LAFAYETTE
A child's return from autism
Couple eager to share their conviction that mercury poisoning was the culprit
Leslie Fulbright, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
A Lafayette couple, certain that chelation therapy has helped their autistic son, stepped squarely into the controversy surrounding the causes of autism and its treatment Tuesday as they joined 150 other parents in launching an international support group that will aggressively promote the treatment.
Jamie Handley was a happy, healthy baby who reached all his developmental milestones until he turned 18 months, his parents said. Then, he started spinning in circles and standing on his toes and no longer responded to his name. They were eventually told he was autistic -- one of an increasing number of children over the last decade to be diagnosed with the disorder, which severely impairs a child's ability to interact with others.
Full article available at:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/05/25/BAGU0CU2K71.DTL
For more information and resources on autism, go to: http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Oily fish hope in fight against child autism
Oily fish hope in fight against child autism
EATING more oily fish could help manage autism in children, according to a study involving Edinburgh's Sick Kids Hospital.
A possible link between fatty acid deficiency and childhood autism has been discovered by scientists at the universities of Edinburgh and Stirling.
Article available at: http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=592302005
For more information and resources on autism, go to: http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
EATING more oily fish could help manage autism in children, according to a study involving Edinburgh's Sick Kids Hospital.
A possible link between fatty acid deficiency and childhood autism has been discovered by scientists at the universities of Edinburgh and Stirling.
Article available at: http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=592302005
For more information and resources on autism, go to: http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
The Age of Autism: Mercury and the Amish
By Dan Olmsted
Published 5/20/2005
WASHINGTON, May 20 (UPI) -- The cases of autism among the Amish that I've identified over the past several weeks appear to have at least one link -- a link made of mercury.
That's not something I expected to encounter. I had been looking for an unvaccinated population to test the controversial idea that vaccines, and in particular the mercury-based preservative called thimerosal, could be behind the apparent rise in autism cases over the past decade.
The concept: If the Amish have little or no autism, it might point a finger at something to which they have not been exposed.
Most of the medical establishment, it must be stated upfront, considers the idea that thimerosal could have played a role in the rise of autism disproven and dangerous. As noted in the last column, however, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says she has "an open mind" about that possibility.
So do I, having come across correlations that made me want to look more closely at thimerosal. For instance, the first child diagnosed with autism in the United States was born in 1931, the same year thimerosal was first used in a vaccine. And autism diagnoses exploded in the 1990s, the same decade children got an increasing number of thimerosal-containing vaccines (it was phased out starting in 1999). Tantalizing, but proof of nothing.
So I turned to the 22,000 Amish in Lancaster County, Pa. I didn't expect to find many, if any, vaccinated Amish: they have a religious exemption from the otherwise mandatory U.S. vaccination schedule. When German measles broke out among Amish in Pennsylvania in 1991, the CDC reported that just one of 51 pregnant women they studied had ever been vaccinated against it.
To cut to the chase, what I've found to date is very little evidence of autism among the Amish in Lancaster County, far below the 1 in 166 rate of Autism Spectrum Disorders the CDC cites for children born in the United States today. I don't discount the idea that they might be more difficult to find or diagnose, and I'm still looking.
I did find three or possibly four children with autism and, weirdly, a possible link to vaccinations. One was a child adopted from China, where she got all her vaccinations before being vaccinated all over again when she got to the states. Her Amish-Mennonite mother said she believes that vaccine load caused her autism. The mother told me about another child who had what she described as an immediate vaccine reaction that left her autistic at age 15 months.
That mother said a minority of younger Amish have begun getting their children vaccinated, though a local doctor who has treated thousands of Amish said the rate is still less than 1 percent.
The pattern I was noticing then took an interesting twist. From a doctor's posting on an alternative health Web site, I learned about several cases of autism among Amish children who had not, in fact, been vaccinated.
I called that doctor, Lawrence Leichtman, at his office in Virginia Beach, Va. A pediatrician and geneticist who has been widely published in medical journals, he told me he was treating six unvaccinated Amish children and adolescents -- three from Pennsylvania, including one from Lancaster County; two from Ohio, and one from Texas.
That seemed to render any relationship between autism and mercury exposure in the Amish less likely. But, not after what Leichtman said next.
"By the way," he volunteered, "four of these six kids all have elevated mercury. The only two that don't, one of them is from Texas and one is from Iowa. But all of the people in Pennsylvania and one of the people in Iowa have elevated mercury."
Given what I had already come across in Lancaster County, I wanted to hear more about that. Were the mercury levels significantly higher? I asked. "Oh yes," he responded.
What did he think was going on?
"The people in Pennsylvania, I've actually tracked back on them," Leichtman said. "There's definitely a plume from one of the coal-fired power plants that just goes right over them. And the one in Iowa, it's a little less obvious because actually he's in the Amana Colonies, but I have seen reports of the area around Amana having elevated levels of mercury in the environment."
As it happens, the Pittsburgh Post reported last week that Pennsylvania has four of the nation's 10 "dirtiest power plants." Mercury is a byproduct of coal combustion.
Leichtman also believes that northern states "get most of the prevailing wind that comes across the Pacific. You get that trans-Pacific flow which is all Chinese mercury. We're getting a load of Chinese mercury, as far as I can tell."
Leichtman's comments meant that the two people I talked to, who knew anything about autism among the Amish, independently brought up mercury exposure -- in vaccines and in the environment-- as the cause of most of the cases.
That's a link others have made, although not to the Amish, whose autism prevalence has apparently never been studied:
- "We believe that thimerosal and environmental mercury -- which are worldwide pollutants -- are behind the surge" in autism in the 1990s, wrote Sallie Bernard in 2002. She is a founder of the group Safe Minds, which wants mercury out of all medical products. Bernard co-authored a controversial 1999 study about thimerosal, "Autism: A novel form of mercury poisoning."
- "In the end it is mercury in the brain that causes such problems, and that mercury can come from several sources," said Boyd Haley, chairman of the chemistry department at the University of Kentucky and another maverick on thimerosal.
"Therefore, a logical approach is to think that all mercury exposures are additive, even if some may be more causative than others."
Haley cited a recent Texas study, first reported by United Press International in March, that found an association between autism rates and exposure to industrial mercury emissions in Texas counties. One county with high autism but low exposure to mercury emissions turned out on closer inspection to be the site of a huge abandoned mercury mine, the researchers found.
Leichtman believes the damage to children is being done by environmental mercury, not the mercury in vaccines (my own research makes me think that if it's either, it's both). He said he can detect elevated mercury levels in about half his 500 autism patients.
"Environmental mercury is horrible," he said, "and I think that's where it's coming from. To me, people with autism are the canaries in the coal mine. A lot of them are reflecting the damage from all of that."
Leichtman, like a number of other doctors, is trying to flush mercury out of autistic children through a process called chelation (key-LAY-shun).
Chelation as a treatment for autism is unproven and controversial (what about autism is not unproven and controversial?), and it carries a risk of serious side effects. Chelation has been used for 40 years in cases of heavy metal toxicity, including lead poisoning.
But does it help children with autism?
"The people in Pennsylvania wouldn't take chelation," Leichtman said, and noted the Amish aversion to medical procedures and drugs. "One in Iowa did. He certainly did better."
We'll look at chelation and its implications in the next column.
-0-
e-mail: dolmsted@upi.com
Copyright © 2001-2005 United Press International
Article at:
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050518-065621-1970r
Below are links to earlier articles in Dan Olmsted series. http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050321-115921-9566r.htmhttp://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050417-052541-5549r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050420-042247-8776r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050420-042117-2803r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050126-113404-1472r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050203-030807-6482r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050222-010118-1074r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050302-120651-3833r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050228-053300-1821r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050314-052518-7615r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050508-082911-5005r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050508-112601-3643r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050317-021624-9394r.htm
For more information and resources on autism, go to: http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Published 5/20/2005
WASHINGTON, May 20 (UPI) -- The cases of autism among the Amish that I've identified over the past several weeks appear to have at least one link -- a link made of mercury.
That's not something I expected to encounter. I had been looking for an unvaccinated population to test the controversial idea that vaccines, and in particular the mercury-based preservative called thimerosal, could be behind the apparent rise in autism cases over the past decade.
The concept: If the Amish have little or no autism, it might point a finger at something to which they have not been exposed.
Most of the medical establishment, it must be stated upfront, considers the idea that thimerosal could have played a role in the rise of autism disproven and dangerous. As noted in the last column, however, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says she has "an open mind" about that possibility.
So do I, having come across correlations that made me want to look more closely at thimerosal. For instance, the first child diagnosed with autism in the United States was born in 1931, the same year thimerosal was first used in a vaccine. And autism diagnoses exploded in the 1990s, the same decade children got an increasing number of thimerosal-containing vaccines (it was phased out starting in 1999). Tantalizing, but proof of nothing.
So I turned to the 22,000 Amish in Lancaster County, Pa. I didn't expect to find many, if any, vaccinated Amish: they have a religious exemption from the otherwise mandatory U.S. vaccination schedule. When German measles broke out among Amish in Pennsylvania in 1991, the CDC reported that just one of 51 pregnant women they studied had ever been vaccinated against it.
To cut to the chase, what I've found to date is very little evidence of autism among the Amish in Lancaster County, far below the 1 in 166 rate of Autism Spectrum Disorders the CDC cites for children born in the United States today. I don't discount the idea that they might be more difficult to find or diagnose, and I'm still looking.
I did find three or possibly four children with autism and, weirdly, a possible link to vaccinations. One was a child adopted from China, where she got all her vaccinations before being vaccinated all over again when she got to the states. Her Amish-Mennonite mother said she believes that vaccine load caused her autism. The mother told me about another child who had what she described as an immediate vaccine reaction that left her autistic at age 15 months.
That mother said a minority of younger Amish have begun getting their children vaccinated, though a local doctor who has treated thousands of Amish said the rate is still less than 1 percent.
The pattern I was noticing then took an interesting twist. From a doctor's posting on an alternative health Web site, I learned about several cases of autism among Amish children who had not, in fact, been vaccinated.
I called that doctor, Lawrence Leichtman, at his office in Virginia Beach, Va. A pediatrician and geneticist who has been widely published in medical journals, he told me he was treating six unvaccinated Amish children and adolescents -- three from Pennsylvania, including one from Lancaster County; two from Ohio, and one from Texas.
That seemed to render any relationship between autism and mercury exposure in the Amish less likely. But, not after what Leichtman said next.
"By the way," he volunteered, "four of these six kids all have elevated mercury. The only two that don't, one of them is from Texas and one is from Iowa. But all of the people in Pennsylvania and one of the people in Iowa have elevated mercury."
Given what I had already come across in Lancaster County, I wanted to hear more about that. Were the mercury levels significantly higher? I asked. "Oh yes," he responded.
What did he think was going on?
"The people in Pennsylvania, I've actually tracked back on them," Leichtman said. "There's definitely a plume from one of the coal-fired power plants that just goes right over them. And the one in Iowa, it's a little less obvious because actually he's in the Amana Colonies, but I have seen reports of the area around Amana having elevated levels of mercury in the environment."
As it happens, the Pittsburgh Post reported last week that Pennsylvania has four of the nation's 10 "dirtiest power plants." Mercury is a byproduct of coal combustion.
Leichtman also believes that northern states "get most of the prevailing wind that comes across the Pacific. You get that trans-Pacific flow which is all Chinese mercury. We're getting a load of Chinese mercury, as far as I can tell."
Leichtman's comments meant that the two people I talked to, who knew anything about autism among the Amish, independently brought up mercury exposure -- in vaccines and in the environment-- as the cause of most of the cases.
That's a link others have made, although not to the Amish, whose autism prevalence has apparently never been studied:
- "We believe that thimerosal and environmental mercury -- which are worldwide pollutants -- are behind the surge" in autism in the 1990s, wrote Sallie Bernard in 2002. She is a founder of the group Safe Minds, which wants mercury out of all medical products. Bernard co-authored a controversial 1999 study about thimerosal, "Autism: A novel form of mercury poisoning."
- "In the end it is mercury in the brain that causes such problems, and that mercury can come from several sources," said Boyd Haley, chairman of the chemistry department at the University of Kentucky and another maverick on thimerosal.
"Therefore, a logical approach is to think that all mercury exposures are additive, even if some may be more causative than others."
Haley cited a recent Texas study, first reported by United Press International in March, that found an association between autism rates and exposure to industrial mercury emissions in Texas counties. One county with high autism but low exposure to mercury emissions turned out on closer inspection to be the site of a huge abandoned mercury mine, the researchers found.
Leichtman believes the damage to children is being done by environmental mercury, not the mercury in vaccines (my own research makes me think that if it's either, it's both). He said he can detect elevated mercury levels in about half his 500 autism patients.
"Environmental mercury is horrible," he said, "and I think that's where it's coming from. To me, people with autism are the canaries in the coal mine. A lot of them are reflecting the damage from all of that."
Leichtman, like a number of other doctors, is trying to flush mercury out of autistic children through a process called chelation (key-LAY-shun).
Chelation as a treatment for autism is unproven and controversial (what about autism is not unproven and controversial?), and it carries a risk of serious side effects. Chelation has been used for 40 years in cases of heavy metal toxicity, including lead poisoning.
But does it help children with autism?
"The people in Pennsylvania wouldn't take chelation," Leichtman said, and noted the Amish aversion to medical procedures and drugs. "One in Iowa did. He certainly did better."
We'll look at chelation and its implications in the next column.
-0-
e-mail: dolmsted@upi.com
Copyright © 2001-2005 United Press International
Article at:
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20050518-065621-1970r
Below are links to earlier articles in Dan Olmsted series. http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050321-115921-9566r.htmhttp://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050417-052541-5549r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050420-042247-8776r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050420-042117-2803r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050126-113404-1472r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050203-030807-6482r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050222-010118-1074r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050302-120651-3833r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050228-053300-1821r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050314-052518-7615r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050508-082911-5005r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050508-112601-3643r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050317-021624-9394r.htm
For more information and resources on autism, go to: http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
2004/2005 U.S. Dept. of Education Autism Figures as of October 2005
The official State statistics are produced by the U.S. Department of Education, providing the number of disabled students ages 6-21 served by IDEA (Individuals With Disabilities Education Act) who have autism.
The data is in table format and compares the increase of students with autism over a period of 12 years (1992-93 and 2003-04).
U.S. DOE data available at:
http://www.ideadata.org/tables27th/ar_aa3.htm
For more information and resources on autism, go to: http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
The data is in table format and compares the increase of students with autism over a period of 12 years (1992-93 and 2003-04).
U.S. DOE data available at:
http://www.ideadata.org/tables27th/ar_aa3.htm
For more information and resources on autism, go to: http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Foundation for Autism Information and Research - FAIR Media Center
FAIR Media Center offers free educational up-to-date autism information and latest advances in research available in video format featuring researchers, i.e. Mark R. Geier, MD, PhD. and medical practitioners, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, Dr. Rashid Buttar, Dr. Bernard Rimland and many others.
Learn more at your leisure about vaccines and autism, the immune system and autism, metal detoxification, treating gastrointestinal problems, nutritional interventions, preventing autism, and much more.
Videos are downloadable in both high/low connection speeds available at:
http://www.autismmedia.org/media1.html
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Learn more at your leisure about vaccines and autism, the immune system and autism, metal detoxification, treating gastrointestinal problems, nutritional interventions, preventing autism, and much more.
Videos are downloadable in both high/low connection speeds available at:
http://www.autismmedia.org/media1.html
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
The Age of Autism Mercury ascending
By Dan Olmsted
UPI published 5/17/05
Washington, DC, May. 17 (UPI) -- A year ago, the prestigious Institute of Medicine slammed the door on the idea that mercury in vaccines bore any relation to autism.
"The overwhelming evidence from several well-designed studies indicates that childhood vaccines are not associated with autism," the chairman of the IOM panel, Harvard scientist Marie McCormick, told reporters last May 18.
The panel went further: It took the unusual step of urging that research money go instead to more "promising" areas. You can't slam a door much harder than that.
But 12 months later, that door seems slightly ajar. One big doorstop is the new 441-page book by David Kirby called "Evidence of Harm," a compelling portrayal of parents and scientists who have pushed the vaccines-autism theory. They contend that a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal, in an increasing number of vaccinations, triggered an autism epidemic in the 1990s.
Thimerosal was phased out of U.S. childhood vaccines beginning in 1999.
One memorable vignette in Kirby's book is a meeting between several of those advocates and Dr. Julie Gerberding, who had been director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention less than two years.
Last May 12, a week before the IOM report, Gerberding flew in from Atlanta to meet them -- at her request -- in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., a medical doctor who is a persistent critic of thimerosal and the CDC's handling of the issue, also was present.
Taking turns, the parents and scientists methodically laid out their case.
Mady Hornig of Columbia University described how mice with an autoimmune genetic predisposition develop autistic-like behaviors after being injected with thimerosal-containing vaccines.
"Hornig played the videos for Gerberding, who suddenly appeared stunned," Kirby recounts in his book. "She brought her hands to her face in disbelief.
"Dave Weldon had a similar reaction. He stopped Hornig in the middle of her ghastly presentation. 'Wait a minute,' he said. 'Am I to understand you correctly? You injected these mice with the same amount of mercury, relatively speaking, that infants receive in vaccines, and you saw these kinds of mutilatory behaviors? You saw this mouse eat through the cranium of his cellmate?'
"'Yes,' she replied calmly."
The Institute of Medicine saw the same presentation before issuing its report but rejected it as unconvincing.
Gerberding was polite but noncommital, Kirby writes. As she left, she said, "I am not afraid of controversy, and I am determined to follow the science."
Call it coincidence, but it's striking how much less dismissive of thimerosal concerns the CDC is these days, compared with the Institute of Medicine and others.
The National Network for Immunization Information, for instance, launched a pre-emptive broadside against "Evidence of Harm." That group represents the mainstream medical establishment, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Nurses Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians. Their members, it should be noted, were among those who administered the vaccines in question on the recommendation of the CDC.
"Warning: Controversial vaccine book," the NNII statement was headlined. "Reporter David Kirby has recently written a book ... purporting that there is a link between thimerosal and autism and other developmental disorders."
That's a bit of an overstatement, considering the first two sentences of Kirby's book: "Does mercury in vaccines cause autism in children? Anyone hoping to find proof that it does in the pages that follow is advised to put this book down now."
The NNII asserted that "extensive evidence shows no link between vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism. This evidence is based on well-established scientific studies.
"Continued attempts to link vaccines and autism run the risk of diverting attention away from efforts to understand the cause or causes of autism," the group said.
The CDC also issued a release on Kirby's book. Its thrust was different -- that the book is a "look back" to a time when thimerosal was in childhood vaccines.
"Given the historical nature of the book, it is important to emphasize that today, with the exception of some flu vaccines, none of the vaccines used in the U.S. to protect preschool children against 12 infectious diseases contain thimerosal as a preservative.
"As the IOM concluded in a recent report, the vast majority of studies, which have involved hundreds of thousands of children in a number of countries, have failed to find any association between exposure to thimerosal in vaccines and autism; that is, they have failed to find any evidence of harm," the CDC said.
It's worth noting the contrasts in the statement. The doctors and nurses group says "extensive evidence shows no link." Dr. McCormick at the Institute of Medicine says "overwhelming evidence" shows no link.
But the CDC, which unlike such groups has ongoing access to the actual data, merely states that studies so far "have failed to find any association."
"CDC continues to support research related to autism," the statement said, "including studies designed to examine the possible causal association between autism and other possible environmental causes, including thimerosal-containing vaccines. ... Research in these areas is ongoing."
Ongoing research that includes thimerosal as a possible cause of autism? Supported by the CDC?
Put simply, the CDC isn't ruling out anything -- contrary to the Institute of Medicine's declaration that more research on thimerosal is a waste of money, contrary to the medical establishment's pronouncement that continuing to look could cause harm.
Consider Gerberding's comments April 28, 2004, at a House subcommittee hearing: "We don't have the evidence to show that the thimerosal preservative is a risk, but you know we have an open mind about that."
Apparently the Institute of Medicine's findings three weeks later didn't completely reassure her, because this February -- almost a year after the IOM report -- she said the same thing in an interview with NBC.
"Right now, the scientific evidence doesn't provide any framework for concluding that thimerosal or immunizations in any way affect autism," she said. "But we have to have an open mind about that."
An open mind, not a closed door. Ongoing research, not ending research. That's quite a difference. Experts who are certain thimerosal didn't cause the autism epidemic may want to have a word with Dr. Gerberding.
Next: Mercury, the Amish and the autism epidemic.
--
E-mail: dolmsted@upi.com
http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050516-125109-7345r.htm
Below are links to earlier articles in Dan Olmsted series.
http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050321-115921-9566r.htmhttp://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050417-052541-5549r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050420-042247-8776r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050420-042117-2803r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050126-113404-1472r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050203-030807-6482r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050222-010118-1074r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050302-120651-3833r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050228-053300-1821r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050314-052518-7615r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050508-082911-5005r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050508-112601-3643r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050317-021624-9394r.htm
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
UPI published 5/17/05
Washington, DC, May. 17 (UPI) -- A year ago, the prestigious Institute of Medicine slammed the door on the idea that mercury in vaccines bore any relation to autism.
"The overwhelming evidence from several well-designed studies indicates that childhood vaccines are not associated with autism," the chairman of the IOM panel, Harvard scientist Marie McCormick, told reporters last May 18.
The panel went further: It took the unusual step of urging that research money go instead to more "promising" areas. You can't slam a door much harder than that.
But 12 months later, that door seems slightly ajar. One big doorstop is the new 441-page book by David Kirby called "Evidence of Harm," a compelling portrayal of parents and scientists who have pushed the vaccines-autism theory. They contend that a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal, in an increasing number of vaccinations, triggered an autism epidemic in the 1990s.
Thimerosal was phased out of U.S. childhood vaccines beginning in 1999.
One memorable vignette in Kirby's book is a meeting between several of those advocates and Dr. Julie Gerberding, who had been director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention less than two years.
Last May 12, a week before the IOM report, Gerberding flew in from Atlanta to meet them -- at her request -- in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., a medical doctor who is a persistent critic of thimerosal and the CDC's handling of the issue, also was present.
Taking turns, the parents and scientists methodically laid out their case.
Mady Hornig of Columbia University described how mice with an autoimmune genetic predisposition develop autistic-like behaviors after being injected with thimerosal-containing vaccines.
"Hornig played the videos for Gerberding, who suddenly appeared stunned," Kirby recounts in his book. "She brought her hands to her face in disbelief.
"Dave Weldon had a similar reaction. He stopped Hornig in the middle of her ghastly presentation. 'Wait a minute,' he said. 'Am I to understand you correctly? You injected these mice with the same amount of mercury, relatively speaking, that infants receive in vaccines, and you saw these kinds of mutilatory behaviors? You saw this mouse eat through the cranium of his cellmate?'
"'Yes,' she replied calmly."
The Institute of Medicine saw the same presentation before issuing its report but rejected it as unconvincing.
Gerberding was polite but noncommital, Kirby writes. As she left, she said, "I am not afraid of controversy, and I am determined to follow the science."
Call it coincidence, but it's striking how much less dismissive of thimerosal concerns the CDC is these days, compared with the Institute of Medicine and others.
The National Network for Immunization Information, for instance, launched a pre-emptive broadside against "Evidence of Harm." That group represents the mainstream medical establishment, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Nurses Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians. Their members, it should be noted, were among those who administered the vaccines in question on the recommendation of the CDC.
"Warning: Controversial vaccine book," the NNII statement was headlined. "Reporter David Kirby has recently written a book ... purporting that there is a link between thimerosal and autism and other developmental disorders."
That's a bit of an overstatement, considering the first two sentences of Kirby's book: "Does mercury in vaccines cause autism in children? Anyone hoping to find proof that it does in the pages that follow is advised to put this book down now."
The NNII asserted that "extensive evidence shows no link between vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism. This evidence is based on well-established scientific studies.
"Continued attempts to link vaccines and autism run the risk of diverting attention away from efforts to understand the cause or causes of autism," the group said.
The CDC also issued a release on Kirby's book. Its thrust was different -- that the book is a "look back" to a time when thimerosal was in childhood vaccines.
"Given the historical nature of the book, it is important to emphasize that today, with the exception of some flu vaccines, none of the vaccines used in the U.S. to protect preschool children against 12 infectious diseases contain thimerosal as a preservative.
"As the IOM concluded in a recent report, the vast majority of studies, which have involved hundreds of thousands of children in a number of countries, have failed to find any association between exposure to thimerosal in vaccines and autism; that is, they have failed to find any evidence of harm," the CDC said.
It's worth noting the contrasts in the statement. The doctors and nurses group says "extensive evidence shows no link." Dr. McCormick at the Institute of Medicine says "overwhelming evidence" shows no link.
But the CDC, which unlike such groups has ongoing access to the actual data, merely states that studies so far "have failed to find any association."
"CDC continues to support research related to autism," the statement said, "including studies designed to examine the possible causal association between autism and other possible environmental causes, including thimerosal-containing vaccines. ... Research in these areas is ongoing."
Ongoing research that includes thimerosal as a possible cause of autism? Supported by the CDC?
Put simply, the CDC isn't ruling out anything -- contrary to the Institute of Medicine's declaration that more research on thimerosal is a waste of money, contrary to the medical establishment's pronouncement that continuing to look could cause harm.
Consider Gerberding's comments April 28, 2004, at a House subcommittee hearing: "We don't have the evidence to show that the thimerosal preservative is a risk, but you know we have an open mind about that."
Apparently the Institute of Medicine's findings three weeks later didn't completely reassure her, because this February -- almost a year after the IOM report -- she said the same thing in an interview with NBC.
"Right now, the scientific evidence doesn't provide any framework for concluding that thimerosal or immunizations in any way affect autism," she said. "But we have to have an open mind about that."
An open mind, not a closed door. Ongoing research, not ending research. That's quite a difference. Experts who are certain thimerosal didn't cause the autism epidemic may want to have a word with Dr. Gerberding.
Next: Mercury, the Amish and the autism epidemic.
--
E-mail: dolmsted@upi.com
http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050516-125109-7345r.htm
Below are links to earlier articles in Dan Olmsted series.
http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050321-115921-9566r.htmhttp://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050417-052541-5549r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050420-042247-8776r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050420-042117-2803r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050126-113404-1472r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050203-030807-6482r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050222-010118-1074r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050302-120651-3833r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050228-053300-1821r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050314-052518-7615r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050508-082911-5005r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050508-112601-3643r.htmhttp://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050317-021624-9394r.htm
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
'Recovered Autistic Children' Video
There is real hope for our children. Autism is treatable!
Learn how you may help your child -- yes, even your older child.
Watch this informative and touching video available at URL:
http://www.autism-recoveredchildren.com/
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Learn how you may help your child -- yes, even your older child.
Watch this informative and touching video available at URL:
http://www.autism-recoveredchildren.com/
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Autism may be linked to difficult births
16 May 2005
By Paul Simao
ATLANTA, May 16 (Reuters) - A difficult birth or a history of mental illness in a parent may put a baby at greater risk for autism, according to a study that may provide clues to the causes of the devastating neurological disability.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday that in a study of 698 Danish children with the developmental disorder, researchers found a disproportionately high number had been born before the 35th week of pregnancy, had suffered from low birth weights and were in a breech position at birth.
Full article available at URL:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N16261567.htm
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
By Paul Simao
ATLANTA, May 16 (Reuters) - A difficult birth or a history of mental illness in a parent may put a baby at greater risk for autism, according to a study that may provide clues to the causes of the devastating neurological disability.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday that in a study of 698 Danish children with the developmental disorder, researchers found a disproportionately high number had been born before the 35th week of pregnancy, had suffered from low birth weights and were in a breech position at birth.
Full article available at URL:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N16261567.htm
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Multisensory Reading Program
Increase your at-risk student's reading success with S.P.I.R.E., a proven, multisensory reading program. Now in it's 2nd edition, S.P.I.R.E. is especially designed for at-risk or struggling readers as well as students with learning differences. It can be used in inclusion classrooms, specialized settings, and Title 1 programs.
Learn more online.<http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/lDvLunwxDEBaQkKg>
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Learn more online.<http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/lDvLunwxDEBaQkKg>
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Early identification can help prevent reading disabilities
Gainesville Sun (Fla.)
5/16/05
Reading experts at the University of Florida say high-quality, intensive interventions by no later than first grade can help some students with learning disabilities from developing serious reading problems later. Children should be screened early and taught such "prereading" skills" as identifying at least 50 words from sight and mastering each of the 44 sounds that make up the English language.
Full article at:
<http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/lDvLunwxDEAUdwSd>
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Gainesville Sun (Fla.)
5/16/05
Reading experts at the University of Florida say high-quality, intensive interventions by no later than first grade can help some students with learning disabilities from developing serious reading problems later. Children should be screened early and taught such "prereading" skills" as identifying at least 50 words from sight and mastering each of the 44 sounds that make up the English language.
Full article at:
<http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/lDvLunwxDEAUdwSd>
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Music Therapy Article and Resources
Music therapy can open doors that disabilities have closed
Article available at: <http://www.nynewsday.com/>
For more information visit:
The American Music Therapy Association at:
http://www.musictherapy.org/
The Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at NYU at:
http://education.nyc.edu/music/nrobbins
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Article available at: <http://www.nynewsday.com/>
For more information visit:
The American Music Therapy Association at:
http://www.musictherapy.org/
The Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy at NYU at:
http://education.nyc.edu/music/nrobbins
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
What's New in the New IDEA? Frequently Asked Questions
This must-have publication from CEC gives answers to questions about the new IDEA and highly qualified special educators, paperwork reduction, funding, private schools, personnel qualifications, over-identification and misidentification, IEPs, procedural safeguards, discipline and more.
Click here to find out more.
<http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/lDvLunwxDFabLyaM> <http://www.smartbrief.com/images/shim.gif>
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Click here to find out more.
<http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/lDvLunwxDFabLyaM> <http://www.smartbrief.com/images/shim.gif>
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Discovery of 'irony' brain areas
"...The Israeli team from Haifa University told Neuropsychology how their findings might help to explain autism features. ..."
Scientists say they have located the parts of the brain that comprehend sarcasm - honestly. By comparing healthy people and those with damage to different parts of the brain, they found the front of the brain was a key to understanding irony.
Full story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/4566319.stm
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Scientists say they have located the parts of the brain that comprehend sarcasm - honestly. By comparing healthy people and those with damage to different parts of the brain, they found the front of the brain was a key to understanding irony.
Full story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/4566319.stm
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
African Americans Are Moving Into the Digital Age With Speed
(BLACK PR WIRE) The Internet was first popularized in the eighties and has grown at an unparallel pace over the past two decades. It has infiltrated the lives of its users to the point where wireless devices are now necessary so that access to the Internet isn’t interrupted. Imagine when being “connected” meant having a wire running from the wall to the phone. As the World Wide Web and Internet connection continues to advance and grow, the African American community, once far behind in technology, is now increasingly progressing in what has now become known as the Digital Age.
During the onset of rapid computer growth in the late eighties and early nineties, many studies pointed to the fact that African Americans were less likely than other races to have access to a computer and the Internet. In 1998, a study at Vanderbilt University found that whites were significantly more likely than African Americans to have a computer and use the Internet at home. In addition, the study also found the overall difference in computer ownership between whites and African Americans to be income. In other words, the more money a family makes the more likely they own a computer. However, according to the same study, as of January 1997, more than 5 million African Americans in the United States used the Internet.
Full article available at:
http://www.blackprwire.com/display-news.asp?ID=1809
During the onset of rapid computer growth in the late eighties and early nineties, many studies pointed to the fact that African Americans were less likely than other races to have access to a computer and the Internet. In 1998, a study at Vanderbilt University found that whites were significantly more likely than African Americans to have a computer and use the Internet at home. In addition, the study also found the overall difference in computer ownership between whites and African Americans to be income. In other words, the more money a family makes the more likely they own a computer. However, according to the same study, as of January 1997, more than 5 million African Americans in the United States used the Internet.
Full article available at:
http://www.blackprwire.com/display-news.asp?ID=1809
Friday, May 06, 2005
Behavioral traits in kids can predict autism:
Washington April 30, 2005
A recent study by Canadian researchers has revealed that certain behavioral traits in infants, some as young as 12 months can predict whether a child will develop autism in later life.
The study, which appears in the International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, states that certain traits like not smiling in response to the smiles of others or not responding when one's name is called are some of the indications that can tell whether a child will develop autism later in life.
Full article available at URL:
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=80263&n_date=20050430&cat=World
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
A recent study by Canadian researchers has revealed that certain behavioral traits in infants, some as young as 12 months can predict whether a child will develop autism in later life.
The study, which appears in the International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, states that certain traits like not smiling in response to the smiles of others or not responding when one's name is called are some of the indications that can tell whether a child will develop autism later in life.
Full article available at URL:
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=80263&n_date=20050430&cat=World
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Autism Society of Michigan files lawsuit against school district following death of student
(Parchment, May 2, 2005, 6:05 p.m.) It has been almost two years since an autistic teenager died after being restrained at Parchment High School.
The mother of 15-year-old Michael Renner Lewis III has already filed a civil lawsuit against the school district. On Monday, the Autism Society of Michigan says it is also taking action in federal court in hopes of forcing the school district to change its policies.
Full article available at URL:
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3289405&nav=0RceZMCn
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
The mother of 15-year-old Michael Renner Lewis III has already filed a civil lawsuit against the school district. On Monday, the Autism Society of Michigan says it is also taking action in federal court in hopes of forcing the school district to change its policies.
Full article available at URL:
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3289405&nav=0RceZMCn
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Families fight for autism funding
By Liz Hayes
Valley News Dispatch
Monday, May 2, 2005
If proposed changes in Pennsylvania's rules on Medicaid eligibility ultimately pass, parents of autistic children could end up paying two sets of insurance premiums next year.
Most health insurance providers do not cover all the therapies autistic children require.
Full article available at URL:
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/newssummary/s_330158.html
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Valley News Dispatch
Monday, May 2, 2005
If proposed changes in Pennsylvania's rules on Medicaid eligibility ultimately pass, parents of autistic children could end up paying two sets of insurance premiums next year.
Most health insurance providers do not cover all the therapies autistic children require.
Full article available at URL:
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/newssummary/s_330158.html
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Better Lives for People with Autism: Behavioral Treatment Helps People With Autism Achieve Independence and Control
By Denise Ross and Douglas Greer
NEW YORK, May 3 (AScribe Newswire) -- Following is an editorial by Denise Ross and Douglas Greer of Teachers College, Columbia University.
- - -
The public has been much focused on autism of late as more media stories, movies and books represent people with this disorder. That's all to the good, but we are concerned by the argument -- sometimes made by people with autism themselves -- that this is not a condition, but merely a form of individual expression.
"Don't try to stop us from acting autistic," the argument goes. "Don't try to change our non-verbal behavior, our hand-flapping, crying, screaming and other 'tics' - because that's who we are."
Full article available at URL:
http://newswire.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20050502.142121&time=06%2000%20PDT&year=2005&public=0
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
NEW YORK, May 3 (AScribe Newswire) -- Following is an editorial by Denise Ross and Douglas Greer of Teachers College, Columbia University.
- - -
The public has been much focused on autism of late as more media stories, movies and books represent people with this disorder. That's all to the good, but we are concerned by the argument -- sometimes made by people with autism themselves -- that this is not a condition, but merely a form of individual expression.
"Don't try to stop us from acting autistic," the argument goes. "Don't try to change our non-verbal behavior, our hand-flapping, crying, screaming and other 'tics' - because that's who we are."
Full article available at URL:
http://newswire.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20050502.142121&time=06%2000%20PDT&year=2005&public=0
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
New Hope for Early Autism Diagnosis
Ivanhoe - USA
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Could a simple blood test one day determine whether a newborn is at risk for developing autism?
Yes, say researchers from the Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute at the University of California, Davis. Using new technology, they’ve found numerous differences in the blood of children with the disorder -- which could serve as red flags to alert doctors to the possibility of a diagnosis.
Full article available at URL:
http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=11197
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Could a simple blood test one day determine whether a newborn is at risk for developing autism?
Yes, say researchers from the Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute at the University of California, Davis. Using new technology, they’ve found numerous differences in the blood of children with the disorder -- which could serve as red flags to alert doctors to the possibility of a diagnosis.
Full article available at URL:
http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=11197
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Study: Autism Treatment Could be Earlier
ABC News - USA
TORONTO May 5, 2005 -- Infants who make little eye contact, have trouble smiling and aren't very active may be showing signs of autism, Canadian researchers report in a small study that suggests autism could be spotted earlier than it is.
If autistic behavior can be spotted as early as 12 months, as the research indicates, it would enable doctors and parents to start effective therapy sooner.
Full article available at URL:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=731430
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
TORONTO May 5, 2005 -- Infants who make little eye contact, have trouble smiling and aren't very active may be showing signs of autism, Canadian researchers report in a small study that suggests autism could be spotted earlier than it is.
If autistic behavior can be spotted as early as 12 months, as the research indicates, it would enable doctors and parents to start effective therapy sooner.
Full article available at URL:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=731430
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Autism could be detected in infants: studies
CTV - Canada
New evidence from two separate studies suggests that autism could be detected in infants, research that physicians hope will lead to early treatment or even prevention.
In the first study, researchers say there is evidence of immune and protein alterations in the blood samples of autistic children, raising hopes for earlier diagnoses.
Full article available at URL:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1115315917466_32/?hub=TopStories
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
New evidence from two separate studies suggests that autism could be detected in infants, research that physicians hope will lead to early treatment or even prevention.
In the first study, researchers say there is evidence of immune and protein alterations in the blood samples of autistic children, raising hopes for earlier diagnoses.
Full article available at URL:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1115315917466_32/?hub=TopStories
For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.
Err on the side of caution: Get mercury out of vaccines
By MN Rep. Laura Brod
Minneapolis Star Tribune
April 30, 2005
One side of an important debate was printed in the April 19 Star Tribune article, "Parents lobby against mercury." Contrary to what was presented, the bills in the Legislature to eliminate mercury in vaccines are about creating further confidence and public trust in our immunization program by assuring parents that the vaccines mandated for their children and available to family members are as safe as possible.
The Star Tribune article discussed an Institute of Medicine report that concluded there is no evidence of harm from mercury in vaccines.
However, the story failed to mention a key acknowledgment by the IOM: "the committee cannot rule out, based on the epidemiological evidence, the possibility that vaccines contribute to autism in some small subset or very unusual circumstance."
It is precisely this "small subset" of people that has been the focus of important biological studies that raise concern about mercury.
Dr. Mady Hornig of Columbia University found that giving mercury (thimerosal) to mice in the proportion given to infants in vaccines resulted in some strains of mice developing significant neurological symptoms. Dr. Jill James of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences found that autistic children have a severe deficiency in glutathione, the body's most important detoxifier of heavy metals such as mercury.
Dr. James Bradstreet, founder of the International Child Development Resource Center, tested autistic children with a substance that bonds with heavy metals and pulls them out of the body through the urine. He found that autistic children excrete six times as much mercury as healthy children.
These studies help us to understand that a "small subset" of people are more vulnerable to mercury because they can not detoxify it well. Some parents of autistic children are seeing great improvement in their children from treatment that helps them detoxify mercury.
An epidemiological study published by Dr. Mark Geier and David Geier this month used the federal VAERS database (Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System) and the CDC Vaccine Safety Datalink Database to compare children who had received mercury-free vaccines with children who had received vaccines containing mercury. They found higher incidences of neurodevelopmental disorders of all kinds in the children exposed to mercury in vaccines.
Rates of autism in our country started climbing in the early 1990s, after several mercury-containing vaccines were added to the immunization schedule. However, rates are now beginning to drop in some areas. In California, four out of the last five quarters noted a drop in new diagnoses of autism. Given scientists' hypothesis that the autism epidemic could be related to mercury in vaccines, this drop was predicted because many vaccines have had mercury completely or partially removed.
Proponents of removing mercury from vaccines are willing to participate in this scientific debate. However, while the scientists debate, our kids cannot wait. Through legislation, Minnesota would be making a public policy statement that, as much as possible, we should use vaccines without mercury. That is the common-sense approach.
Laura Brod, R-New Prague, is a state representative.
Minneapolis Star Tribune
April 30, 2005
One side of an important debate was printed in the April 19 Star Tribune article, "Parents lobby against mercury." Contrary to what was presented, the bills in the Legislature to eliminate mercury in vaccines are about creating further confidence and public trust in our immunization program by assuring parents that the vaccines mandated for their children and available to family members are as safe as possible.
The Star Tribune article discussed an Institute of Medicine report that concluded there is no evidence of harm from mercury in vaccines.
However, the story failed to mention a key acknowledgment by the IOM: "the committee cannot rule out, based on the epidemiological evidence, the possibility that vaccines contribute to autism in some small subset or very unusual circumstance."
It is precisely this "small subset" of people that has been the focus of important biological studies that raise concern about mercury.
Dr. Mady Hornig of Columbia University found that giving mercury (thimerosal) to mice in the proportion given to infants in vaccines resulted in some strains of mice developing significant neurological symptoms. Dr. Jill James of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences found that autistic children have a severe deficiency in glutathione, the body's most important detoxifier of heavy metals such as mercury.
Dr. James Bradstreet, founder of the International Child Development Resource Center, tested autistic children with a substance that bonds with heavy metals and pulls them out of the body through the urine. He found that autistic children excrete six times as much mercury as healthy children.
These studies help us to understand that a "small subset" of people are more vulnerable to mercury because they can not detoxify it well. Some parents of autistic children are seeing great improvement in their children from treatment that helps them detoxify mercury.
An epidemiological study published by Dr. Mark Geier and David Geier this month used the federal VAERS database (Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System) and the CDC Vaccine Safety Datalink Database to compare children who had received mercury-free vaccines with children who had received vaccines containing mercury. They found higher incidences of neurodevelopmental disorders of all kinds in the children exposed to mercury in vaccines.
Rates of autism in our country started climbing in the early 1990s, after several mercury-containing vaccines were added to the immunization schedule. However, rates are now beginning to drop in some areas. In California, four out of the last five quarters noted a drop in new diagnoses of autism. Given scientists' hypothesis that the autism epidemic could be related to mercury in vaccines, this drop was predicted because many vaccines have had mercury completely or partially removed.
Proponents of removing mercury from vaccines are willing to participate in this scientific debate. However, while the scientists debate, our kids cannot wait. Through legislation, Minnesota would be making a public policy statement that, as much as possible, we should use vaccines without mercury. That is the common-sense approach.
Laura Brod, R-New Prague, is a state representative.
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