Comments on: Autism In U.S. More Prevalent Than Thought

Major Study: 1 In 150 American Children Has Development Disorder

[devinehdly]

Many children who have Autism may have a syndrome called Fragile X. Children with Fragile X may also have autism or traits of autism. Fragile X is genetic and is determined by a blood test. To learn more go to www.FragileX.org.

[devinehdly]

Many children who have Autism may have a syndrome called Fragile X. Children with Fragile X may also have autism or traits of autism. Fragile X is genetic and is determined by a blood test. To learn more go to www.FragileX.org.
Fragile X can be found in 1 in 3600 males and 1 in 4000 to 6000 females, people that are affected. Carriers of this gene can be 1 in 250 females and 1 in 800 males, without any knowledge besides family history.

[teeus]

"I hope that parents do not read the rants of conspiracy nuts and the unformed and decide not to immunize their children"

I kind of hope they do. You can insist that your child receive only mercury free vacinations. Single doses, rather than combos, provide this.

My sister was always skeptical of this. She's an ER doctor. Then she had kids. Funny, she insisted on Merc free shots for her kids.

[teeus]

"2)What does "massive amounts" mean? Most vaccinations are only 1/2-1 cc. This makes no sense."

Don't be deliberately dense. "Massive" would be relative to the contents of the shot. No, nothing would look "massive" if all you're doing is comparing the volume of a shot to the volume of a swimming pool.

[teeus]

Infants who received all their vaccines, plus boosters, by the age of 6 months were being injected with levels of ethylmercury 187 times greater than the EPA's limit for daily exposure to methylmercury, a related neurotoxin.

[teeus]

Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who has received $873,000 in contributions from the pharmaceutical industry, has been working to immunize vaccine makers from liability in 4,200 lawsuits that have been filed by the parents of injured children. On five separate occasions, Frist has tried to seal all of the government's vaccine-related documents -- including the Simpsonwood transcripts -- and shield Eli Lilly, the developer of thimerosal, from subpoenas. In 2002, the day after Frist quietly slipped a rider known as the "Eli Lilly Protection Act" into a homeland security bill, the company contributed $10,000 to his campaign and bought 5,000 copies of his book on bioterrorism. Congress repealed the measure in 2003 -- but earlier this year, Frist slipped another provision into an anti-terrorism bill that would deny compensation to children suffering from vaccine-related brain disorders. "The lawsuits are of such magnitude that they could put vaccine producers out of business and limit our capacity to deal with a biological attack by terrorists," says Andy Olsen, a legislative assistant to Frist.

[teeus]

"You can play with this all you want," Dr. Bill Weil, a consultant for the American Academy of Pediatrics, told the group. The results "are statistically significant." Dr. Richard Johnston, an immunologist and pediatrician from the University of Colorado whose grandson had been born early on the morning of the meeting's first day, was even more alarmed. "My gut feeling?" he said. "Forgive this personal comment -- I do not want my grandson to get a thimerosal-containing vaccine until we know better what is going on."

[house015]

I hope that parents do not read the rants of conspiracy nuts and the unformed and decide not to immunize their children. I work with some of the most highly respected physicians in the country, and you can bet they have immunized their children. I do, however, have a husband with a brother who died of one of the diseases an immunization could have prevented. His mother still thinks of him every day, four decades later.

[teeus]

"Mercury has been removed from vaccinations for years"

NOT TRUE. Banned in 1998 from over the counter drugs, thimerosal is still found in some vaccines.

Merck continued to supply infant vaccine containing a mercury-based preservative for two years after declaring that it had eliminated the chemical.

Merck continued to distribute vaccine containing the chemical known as thimerosal, until October 2001, according to an FDA letter sent in response to a congressional inquiry.

Thimerosal has largely been eliminated
from most routine childhood vaccines, though it still is present in most flu ahots.

Where are the autistic Amish? In Lancaster County, there should be well over 100 with some form of the disorder. The Amish have a religious exemption from vaccination. Thousands of children cared for by Homefirst Health Services in metropolitan Chicago have at least two things in common with thousands of Amish children in rural Lancaster: They have never been vaccinated. And they don't have autism.

[beachmom22]

16 years ago I had a son who was developing normally until about 6-7 months. At that time he stopped babbling and interacting. At 24 months he was started on intense speech therapy. One day at my allergist's office that I saw an article about pediatric sleep apnea. I took him to an ENT for evaluation and had his tonsils and adenoids taken out before he was 3. I had not realized he had sleep apnea because the symptoms are different for children.
3 weeks after surgery he was a different child; his pediatrician was amazed and could not believe he was the same child.
By 3 he was well on the way to learning new behavior skills, relationship skills and speech skills even though he had been so far behind in all developmental areas (other than growth).
I thank God very day that I read that article on pediatric sleep apnea and acted. I feel autism is on the rise because tonsillectomies have decreased since my generation. I also really feel that much of the ADD/ ADHD we see today are of the same nature because my child was on track for ADHD before surgery.
I've tried my best to get my experience out to others. I am a RN and just so thankful that I found a solution. Even though my son had classic signs, no speech development, rocking, poor personal interactive skills (plus stiffing when I tried to hold him) and sensitivity to noises, with the T&A and a lot of love and physical interaction he is now a healthy 16 year old testing in the 90th percentiles for the PSATs.