
Higher levels of environmental mercury has been shown to produce higher rates of autism.
We cite one published study that supports this position:
Environmental mercury release, special education rates, and autism disorder: an ecological study of Texas.
Health & Place, 2006
Raymond F. Palmer, University of Texas Health Science Center
This study demonstrated the correlation between environmental mercury and autism rates in Texas. Excerpt:
"On average, for each 1,000 lb of environmentally released mercury, there was a 43% increase in the rate of special education services and a 61% increase in the rate of autism. The association between environmentally released mercury and special education rates were fully mediated by increased autism rates. This ecological study suggests the need for further research regarding the association between environmentally released mercury and developmental disorders such as autism."
7.
The preservatives in vaccines, most notably Thimerosal (mercury) and aluminum, are highly toxic and damaging to the nervous system and immune system of a developing child, and reactions to these toxins may vary greatly by child.
We cite nine published studies that support this position:
Thimerosal Neurotoxicity is Associated with Glutathione Depletion: Protection with Glutathione Precursors.
Neurotoxicology, Jan 2005.
S. Jill James, PhD [University of Arkansas].
This recent study demonstrates that Thimerosal lowers or inhibits the body's ability to produce Glutathione, an antioxidant and the body's primary cellular-level defense against mercury. Excerpt:
"Thimerosal-induced cytotoxicity was associated with depletion of intracellular Glutathione in both cell lines...The potential effect of Glutathione or N-acetylcysteine against mercury toxicity warrants further research as possible adjunct therapy to individuals still receiving Thimerosal-containing vaccines."
Uncoupling of ATP-mediated Calcium Signaling and Dysregulated IL-6 Secretion in Dendritic Cells by Nanomolar Thimerosal
Environmental Health Perspectives, July 2006.
Samuel R. Goth, Ruth A. Chu Jeffrey P. Gregg
This study demonstrates that very low-levels of Thimerosal can contribute to immune system disregulation. Excerpt:
"Our findings that DCs primarily express the RyR1 channel complex and that this complex is uncoupled by very low levels of THI with dysregulated IL-6 secretion raise intriguing questions about a molecular basis for immune dyregulation and the possible role of the RyR1 complex in genetic susceptibility of the immune system to mercury."
Aluminum adjuvant linked to gulf war illness induces motor neuron death in mice
Neuromolecular Medicine, 2007
Christopher Shaw, Ph.D. [Department of Ophthalmology and Program in Neuroscience, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada]
This study demonstrates the extreme toxicity of the aluminum adjuvant used as a preservative in vaccines. Excerpt:
"testing showed motor deficits in the aluminum treatment group that expressed as a progressive decrease in strength measured...Significant cognitive deficits in water-maze learning were observed in the combined aluminum and squalene group...Apoptotic neurons were identified in aluminum-injected animals that showed significantly increased activated caspase-3 labeling in lumbar spinal cord (255%) and primary motor cortex (192%) compared with the controls. Aluminum-treated groups also showed significant motor neuron loss (35%) and increased numbers of astrocytes (350%) in the lumbar spinal cord."
Activation of Methionine Synthase by Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 and Dopamine: a Target for Neurodevelopmental Toxins and Thimerosal.
Molecular Psychiatry, July 2004.
Richard C. Deth, PhD [Northeastern University].
This study demonstrates how Thimerosal inhibits methylation, a central driver of cellular communication and development. Excerpt:
"The potent inhibition of this pathway [methylation] by ethanol, lead, mercury, aluminum, and thimerosal suggests it may be an important target of neurodevelopmental toxins."
Neurotoxic Effects of Postnatal Thimerosal are Mouse Strain Dependent.
Molecular Psychiatry, Sep 2004.
Mady Hornig, MD [Columbia University].
This recent work by Columbia University Doctors explores whether genes are important in determining if mercury exposures akin to those in childhood immunizations can disrupt brain development and function. It is the first known scientific study done specifically on ethlymercury administered in a way similar to the vaccine schedule. Dr. Hornig discussed the study before Congress in September 2004. Excerpt:
"The premise of our research is that if mercury in vaccines creates risk for neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, genetic differences are likely to contribute to that risk. Earlier studies, however, did not use the form of mercury present in vaccines, known as thimerosal, and did not consider whether intramuscular, repetitive administration during early postnatal development, when the brain and immune systems are still maturing, might intensify toxicity. Our predictions were confirmed. Using thimerosal dosages and timing that approximated the childhood immunization schedule, our model of postnatal thimerosal neurotoxicity demonstrated that the genes in mice that predict mercury-related immunotoxicity also predicted nuerodevelopmental damage. Features reminiscent of those observed in autism occurred in the mice of the genetically sensitive strain."
Thimerosal induces DNA breaks, Caspase-3 Activation, Membrane Damage, and Cell Death in Cultured Human Neurons and Fibroblasts.
Toxicological Science, 2003.
David S. Baskin, MD [Baylor College of Medicine].
This study demonstrates the potent toxicity of Thimerosal on brain cells.
Organic Mercury Compounds and Autoimmunity.
Autoimmunity Review, 2005.
Said Havarinasab, MD [Linkoping University].
This study demonstrates the clear link between ethylmercury [from Thimerosal] and autoimmune responses.
Mercury and autism: Accelerating Evidence?
Neuroendocrinology Letters, Oct 2005.
Joachim Mutter, M.D. [Freiburg University, Germany].
This recent study from Germany summarizes many of the recent scientific advances. Excerpt:
"The causes of autism and neurodevelopmental disorders are unknown. Genetic and environmental risk factors seem to be involved...Repetitive doses of thimerosal leads to neurobehavioral deteriorations in autoimmune susceptible mice, increased oxidative stress and decreased intracellular levels of glutathione in vitro. Subsequently, autistic children have significantly decreased level of reduced glutathione. Promising treatments of autism involve detoxification of mercury, and supplementation of deficient metabolites."
Retrograde Degeneration of Neurite Membrane Structural Integrity of Nerve Growth In Vitro Exposure to Mercury.
NeuroReport, 2001.
Christopher Leong, MD [University of Calgary].
This study shows how mercury damages brain cells.
8.
The symptoms of autism and the symptoms of mercury poisoning appear to be very similar.
We cite one published study that support this position:
Autism: A Novel Form of Mercury Poisoning.
Medical Hypothesis, 2001.
Sallie Bernard, Albert Enyati, Lynn Redwood, RN, Teresa Binstock, PhD.
This simple but groundbreaking work spelled it out for the layperson by demonstrating that the symptoms of autism and the symptoms of mercury poisoning are identical. Excerpt:
"Due to the extensive parallels between autism and mercury poisoning, the likelihood of a causal relationship is great. Given that possibility, Thimerosal should be removed from all childhood vaccines and the mechanisms of mercury toxicity in autism should be thoroughly investigated."
9.
The Government Reform Committee of the U.S. Congress has published reports on the relationship between mercury and autism and on the conflicts in policy-making for the national immunization schedule.
We cite two studies by the Committee on Government Reform of the U.S. Congress:
Mercury in Medicine - Taking Unnecessary Risks
Congressional Record - Extensions of Remarks
Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN), Committee on Government Reform
May 21, 2003
This extensive report was prepared by the staff of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness and was the result of a three-year investigation. The Committee on Government Reform, chaired by Congressman Dan Burton, initiated the investigation and compiled the testimony of hundreds of researchers and physicians, as well as representatives from the FDA and CDC, who presented to the committee. Excerpt:
"Mercury is hazardous to humans. Its use in medicinal products is undesirable, unnecessary and should be minimized or eliminated entirely. Manufacturers of vaccines and thimerosal, (an ethlymercury compound used in vaccines), have never conducted adequate testing on the safety of thimerosal. The FDA has never required manufacturers to conduct adequate safety testing on thimerosal and ethlymercury compounds...Thimerosal used as a preservative in vaccines is likely related to the autism epidemic. This epidemic in all probability may have been prevented or curtailed had the FDA not been asleep at the switch regarding injected thimerosal and the sharp rise of infant exposure to this known neurotoxin. Our public health agencies' failure to act is indicative of institutional malfeasance for self-protection and misplaced protectionism of the pharmaceutical industry."
Conflicts of Interest in Vaccine Policy Making
Majority Staff Report, Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives
June 15, 2000
"Members of the advisory committees are required to disclose any financial conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from participating in decisions in which they have an interest. The Committee's investigation has determined that conflict of interest rules employed by the FDA and the CDC have been weak, enforcement has been lax, and committee members with substantial ties to pharmaceutical companies have been given waivers to participate in committee proceedings."
10.
Other studies of interest
Complementary Alternative Medicine for Children with Autism: A Physician Survey
Previous studies suggest over half of children with autism are using complementary alternative medicine (CAM). In this study, physicians responded (n = 539, 19% response rate) to a survey regarding CAM use in children with autism. Physicians encouraged multi-vitamins (49%), essential fatty acids (25%), melatonin (25%) and probiotics (19%) and discouraged withholding immunizations (76%), chelation (61%), anti-infectives (57%), delaying immunizations (55%) and secretin (43%). Physicians encouraging CAM were more likely to desire CAM training, inquire about CAM use, be female, be younger, and report greater autism visits, autism education and CAM knowledge. Physicians were more likely to desire CAM training, inquire about CAM and view CAM as a challenge for children with autism compared to children with other neurodevelopmental and chronic/complex conditions.
Neurometabolic Disorders and Dysfunction in Autism Spectrum Disorders
The cause of autism remains largely unknown because it is likely multifactorial, arising from the interaction of biologic, genetic, and environmental factors. The specifi c role of metabolic abnormalities also is largely unknown, but current research may provide insight into the pathophysiologic underpinnings of autism, at least in some patients. We review a number of known neurometabolic disorders identifi ed as having an autistic phenotype. We also discuss the possible involvement of mitochondrial disorders and dysfunction as well as a theory regarding an increased vulnerability to oxidative stress, by which various environmental toxins produce metabolic alterations that impair normal cellular function. Finally, we review various strategies for metabolic work-up and treatment. Accurate diagnosis of neurometabolic disorders and a broader understanding of underlying metabolic disturbance even in the absence of known disease have important implications both for individual patients and for research into the etiology of autism.
Access the following video of a CBS 60-Minutes expose which deals with the behavior of the CDC in its 1976 swine flu vaccination campaign:
http://www.loveforlife.com.au/node/6636
As Mike Wallace interviews the head of the CDC, it is clearly revealed that in that campaign, the CDC: distributed an untested vaccine; mischaracterized in their publicity the severity of the disease; did not pass on warnings it had received that the vaccine could cause neurological disorder (indeed, the campaign was ultimately halted after thousands of incidents of Gullain-Barre syndrome); and fabricated statements from public personalities in the effort to convince people to vaccinate.
From each of those several perspectives, the CDC betrayed its public trust. There is no reason to believe the situation has changed.
This is not a short response, nor is it sweet, but I hope this opposing opinion will be posted in the name of fair debate.
I just want to make a couple of points for the moment, as I don't have the time to argue the many beliefs this blogger has presented as fact. Her attempts to preempt disagreements she knows will come up do not deter me. We too often choose to believe the reports and "data" presented to us based on our personal prejudice, without an open-minded review of opposing "data and facts". I have always enjoyed and respected science, but what makes you think that the "scientific method", developed centuries ago, should be the end-all to investigation? The scientific method has been used to prove and disprove both global warming causes, and the vaccine-autism connection. Is the information that we choose to believe about autism, for example, coming from the powerful Pharmaceutical-Medical complex, with uncountable "special interest" conflicts and profit motives; and who currently enjoy the lion's share of media advertising, (made possible by the massive profits gleaned from their industry, 20% of which come from the sale of vaccines) . . or should we perhaps consider the findings of individual researchers and practitioners, many of them MDs and PhDs, with no connection to the gravy train, who've taken it upon themselves to get to the truth? Vaccine promoters have distorted history and truncated disease charts to exaggerate the "need" for so many vaccines. There is another side to most issues. Consider those pioneering doctors who cured 100% of their polio patients using natural methods and vitamin supplementation, while mainstream hospitals and clinics struggled to save lives and at best produced crippled patients? Most diseases can be eliminated through natural means, but you can't get a patent on oranges . . yet.
Please look up Dr. F. R. Klenner , Dr. Claus Jungeblut, and Sister Elizabeth Kenny . . yes, use the Internet, and verify your findings at the public library, should you feel the need. My hat is off to all of those researchers, practitioners, and Jenny McCarthy's who are honestly trying to help humanity. Power to the People!
For those of you who say, "how can my unvaccinated child affect your vaccinated child, he's protected from disease." I'll give you an analogy that might make it a little more clear as to how unvaccinated people endanger vaccinated people.
Say we have a garden hose representing one unvaccinated person and a wall representing a vaccinated person. Lets have that hose turn on and start spraying water against the wall (representing an unvaccinated person getting sick and comming into contact with a vaccinated person.) Chances are nothing is going to happen to the wall before the water supply runs out or the hose is turned off ( sick person dies or fights off the disease.)
Now we take a bunch of hoses, say enough to equal the pressure of a firehose (representing multiple unvaccinated people) and have that turned on and pointed at the wall. The firehose has a greater chance of chipping away or even breaking through the wall than a garden hose before its water supply runs out or is turned off (sick people die or get well)
Lets take every avaiable hose in the region and turn them on and aim them at that wall. With that amount of exposure the wall can not withstand what is being directed against it and it crumbles rapidly.
How can waterhoses break down walls you say, there are cracks in the wall, some noticable some tiny and nearly invisible to the naked eye, water gets into them and begins to chip away.
Vaccines are not 100% effective so constant exposure to people who are unvaccinated can eventually allow viruses to break through the vaccine barrier and infect the vaccinated child. The only thing in life that is 100% certain is death, everything else can not be 100% perfect.
That is how your child can affect others. Not the best analogy to use but its something I think many of you can visualize
But Bryan, unvaccinated are rarely getting these diseases and there is no way to prove that an unvaccinated child exposed a vaccinated one in most cases.
I do not want to live in a society that will sacrifice some to help the many - even if it did work.
No vaccine has been proven to give immunity - ever.
The Truth About Tamiflu - The Atlantic (December 10, 2009)
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200912u/tamiflu
There are a couple of take-home messages here. One is pretty obvious: Tamiflu may not be doing much good for patients with the flu who take it, and it might be causing harm. The more important issue, however, involves the need for trust in science and medicine. Governments, public health agencies, and international bodies such as the World Health Organization, have all based their decisions to recommend and stockpile Tamiflu on studies that had seemed independent, but had in fact been funded by the company and were authored almost entirely by Roche employees or paid academic consultants. So did the Cochrane Collaboration, at least in its earlier assessments of Tamiflu. Millions of flu patients have taken the drug as a result.
Bryan Potter says, "Vaccines are not 100% effective so constant exposure to people who are unvaccinated can eventually allow viruses to break through the vaccine barrier and infect the vaccinated child. The only thing in life that is 100% certain is death, everything else can not be 100% perfect."
Before vaccines were created, people built immunity through exposure. If one is vaccinated for a disease, theoretically, that person has been exposed to the disease, thus, giving them immunity. However, the fact is, there is no replacement for natural immunity. Every disease, even vaccines, carries the risk of death. If a person has been vaccinated, then exposure to the actual disease should be of no concern. If you contract it, you're likely to have a mild outbreak of the disease. It would be at that point, that you will actually have full immunity.
Your analogy is weak, at best.
Old but still timely
Interview with Epidemiologist Tom Jefferson
'A Whole Industry Is Waiting For A Pandemic'
The world has been gripped with fears of swine flu in recent weeks. In an interview with SPIEGEL, epidemiologist Tom Jefferson speaks about dangerous fear-mongering, misguided, money-driven research and why we should all be washing our hands a lot more often.
07/21/2009
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,637119,00.html
http://tinyurl.com/yk2kxda
Strong lobbying behind the WHO resolution on mass vaccination
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/326/5951/350-b
In Holland, the Public Face of Flu Takes a Hit
For the past 6 months, one could barely switch on the television in the Netherlands without seeing the face of famed virus hunter Albert Osterhaus talking about the swine flu pandemic. Or so it has seemed. Osterhaus, who runs an internationally renowned virus lab at Erasmus Medical Center, has been Mr. Flu. But last week, his reputation took a nosedive after it was alleged that he has been stoking pandemic fears to promote his own business interests in vaccine development. As Science went to press, the Dutch House of Representatives had even slated an emergency debate about the matter.
H1N1
Another expert who advises WHO on vaccines, Dr. Frederick Hayden, is described as a flu-research coordinator from the Wellcome Trust in London.
However, according to the report, Hayden also serves as a "paid adviser" for pharmaceutical companies Roche, RW Johnson, SmithKline Beecham and Glaxo Wellcome.
WHO expert Dr. Arnold Monto is also purportedly a paid consultant for MedImmune (a company that produces nasal flu vaccine), Glaxo Wellcome and ViroPharma. However, WHO's Strategize Advisory Group of Experts, or SAGE, never divulged those ties, according to the report.
The newspaper also states that numerous pharmaceutical companies maintain an active presence during WHO advisory group meetings, with representatives listed as "observers."
Professor Tom Jefferson, epidemiologist at the Cochrane Center in Rome, told Information he believes the researchers' dual roles are problematic, and he noted the WHO's emphasis on drugs rather than proper hygiene habits.
http://marketoracle.co.uk/Article15655.html
World Health Organisation 'Mr Swine Flu' Under Investigation for Gross Conflict of Interest
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=118262
Swine-flu bribe fever!
U.N.'s H1N1 scientists linked to companies making vaccine
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.information.dk%2F215355&sl=da&tl=en
Sheri Nakken, RN, MA, Hahnemannian Homeopathy
Vaccination Information & Choice Network
http://vaccinationdangers.wordpress.com/
http://www.wellwithin1.com/vaccine.htm
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vaccinations - yahoo groups on vaccine dangers
Sheri thinks its wrong for scientist to be making money, she gives the apperance that if scientists really beleive in vaccines then they should be working on them for free to better mankind. Working for free doesn't pay the bills.
Here's where it gets funny, Sheri's websites linked under her name promote people to take classes about homeopathy, double standard much Sheri? How about you teach your classes for free to better mankind.
Take a note for next time Sheri, if your going to claim the high ground make sure your actually on the high ground.
This article is infuriating, and the number of responses praising the article are appallingly scary. Firstly, the media is not meant to only relay fact; it's meant to report what is going on in the world, so it SHOULD express both sides of an issue. Because that's what we're talking about here - issues, NOT FACT. All of you who claim it is a fact that autism cannot be caused by vaccinations need to wake up and smell the multi-billion dollars of the pharmaceutical industry and recognize its stranglehold on research in this country.
I am distressed although not surprised that an autism mother is trying to squash research and voices about one of the many possible environmental factors leading to autism. I have done the research, and it proves that thimerosal/mercury in vaccines increases a child's chances of regressing into autism. I know I'm in the minority believing this, but does that mean my voice should not be heard? If no one questioned medical science, we could still be using mercury to treat syphilis.
And when it comes to vaccinations, keep your angry, agree with whatever Merck and Pfizer spoon feed you hands off my future children! They will not be receiving vaccinations because I know how to keep an immune system strong, which is something Western medicine has missed the mark on. Our immune systems were built to fight such diseases until we started filling our bodies with the chemical toxins we now dump into our environment at an alarming rate - vaccines included. They have aluminum, formaldehyde, and a list of other poisonous chemicals in them. I'll take my chances with nature, thank you, and I am confident that one day my minority voice will become the majority.
Are you sincerely arguing science against religion in terms of teaching in the classroom? Are you sincerely arguing that the *theory* of evolution is a "given"? And forget the autism link, existent or not - it isn't just about autism, it's about the millions of other devastating side-effects. How about the SmallPox vaccine? Do you know why they stopped giving that? Because the only people coming down with SmallPox were people that had had the vaccine! Quit trying to spout of your opinions of what is and isn't scientific until YOU do some REAL research about what is purely truth.
If anything, you should figure out the other side of things. I'm not talking about the "opinion" I'm talking about the FACTS. The FACT that evolution has no proof, and even as such, is still taught strictly in today's school systems as an accepted truth. Schools are brainwashing our children, as they brainwashed us -yes, you too- into being atheist because of the "wonders of evolution" despite the multiple proven LIES such as Lucy and Haeckel's drawing and numerous others.
And don't be spouting off about how my non-vaccinated child is putting your vaccinated child at risk. I treat my daughter properly in health, and she has an incredible immune system, even having been born 3 weeks early, she has never had any complications - OR vaccines. Oh, and she has absolutely no deficiencies mental-health wise, either. Her reasoning is actually incredibly for being only a year and a half. However, I can say that the one mistake that I made was when she was 4 months old, I let the nurses give her an antibiotic shot. Having had no problems whatsoever with her health; not so much as a cold, she developed a seemingly arbitrary rash only 1 week after this antibiotic shot. A relatively small spot on her back. Within a few weeks, this rash spread to all over her body nearly covering her soft baby skin in a rash. What did this dreadful antibiotic do to her? How about that argument on antibiotics? Do you know anything about that? Ever heard of acidophilus? How about good bacteria? If you constantly kill of things inside your body, your body is going to self-destruct. Your body is a living organism, and it needs living organisms to help it survive.
This "scientific" side that you trust oh-so-whole heartedly because you are just that darn smart that you don't need "religion" or "non-scientific" points to be made to you - DOES have another side. Why is the title of this: "the other side" of scientific fact? because it IS the other side of SCIENTIFIC FACT. As in, there are 2 sides of these facts, and this is the other side. The other side that is shunned by the media the vast majority of the time. Doctors do not want to hear anything that isn't in-line with their one-sided pharmaceutical minds.I have seen first-hand a doctor admit that he had no interest in learning how my step dad ridded himself of his cancer with non-medical therapy. They simply don't care, if it isn't taught in there 840253-year-school with their medicinal studies. How about we learn to treat our natural bodies naturally as opposed to thinking we are gods and can create a better solution?
http://www.whale.to/v/phillips.html
Check it before you go spreading poisonous ideas from your own brain-washed world that is too "intelligent" to accept a belief that says that we're only human.
In regards to the statements:
"Self-righteous blowhards who demand their religion be taught in my kids' science classes as a scientific theory."
This is the most closed-minded, bull-headed, obnoxious statement trying to come across as an intellectual fact that I have ever read. Self-righteous blowhards? Because I believe that you are harming your child in getting him vaccinated? Because I believe that the risk for adverse effects from a vaccine outweighs the risks of actually getting measles/mumps/whatever? ..Self-Righteous? Because I believe that there is one God and that public schools embracing the theory of evolution and teaching, nay, force-feeding, atheism subtly into the minds of our children every where? What do you think has happened to the world? It's awful - People have no respect for one another, and I'm the self-righteous one? You've got it backwards. God is the righteous one - and you believe you are more righteous than He.
"And for our intellectual and physical health, not to mention that of our planet, we need kids to learn science in school and religion in their homes and places of worship."
Fine - Agreed! That means you take YOUR religious teachings out of schools as well. Until there is hard evidence for evolution, there is NO reason to be teaching it without the other side. It's a theory, it's a religion, you have to have faith to believe something that isn't proven.
If your goal in writing this was simply to vibrantly irk those of us who have a completely differring opinion than you, then you've done your job. You have made no proven points portraying the evidence for your beliefs. All you have done is stated, in your opinion, that they are facts.
This blogging is the epitome definition of an epic fail.
I am so sorry for your lost soul.
For all of you who think your brilliant retort about your unvaccinated angels not posing a risk if vaccines really work, I pose a couple of questions. Firstly, if *YOU* are so confident that they DON'T work, then why do you NOT believe that your children pose a health risk? Secondly, it has to do with the mutation of the strains of illnesses that your little 'angels' incubate when they get sick. Furthermore, your unvaccinated litter poses a risk to those children who aren't yet old enough to be vaccinated for whatever infestation your child currently has.
I work with disabled adults including many who have ASD .The research shows that roughly 1 in 100 of the population will have ASD and the latest figures show no change in this proportion. That figure has held pretty steady since I've been doing this work which is coming up for thirty years. My oldest client is an 85 year old with Aspergers syndrome, my youngest a 16 year old with profound and multiple disabilities. Most of my clients are aged between 20 and 50 .
There is an increase in adults being diagnosed with ASD in their thirties and forties often having been misdiagnosed for many years. There is also a tendancy towards earlier diagnosis but the important thing to note is that overall figures aren't changing. People with ASD have always been part of our society but we haven't always been this good at diagnosis and often an inaccurate blanket diagnosis of learning disability or developmental delay or mental health issues has led to people with autistic spectrum disorders not receiving appropriate support throughout life.
In order to plan future services one of my roles is to monitor data . For example we had to plan for the care of children affected by Debendox and we currently work with many profoundly disabled young adults who were born after we found how to sustain life in vert premature babies but before medical science discovered how to use liquid oxygen and chilling to protect against brain damage.
Sadly recent data shows that we do indeed have a *spike* in the numbers of profoundly disabled children about to enter the school system. We're going to need more specialist teachers and services who are skilled at working with deaf-blind children ( many of whom have multiple additional disabilities).
These are the children being born to mothers who have come into contact with the rubella virus following the MMR vaccine *scare*. Rubella is a mild illness in most children but if a foetus is exposed to the virus via the mother's placenta the results range from impared eyesight and hearing to profound multiple disability.
I'm a strong advocate of vaccination and of continuing research into the causes of ASD.
I'm dismayed that so many people here seem to have seized on the theory of mecury in vaccine to the exclusion of so many other pieces of research.
And I'm scared that we might soon see childhood mortality from polio, smallpox , whooping cough and other preventable disease start to rise again.
To Deb Williams:
Look at 1. Data from the Verstraeten Zero Analysis published by SafeMinds at http://www.safeminds.org/research/library/GenerationZeroPowerPoint.pdf , and 2. The book Evidence of Harm by David Kirby, and 3. The book Changing the Course of Autism by Bryan Jepson. They all provide clear EVIDENCE OF RISK for brain injury from vaccines.
Quantifying the risk of harm by comparing the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) rates between the years 1967 and 1983 of 3.4 per 10,000 and the CDC rate of 1 per 100 children and then using an annual birth rate of 4 million children per year in this country - calculates out to an increase of 38,640 more children each year with ASD. These children and their families (as well as future generations yet to be injured) desperately need advocates. Please read, read, and read and then help in anyway you can.
Finally, nobody on this planet should knowingly give a child or pregnant women the equivalent of a half cup of mercury hazardous waste.
Since 1991 thiomersal has been remove from almost all infant vaccines
Eight major studies as of last year have examined the effect of reductions or removal of thiomersal from vaccines. All eight demonstrated that autism rates failed to decline despite removal of thiomersal , arguing strongly against a causative role.
If thiomersal was a factor ASD rates would be declining, they are holding steady.
If vaccination was a factor then the increase in parents choosing not to vaccinate their children would be starting to show up in a decline in diagnosis of ASD. There has been no such decline.
There has however been a quantifiable and demonstrable increase in disability caused by in uteri exposure to rubella.
There has been an increase in the incidence of preventable diseases such as whooping cough.
Sadly there have been fatalities.
There is some fascinating research going on into genetic, viral and environmental factors . There's a really interesting new study about uterine testosterone levels. I want research money directed towards these investigations, not endlessly diverted into possible links which have already been fully investigated.
Finally I'd like to advance the argument that a neuro diverse society is in many ways enriched . I consider myself privileged to know many amazing people who have ASD . I consider myself privileged to know their families and I know many people with ASD who reject any notion that they can or should be "cured". I think those voices should be heard . I know full well that many other people with ASD and the families of those who are severely affected may think differently but I also know of the joy which people with ASD can bring as well as the challenges.
Because of course Neurodiversity brings challenges to families and to people who have ASD and of course we should continue to research and read and strive to support people who have ASD to reach their full potential , but , as a friend of money who has Aspergers syndrome is continually reminding me " The NT way is not the only way"
Here's a fun site
http://www.asperger-syndrome.me.uk/people.htm#newton
And Jim Thompson, you say
"nobody on this planet should knowingly give a child or pregnant women the equivalent of a half cup of mercury hazardous waste."
I entirely agree with you.
And if you can tell me how half a cup of anything can be present in a fraction of a 5ml quantity of anything else then I'll go back and revise the laws of physics.
Wow, your article reminds me of my native country Cuba. The dictator Fidel Castro controls the media and does not allow anybody to express their opinion. If you are so convinced that vaccines are backed up by science, why are you concerned that people give their testimonies about how their children regresed into autism after they were vaccinated. Only a tyrant does not allow freedom of speach.
To Deb Williams
Thank you for your concurrence that nobody on this planet should knowingly give a child or pregnant women the equivalent of a half cup of mercury hazardous waste.
And to put that concurrence into context the following earlier comment addresses the LAWS OF PHYSICS and how A HALF CUP OF mercury hazardous waste liquid has the same mercury as a SINGLE FLU SHOT WITH THIMEROSAL.
HERE IT IS.
For instance, take the mercury that is STILL in the majority of flu shots. While mercury is regulated by the USEPA at levels 25 times LOWER than lead, because mercury kills brain cells, there are 25 micrograms of it in EACH flu shot that uses Thimerosal as a preservative. A half cup of water (4 ounces) with that much mercury has 0.2114 parts per million mercury and is considered a liquid hazardous waste, number D009. See http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/get-cfr.cgi?TITLE=40&PART=261&SECTION=24&TYPE=TEXT
Jim Thompson, Ethylmercury, the kind found in vaccines, is NOT anything like the hazardous waste you've described. It does not accumulate in the body.
Andrew Tetlaw.
ETHYLMERCURY KILLS brain cells. And ELEMENTAL MERCURY kills brain cells. And BOTH of these forms of mercury are in the human body as a result of THIMEROSAL from flu shots.
Look at Maya et al.
Thimerosal separates in the organism in ethylmercury and thiosalicylate, being a highly unstable chemical composition. Due to its great liposolubility, it can easily cross the blood-brain and placental barriers, exhibiting a short time of half-life in the blood. It can deposit itself in the central nervous system, where subsequently it is transformed into inorganic Hg, which accumulates in the human and animal brain, showing a half-life between 227 and 540 days.
See Maya, page 3 at http://www.safeminds.org/research/AnFacMedLima2006-67(3).pdf .
And under federal law in the United States, hazardous waste is determined by total mercury content. Because as Goldman et al states, Mercury in all of its forms is toxic to the fetus and children, and efforts should be made to reduce exposure to the extent possible to pregnant women and children as well as the general population.
See page Goldman page 203 at http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/108/1/197 .
So again, nobody on this planet should knowingly give ANY child or pregnant woman the equivalent of a half cup of mercury hazardous waste.
I have so many things I want to rant about after reading some of the ill-informed comments on here. However let me just say this.
I have Aspergers, which makes me 100 times the expert on the subject as most of you who are just saying how right you are and how wrong everyone else is.
My opinion: I think this article is spot-on.
As an aside, for those who scream about the link between vaccinations and autism - did you know that the first link between the two was made by a scientist who was on the board of a company who made a product in direct competition with the vaccine he was discrediting. And since then, it has been stuck in the public that there is a link. I personally would like that scientist taken out back and shot. Science is good, bad scientists are terrible.
Personally, I am 100% sure that there isn't a link, but my belief is UNPROVEN. Those places that say there is a link, well, it is scaremongering and ratings grabbing by news corporations desperate for viewers to pay the bills.
When there is peer-reviewed factually based neutral context science that says the answer, hooray, we have the answer. Until then, you may as well ask your local street cleaner for the answer because nobody knows, but somehow EVERYONE has an opinion. Other peoples opinions are great, it makes healthy debate. People stating hearsay as fact is as damaging as people negligently ignoring fact.
As a final note, Im an aspie and happy to be so. If being Neurotypical would make me like some of you people jumping to conclusions and slating each other because your opinion is different to mine, then I say you can keep it.
Other avenues to look at - and my personal belief - genetic inheritence causes ASD. I am an aspie, my brother is autistic. We were born 20 years apart, and I severly doubt that the same vaccines were being used that far apart.
*The nest bit is all purely speculation that ASD is genetic and dominant*
Now look at the genetic mutation that causes ASD, and if it is a dominant trait, that explains an increase in levels. Prior to modern society, people who were on the ASD would be less likely to reproduce. Todays 'caring society' has the unfortunate side effect that negative genetic mutations are less likely to take you out of the reproductive gene pool. Great for the individuals, bad for the species. *Statistical fact follows, non-speculation* One of the most interesting statistical anomolies about levels of new diagnosis levels of ASD is that San Jose, CA, is a hotspot. Hrm, where all the geeks went to work. Geeks like myself that are highly likely to be somewhere on the AS. Put two of them together, two parents with a dominant genetic mutation and bang, you get a high high risk of that mutation being present in the child.
Anyway that is my belief.
Other factors to bear in mind. Everyone talks about autistic children, it drives me mad. They don't 'get better' when they hit 18, Im in my mid 30's now and just as much an aspie as I was 20 years ago. The difference is I have learned to deal with it and to function in society. I dont LIKE much of society but I deal with it. Fact is that people speculate that there are suddenly this mass number of AS kids, but nobody knows how the numbers have changed over the last 20, 50 200 years, because no numbers were kept and nobody gives enough of a damn about AS adults to even count them. 100 years ago, people with AS were just lumped into the 'retarded' group and that was that. Anyone who talks about trends is plain wrong. The trends that are reported are meaningless for the following reasons: 1) diagnosis is VERY inperfect. 2) diagnosis methods keep changing. 3) We don't know what it IS, let alone what causes it, so you can only diagnose based on observation not biological facts, and so it is opinion-based. When these are ironed out, then we will be able to get reliable trend information. Until then, it is guesswork at best, statistical manipulation with too many unknowns to be called reliable.
We are happy for you aspies that are happy. You obviously don't know any seriously injured children labeled with ASD. This children are very very ill.
The problem is today's diagnosis of autism, in most cases, is very different from when you were diagnosed and for many with aspergers.
These children who are being diagnosed with Autism and most with intestinal involvement are very very sick children.
Their diagnosis probably shouldn't have been Autism - but some new term, like vaccine induced autism-like injury or something new. These are VERY VERY ill children with effects in neurological and immune system that are very very serious. They aren't happy being that way and aren't even capable of being happy.
the problem is the word 'autism'.
AND re: mercury:
written by Teresa Binstock who is also an aspie & she knows there is a serious problem with mercury (and aluminum and other ingredients and more)..............
http://www.generationrescue.org/binstock/091212-thimerosal-brain-aschner-geier.htm
Thimerosal's ethylmercury: Aschner's summary versus Geier et al's summary
Teresa Binstock, Dec 12, 2009
Thimerosal's ethylmercury: Aschner's summary versus Geier et al's summary
See this document at webpage
excerpt
"Furthermore, despite news media summaries that tell us how safe physician- and nurse-injected thimerosal is, a growing number of findings indicate that thimerosal injections are associated with an increased need for special education services (10), with an increased rate of autism (11), with mitochondrial dysfunction (eg, 12-14). Moreover, the ethylmercury in thimerosal may interact additively, cumulatively, or synergistically with airborne mercury (eg, 15-17) and with other toxicants (eg, pesticides; 18-19). "
As I sit here still trying to digest everything that I have read I am finding it difficult to get beyond, "WOW" and an internal, arising anger. Let me begin by saying that I do not have children, I do not have autism, I do not even personally know anyone with autism (though I would find myself in beautiful company if I did) BUT I DO have a VERY personal stake in the debate on vaccines. I do not want to distract from the autism aspect here so I will not go into what my illness is other than to say that I have a rare, agressive, auto-immune disease that has tried it's damnest to kill me over the past few years. Might I also add that I am educated and have a background in Pathology (10yrs. to be exact).
Given all that we know as scientific FACT, I do not understand WHY people would want to refuse their kids vaccines that are here to help save their lives. I will try and keep this from turning into a long-winded rant but I am so confused as to the rationale of people against vaccines. And the comment that you "hope your unvaxed child sneezes all over Ms. Copley-Woods child..." because the vaccinated child is protected; thus your kid poses no threat. WHAT?!?! Are you kidding me?!! Try this on for size: Your unvaxed child sneezes all over hers, and then I come across her child, and even though he is not showing signs of what your child passes on to him (thank goodness for his vaccinations!), he is now passing on to ME what MY immune system can not overcome! Guess what, now I am back in ICU, back on life support and my family is called back in. As much as I dislike living in ICU (had my very own room for almost 1 1/2yrs.; room #12, if you would like to know) this is my reality. Wait. No, that will no longer happen. Why? Because I am now DNR (Do Not Resuscitate). I no longer want to go through this exact scenario because I have already been through it SO MANY TIMES. Me and my loved ones do not deserve to live a life like this anymore.
To think that you can refuse to vaccinate your child and that it will not impact others, is ludicrous. To think that your contagious child can not harm another child/adult that has been vaccinated is wrong. Do you parents not know how many mutative strains there are out there and forming each and every day?! Does this mean that we continually vaccinate? I do not have the answer to this but I DO know that we should be doing what we can with what we know, as fact, now!
As someone who has to 'worry and be cautious' of whom I spend time around let me tell you something, I refuse to live in a bubble. I refuse to walk around with a face mask on anymore. I refuse to go through anymore chemo and I refuse to have a bone marrow transplant. I also refuse to let the fear of catching a cold or the chicken pox again, and ending up back in the hospital, dictate how I live my life. I am better able to control this fear BECAUSE of people like Ms. Copley-
Woods. This isn't to say that it is easy, though. I can not touch a door handle without thinking about how quickly I need to wipe my hand off. If I can, I push the door open with my butt or my foot. It freaks me out to turn on the water faucets in bathrooms because I am afraid someone with an illness (HEAVEN HELP ME IF YOUR KID HAS MEASLES *without showing any symptoms, yet* TOUCHED IT!) may have left some germs behind and now I am touching it. So what you say? A simple cold could kill me. My immune system, when triggered, attacks me. Right now I look healthy and I am definitely happy. But I carry around a fear of what others (especially kids who are not vaccinated) may pass on to me. This fear no longer rules my life (I no longer 'hide' indoors) but it is still very present.
I can not fathom how it would feel to lose a child because of a decision that I made for them. Your child needs you as a parent to make intelligent, educated decisions for them. I, also, need you to make intelligent, educated decisions. Ms. Copley-Woods made reference to graveyards and the number of children and babies in them. Do you suppose, that if given the opportunity, the parents of those children would have provided vaccinations to them if they could?
And to the references that people made to vaccinations and their personal(yet unsubstantiated) belief on their ineffectiveness, let me say this to you(ESPECIALLY to those who referenced Whooping Cough): My wonderful, wonderful, beautiful 2 1/2yrs. old nephew DIED from meningitis while trying to fight off complications from Whooping Cough. There is no vaccination for meningitis (I hope someday they discover one) but Justin WAS vaccinated for Whooping Cough. So, why did he still contract it? Because someone (or their child) likely SNEEZED on or around him and his immune system could not fight off more than it was already fighting!! Do you STILL hope your nonvaxed child sneezes on Ms. Copley-Woods? Do you STILL think that your nonvaxed child poses no threat to people like me (with a compromised immune system) or other innocent children (like my deceased and still GREATLY LOVED AND MISSED, little nephew)?
We have vaccines for a reason. If we choose to ignore them and "put things in Gods hands" we go BACK to the days of graveyards filled with babies and children. We go BACK. To go forward means to stay educated and base our reasoning on fact and not fiction. Choosing to not vaccinate puts SO many of us at risk. You don't know me and I don't know any of you but the next time you choose to pass on getting your kids vaccinated I hope I (and children like my nephew) enter your mind. Your kids walk outside and sneeze, I walk by and inhale, the next funeral is mine. I pray that funeral never becomes your childs.
Thank you Haddayr. I guess I needed a good cry this morning and another reason to keep smiling. People like you help me maintain my hope and love for being alive.
With utmost respect, keep up the great research and writing. People like me depend on it.
Kimberly
Kimberly G:
Two days ago while sitting in a clinic waiting room, I enjoyed a brief chat with a young woman.
She was the only one in the room wearing a mask. She mentioned that she had bronchitis. She also said that her chest hurt when she coughed. Then she was called to get a chest x-ray taken.
But then, just before leaving, she mentioned that she was puzzled about her condition because she had already earlier received both seasonal flu and an H1N1 flu shots.
Jim T:
My apologies, I am not sure what exactly your point is? Are you expressing the idea that one should not bother with vaccines because they don't work? If so, you are presuming that this woman (whom I have a great amount of respect for because she was wearing a face mask and not only protecting herself but others as well) has the flu virus she was vaccinated for or the H1N1 virus (both of which, btw, I can not recieve a shot for because even though they are not a live virus, they may trigger my immune system to a point where it starts attacking me, again). To just 'simply' not vaccinate does not make illnesses go away. Vaccines may not be 100% effective 100% of the time, but vaccines work.
If there is no proof that vaccinations are harmful (herein lays the problem it seems. It appears that what some people see as fact, others recognize as opinion; we need to keep feelings and opinions out of the mix of science and stick with the proven facts.) the risk you are exposing your child and others to is not only unnecesary but potentially fatal. This is why vaccines were developed in the first place. It is the graveyards filled with little children and loved ones that touched the hearts of the scientists who first developed the vaccines. It's knowing someone like me, someone who is afraid to hug her friend who may be sick (and all but leave soup on her doorstep because the fear of catching what she may have is so overwhelming) that makes people think about their actions and how they may affect others.
The emotions I feel around this particular debate have caused me to respond in writing. I have been so very triggered by Ms. Copley-Woods' article and the responses she has received. To think that people are not vaccinating and risking their child's lives unnecessarily is so very disturbing. You not only risk your child's life, you are risking mine, risking my other nieces and nephews, risking the unknown person who never recognize on the street. Opinions, feelings, and emotions need to stay out of the way of scientific fact but it takes empathy and caring for all for us to be proactive. We have the ability to vaccinate. We have the option that many did not all those years ago. My sister has not gone a single day, in almost 10yrs., without visiting the graveyard her young son lays in. She prays they someday find a better vaccine for meningitis so that others may never experience what she has had to endure.
I am only asking that we all do what we can so that your child doesn't kill me when it sneezes, and so people like me never have to attend another child's funeral (I have been to two)...and so that you never have to visit your own child's gravesite.
Thank you for writing this article, Ms. Copley-Woods. These past 24hrs. have been filled with a lot of memories, love and emotion on my end (and lack of sleep~but it has been worth it). It has obviously touched many. One needs only look at the responses to see this.
"Responsible journalists should refer readers to peer-reviewed studies, free of conflicts of interest, and should realize that epidemiology lies at the bottom of the evidentiary scale. No one benefits from an emotional rant that merely inflames, rather than informs."
Do you know where I can find those studies which are free from conflict of interest? Because I've been looking and so far have not found a single one. Well, I can find them, only they are all discredited by "science".
That's a great article, Ms. Copley-Woods. This idea of media 'balance' has been a source of frustration to many of us in the sciences (my field is biology/ecology). Too often we've seen journalists who too often don't even possess a high-school science background think they're educated enough to figure out which side has the better information so they can present balance, when in reality all the other side has is complete nonsense. How do you balance fact and nonsense. There isn't any middle ground there.
As you can see in some of the comments above, too many non-media people also think they know something about how science operates or works but are equally ignorant (hint: if you think science "proves" something you've already gone wrong, and your opinion is irrelevant empty noise).
For those of you who disagree with the examples given in this Ms. Copley-Woods' article, you need to look up the Dunning-Kruger effect. For a nice summary check youtube under the title Illusion of Superiority, or read the actual paper yourself.
Anyway, encouraging to see your article. Thank you.
Kimberly G: I am sorry for your autoimmunity. There is no question that the anonymous comment about sneezing is inappropriate.
Dana Barnes,
According to the IDEA data, Individuals with Disablilities Act, each year in this country twenty five thousand kids are diagnosed with autism. See table 1.7 at https://www.ideadata.org/arc_toc9.asp#partbCC .
Autism behavior looks suspiciously like the brain injuries from mercury poisoning in Minamata Japan 50 years ago. Please read page 464 of this report: Autism: a novel form of mercury poisoning at http://www.safeminds.org/research/library/Bernard-et-al-2001.pdf .
And please check this book from your library by W. Eugene Smith. Minamata - The Story of the Poisoning of a City and the People Who Choose to Carry the Burden of Courage.
W. Eugene Smith said,
"Today, if you the have the courage to reach out to the child poisoned in the womb, across the barrier of a twisted body, across the barrier of slurred or nonexistent speech, you find yourself groping towards the being that does live, somehow, behind the barrier. Envision as you may, though, you cannot project the child normal and whole, you can not project the child that might have been, the child not struck by poison."
And consider that most flu vaccines recommended by the CDC for pregnant women and children, contain the preservative Thimerosal which is one half mercury. Mercury kills brain cells. How does any civilized country justify this unsafe practice? Possibly because as W. Eugene Smith said in his book Minamata,
"The morality that pollution is criminal only after legal conviction is the morality that causes pollution."
Wow! Thank you for this emotional and scientific post. You are such a inspiration to us all.
We'd love to talk to you more - check out our website http://www.childrensimmunization.org.
Thank you again!
Ms. Copley-Woods, thanks for a very thoughtful call to action. The call to "teach the controversy" is just another manufactroversy. Demands that science reporting be "fair and balanced" and calls to "show both sides" are setting up false dichotomies. There is that which is evidence-based, and then there is that which is "just known".
For anyone truly interested in hard evidence try: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=1828 (this partcular post is about 'boosting' the immune system. Dr. Gorski has posts about immunizations and biomed treatments for autism, and Dr. Novella is a neurologist (?) who gives excellent information about autism.
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/12/yet_another_bad_day_for_the_anti-vaccine.php
Arguably, the genesis of the most recent iteration of the anti-vaccine movement dates back to 1998, when a remarkably incompetent researcher named Andrew Wakefield published a trial lawyer-funded "study" in the Lancet that purported to find a link between "autistic enterocolitis" and measles vaccination with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) trivalent vaccine. In the wake of that publication was born a scare over the MMR that persists to this day, 11 years later. Although peer reviewers forced the actual contents of the paper to be more circumspect, in the press Wakefield promoted the idea that the MMR vaccine either predisposes, causes, or triggers autistic regressions.
We were wrong. Please vaccinate. Here is what we hid from parents and yes, we lied about "informed choice".
We - like Wakefield - just want your money.
http://briandeer.com/wakefield/wakefield-patents.htm
No what is tragic is that you don't answer the questions - what do you have to hide?
"There are some givens in science: ...The origin of global warming."
sorry bu the origin of global warming is not a given or settled science. otherwise you made some very good points in your column
I always look forward to Haddayr Copley-Woods' clear, thoughful, and passionate writing. I too am the mother of a boy with Asperger's, a child whom I recently vaccinated against H1N1. I agree with Copley-Woods whole-heartedly.
That a reader would wish Copley-Woods' children harm speaks to the desperation that some parents feel. These parents might do well to seek the support of a qualified psychologist, not a former Playmate of the Year.
Unless the shrink prescribes Risperdal, which grows milk-producing breasts on boys' chests.
I actually have to correct the author of this blog in that Julie Gerberding, the head of the CDC in an interview with CNN, admits that Autism can be caused by a vaccine in the subset of the population that have Mitochondrial dysfunction. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh-nkD5LSIg ) So to say that vaccines have nothing to do with autism is incorrect even if the majority of people do not respond to vaccines with the disorder. I would like to know, then, that if this is the case, babies need to be routinely checked for the dysfunction before they are vaccinated at all. If they aren't, then society will be placing them in a very Machiavellian situation. They will be treated as an unavoidable (yet not unavoidable if tested,) but necessary casualty in the War against Disease.) I am speaking as a mom of a child newly diagnosed with autism, yet I am "lucky" in that my daughter also has Down Syndrome which makes her slightly more sociable than her ASD only counterpart (per Kennedy Krieger.)
Well look who is calling the kettle hot, none other than the pot. As is becoming abundantly clear to most within the Science Community "Global Warming" is not as dependent on Human Intervention, as most in the Environmental Community would like us to believe.
So that is why we have more than one point of view, and kudos to the media for looking for them.
It is not the loud messenger, no matter how obnoxious they are that is to blame. It is the gullibility, and lack of intelligent thinking by the consuming public.
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