Marching Over Vaccines And Autism

A New Battle Cry For Those Arguing There's A Link

(CBS)  Led by actors Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey, they're marching against the medical establishment that says there's no evidence vaccines cause autism, CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook reports.

"We want to send the message to the CDC and our federal government that vaccinations schedules are not one size fits all for all children and that each child is different," said concerned parent Michael Williamson.

Their new battle cry: Spread out the vaccine schedule.

"Thirty-six vaccines in the first few years of the life are too many too soon," Carrey said.

By the time a child is two years old, the CDC recommends 14 different vaccines in as many as 28 doses. That may sound like a lot - but these shots have helped to wipe out diseases like smallpox, polio and measles, saving an estimated 33,000 lives a year, according to the CDC.

Even so, some are asking: Why give so many vaccines over a relatively short period of time? Dr. Paul Offit helped invent one of those vaccines.

"There is no advantage to spacing out, delaying or withholding vaccines," Offit said. "The only thing that will come of that kind of behavior will be allowing for a period of time to occur when children are at risk of vaccine preventable diseases."

The activists are also worried about the preservatives used to keep vaccines sterile.

Safety concerns about a mercury-based preservative called Thimerosol led to its removal from most childhood vaccines almost a decade ago. But since then autism rates have gone up, not down. Still, parents are asking lots of questions.

"I would say that as a pediatrician I spend about 50 percent of my day talking about vaccines," said Pediatric Dr. Bruce Brovender.

He insists his patients be vaccinated, but he's willing to compromise with parents - up to a point.

Brovender warns them about the risks if they don't follow the schedule recommended by the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics.

"They are 100 percent warned that by delaying or spacing them out they are not going to get the protection they need," Brovender said. "It's better to follow the academy's schedule, but it's better to get something than nothing."

He says the marchers have forgotten the consequences of failing to vaccinate properly.

"The child who didn't get the whooping cough vaccine and is now on a respirator and now may have permanent brain and lung damage," he said.

---

For more information from both the medical and activist communities on this issue, you can check out:

An open letter to Congress on immunization policy signed by many health organizations.

An article co-authored by Dr. Paul Offit.

The National Institute on Child Health and Human Development autism site.

The Moms Against Mercury Web site.

Generation Rescue's page on vaccines.

Safe Minds.


© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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by dawn2000k June 4, 2008 7:41 PM PDT

I am so sick and tired of the lies. Lies by the media and lies by our own government agencies. My two children and I are VACCINE INJURED. Vaccines cause a lot more than AUTISM! They can cause hearing loss, vision damage, POLIO, arthritis, diabetes, etc. etc. There have been NUMEROUS STUDIES TO PROVE THIS. Why haven''t we heard about any of them? The media is probably paid large sums of money to keep their mouths shut. By the way - what makes for really interesting reading is the CDC''s reported disease statistics 1-5 years BEFORE EACH VACCINE CAME ON THE MARKET. After seeing these figures (it is quite easy to do), I now see that it truly is about MONEY and that''s it. The U.S. was not at risk because disease was pretty much eradicated BEFORE each vaccine began to be marketed! WAKE UP PEOPLE!! These individuals responsible for harming society are truly SICK.

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by deeaustin June 4, 2008 7:55 PM PDT

I watched your clip on vaccines. I don''t believe that you have all the information. I have 4 grandchildren and request that the vaccines are thimeraol free. I was taught to look at the box NOT the insert for the ingredient thimerasol. I got into a discussion with the children''s pediatritian and he insisted that anything I needed to know about the vaccine was on the insert including the ingredients. He brought it in and read off to me all the inforamtion. I asked to see the box which he willingly showed me, sure enough, there listed on the box was the ingredient thimerasol. Yet, it was not listed on the insert. I also noticed that the gov''t purchases vaccines in large quanities for those that are lower income using insurances such as Medicaid, Blue Chip . . . that have thimerasol as an ingredient. So if you use any of those insurance companies or gov''t programs your child will receive a vaccine with thimerasol. But those indiviuals that are able to afford the vaccine out of pocket get the vaccines that are thimerasol free. The go''vt is trying to hide all of this information from the public. I have a nephew that developed autism after a particular vaccine. My brother and his wife can pinpoint the day he received the vaccine and the change in his behavior. I have 2 grandchildren that developed Apraxia which is related to the vaccines as well. People need to be educated! Once again, the gov''t will not take responsibility! It would be too costly and interfere with politics!

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by jla122 June 4, 2008 8:00 PM PDT

dawn2000k, I am so sorry you and your 2 children are vaccine injured. You are so right, looking to man to keep us healthy is the biggest joke of our time. Are they going to take care of our children, when they are screaming for no reason, for hours on end in the middle of the living room....no they''re not. Do they care.....no they don''t. It is all about the almight dollar and anyone who doesn''t believe that has choosen to put their head in the sand. Wake up is my favorite line, it''s like the elephant in the middle of the room everyone is ignoring, it''s so frustrating.

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by brucesmall June 4, 2008 8:55 PM PDT

Dawn220k seems to have set a record for ignorance and fear mongering. Perhaps he or she was not born during the polio epidemics in the 1950s, before the polio vaccine. I had friends permanently crippled by polio. The disease, a horrible one, was stopped by vaccines.

If you and your children are all vaccine injured have you considered the possiblity your genes might be the source of the problem?

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by my2centss June 4, 2008 9:33 PM PDT

Do Amish and Christian Science members get vaccinated? How many of them are autistic? Just a thought.

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by my2centss June 4, 2008 9:42 PM PDT

The first child diagnosed with autism in the United States was born in 1931, the same year thimerosal was first used in a vaccine.

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by garbosmed June 4, 2008 9:48 PM PDT

What a wonderful job you did by managing to get an interview with Dr. Offitt. Gee, he almost never gives interviews. Oh, wait a minute, he''s a consultant for Merck and owns a patent on one of their vaccines. And they PAY him to go out there and tell people vaccines are safe. And then they cut him royalty checks every time a kid gets a rotavirus shot. And one of those lucky kids died from that shot''s side effects last month. Really. You can look it up. If you are at all interested in actually doing any research, as opposed to being spoon fed information from Pharma shills. Journalism, nyet. Pravda, da.

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by brucesmall June 4, 2008 10:19 PM PDT

I gather, then, that those of you who are against vaccinations would refuse one if you were bitten by a rabid animal. Rabies is always fatal, and it is a horrible way to die.

Rabies vaccine contains preservatives, so would you pass on the vaccine?

By the way, examples of autism go back centuries, way before vaccines.

Also, bear in mind that thimerasol is a preservative, which made multiple doses per vial possible, thereby decreasing the cost of the vaccines. Removing the preservative forced single dosages, which increased the cost.

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by rational_1 June 4, 2008 10:19 PM PDT

Those of you so adamantly against vaccinations should ask yourselves a few questions. When was the last time someone died of smallpox and why is it no longer in the population? Do I know of anyone who got polio recently? Can I rest easier after stepping on a rusty nail knowing I''ve had a tetanus shot? If I get bitten by a wild animal like a raccoon, do I want to just hope I don''t get rabies or should I consider getting the rabies vaccine?

So, as much as you may be concerned about vaccines and the possible effects it had on you or your kids, know that in the big picture, many more of you would be dead or seriously ill if none of the diseases I listed above couldn''t be prevented by vaccines. Don''t believe me, just read up on smallpox, the 1918 influenza epidemic and that kids who get measles can actually die.

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by rational_1 June 4, 2008 10:22 PM PDT

The first child diagnosed with autism in the United States was born in 1931, the same year thimerosal was first used in a vaccine.
Posted by my2centss at 09:42 PM : Jun 04, 2008

Okay, I''m calling you on this. Please provide me some evidence that medicine defined autism in 1931.

Also, how do you know this particular kid was vaccinated and with a vaccine containing thimerosal?

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by rational_1 June 4, 2008 10:25 PM PDT

I gather, then, that those of you who are against vaccinations would refuse one if you were bitten by a rabid animal. Rabies is always fatal, and it is a horrible way to die.
Posted by brucesmall at 10:19 PM : Jun 04, 2008

I''d like to offer some hope to the anti-vaccination crowd. There is a SINGLE report of an individual surviving rabies.

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by rational_1 June 4, 2008 10:33 PM PDT

The first child diagnosed with autism in the United States was born in 1931, the same year thimerosal was first used in a vaccine.
Posted by my2centss at 09:42 PM : Jun 04, 2008

Okay, I''''m calling you on this. Please provide me some evidence that medicine defined autism in 1931.
Posted by rational_1 at 10:22 PM : Jun 04, 2008

I just looked this up. Autism was added to the American Psychiatric Association''s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1980, fifty years after you say the first case was diagnosed. So for fifty years kids could be diagnosed with autism and no one bother to put it into DSM?

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by barbjc1 June 4, 2008 10:43 PM PDT

O.K.. what is wrong with these doctors, how much pressure has been put on to them by the pharmaceutical companies. The average 2 year child weighs about 25 lbs at the most and these bozos are putting cra* into their little bodies. My children, who all happen to be very normal, had the DPT, Polio and smallpox vaccinanations and the Measles, measles, mumps vaccine. However, their little bodies were not overloaded because their doctor had common sense.
These children do not need a Hepatitis shot and whatever else they had added to it, our sanitation is far enough advanced except for those I listed are not necessary.

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by barbjc1 June 4, 2008 10:52 PM PDT

Dear readers,
The only way to stop this cra* is to STOP voting the same good ole boys back in office. AND I am not talking about just the Presidency, I mean Congress, as in the House of Representative and the Senators. Did you see where Senator Byrd was just admitted to the hospital, HE IS 90 Years old. That is ridiculous.
How many people do you know that a fully cognizant at 90 years old?
I am not a rebel rouser but this is so totally ridiculous to keep putting the same people and same type back in office over and over again.

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by jd5751 June 4, 2008 11:24 PM PDT

I find this debate really frustrating. I really don''t understand why these people would expose their and other people''s children to suffering and agonizing deaths (just look at how bad things are going where measles, polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases are still endemic). They don''t seem to get that measles still kills people and causes permanent brain damage. Rubella is similarly bad--it causes still births and congenital blindness and deafness as well as brain damage. They might not know they and adolescents may carry whooping cough (pertussis--now becoming antibiotic resistant) to give to those cute newborns. These kids cough so hard that they burst blood vessels in their eyes and stop breathing. Even keeping kids away from people doesn''t work--tetanus lives in dirt. It is likely that they don%u2019t know that "autism" now usually includes autism spectrum disorders--a category that has recently been greatly expanded. I think that is so sad when these people bring their kids in for treatment--that is when it is way too late. The world is a hostile place where everyone is exposed to lots of organisms that are capable of causing disease and death everyday (ex: the same bug that causes strep throat is the famous "flesh eating bacteria"). As vaccinations become less common and vaccine-preventable diseases more prevalent and drug resistant these people will likely have to explain to their kids why they didn''t do something to protect them.

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by lucasnico June 4, 2008 11:29 PM PDT

just looked this up. Autism was added to the American Psychiatric Association''''s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1980, fifty years after you say the first case was diagnosed. So for fifty years kids could be diagnosed with autism and no one bother to put it into DSM?

Posted by rational_1 at 10:33 PM : Jun 04, 2008
+ report

The term Autism has been around since 1911. Thimerosal studies, some done by parent company Ely Lilly, who own the patent, pointing to the dangers of it''s use, date back to the 1930''s.....in fact, the army, during WW II, labeled thimerosal as "poison."

This info can be read on line from your point and click office at your major research university.

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by garbosmed June 5, 2008 12:13 AM PDT

People get sick after eating tainted spinach, beef, tomatoes or peanut butter, there''s a big investigation and recall. Heparin makes a bunch of people sick, the source of the sickness is found and there''s a recall. But if kids and military personnel are getting sick from vaccines, NOBODY wants to hear about it. God forbid the CDC should actually do safety studies that test the vaccines in combination, err on the side of caution by spreading out doses, insist that neurotoxic ingredients like thimerosal and the various proven neurotoxic aluminum adjuvants be removed, or even just monitor levels of these compounds in each manufactured lot to find out how much neurotoxin a person might be getting.

Merck faked the safety and efficacy studies of Vyotrin. With the billions of dollars at stake, do you really think they haven''t done the same thing with vaccines?

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by rational_1 June 5, 2008 12:38 AM PDT

The term Autism has been around since 1911. Thimerosal studies, some done by parent company Ely Lilly, who own the patent, pointing to the dangers of it''''s use, date back to the 1930''''s.....in fact, the army, during WW II, labeled thimerosal as "poison."
This info can be read on line from your point and click office at your major research university.
Posted by lucasnico at 11:29 PM : Jun 04, 2008

DSM-II was published in 1968. You can get the PDF of the entire manual at the following web site.
http://www.psychiatryonline.com/DSMPDF/dsm-ii.pdf

The word autism never appears. 182 disorders are named but autism is not one of them. If it was defined in 1911 as you say why is it not in the 1968 handbook of mental disorders? Is there a more definitive source than DSM?

So, where exactly was autism described in 1911?

Hey, I don''t particularly care when it was defined, but you guys are throwing dates and ''facts'' around at will and never referencing anything. I just called him on his 1931 date and now you come up with 1911, and yet no one ever provides any evidence.

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by lucasnico June 5, 2008 12:55 AM PDT

Psychiatrist Eugen Blueler first coined the term Autism in 1911. The real challenge of research is in going to more than one source......you do teach that, don''t you?

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by lucasnico June 5, 2008 1:00 AM PDT

geez, here''s another entry, found on-line, in fact from your favorite source, that pre-dates 1968....

Leo Kanner (prnc. Conner) (June 13, 1894 %u2013 April 3, 1981) was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and physician known for his work related to autism.[1][2]

Kanner was born in Klekotow, Austria. He studied at the University of Berlin from 1913, his studies broken by service with the Austrian Army in World War I, finally receiving his M.D. in 1921. He emigrated to the United States in 1924 to take a position as an Assistant Physician at the State Hospital in Yankton County, South Dakota. In 1930 he was selected to develop the first child psychiatry service in a pediatric hospital at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore. He became Associate Professor of Psychiatry in 1933.

He was the first physician in the United States to be identified as a child psychiatrist and his first textbook, Child Psychiatry in 1935, was the first English language textbook to focus on the psychiatric problems of children. His seminal 1943 paper, "Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact", together with the work of Hans Asperger, forms the basis of the modern study of autism.

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by jd5751 June 5, 2008 2:30 AM PDT

People should consider the source when thinking about this controversy--The person who first linked thimerosol and the MMR vaccine to autism was Andrew Wakefield who published a study based on 12 patients in the Lancet about ten years ago. Then ten of the thirteen authors had their names taken off of it and the study was retracted. One big reason why is that they found out that he was paid nearly one million dollars by lawyers representing his study patients who were trying to sue vaccine manufacturers to carry out this research. He is also currently undergoing hearings regarding falsification of data for the study.

Essentially we are inheriting a ten year old British health scare/scam based off of discredited research.

Incidentally, the reason that babies are given the hep B vaccination first is because it hep B often causes liver failure in children with a relatively high fatality rate, and because it takes three shots to get a decent immune response. You might also want to know that the immune system (even those of babies) reacts to each bug independently--pretty much as if any others weren''t there at all--so the question of one vaccination at a time or multiple per shot is pretty much a question of how many times you want your kid to get jabbed in the arm. The reason why they start early is because the immune protection from the mother lasts for about six months, then the kid is on their own immunologically speaking.

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by shameonbush June 5, 2008 2:36 AM PDT

The story on CBS news was not neutral at all, but only showed the interview with a scientist that invented this formula for immunization and a pediatrician that thought there was not difference in combining all of the immunizations or if it were spread out over a longer period of time. However, they showed only Jim Kerry saying a few words to the protesters in opposition to that theory. What a terrible way to report a news story. Jim Kerry might as well of stayed home with that kind of reporting. I take a lot of prescription drugs for my heart. It is "not recommended" that I take all the pill in one big gulp, so why would immunizations be so different? Of course CBS, if you ask only the guy that invented this cocktail, he will defend it I''m sure. Lord, how I miss Dan Rather.

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by juwboy June 5, 2008 5:14 AM PDT

The day I pay attention to the medical opinions of actors is the day I see actors consulting sewer workers on stage technique.

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by mrsdogood June 5, 2008 6:44 AM PDT

The CDC and pharmaceutical companies started phasing out thimerosal in 1998. However, phasing out the mercury ingredient and completely removing it from ALL vaccines are 2 different things. For example, in 2005 when my son was born I read the ingredients of his Hep-B shot. It still contained thimerosal. In addition, there is one particular brand of DTaP that contains thimerosal to this day, and the flu shot does too. If you are pregnant and you get a flu shot it will most likely contain mercury. My recommendation to parents is to read "The Vaccine Book" by Dr. Robert Sears. In addition, read all manufacturers'' package insert labels of any vaccine going into their child''s body. I don''t mean to read it on-line (the on-line versions are all updated), I mean when you walk in that pediatrician''s office ask for the actual package insert and read the ingredients. If you see "thimerosal" then you know it contains mercury. Even "traces of thimerosal" could potentially harm a developing brain and immune system. Furthermore, research the aggragate amounts of aluminum your child will be receiving after each dose. Aluminum is a neurotoxin.

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by lambofgoth June 5, 2008 7:11 AM PDT

The vaccine crowd is amazing aren''t they? Hysterical, self absorbed people who insist that vaccines are the culprit without paying any heed to the recent study about pyrethrins or that news story that a single sperm donor in NYC with 10 resultant children and more than half have autism. Self absorbed because they can''t bring themselves to see that perhaps their own faulty genetics plays a role in their child''s developmental disability. Next, we will hear from someone who will accuse me of not knowing what it''s like to have an autistic child because I didn''t start out with "My daughter is autistic and". Just because I don''t wave the "I have an autistic child flag" everywhere I go doesn''t mean I don''t. My daughter got her autism from my very own genes...

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by dawn2000k June 5, 2008 7:44 AM PDT

For any of you BOZOS on this comment link that blame "genes" for Autism, not vaccines - get a clue people!! For DECADES the three leading U.S. Vaccine Policy Makers have STRONGLY ADVISED the medical profession AGAINST vaccinating individuals with certain vaccines (DTaP or DPT to name a few) if THEY HAVE A FAMILY HISTORY OF NEUROLOGICAL DISEASE! ADHD, Autism, BiPolar, etc. Did the AAP advise healthcare professionals of this? NO!!! They vaccinating EVERYONE regardless!! COULD THIS BE WHY THE NUMBER OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS IS STILL GROWING?? Autism now affects 1 in 67 according to the U.S. Department of Education in 2007 (and this number is based solely on the number of children in Special Ed in elementary school)!! 1 in 150 was in 1994 according to this same agency. What will the numbers be in 5 years?? BIGGER!! Wake up people and stop blaming these poor parents on their DEFECTIVE GENES - it is more like a DEFECTIVE GOVERNMENT!!

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by rational_1 June 5, 2008 8:38 AM PDT

Psychiatrist Eugen Blueler first coined the term Autism in 1911. The real challenge of research is in going to more than one source......you do teach that, don''''t you?
Posted by lucasnico at 12:55 AM : Jun 05, 2008

I am sorry but I am going to have to ask you to put your dunce cap back on - you clearly haven''t even read or understood the source of your information. Blueler came up with the word ''autism'' but it was not in any way in reference to the condition we all think of as autism today. You just read his use of a word and thought it meant exactly what you thought it meant. Blueler was instead referring to schizophrenics exhibiting a catatonic state, not autism as we think of it today. See
http://www.autism-resources.com/autismfaq-hist.html

The real condition of autism was first described by Leo Keller in a paper published in 1943 titled Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact. He and Hans Asperger were the true pioneers in this field.

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by rational_1 June 5, 2008 8:44 AM PDT

geez, here''''s another entry, found on-line, in fact from your favorite source, that pre-dates 1968....

Leo Kanner (prnc. Conner) (June 13, 1894 %u2013 April 3, 1981) was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and physician known for his work related to autism.[1][2]
Posted by lucasnico at 01:00 AM : Jun 05, 2008

Oh good, so you did come up with Kenner on your own. So this very nicely explains why autism didn''t make it into DSM until 1968 as I said. DSM-I was published in 1952 and at that time the work of Kenner and Asperger probably wasn''t widely accepted; you don''t just come up with something and get immediate acceptance in the entire medical field, especially to the point of inclusion in DSM. By the time DSM-II was published in 1968, the work of Kenner and Asperger was clearly widely accepted and therefore published in DSM-II.

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by rational_1 June 5, 2008 8:59 AM PDT

By the time DSM-II was published in 1968, the work of Kenner and Asperger was clearly widely accepted and therefore published in DSM-II.
Posted by rational_1 at 08:44 AM : Jun 05, 2008

This is what happens when you type responses on to little sleep. I was thinking of DSM III above (not II which did not define autism). DSM-III published in 1980 was the first DSM to define autism. So, even in 1968 the work of Kenner and Asperger done in the mid 40''s hadn''t reached the point of widespread acceptance to make it into DSM. It took until 1980.

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by rational_1 June 5, 2008 9:08 AM PDT

My daughter got her autism from my very own genes...
Posted by lambofgoth at 07:11 AM : Jun 05, 2008

Right. And like a lot of other psychiatric illnesses (eg. depression, alcoholism) it comes down to a combination of genes and environment. For example the prevalence of schizophrenia in the general population is about 1%, so the odds of any of us getting it at random are pretty low. However, if your identical twin becomes schizophrenic your odds are now 50%; if it''s a fraternal twin the odds are about a third of that - clearly a genetic component. But it''s not 100% even in identical twins, so clearly environment must also be playing a role. The big BIG question then become exactly in the environment and how good is your evidence demonstrating causality. I think the genetic influnce is actually even higher in autism than SZ.

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by midwestmom4 June 5, 2008 9:26 AM PDT

I''m no expert on this, have read some books but basically uneducated. I do have a son who accidentally received an EXTRA round of immunizations in the 3rd grade. We moved a lot when he was young. When we arrived in our current state, I took my 3 sons to the doctor for shots & handed the nurse all of their documentation from various states. They realized AFTER they gave him a round of shots that he had ALREADY had those in another state. At the time we laughed, just thought "Hey, he definately won''t be getting any of those illnesses". He is 20 now. At that point, he became "different". He was "diagnosed" with ADD & it was suggested that he may have Aspergers by 1 of his doctors. I didn''t want him labeled though, and he was never seen by any expert,only our family physician. The change was literally overnight, school has always been rough and I hope someday drug companies will simply work for a cure instead of protecting their reputation.

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by lucasnico June 5, 2008 9:32 AM PDT

I think the genetic influnce is actually even higher in autism than SZ.

Posted by rational_1 at 09:08 AM : Jun 05, 2008
+ report abuse

offering opinion as fact puts you on dangerous ground mr. spiccoli.

offering opinion as fact?

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by mrsdogood June 5, 2008 11:17 AM PDT

To blame genes and better diagnostic tools for the rise in the Autism rates is disingenous at best, ignorant at worst. Autism Spectrum Disorders are being diagnosed as 1 in 150 in the general population. The diagnosis rate for boys alone is 1 in 94. These numbers reflect those who''ve been diagnosed. Many more children don''t get a diagnosis until school age (if ever), due to a host of reasons; therefore, the rate is probably higher. Now if we are to blame "faulty genes" alone, then you would see a lot more people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, etc. walking around with this condition. It is simply impossible to have a "genetic epidemic." That is an oxymoron! To blame the increase in detection and early diagnosis is also disingenous because that would mean our parents and grandparents were simply too stupid to recognize a blatant neurological disability in their own children. Keep in mind these numbers: 1 in 150 (1 in 94 boys) when I say that. What many people fail to understand is that the CDC/FDA rely on POPULATION studies for vaccine safety. These studies were conducted and paid for by the same vaccine manufacturing pharmaceutical companies. Needless to say they didn''t find any evidence of harm due to vaccines. It''s like asking the defendant to be judge and juror in his own trial.

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by amdachel June 5, 2008 11:52 AM PDT

Katie Couric tells us that the CDC, WHO, and the AAP "all say these vaccines are safe and essential."

Dr. Jon LaPook decries the parents marching to demand that Congress clean up the vaccine schedule. We''re told "marchers have forgotten the consequences of failing to vaccinate properly." It should be pointed out that the parents who came to Washington are the ones who did vaccinate. Countless thousands of them also report that their normally progressing kids regressed into autism following these vaccines.

Katie Couric seems to have forgotten the recent story from CBS News about vaccines and autism. Sharyl Attkisson interviewed Dr. Bernadine Healy, former head of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Healy challenged the credibility of the CDC and admonished officials for refusing to investigate a susceptible subgroup of children who unable to eliminate the toxins in vaccines. Her interview is a major step toward public recognition about what''s happened to our children.

Anne McElroy Dachel
Chippewa Falls, WI
Media Editor AGE OF AUTISM

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by rational_1 June 5, 2008 12:19 PM PDT

I think the genetic influnce is actually even higher in autism than SZ.
Posted by rational_1 at 09:08 AM : Jun 05, 2008
+ report abuse
offering opinion as fact puts you on dangerous ground mr. spiccoli.
offering opinion as fact?
Posted by lucasnico at 09:32 AM : Jun 05, 2008

I''ll let the abstract of this recent review answer your question for me. I took a quick look through it; it says that there is a 70-90% concordance for autism between identical twins (higher than for schizophrenia). Happy?

Advances in autism genetics: on the threshold of a new neurobiology.
Abrahams BS, Geschwind DH.
Nature Reviews Genetics 9:341-355 (2008).
Autism is a heterogeneous syndrome defined by impairments in three core domains: social interaction, language and range of interests. Recent work has led to the identification of several autism susceptibility genes and an increased appreciation of the contribution of de novo and inherited copy number variation. Promising strategies are also being applied to identify common genetic risk variants. Systems biology approaches, including array-based expression profiling, are poised to provide additional insights into this group of disorders, in which heterogeneity, both genetic and phenotypic, is emerging as a dominant theme.

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by susieq_13 June 5, 2008 12:26 PM PDT

Having your child vaccinated should be a choice. Not the law. My daughter almost died b/c of her 1st set of immunizations. Now she''s 17 with the mind of a 2 month old baby. It''s not bad genes with this incident. Just bad vaccines.

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by oxydoc1 June 5, 2008 12:33 PM PDT

LaPook makes the false claim that mercury was removed "from most childhood vaccines almost a decade ago." In 1999, the AAP and CDC asked, but did not require, mercury be removed. No mercury-containing vaccines were ever recalled and it took years for manufacturers to convert to mercury-free vaccines. LaPook neglects to tell us that ninety percent of the flu vaccine each year contains a horrendous level of mercury and that it''s given to pregnant women at all stages of pregnancy and to babies as young as six months.

Kenneth Stoller, MD
President, International Hyperbaric Medical Association

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by mrsdogood June 5, 2008 12:48 PM PDT

Watch what Dr. Healy, former head of CDC, says in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHxqTyAxZZE

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by redfirefly19 June 5, 2008 1:10 PM PDT

I just don''t get it...what is the problem with making vaccines and schedules safer...why would anyone even fight this??? It''s incomprehensible to me that people do not question whether or not something being injected into their child''s body or their own is completely safe and/or necessary. Why do we all succumb to being sheep? Just followers without questioning or using our brains?
I am appalled that CBS did what clearly seems to be a one-sided story. It''s too bad that a topic that could be helped greatly by more non-biased media coverage always seems instead to get pushed aside or reported as pro-Big Pharma.
In the end we all want our children to be healthy...I don''t think asking for safer vaccines across the board is asking too much.

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by redfirefly19 June 5, 2008 1:43 PM PDT

"No mercury-containing vaccines were ever recalled and it took years for manufacturers to convert to mercury-free vaccines. LaPook neglects to tell us that ninety percent of the flu vaccine each year contains a horrendous level of mercury and that it''''s given to pregnant women at all stages of pregnancy and to babies as young as six months.

Kenneth Stoller, MD
President, International Hyperbaric Medical Association"

THANK YOU DOCTOR!!! It irritates me beyond belief that people do not SEE this!! NO SHOTS WERE EVER RECALLED..therefore current stock were used up before ever receiving newer vaccines...hence the argument that mercury was taken out but autism continues to rise is null...children still received these unsafe vaccines, besides the yearly flu shots which are still loaded with toxins.
PEOPLE..CHECK THE INGREDIENTS on the labels before being injected!!

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by jtea4me2 June 5, 2008 2:02 PM PDT

I think the interview Katie Couric gave was one sided.
It mentioned the purpose of the walk but interviewed drs., etc. who all agreed that autism was not related to the immunizations or the importance of immuniza-tions. Why did they not interview professionals
that can prove otherwise? Wake up! Our government & pharmaceutical companies do not want us to know the truth. They just tell us what they want us to believe or to know. They are afraid to admit the truth because they would be responsible and liable for all of the children affected with autism. It all gets down to dollars & cents and who is benefitting. It is time to think about the children they are putting at risk and at whose expense are they lining their pockets. Our children are our future. Don''t you think they should be our number one concern. Not the profits others are making from their negligence to be honest & forthcoming. As Jim Carrey said yesterday, "How stupid do you think we are?"

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by weewyatt June 5, 2008 2:17 PM PDT

Here''s what''s in vaccines...right off the CDC Website. I wouldn''t give these to my dog. Enough Said.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-1.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf

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by mrsdogood June 5, 2008 2:19 PM PDT

Hey smitty448, what did susieq_13 say to make you believe her child wasn''t vaccinated? Did she not say her child has the mind of a 2 mo. old (at 17) because she got a round of bad shots? THAT MEANS HER CHILD RECEIVED HER VACCINES! If you have a problem with susieq_13''s post and/or stance, you have a choice too you know. You and your offspring can move to an unnamed island south of the spinal cord.

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by rlford3 June 5, 2008 4:10 PM PDT

I have a child who was mercury poisoned from his Dec. 2003 vaccines which included the flu shot. He lost all language and gestures and slipped into his own world/developed Autism within 2 months of these 15 mos. vaccines. I checked lot numbers and found out that ALL FOUR OF HIS 2003 DTaP SHOTS along with his flu shot had 25 MCG/DOSE OF THIMEROSAL. Eight months later, Matthew''s blood tested positive for mercury! (He had never had even a taste of fish--nor did I consume fish during pregnancy and nobody else in our house tested positive for mercury.) IN May OF 2005 I ANONYMOUSLY CALLED OUR LARGE CARY, N.C. PEDIATRIC OFFICE AND FOUND OUT THAT THEY WERE STILL USING UP STOCKPILES OF THE SAME THIMEROSAL DTAP SHOTS THAT MY SON RECEIVED!! So NO, THE THIMEROSAL WAS NOT REMOVED from the vaccines a decade ago as the above article states! In addition, the "rising rate of autism" is based on statistics of EIGHT-YEAR-OLDS in Feb. of 07 who had to have received most of their childhood vaccines BETWEEN 1999 and 2001 when everyone agrees that mercury was still present in ALMOST ALL of the vaccines. Of course, most flu shots and tetanus shots still contain 25 mcgs of thimerosal and they are routinely given to pregnant women and young infants. Aluminum content in vaccines has also increased in the last few years.
Rachel Ford, Ed.S.

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by rlford3 June 5, 2008 4:13 PM PDT

Back to our story from the last post, at 2 1/2 years Matthew was assessed by a team of experts to have an IQ of 50 (less than the 1st percentile). Since that time we have impemented many of the therapies that Jenny outlines in her book, especially the GF/CF/SF diet (our sons are almost the same age) and now Matthew is fully recovered--at the top of his "regular" pre-K class, has lots of friends and is playing soccer like a pro! But, as anyone who has been down this road knows, it has been an extremely difficult and expensive journey--one that many do not have the resources to make, so I whole-heartedly join Jim and Jenny in lobbying for safer vaccines and a safer schedule.
Rachel Ford, Ed.S.

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by garbosmed June 5, 2008 4:22 PM PDT

Maybe someone should do a story on how much of CBS News'' budget comes from Pharma advertising. And how much Pharma stock is held by board members and executives. Now that''s something I think we would all be interested in - financial ties between big media and the pharmaceutical industry. Like when Merck (or was it a different one?) invited the head of Reuters to be on its board.

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by redfirefly19 June 5, 2008 6:13 PM PDT

"Maybe someone should do a story on how much of CBS News'''' budget comes from Pharma advertising. And how much Pharma stock is held by board members and executives."
I agree Garbosmed...
I had thought about this when obviously seeing the whole report was one sided. With the ridiculous amount of drug ads running on any tv station, it''s obvious they are paid to run these ads therefore are going to sway opinions in their favor.
Sorry, but it happens everyday and is a complete OUTRAGE.
So much for unbiased journalism..it''s pretty hard to find in the regular mainstream media.
Shame on you CBS!!!

Reply to this comment

by garbosmed June 5, 2008 7:08 PM PDT

Exactly. I mean, these people are trained journalists, right? So either they are totally stupid, which is why they rely on the same small cadre of Pharma shills for their information without ever seeking the truth, or they and their bosses/companies are totally financially compromised, which is why they rely on the same small cadre of Pharma shills for their information without ever seeking the truth.

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by jtea4me2 June 5, 2008 8:50 PM PDT

This is for Smitty48. It is interesting to see that instead of commenting on the issue at hand, you only comment on Jim Carey''s statement. He should be taken as seriously as Bob Hope was, when it came to supporting our troops. They both have a cause they believe in (or believed in) & had the courage to stand up for their beliefs or causes. What should we believe about you, when you make the topic of conversation Jim Carey & not autism. Get real!

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by ybotheratall June 5, 2008 9:05 PM PDT

THERE IS NO MERCURY IN VACCINES. Let me repeat. THERE IS NO MERCURY IN VACCINES. Drop the BS and work towards something viable.

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[dawn2000k]

I am so sick and tired of the lies. Lies by the media and lies by our own government agencies. My two children and I are VACCINE INJURED. Vaccines cause a lot more than AUTISM! They can cause hearing loss, vision damage, POLIO, arthritis, diabetes, etc. etc. There have been NUMEROUS STUDIES TO PROVE THIS. Why haven''t we heard about any of them? The media is probably paid large sums of money to keep their mouths shut. By the way - what makes for really interesting reading is the CDC''s reported disease statistics 1-5 years BEFORE EACH VACCINE CAME ON THE MARKET. After seeing these figures (it is quite easy to do), I now see that it truly is about MONEY and that''s it. The U.S. was not at risk because disease was pretty much eradicated BEFORE each vaccine began to be marketed! WAKE UP PEOPLE!! These individuals responsible for harming society are truly SICK.

[deeaustin]

I watched your clip on vaccines. I don''t believe that you have all the information. I have 4 grandchildren and request that the vaccines are thimeraol free. I was taught to look at the box NOT the insert for the ingredient thimerasol. I got into a discussion with the children''s pediatritian and he insisted that anything I needed to know about the vaccine was on the insert including the ingredients. He brought it in and read off to me all the inforamtion. I asked to see the box which he willingly showed me, sure enough, there listed on the box was the ingredient thimerasol. Yet, it was not listed on the insert. I also noticed that the gov''t purchases vaccines in large quanities for those that are lower income using insurances such as Medicaid, Blue Chip . . . that have thimerasol as an ingredient. So if you use any of those insurance companies or gov''t programs your child will receive a vaccine with thimerasol. But those indiviuals that are able to afford the vaccine out of pocket get the vaccines that are thimerasol free. The go''vt is trying to hide all of this information from the public. I have a nephew that developed autism after a particular vaccine. My brother and his wife can pinpoint the day he received the vaccine and the change in his behavior. I have 2 grandchildren that developed Apraxia which is related to the vaccines as well. People need to be educated! Once again, the gov''t will not take responsibility! It would be too costly and interfere with politics!

[jla122]

dawn2000k, I am so sorry you and your 2 children are vaccine injured. You are so right, looking to man to keep us healthy is the biggest joke of our time. Are they going to take care of our children, when they are screaming for no reason, for hours on end in the middle of the living room....no they''re not. Do they care.....no they don''t. It is all about the almight dollar and anyone who doesn''t believe that has choosen to put their head in the sand. Wake up is my favorite line, it''s like the elephant in the middle of the room everyone is ignoring, it''s so frustrating.

[brucesmall]

Dawn220k seems to have set a record for ignorance and fear mongering. Perhaps he or she was not born during the polio epidemics in the 1950s, before the polio vaccine. I had friends permanently crippled by polio. The disease, a horrible one, was stopped by vaccines.

If you and your children are all vaccine injured have you considered the possiblity your genes might be the source of the problem?

[my2centss]

Do Amish and Christian Science members get vaccinated? How many of them are autistic? Just a thought.

[my2centss]

The first child diagnosed with autism in the United States was born in 1931, the same year thimerosal was first used in a vaccine.

[garbosmed]

What a wonderful job you did by managing to get an interview with Dr. Offitt. Gee, he almost never gives interviews. Oh, wait a minute, he''s a consultant for Merck and owns a patent on one of their vaccines. And they PAY him to go out there and tell people vaccines are safe. And then they cut him royalty checks every time a kid gets a rotavirus shot. And one of those lucky kids died from that shot''s side effects last month. Really. You can look it up. If you are at all interested in actually doing any research, as opposed to being spoon fed information from Pharma shills. Journalism, nyet. Pravda, da.

[brucesmall]

I gather, then, that those of you who are against vaccinations would refuse one if you were bitten by a rabid animal. Rabies is always fatal, and it is a horrible way to die.

Rabies vaccine contains preservatives, so would you pass on the vaccine?

By the way, examples of autism go back centuries, way before vaccines.

Also, bear in mind that thimerasol is a preservative, which made multiple doses per vial possible, thereby decreasing the cost of the vaccines. Removing the preservative forced single dosages, which increased the cost.

[rational_1]

Those of you so adamantly against vaccinations should ask yourselves a few questions. When was the last time someone died of smallpox and why is it no longer in the population? Do I know of anyone who got polio recently? Can I rest easier after stepping on a rusty nail knowing I''ve had a tetanus shot? If I get bitten by a wild animal like a raccoon, do I want to just hope I don''t get rabies or should I consider getting the rabies vaccine?

So, as much as you may be concerned about vaccines and the possible effects it had on you or your kids, know that in the big picture, many more of you would be dead or seriously ill if none of the diseases I listed above couldn''t be prevented by vaccines. Don''t believe me, just read up on smallpox, the 1918 influenza epidemic and that kids who get measles can actually die.

[rational_1]

The first child diagnosed with autism in the United States was born in 1931, the same year thimerosal was first used in a vaccine.
Posted by my2centss at 09:42 PM : Jun 04, 2008

Okay, I''m calling you on this. Please provide me some evidence that medicine defined autism in 1931.

Also, how do you know this particular kid was vaccinated and with a vaccine containing thimerosal?

[rational_1]

I gather, then, that those of you who are against vaccinations would refuse one if you were bitten by a rabid animal. Rabies is always fatal, and it is a horrible way to die.
Posted by brucesmall at 10:19 PM : Jun 04, 2008

I''d like to offer some hope to the anti-vaccination crowd. There is a SINGLE report of an individual surviving rabies.

[rational_1]

The first child diagnosed with autism in the United States was born in 1931, the same year thimerosal was first used in a vaccine.
Posted by my2centss at 09:42 PM : Jun 04, 2008

Okay, I''''m calling you on this. Please provide me some evidence that medicine defined autism in 1931.
Posted by rational_1 at 10:22 PM : Jun 04, 2008

I just looked this up. Autism was added to the American Psychiatric Association''s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1980, fifty years after you say the first case was diagnosed. So for fifty years kids could be diagnosed with autism and no one bother to put it into DSM?

[barbjc1]

O.K.. what is wrong with these doctors, how much pressure has been put on to them by the pharmaceutical companies. The average 2 year child weighs about 25 lbs at the most and these bozos are putting cra* into their little bodies. My children, who all happen to be very normal, had the DPT, Polio and smallpox vaccinanations and the Measles, measles, mumps vaccine. However, their little bodies were not overloaded because their doctor had common sense.
These children do not need a Hepatitis shot and whatever else they had added to it, our sanitation is far enough advanced except for those I listed are not necessary.

[barbjc1]

Dear readers,
The only way to stop this cra* is to STOP voting the same good ole boys back in office. AND I am not talking about just the Presidency, I mean Congress, as in the House of Representative and the Senators. Did you see where Senator Byrd was just admitted to the hospital, HE IS 90 Years old. That is ridiculous.
How many people do you know that a fully cognizant at 90 years old?
I am not a rebel rouser but this is so totally ridiculous to keep putting the same people and same type back in office over and over again.

[jd5751]

I find this debate really frustrating. I really don''t understand why these people would expose their and other people''s children to suffering and agonizing deaths (just look at how bad things are going where measles, polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases are still endemic). They don''t seem to get that measles still kills people and causes permanent brain damage. Rubella is similarly bad--it causes still births and congenital blindness and deafness as well as brain damage. They might not know they and adolescents may carry whooping cough (pertussis--now becoming antibiotic resistant) to give to those cute newborns. These kids cough so hard that they burst blood vessels in their eyes and stop breathing. Even keeping kids away from people doesn''t work--tetanus lives in dirt. It is likely that they don%u2019t know that "autism" now usually includes autism spectrum disorders--a category that has recently been greatly expanded. I think that is so sad when these people bring their kids in for treatment--that is when it is way too late. The world is a hostile place where everyone is exposed to lots of organisms that are capable of causing disease and death everyday (ex: the same bug that causes strep throat is the famous "flesh eating bacteria"). As vaccinations become less common and vaccine-preventable diseases more prevalent and drug resistant these people will likely have to explain to their kids why they didn''t do something to protect them.

[lucasnico]

just looked this up. Autism was added to the American Psychiatric Association''''s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1980, fifty years after you say the first case was diagnosed. So for fifty years kids could be diagnosed with autism and no one bother to put it into DSM?

Posted by rational_1 at 10:33 PM : Jun 04, 2008
+ report

The term Autism has been around since 1911. Thimerosal studies, some done by parent company Ely Lilly, who own the patent, pointing to the dangers of it''s use, date back to the 1930''s.....in fact, the army, during WW II, labeled thimerosal as "poison."

This info can be read on line from your point and click office at your major research university.

[garbosmed]

People get sick after eating tainted spinach, beef, tomatoes or peanut butter, there''s a big investigation and recall. Heparin makes a bunch of people sick, the source of the sickness is found and there''s a recall. But if kids and military personnel are getting sick from vaccines, NOBODY wants to hear about it. God forbid the CDC should actually do safety studies that test the vaccines in combination, err on the side of caution by spreading out doses, insist that neurotoxic ingredients like thimerosal and the various proven neurotoxic aluminum adjuvants be removed, or even just monitor levels of these compounds in each manufactured lot to find out how much neurotoxin a person might be getting.

Merck faked the safety and efficacy studies of Vyotrin. With the billions of dollars at stake, do you really think they haven''t done the same thing with vaccines?

[rational_1]

The term Autism has been around since 1911. Thimerosal studies, some done by parent company Ely Lilly, who own the patent, pointing to the dangers of it''''s use, date back to the 1930''''s.....in fact, the army, during WW II, labeled thimerosal as "poison."
This info can be read on line from your point and click office at your major research university.
Posted by lucasnico at 11:29 PM : Jun 04, 2008

DSM-II was published in 1968. You can get the PDF of the entire manual at the following web site.
http://www.psychiatryonline.com/DSMPDF/dsm-ii.pdf

The word autism never appears. 182 disorders are named but autism is not one of them. If it was defined in 1911 as you say why is it not in the 1968 handbook of mental disorders? Is there a more definitive source than DSM?

So, where exactly was autism described in 1911?

Hey, I don''t particularly care when it was defined, but you guys are throwing dates and ''facts'' around at will and never referencing anything. I just called him on his 1931 date and now you come up with 1911, and yet no one ever provides any evidence.

[lucasnico]

Psychiatrist Eugen Blueler first coined the term Autism in 1911. The real challenge of research is in going to more than one source......you do teach that, don''t you?

[lucasnico]

geez, here''s another entry, found on-line, in fact from your favorite source, that pre-dates 1968....

Leo Kanner (prnc. Conner) (June 13, 1894 %u2013 April 3, 1981) was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and physician known for his work related to autism.[1][2]

Kanner was born in Klekotow, Austria. He studied at the University of Berlin from 1913, his studies broken by service with the Austrian Army in World War I, finally receiving his M.D. in 1921. He emigrated to the United States in 1924 to take a position as an Assistant Physician at the State Hospital in Yankton County, South Dakota. In 1930 he was selected to develop the first child psychiatry service in a pediatric hospital at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore. He became Associate Professor of Psychiatry in 1933.

He was the first physician in the United States to be identified as a child psychiatrist and his first textbook, Child Psychiatry in 1935, was the first English language textbook to focus on the psychiatric problems of children. His seminal 1943 paper, "Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact", together with the work of Hans Asperger, forms the basis of the modern study of autism.

[jd5751]

People should consider the source when thinking about this controversy--The person who first linked thimerosol and the MMR vaccine to autism was Andrew Wakefield who published a study based on 12 patients in the Lancet about ten years ago. Then ten of the thirteen authors had their names taken off of it and the study was retracted. One big reason why is that they found out that he was paid nearly one million dollars by lawyers representing his study patients who were trying to sue vaccine manufacturers to carry out this research. He is also currently undergoing hearings regarding falsification of data for the study.

Essentially we are inheriting a ten year old British health scare/scam based off of discredited research.

Incidentally, the reason that babies are given the hep B vaccination first is because it hep B often causes liver failure in children with a relatively high fatality rate, and because it takes three shots to get a decent immune response. You might also want to know that the immune system (even those of babies) reacts to each bug independently--pretty much as if any others weren''t there at all--so the question of one vaccination at a time or multiple per shot is pretty much a question of how many times you want your kid to get jabbed in the arm. The reason why they start early is because the immune protection from the mother lasts for about six months, then the kid is on their own immunologically speaking.

[shameonbush]

The story on CBS news was not neutral at all, but only showed the interview with a scientist that invented this formula for immunization and a pediatrician that thought there was not difference in combining all of the immunizations or if it were spread out over a longer period of time. However, they showed only Jim Kerry saying a few words to the protesters in opposition to that theory. What a terrible way to report a news story. Jim Kerry might as well of stayed home with that kind of reporting. I take a lot of prescription drugs for my heart. It is "not recommended" that I take all the pill in one big gulp, so why would immunizations be so different? Of course CBS, if you ask only the guy that invented this cocktail, he will defend it I''m sure. Lord, how I miss Dan Rather.

[juwboy]

The day I pay attention to the medical opinions of actors is the day I see actors consulting sewer workers on stage technique.

[mrsdogood]

The CDC and pharmaceutical companies started phasing out thimerosal in 1998. However, phasing out the mercury ingredient and completely removing it from ALL vaccines are 2 different things. For example, in 2005 when my son was born I read the ingredients of his Hep-B shot. It still contained thimerosal. In addition, there is one particular brand of DTaP that contains thimerosal to this day, and the flu shot does too. If you are pregnant and you get a flu shot it will most likely contain mercury. My recommendation to parents is to read "The Vaccine Book" by Dr. Robert Sears. In addition, read all manufacturers'' package insert labels of any vaccine going into their child''s body. I don''t mean to read it on-line (the on-line versions are all updated), I mean when you walk in that pediatrician''s office ask for the actual package insert and read the ingredients. If you see "thimerosal" then you know it contains mercury. Even "traces of thimerosal" could potentially harm a developing brain and immune system. Furthermore, research the aggragate amounts of aluminum your child will be receiving after each dose. Aluminum is a neurotoxin.

[lambofgoth]

The vaccine crowd is amazing aren''t they? Hysterical, self absorbed people who insist that vaccines are the culprit without paying any heed to the recent study about pyrethrins or that news story that a single sperm donor in NYC with 10 resultant children and more than half have autism. Self absorbed because they can''t bring themselves to see that perhaps their own faulty genetics plays a role in their child''s developmental disability. Next, we will hear from someone who will accuse me of not knowing what it''s like to have an autistic child because I didn''t start out with "My daughter is autistic and". Just because I don''t wave the "I have an autistic child flag" everywhere I go doesn''t mean I don''t. My daughter got her autism from my very own genes...

[dawn2000k]

For any of you BOZOS on this comment link that blame "genes" for Autism, not vaccines - get a clue people!! For DECADES the three leading U.S. Vaccine Policy Makers have STRONGLY ADVISED the medical profession AGAINST vaccinating individuals with certain vaccines (DTaP or DPT to name a few) if THEY HAVE A FAMILY HISTORY OF NEUROLOGICAL DISEASE! ADHD, Autism, BiPolar, etc. Did the AAP advise healthcare professionals of this? NO!!! They vaccinating EVERYONE regardless!! COULD THIS BE WHY THE NUMBER OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS IS STILL GROWING?? Autism now affects 1 in 67 according to the U.S. Department of Education in 2007 (and this number is based solely on the number of children in Special Ed in elementary school)!! 1 in 150 was in 1994 according to this same agency. What will the numbers be in 5 years?? BIGGER!! Wake up people and stop blaming these poor parents on their DEFECTIVE GENES - it is more like a DEFECTIVE GOVERNMENT!!

[rational_1]

Psychiatrist Eugen Blueler first coined the term Autism in 1911. The real challenge of research is in going to more than one source......you do teach that, don''''t you?
Posted by lucasnico at 12:55 AM : Jun 05, 2008

I am sorry but I am going to have to ask you to put your dunce cap back on - you clearly haven''t even read or understood the source of your information. Blueler came up with the word ''autism'' but it was not in any way in reference to the condition we all think of as autism today. You just read his use of a word and thought it meant exactly what you thought it meant. Blueler was instead referring to schizophrenics exhibiting a catatonic state, not autism as we think of it today. See
http://www.autism-resources.com/autismfaq-hist.html

The real condition of autism was first described by Leo Keller in a paper published in 1943 titled Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact. He and Hans Asperger were the true pioneers in this field.

[rational_1]

geez, here''''s another entry, found on-line, in fact from your favorite source, that pre-dates 1968....

Leo Kanner (prnc. Conner) (June 13, 1894 %u2013 April 3, 1981) was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and physician known for his work related to autism.[1][2]
Posted by lucasnico at 01:00 AM : Jun 05, 2008

Oh good, so you did come up with Kenner on your own. So this very nicely explains why autism didn''t make it into DSM until 1968 as I said. DSM-I was published in 1952 and at that time the work of Kenner and Asperger probably wasn''t widely accepted; you don''t just come up with something and get immediate acceptance in the entire medical field, especially to the point of inclusion in DSM. By the time DSM-II was published in 1968, the work of Kenner and Asperger was clearly widely accepted and therefore published in DSM-II.

[rational_1]

By the time DSM-II was published in 1968, the work of Kenner and Asperger was clearly widely accepted and therefore published in DSM-II.
Posted by rational_1 at 08:44 AM : Jun 05, 2008

This is what happens when you type responses on to little sleep. I was thinking of DSM III above (not II which did not define autism). DSM-III published in 1980 was the first DSM to define autism. So, even in 1968 the work of Kenner and Asperger done in the mid 40''s hadn''t reached the point of widespread acceptance to make it into DSM. It took until 1980.

[rational_1]

My daughter got her autism from my very own genes...
Posted by lambofgoth at 07:11 AM : Jun 05, 2008

Right. And like a lot of other psychiatric illnesses (eg. depression, alcoholism) it comes down to a combination of genes and environment. For example the prevalence of schizophrenia in the general population is about 1%, so the odds of any of us getting it at random are pretty low. However, if your identical twin becomes schizophrenic your odds are now 50%; if it''s a fraternal twin the odds are about a third of that - clearly a genetic component. But it''s not 100% even in identical twins, so clearly environment must also be playing a role. The big BIG question then become exactly in the environment and how good is your evidence demonstrating causality. I think the genetic influnce is actually even higher in autism than SZ.

[midwestmom4]

I''m no expert on this, have read some books but basically uneducated. I do have a son who accidentally received an EXTRA round of immunizations in the 3rd grade. We moved a lot when he was young. When we arrived in our current state, I took my 3 sons to the doctor for shots & handed the nurse all of their documentation from various states. They realized AFTER they gave him a round of shots that he had ALREADY had those in another state. At the time we laughed, just thought "Hey, he definately won''t be getting any of those illnesses". He is 20 now. At that point, he became "different". He was "diagnosed" with ADD & it was suggested that he may have Aspergers by 1 of his doctors. I didn''t want him labeled though, and he was never seen by any expert,only our family physician. The change was literally overnight, school has always been rough and I hope someday drug companies will simply work for a cure instead of protecting their reputation.

[lucasnico]

I think the genetic influnce is actually even higher in autism than SZ.

Posted by rational_1 at 09:08 AM : Jun 05, 2008
+ report abuse

offering opinion as fact puts you on dangerous ground mr. spiccoli.

offering opinion as fact?

[mrsdogood]

To blame genes and better diagnostic tools for the rise in the Autism rates is disingenous at best, ignorant at worst. Autism Spectrum Disorders are being diagnosed as 1 in 150 in the general population. The diagnosis rate for boys alone is 1 in 94. These numbers reflect those who''ve been diagnosed. Many more children don''t get a diagnosis until school age (if ever), due to a host of reasons; therefore, the rate is probably higher. Now if we are to blame "faulty genes" alone, then you would see a lot more people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, etc. walking around with this condition. It is simply impossible to have a "genetic epidemic." That is an oxymoron! To blame the increase in detection and early diagnosis is also disingenous because that would mean our parents and grandparents were simply too stupid to recognize a blatant neurological disability in their own children. Keep in mind these numbers: 1 in 150 (1 in 94 boys) when I say that. What many people fail to understand is that the CDC/FDA rely on POPULATION studies for vaccine safety. These studies were conducted and paid for by the same vaccine manufacturing pharmaceutical companies. Needless to say they didn''t find any evidence of harm due to vaccines. It''s like asking the defendant to be judge and juror in his own trial.

[amdachel]

Katie Couric tells us that the CDC, WHO, and the AAP "all say these vaccines are safe and essential."

Dr. Jon LaPook decries the parents marching to demand that Congress clean up the vaccine schedule. We''re told "marchers have forgotten the consequences of failing to vaccinate properly." It should be pointed out that the parents who came to Washington are the ones who did vaccinate. Countless thousands of them also report that their normally progressing kids regressed into autism following these vaccines.

Katie Couric seems to have forgotten the recent story from CBS News about vaccines and autism. Sharyl Attkisson interviewed Dr. Bernadine Healy, former head of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Healy challenged the credibility of the CDC and admonished officials for refusing to investigate a susceptible subgroup of children who unable to eliminate the toxins in vaccines. Her interview is a major step toward public recognition about what''s happened to our children.

Anne McElroy Dachel
Chippewa Falls, WI
Media Editor AGE OF AUTISM

[rational_1]

I think the genetic influnce is actually even higher in autism than SZ.
Posted by rational_1 at 09:08 AM : Jun 05, 2008
+ report abuse
offering opinion as fact puts you on dangerous ground mr. spiccoli.
offering opinion as fact?
Posted by lucasnico at 09:32 AM : Jun 05, 2008

I''ll let the abstract of this recent review answer your question for me. I took a quick look through it; it says that there is a 70-90% concordance for autism between identical twins (higher than for schizophrenia). Happy?

Advances in autism genetics: on the threshold of a new neurobiology.
Abrahams BS, Geschwind DH.
Nature Reviews Genetics 9:341-355 (2008).
Autism is a heterogeneous syndrome defined by impairments in three core domains: social interaction, language and range of interests. Recent work has led to the identification of several autism susceptibility genes and an increased appreciation of the contribution of de novo and inherited copy number variation. Promising strategies are also being applied to identify common genetic risk variants. Systems biology approaches, including array-based expression profiling, are poised to provide additional insights into this group of disorders, in which heterogeneity, both genetic and phenotypic, is emerging as a dominant theme.

[susieq_13]

Having your child vaccinated should be a choice. Not the law. My daughter almost died b/c of her 1st set of immunizations. Now she''s 17 with the mind of a 2 month old baby. It''s not bad genes with this incident. Just bad vaccines.

[oxydoc1]

LaPook makes the false claim that mercury was removed "from most childhood vaccines almost a decade ago." In 1999, the AAP and CDC asked, but did not require, mercury be removed. No mercury-containing vaccines were ever recalled and it took years for manufacturers to convert to mercury-free vaccines. LaPook neglects to tell us that ninety percent of the flu vaccine each year contains a horrendous level of mercury and that it''s given to pregnant women at all stages of pregnancy and to babies as young as six months.

Kenneth Stoller, MD
President, International Hyperbaric Medical Association

[mrsdogood]

Watch what Dr. Healy, former head of CDC, says in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHxqTyAxZZE

[redfirefly19]

I just don''t get it...what is the problem with making vaccines and schedules safer...why would anyone even fight this??? It''s incomprehensible to me that people do not question whether or not something being injected into their child''s body or their own is completely safe and/or necessary. Why do we all succumb to being sheep? Just followers without questioning or using our brains?
I am appalled that CBS did what clearly seems to be a one-sided story. It''s too bad that a topic that could be helped greatly by more non-biased media coverage always seems instead to get pushed aside or reported as pro-Big Pharma.
In the end we all want our children to be healthy...I don''t think asking for safer vaccines across the board is asking too much.

[redfirefly19]

"No mercury-containing vaccines were ever recalled and it took years for manufacturers to convert to mercury-free vaccines. LaPook neglects to tell us that ninety percent of the flu vaccine each year contains a horrendous level of mercury and that it''''s given to pregnant women at all stages of pregnancy and to babies as young as six months.

Kenneth Stoller, MD
President, International Hyperbaric Medical Association"

THANK YOU DOCTOR!!! It irritates me beyond belief that people do not SEE this!! NO SHOTS WERE EVER RECALLED..therefore current stock were used up before ever receiving newer vaccines...hence the argument that mercury was taken out but autism continues to rise is null...children still received these unsafe vaccines, besides the yearly flu shots which are still loaded with toxins.
PEOPLE..CHECK THE INGREDIENTS on the labels before being injected!!

[jtea4me2]

I think the interview Katie Couric gave was one sided.
It mentioned the purpose of the walk but interviewed drs., etc. who all agreed that autism was not related to the immunizations or the importance of immuniza-tions. Why did they not interview professionals
that can prove otherwise? Wake up! Our government & pharmaceutical companies do not want us to know the truth. They just tell us what they want us to believe or to know. They are afraid to admit the truth because they would be responsible and liable for all of the children affected with autism. It all gets down to dollars & cents and who is benefitting. It is time to think about the children they are putting at risk and at whose expense are they lining their pockets. Our children are our future. Don''t you think they should be our number one concern. Not the profits others are making from their negligence to be honest & forthcoming. As Jim Carrey said yesterday, "How stupid do you think we are?"

[weewyatt]

Here''s what''s in vaccines...right off the CDC Website. I wouldn''t give these to my dog. Enough Said.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-1.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf

[mrsdogood]

Hey smitty448, what did susieq_13 say to make you believe her child wasn''t vaccinated? Did she not say her child has the mind of a 2 mo. old (at 17) because she got a round of bad shots? THAT MEANS HER CHILD RECEIVED HER VACCINES! If you have a problem with susieq_13''s post and/or stance, you have a choice too you know. You and your offspring can move to an unnamed island south of the spinal cord.

[rlford3]

I have a child who was mercury poisoned from his Dec. 2003 vaccines which included the flu shot. He lost all language and gestures and slipped into his own world/developed Autism within 2 months of these 15 mos. vaccines. I checked lot numbers and found out that ALL FOUR OF HIS 2003 DTaP SHOTS along with his flu shot had 25 MCG/DOSE OF THIMEROSAL. Eight months later, Matthew''s blood tested positive for mercury! (He had never had even a taste of fish--nor did I consume fish during pregnancy and nobody else in our house tested positive for mercury.) IN May OF 2005 I ANONYMOUSLY CALLED OUR LARGE CARY, N.C. PEDIATRIC OFFICE AND FOUND OUT THAT THEY WERE STILL USING UP STOCKPILES OF THE SAME THIMEROSAL DTAP SHOTS THAT MY SON RECEIVED!! So NO, THE THIMEROSAL WAS NOT REMOVED from the vaccines a decade ago as the above article states! In addition, the "rising rate of autism" is based on statistics of EIGHT-YEAR-OLDS in Feb. of 07 who had to have received most of their childhood vaccines BETWEEN 1999 and 2001 when everyone agrees that mercury was still present in ALMOST ALL of the vaccines. Of course, most flu shots and tetanus shots still contain 25 mcgs of thimerosal and they are routinely given to pregnant women and young infants. Aluminum content in vaccines has also increased in the last few years.
Rachel Ford, Ed.S.

[rlford3]

Back to our story from the last post, at 2 1/2 years Matthew was assessed by a team of experts to have an IQ of 50 (less than the 1st percentile). Since that time we have impemented many of the therapies that Jenny outlines in her book, especially the GF/CF/SF diet (our sons are almost the same age) and now Matthew is fully recovered--at the top of his "regular" pre-K class, has lots of friends and is playing soccer like a pro! But, as anyone who has been down this road knows, it has been an extremely difficult and expensive journey--one that many do not have the resources to make, so I whole-heartedly join Jim and Jenny in lobbying for safer vaccines and a safer schedule.
Rachel Ford, Ed.S.

[garbosmed]

Maybe someone should do a story on how much of CBS News'' budget comes from Pharma advertising. And how much Pharma stock is held by board members and executives. Now that''s something I think we would all be interested in - financial ties between big media and the pharmaceutical industry. Like when Merck (or was it a different one?) invited the head of Reuters to be on its board.

[redfirefly19]

"Maybe someone should do a story on how much of CBS News'''' budget comes from Pharma advertising. And how much Pharma stock is held by board members and executives."
I agree Garbosmed...
I had thought about this when obviously seeing the whole report was one sided. With the ridiculous amount of drug ads running on any tv station, it''s obvious they are paid to run these ads therefore are going to sway opinions in their favor.
Sorry, but it happens everyday and is a complete OUTRAGE.
So much for unbiased journalism..it''s pretty hard to find in the regular mainstream media.
Shame on you CBS!!!

[garbosmed]

Exactly. I mean, these people are trained journalists, right? So either they are totally stupid, which is why they rely on the same small cadre of Pharma shills for their information without ever seeking the truth, or they and their bosses/companies are totally financially compromised, which is why they rely on the same small cadre of Pharma shills for their information without ever seeking the truth.

[jtea4me2]

This is for Smitty48. It is interesting to see that instead of commenting on the issue at hand, you only comment on Jim Carey''s statement. He should be taken as seriously as Bob Hope was, when it came to supporting our troops. They both have a cause they believe in (or believed in) & had the courage to stand up for their beliefs or causes. What should we believe about you, when you make the topic of conversation Jim Carey & not autism. Get real!

[ybotheratall]

THERE IS NO MERCURY IN VACCINES. Let me repeat. THERE IS NO MERCURY IN VACCINES. Drop the BS and work towards something viable.