About six months ago I wrote an OpEd piece called "The Really Big Lie About Autism" in which I described the persistent yet illogical claim that all the autistic kids filling speech therapy sessions, classrooms, and even whole schools, are the result of "better diagnosing and greater awareness" on the part of doctors. In other words, autism has always been a major childhood disorder; we just didn't recognize it for what it was.
That article focused on the Really Big Lie About Autism as told to parents by the medical community. Regardless of the number of autistic kids sitting in their waiting rooms, doctors are satisfied that it's all due to their keener sense of observation.
The Really Big Lie About Autism has just been updated and expanded.
This past month the Centers for Disease Control released the findings of a major study on autism. There were actually two surveys done looking at 8-year-olds, the first in six states and a second looking at 8-year-olds in 14 states. On average, they found that about one in 150 children born in 1992 and 1994, or 6.7 per thousand, have autism. New Jersey was on the high side with one in every 94 children, including one in every 60 boys.
The CDC announced this latest mind-boggling rate with an air of pride. CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding explained that the new numbers were because "our estimates are becoming better and more consistent."
Now it seems that the CDC is on a par with the medical community with the news about this new autism rate. Not only are doctors better at diagnosing, but also CDC officials are better at counting.
Incredibly, the CDC still cannot say with any certainty that autism is actually affecting more children despite all the autistic kids everywhere. The CDC has been studying autism numbers for more than ten years, yet they don't know if it's more prevalent.
Dr. Gerberding explained it this way, "We can't yet tell if there is a true increase in ASDs or if the changes are the result of our better studies."
The CDC still can't tell? This agency gets billions of tax dollars each year to run health care in the U.S. They can give us statistics on any other disorder or disease broken down by age, sex, and ethnicity, including changes in the incidence rate--except autism. The study's lead author, Dr. Catherine Rice, made it clear that nothing in her research can tell us about trends. "We hope these findings will build awareness," Rice said.
A number of experts quickly rallied to the defense of the "no real increase" position. Doctors have come out officially to remind us that there is nothing to be alarmed about concerning the new one in every 150 children rate.
Dr. Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, chief of the CDC's developmental-disabilities program at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities was interviewed in Newsweek and agreed that it isn't that "the rates of autism have gone up, just that now we have some more definitive data."
On ABC's 20/20 on February 23rd, Dr Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, explained that the increase in autism is due to the fact that "people that we once called quirky or geeky or nerdy are now called autistic."
He further stated that with a label of autism, it would "allow that child then to qualify for services which otherwise they wouldn't be qualified to get."
Incredibility, there are those who are using the new autism numbers for children born in the 1990s to create statistics all the way back to the 1980s. Doctors are citing this 2007 study as proof that the autism rate hasn't increased in the last twenty years.
In the Atlanta Journal Constitution article, Are Autism Cases on the Rise in the US? child psychiatrist Dr. Bradley Peterson told us "the numbers are comparable to what they were 20 years ago."
Because California has the highest rate of vaccinations in the pre-school age bracket in the nation. My daughter and all of my grandchildren were fine until they received the MMR vaccine. They all -- yes, all -- have either Asperger's or Autism. I have Asperger's. And no one can convince me that there is not a combination of genetics and a trigger in the vaccination that has done this to my family.
by
Robin in the 'Dale (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 12 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 3:09:58 PM
I don't understand. A five year old child in California or any state for that matter did not receive thimerosal containing vaccines in his/her scheduled vaccinations. Are you saying that all vaccines cause autism, even the ones without thimerosal?
by
Heraldblog (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 5:14:28 PM
Aspergers wasn't identified as a separate diagnosis until 1994. You wrote on TruthOut that your son was diagnosed with possible autism in 1993. If he currently has an Asperger's diagnosis, doesn't that mean that a psychologist "missed the diagnosis" in 1993? And if that's the case, how do you square that fact with "the big lie"? Will you allow that at least some of the increase in autism is attributable to missed diagnoses, greater awareness, and the expansion of the criteria, as is clearly true in your son's case?
by
Heraldblog (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 6:32:42 AM
Thanks Anne for updating your Really Big Lie about Autism article. It is strange that the CDC has all kinds of stats on all types of issues, yet they are still counting autism. Afer ten years of counting, they still don't know for sure. I have no confidence in anything the CDC has to say about anything anymore.
And, our media is just as bad. These "experts" they interview for these pathetic segments they do on autism - where do these people come from? How can anyone deny the crisis we have here? And, I for one am tired of the "awareness" campaign. Are our government health agencies ever going to move from awareness to taking action? When the reality of the really big lie slaps society in the face- when we have a whole generation of children (young adults) go on SSI for life -then what? Will the CDC still be tweaking the numbers? Will we still be in the midst of an awareness campaign?
Maybe your next article can focus on the grim reality of state medicaid waiver programs. You know the programs that are supposed to be there for the disabled that aren't. Talk to parents like me, about the waiting lists. We'll never see that kind of assistance. Oh, and for those idiots out there that claim parents of children with autism are faking it to get government handouts, newsflash there are no government handouts. The government just like the schools- are ill prepared to address this crisis. More evidence autism has never been here in the numbers we see today.
There are no safety nets here.Each and every family is struggling to address their own child's needs. It is exhausting among other things. So as the CDC plays their numbers game, and the TV networks do these deceptive autism has always been here, autism is not so bad,- giving Dr. "Expert" an opportunity to say autism has always been here and autism is not that bad.... the really big lie about autism is growing and growing- ready to explode. And I predict it ain't gonna be pretty.
by
andreamk (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 7:28:42 AM
When I was interviewing a parent once for an article I wrote about the thimerosal controversy, she told me, "We'd all be a lot less strident if we had some more understanding." The previous comment on this blog reflects this fact very well. Not to be patronizing, but a lot of autistic parents are pissed off because their lives are so hard. Not only is there no cure for autism and the often troubling conditions that go along with it, the parents have to struggle even to get the educational setup their kids need.
Now it is no one's fault there isn't a cure for autism. And the educational struggles reflect the fact that most school systems are underfunded and thus fight efforts to spend money on individual kids. The system is rigged to seem unfair to everyone. Sometimes this is due to incompetence. For example, our school system in DC spends an inordinate percentage of its budget on placing kids in private schools--and busing them there--because it hasn't gotten organized to provide its own services.
Again, not to patronize, but I do think a certain amount of the bile against the CDC, AAP, the doctors etc. is because they don't have the answers these parents want. But guess what, they aren't to blame. If you think that a bunch of DAN! doctors and Generation Rescue parents are going to cure your kid, well I wish you the best of luck. But the historical record suggests that evidence-based medicine is more trustworthy than self-proclaimed medical messiahs.
by
vaccinecontroversy (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 9:45:15 AM
An entire generation on SSI? Do you really expect that we will reach a point where the incidence of autism is 1:1? Do you have any facts to back that up, or are you merely resorting to hyperbole to make a point? And if is, what is your point?
by
Heraldblog (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 10:58:24 AM
I mean children like mine who will never work one day in their life. A generation of children who are so profoundly disabled they will never contribute to society in that way. How can I provide you facts-data about that? Remember the CDC is still counting and re-counting and fudging and tweaking the numbers. I live with a child who was damaged from his vaccines. Sorry if you want to find fault with my comments. You don't know the hell my son suffers from all his health problems that are conveniently dismissed due to his "autism" diagnosis. Sorry, we have the really crappy type autism- not the goofy quirky kind you might see on CNN. We don't celebrate autism nor do I thank God for it either.
So to clarify I didn't mean to imply every child will be on SSI, some like my son definitely will. How many who knows-let's wait for the CDC to tell us, shall we?
by
andreamk (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 11:26:18 AM
I'm not trying to find fault with your comments, just trying to make sense of them. You wrote that "we have a whole generation of children" who will go on SSI. What was I to think? That you're as intentionally misleading as Anne from Wisconsin?
I get it now.
by
Heraldblog (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 4:59:22 PM
The CDC is still counting because autism is not a disease. Not every case of autism ends up in a hospital or doctor's office. How would you propose the CDC make an exact count of autism? You can't just go door to door asking people, because autism isn't always that apparent to the lay person. Higher functioning forms like PDD-NOS or Aspergers are often misdiagnosed.
If vaccines cause autism, then why do populations that don't vaccinate, such as the Amish*, still have autism? Why are the numbers still going up for 3-5 years olds in California, where thimerosal was gone from 98 percent of childhood vaccines by the winter of 2002?
__________
*Yes, I know about Olmsted. You don't want to go there.
by
Heraldblog (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments)
on Thursday, March 1, 2007 at 7:32:12 PM
It's always the blame game isn't it? We all want to blame someone for our problems. It is true that somewhere along the way our children have been harmed, that is if you have been blessed with a child with autism. It is extremely hard on the family because these children are sick and cannot tell you there feelings or hurts. It really makes one see the realness of God, who has made these children, for his purposes. As a parent of a son with autism I pray for healing, direction, and extreme hope my son will be able to function on his own. Yes, some days I'm very angry, knowing my once-normal son, is now in another world. It was after his vaccines that he regressed. So, daily I thank God for my son, who he is now, and the plans He has for him. Lastly, we are doing everything under the sun to help my son, biomeds, hyperbarics, etc. which has really helped him. So, move forward and find solutions.
by
Stacie Matson (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 10:26:27 AM
As a mother of a son with Asperger's syndrome, I have to care and to spread the truth of how this has all happened to too many of us. I feel like my son's future has been stolen from him. I love him and value him so much, he tests out as brilliant in many aspects and has been a great support to me. But, I see other young men his age, planning a life, career, family, and it breaks my heart that all he wants to do is to sit in his room and play computer games. His health is suffering because he is a very tall person and now very over weight, as much as I try to cook well for him and guide him, he has no conception of how important it is for him to make better food choices and get exercise. I am not a young chick myself and will not be here for him and who will take care of him and for all of our children? Are they going to wander the streets as homeless people, or be put into institutions?
We have to care. One woman, whose book I have somewhere here, changed the life of all of her children and herself with digestive enzymes. I also have had my son doing foot baths to get the mercury and toxins out of his system. I have him on some vitamins and gently try to guide him.
He has lots of inner pain from the cruelty from the kids in school and no friends! They are in a world of their own, and we parents and family have to care and try to make sure other children aren't damaged like this.
To know that 'those' in power have done this for years deliberately, (and you have to understand, they knew better), then you know that so many of our youth, which were the future of the country have been taken out of commission. Just as the troops come back mangled, vaccine damaged, pstd, etc....and are not capable of a normal life anymore, they are purposely damaged too.
The masses of the American people have been damaged and dumbed down so they can't even try to understand what has happened to all of us. We are so much easier to control that way!
It is not only the mercury that has damaged them, but the other things in the vaccinations. It has been proven they damage the immune systems, and also causes childhood diabetes. It damages their digestive systems, so that they arent' getting good digestion and good nutrition.
This is not an option, and we are not alone, we have to band together and stop the Food and drug and the drug makers from putting all the things out on the market that are causing so much damage to all of us.
Time to wake up and smell the coffee!
Infinity......
by
truthseeker (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 3:37:43 PM
A young man who wastes his time playing computer games? You've just described about a million 20-somethings, and only 1:150 of them have autism.
I'm sure you're concerned about your son, and I admire your strength, but get a grip. There are plenty of young men worse off than your son who don't have Aspergers. I know one young man, for instance, who walked away from Marine boot camp five years ago and started using heroin. Today he works as a day laborer so he can buy more drugs. He has zero prospects of marriage, family or real happiness. He's not autistic. In fact he really has no excuse at all. Would you want to trade?
There's millions more like him who don't have a diagnosis of any kind. Count your blessings.
by
Heraldblog (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 5:10:49 PM
So Heraldblog, which pharmaceutical has hired you? I mean do you spend all your time trying to put down people who have children affected by vaccinations? There is plenty of science out there to indicate that thimerosal and aluminum (which are both in some childhood vaccinations, 90% of the flu shots manufactured last season, as well as numerous other vaccinations) have played a role in this epidemic.
Anyone who has not had a child affected by vaccinations really should educate themselves before making comments.
Since I have had two children affected by vaccinations (and currently recovered) I have educated myself over the last four years in autism, toxicology, genetics and environmental polutents.
So really, what pharmaceutical company has hired you for this smear campaign?
by
Dieter (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 5 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 8:27:54 PM
Yes HntrD... , I work for a pharmaceutical company. In fact, I work for all of them, not to mention the Queen of England, Halliburton and all the Bush's. The mercury is cheap and plentiful, salvaged mostly from obsolete Russian space stations and Elton John's leftover rectal thermometers. At least that's what George Soros told me. You don't ask a lot of questions in my line of work.
by
Heraldblog (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments)
on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 9:24:59 PM
Well finally perhaps a somewhat logical question. But, only somewhat.
First before you can ask the question,.'Where is the conclusive proof of a link?' You really need to ask where is the conclusive proof that there is no link?
Since that could never be answered (unless you are using a pharma backed study) that would mean that the thimerosal link is plausible.
And what we have learned in the last couple of years is that the underlying medical condition of autism is neuroinflammatory disease. In a study conducted at John Hopkins University, brain tissue from deceased autistic patients was examined. The tissue showed an active neuroinflammatory process and marked activation of microglia cells. Neuroinflammatory disease is synonymous with an activation of microglia cells.
A study done at the University of Washington showed that baby primates exposed to injected thimerosal (50 percent mercury), at a rate equal to the 1990s childhood vaccine schedule, retained twice as much inorganic mercury in their brains as primates exposed to equal amounts of ingested methylmercury. We know from autometallographic determination that inorganic mercury present in the brain, following the dealkylation of organic mercury, is the toxic agent responsible for changes in the microglial population and leads to neuroinflammation.
Recently it was shown that in more than 250 examined patients, atypical urinary porphyrins were almost three times higher in autistic patients than controls. Porphyrins are precursors to heme, the oxygen-carrying component of blood. Mercury inhibits the conversion of porphyrins to heme. When the patients were treated to remove mercury, urinary porphyrins returned to normal levels.
In a study done at the University of Arkansas, autistic children were found to have significantly lower levels of the antioxidant glutathione. Glutathione is the major antioxidant needed for the elimination of mercury at the cellular level. This may explain why some children are more severely affected by thimerosal in vaccines than others.
While all the government-conducted epidemiological (statistical) studies show no link between thimerosal and autism, the clinical studies examining brain tissue, blood, urine and human cells show a completely different picture.
So I apologize for having to use a lot of big words but I'm trying to point out that just because a doctor (or an entity with pharma ties) says there is no link between the thimerosal and autism, it doesn't mean it's true.
And if you still find it hard to believe there is any connection at all, then I have a house in Love Canal painted with lead based paint and insulated with asbestos and a life time supply of vioxx that I can sell to you real cheap. I'm quite sure the Queen of England can't beat my deal.
Education is key and you have to look down every avenue.
by
Dieter (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 5 comments)
on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at 9:24:57 PM
I should have been more clear on what "conclusive" means. If I had, you might have provided studies that "conclusively" show that thimerosal has anything to do with autism. You're right that a negative cannot be proven. That's why it its important to cite credible, peer-reviewed studies to prove your point. But there are no such studies, according to Dr. Mark Geier who was, incidentally, one of the first "researchers" to claim a link between autism and mercury. Geier testified under oath that he knows of no "conclusive" study that proves the link. Not Burbacher, not Deth, not Hornig. Zero, zip, nada.
Is a thimerosal link possible? Yes, in the same way it is possible that you are on the payroll of a law firm trying to feed at the multi-billion dollar vaccine injury compensation fund. But if I make that claim, it is up to me to prove it, not for you to prove the negative. Science does not "disprove" anything. The most a scientist can ever do is to look for evidence that either confirms or rejects a claim. I'm saying there is not enough evidence to support the thimerosal hypothesis that you so breathlessly endorse. Geier agrees with me. Your response that science has not "disproven" your hypothesis only reveals your ignorance of the scientific method.
Your bit about studying the brains of "deceased autistic patients" looks like it was copied and pasted from Michael Wagnitz' opinion piece in a recent Capital Times article. I can tell because the university is called "Johns Hopkins", not "John Hopkins" and both you and Wagnitz don't know any better. Maybe you are Wagnitz, since your whole reply mirrors the Capital Times piece. But that would be for me to prove, not you to disprove. See how that works?
Wagnitz BTW is a petitioner in a vaccine litigation lawsuit. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it does give him motive to distort studies:
92. Mary Buckland and Michael Wagnitz on
behalf of Josie Wagnitz, Madison,
Wisconsin, Court of Federal Claims
Number 03–2465V
As for the studies you cite, they do not show that thimerosal causes autism. The alleged conclusion that "the underlying medical condition of autism is neuroinflammatory disease" is your own. Vargas says "neuroinflammatory process appears to be associated with an ongoing and chronic mechanism of CNS dysfunction". I asked you for studies that conclusively tie thimerosal to autism. Vargas didn't say that.
If I have this all wrong, and you and Mr. Wagnitz were really talking about research at the John Hopkins School of Holistic Wellness and Feng Shui, then you have my apologies.
There is such a place as the University of Washington, and Burbacher injected thimerosal into baby primates there. His only conclusion is that "MeHg is not a suitable reference for risk assessment from exposure to thimerosal derived Hg". That's it. Not "oh my God, the CDC is poisoning our kids!" Not even a "the study suggests a thimerosal=autism link". I asked you for studies that conclusively tie thimerosal to autism. Burbacher never made the association in his paper.
I'm assuming the "urinary porphyrins" study is by Richard Lathe. The study is messy because it's not clear what effect autistic kids' possibly naturally low levels of creatinine (not creatine, that's different) in their urine falsely inflated the appearance of high porphyrins. There's some kind of unstated assumption that autism is a form of porphyria there... porphyria has lots of symptoms, but that's another story. Lathe's study does not support your hypothesis.
Jill James' University of Arkansas study has numerous problems. But the biggest one is that if autistic children lacked the ability to detoxify 250 micrograms of mercury (the maximum amount of ethyl mercury administered over
several years in scheduled pediatric vaccines), then they wouldn't live long enough to be vaccinated. The average person carries 6 milligrams of mercury. The stuff is all around us, and we all have more than enough glutathione to deal with it. All James found was that autistic kids have a decreased level of glutathione. That's not the same things as zero glutathione. And there are other explanations for why those levels might be decreased in those children.
Here's a clear explanation of what James found, and didn't find:
click here
You wrote: "While all the government-conducted epidemiological (statistical) studies show no link between thimerosal and autism, the clinical studies examining brain tissue, blood, urine and human cells show a completely different picture." Really? Which studies?
Just because a law firm, or an ersatz autism advocacy group, says that says there is a link between the thimerosal and autism doesn't mean it's true. Honest interpretation of peer reviewed studies is key, not just "looking down every avenue."
So I ask again, which studies conclusively link thimerosal to autism?
by
Heraldblog (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments)
on Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 8:13:49 PM
Well I have to admit what you said was so very compelling. But it still falls way short of the mark and I definitely feel there is no real need to accomodate anyone who can actually think that injecting mercury into someones system is not only good, but safe. But, I will endulge one more time.
You may ask over and over for the conclusive study that links thimerosal to autism, but you are never going to get one. Who in their right mind would allow their child to be a part of a study that could possibly harm them? But still, you have yet to provide a conclusive study (independent study) that conclusively disproves it. So it is quite obvious that we will go round and round about this for a long time.
As for the amount of mercury a child could recieve in a typical childhood vaccination schedule, I would be quite interested in finding out where you acquired your numbers. Just as a side bit of information (using data from pharmaceutical companies), my oldest son recieved in one day 92.6 micrograms of mercury. And that is based on the average amount of mercury a child could recieve if the vaccination was administered properly.
What you don't seem to understand is that a majority of the children who have been affected have intestinal and immune system problems as well. Mitochondrial disorders are less severe than in mitochondrial disorders of genetic origin. There is good evidence that many cases of autism involve much more than the brain. If this is true, instead of treating just the symptoms, we could treat the underlying pathology.
Within autism one can see a cluster of symptoms that could be caused by a number of different origins. One of them is clearly heavy metal toxicity (this was my two sons). The work of several doctors (Richard Deth, Jill James, and Jim Neubrander) have clearly shown that polymorphisms in the genes that control methylation and sulfation are much higher in autistic children and their parents than in neurotypical children. Methylation and sulfation are critical for the bodies normal detoxification and a heavy metal buildup in the body hinders these vital functions. This in turn impacts not only the immune system, but the digestive system and the brain.
One has to remember that this is not brain based, it is body based. And in many ways, they are one in same. You have to look at the amount of heavy metals in pre and post DMSA challenges, look at the depletion of essential minerals intra-cellularly to understand that these kids are sick and not prenatally determined.
After having experienced the degeneration of both my sons and their recoveries, I am a firm believer that heavy metal toxicity is the root cause of a majority of these cases.
I also believe that there are those who are genetically more susceptible to reacting to thimerosal. And until we have a way of identifying who is vulnerable, doesn't it just make sense to remove thimerosal from all vaccines?
by
Dieter (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 5 comments)
on Thursday, March 1, 2007 at 9:25:16 AM
If you're a true believer, then you really have no business quoting spurious studies. Science is about keeing an open mind. That's why science cannot "disprove" anything, only point out that the lack of evidence that supports notions such as yours.
Good luck with your children. They are lucky to have a parent that cares as much as you do. I'm appalled at the number of children I see at my son's school who never even see their fathers.
by
Heraldblog (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 25 comments)
on Thursday, March 1, 2007 at 5:32:27 PM
