Congressional Hearing on Autism

tissues

Tue, Mar 19 2013, 8:31 pm

MaBelleVie wrote:

The link does not address the question of why autism jumped to epidemic proportions only AFTER thimerosal was removed from all required vaccines besides those containing tetanus.

I agree that autism research should be a high priority. And it is. Focusing in vaccines, when there is no evidence to support a link, is silly. They're making some interesting discoveries on the genetic front.

The (full) link is not about vaccines/thimerosal. It is about the epidemic of autism and its possible causes, one of them being vaccines (whether with or without thimerosal).

We can disagree regarding how much funding and what kind of research "should" be done. You seem to think they're doing enough. Obviously there are plenty of people who are frustrated with the current research, enough to have brought this to a congressional hearing.

You say that research should not be focused on vaccines because there is no SCIENTIFIC evidence of a link between vaccines and autism. Well, guess what - - you gotta look for it to find it. There is an overwhelming amount of anecdotal evidence, too strong to simply be dismissed. Rep. Carolyn Maloney compares this "non-connection" to hormone replacement therapy which for years we had been told is safe, until we were told it's not. Others I've heard have compared it to tobacco. For years and years the tobacco companies had it their way (with money in the right places) and the official opinion was that smoking is fine, not harmful, there's no proven link to lung cancer, etc... until there finally was.

Mama Bear

Tue, Mar 19 2013, 8:47 pm

tissues, here is the post I wrote about all the various possibilities that may have caused mendy's autism. The only link I can find between shots and autism is that Mendy got his first ear infection within days of his first vaccine at 10 weeks old. And therefore he went on antibiotics very young. Future kids IYH I will NOT vaccinate at 10 weeks old - With shimi I waited til 4 months. But anyway here's the article I wrote.

http://www.autism-parenting.co......html

tissues

Tue, Mar 19 2013, 9:52 pm

Mama Bear wrote:

Thanks... that was just the tip of the iceberg. There are way more emotional articles in there... look for "Stage 5: acceptance" and "The Song that Changed Everything" for inspiration.

Thanks for the compliment Smile

I checked those out, and all I can say is WOW! I'll be revisiting your blog in the future; I need to read it all!

Aribenj

Tue, Mar 19 2013, 9:56 pm

Ok, well here's my 2 cents. I don't think there is ONE cause for Autism. I think it is a combination of environmental and genetic factors which need to be triggered. Perhaps Thimerosal could be a trigger. But I suspect it is not the only trigger.

For example, Diabetes (type 1) is usually something that you are not born with. However, it definitely has some genetic and environmental causes. So why does it turn up sometimes at a few months and sometimes at age 12? something triggers it. In the case of diabetes, it could be something as vague as stress.

So why couldn't autism function the same way? what if the genetic predisposition for autism is there, as are the environmental factors (food dyes, toxins, GMOs, pollution, whatever), and then something happens to stress the child out like starting school, getting a new sibling, getting shots (hey, that can be stressful too! especially at around 2, which is when the majority of kids get diagnosed)

So I don't think it's ONE thing. It never is.

tissues

Tue, Mar 19 2013, 9:57 pm

Aribenj wrote:

I agree.