Discussing Autism

I received this email this morning so I thought I would reply to it here…I am posting it anonymously so I do hope the reader is okay with that.

I read the article about Holly Robinson-Peete’s son and I took notice of the timing of her son’s first symptoms of Autism in regards to the MMR innoculation. As my 14 month old granddaughter has her inoculations, I am repeatedly reminded that just possibly, the MMR could have some connection to the appearance of symptoms. I want to believe that her vaccinations are safe, however, and this was not brought on by Mrs. Peete’s story about RJ, I am reminded again of the possible correlation. My granddaughter is bright and animated, and I’m quite certain that RJ Peete was the same. Should we be concerned? Frightened?
Thank you for your input.

Certainly the entire United States population should be concerned if the vaccinations are still containing Thimerasol, a synthetic form of organic mercury used as a preservative and antimicrobial agent in vaccines. Thimerosal has been an ingredient in vaccines and biologicals since the 1930s but, with increases in recommended childhood immunization doses, by the 1990s it became possible for a six month old infant to have been exposed to a cumulative dose of organic mercury that exceeded certain limits set by government health agencies. This, paired with the immense growth in numbers of children diagnosed with autism in the 1990s prompted many in and out of the autism community to wonder if there could be a connection.

Note that Autism Speaks states Thimerosal and Mercury: prompted many in and out of the autism community to wonder if there could be a connection. If one reads my article titled Autism is Not Mercury Poisoning, one would glean that I believe it is a child’s faulty Methylation process that interferes with the natural chelation of heavy metals (including mercury). Additionally, if one does not have a proper Methylation one will also not have the proper vitamins and mineral balance, thus a leaky gut, neurological imbalances, developmental delays, stimming behaviors, and receptive and expressive communication problems. I could go on but it is all mentioned in that particular article.

Now, that is MY OPINION (based upon science and personal experience with my son). Everyone, every scientist, every researcher wavers on their opinion. No one will commit to an explanation because there is no definitive scientific answer regarding vaccinations.

The body of evidence gathered through epidemiologic research to date does not currently support a causal relationship between thimerosal in childhood vaccines and autism risk. However, it is very difficult for even the best epidemiologic study to rule out the existence of small susceptible subgroups of children with autism in whom thimerosal exposure may have played a causal role. Unfortunately, there are currently no means of identifying individuals with increased mercury susceptibility nor are there proven methods allowing researchers to separate individuals with autism into groups more or less likely to have different sets of causes.

The thimerosal question has highlighted a number of points whose further consideration should significantly advance autism research. First, although genes are believed to play a major role in autism, more attention needs to be paid to mechanisms where genes exert their influence by altering susceptibility to environmental exposures and mechanisms by which environmental exposures may alter gene expression. Second, there is a great need, when studying environmental exposures, to find ways of identifying highly susceptible individuals. And, third, because autism is a complex condition possibly having multiple causes, researchers need to find reliable ways to distinguish autism subgroups with distinct etiologies.

So, should you be concerned about vaccinations? Certainly. Should you not vaccinate because of this? No.

There have been outbreaks of illnesses such as whooping cough in children as young as 6 weeks old because children in local elementary schools are not adequately vaccinated.

Vaccines stimulate our bodies to make antibodies–proteins that specifically recognize and target the bacteria and viruses against which the vaccines are designed, and that help eliminate them from the body when we encounter them.

Without vaccine protection, we can easily contract and transmit infectious diseases. It may only take one person, whether it’s a family member, a neighbor, or a visitor from another country, to start the spread of a disease. And even immunized individuals can be at risk because no vaccine is ever 100 percent effective for everyone.

Without vaccines we may see an influx of those deadly diseases again, not more autism cases. Which would you rather see?