MMR vaccine
i know that MMR has been proven to have no link with autism
it was after i had it, however, that my autistic "symtoms" started to become apparent. i had speach therapy and diet change at a younger age and improved an awful lot both socially and cognitively, but when my MMR top up was due, my mum cancled it. i was in the surgery with the nurse who was giving me a tetenus jab or something at the time, when she brought it up. When my mum refused she seemed rather distant and rehersed when reeling off that it has no link with autism, and wasn't very convincing.
im turning 18 soon and wonderng wether i should have it done. i know i shouldnt think myself as a guinnea pig, because i would much prefere to bing immune to mumps etc, but i cant help but find it rather interesting if i changed at an older age due to having it.
does anyne think i should have ithe jab? has anyone else had any odd experiences with their docters/nurses like this?
ta, steff xx
mmaestro
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I'd ask your doctor, honestly. I've no idea if it's appropriate at an older age.
I haven't had the MMR - when I was a kid, it was still separate jabs, they didn't combine them 'til a few years later (mid '80s, if I remember correctly?).
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I agree—ask your doctor. I had the MMR and all my boosters, but then when I was 24 I started a job in a public health clinic and had to have a blood titer done to test for immunity to those things, and my measles immunity had worn off (still had the other two though). So they had to give me a measles booster before I started work. But I don't know if it's usually advised to have all three or if they normally recommend giving any at all to adults. I spiked a 104° fever on my first day of work, so you can see why a doctor might not want to do it if you're not considered at risk.
KingdomOfRats
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Am know little about measles,mumps and ruebella but aren't they supposed to be more risky if get those illnesses as adults?
On the MMR theory,it is said that the reason it causes autism is because the childs' immune system is already unstable? over sensitive so it's like overdosing the problem with damaging effects.
but also,the MMR is done around the time when the child [if they have autism] is more likely to have a regression if any,so am think maybe it could be a coincidence in some autistics that it had happened when the MMR was given.
Because of the problems that not having the MMR can cause am would say it's probably worth the risk having it done,whether as child or adult.
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Correlation does not imply causation. I got my first pair of glasses just after I started going to kindergarten and there was no sign I needed them until then (ask anyone who knows me! they'll all tell you it's true!), but that doesn't mean that going to school causes children's eyesight to fail.
The fact that autism symptoms usually begin around the same age that the MMR booster is usually given is a coincidence.
[quote="KingdomOfRats"]Am know little about measles,mumps and ruebella but aren't they supposed to be more risky if get those illnesses as adults?
On the MMR theory,it is said that the reason it causes autism is because the childs' immune system is already unstable? over sensitive so it's like overdosing the problem with damaging effects.
but also,the MMR is done around the time when the child [if they have autism] is more likely to have a regression if any,so am think maybe it could be a coincidence in some autistics that it had happened when the MMR was given. quote]
I tend to agree on that one because when I was very young I had alot of stomach problems and I was always getting stomach pains all the time I still do now. I also think that MMR is dangerous whether it causes Autism or not. It is three separate diseases not linked with each other I personally think that they should do them separatly have a Measles jab, Mumps jab, and a Rubela jab as three separate injections. It's safer in a long run. Also I have seen photos of myself before I had the infamous MMR jab and I look different even in my eyes I look different then I see a photo after and there is what looks like an opposite of what was there before. I am convinced it causes Autism no one can change my mind. There is no point arguing with me it won't get anywhere.
LeKiwi
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Personally I believe it does have a link in those already predisposed to developing Autism/AS. I know AS runs strongly in my family, and I know there are proven genetic links, so to me that would imply that it's the 'straw that breaks the camel's back' as such for certain people, hence the kids who regress within hours of having it, and the ones who don't.
There's no way my kids are getting it for that reason... don't get me wrong, I love having AS and I see it as a gift, but I wouldn't wish my childhood on any of my children, so if I can do anything to prevent them going through the confusion and bullying and whatnot I did then I'll do it.
I don't believe vaccines are safe anyway, regardless of whether MMR causes autism or not. How can injecting yourself with mercury (thimerosal, a preservative found in up to 50% concentrations in vaccines, is a mercury derivative), aluminium, ethylene glycol/propylene glycol (anti-freeze), foetal tissue, formeldehyde (embalming fluid) and all sorts else possibly be good for you? Specially when you repeatedly give it to infants whose immune systems aren't properly developed and equipped to deal with it yet anyway?
You don't have to have it to get into schools/colleges by the way - you can usually request an exemption on the grounds of religion/personal belief. Most schools won't openly advertise that but it's the law, so you can!
mmaestro
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Epidemics of mumps and measles aren't safe either. Children, y'know, die and stuff.
I wouldn't recommend eating pure sodium, either, but try living without salt for a while. You'll die. Thermisol is a compound - just because the elements contained therein are toxic doesn't mean the compound is.
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LeKiwi
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Perhaps, but perhaps not. My father has AS, and I'm pretty certain my grandfather (his father) does as well. That would make both my brother and I predisposed to having it, and as the male, I think he's probably a little more predisposed to having it (being there are statistically far more males than females with it). We both had the shots; I have AS, he doesn't. I was a sickly enough kid before that age, I guess, but it was almost all ear infections, nothing too serious. On the other hand, he was even more sickly; hospitalized and all.
I'm pretty sure my father didn't get the MMR shot; I vaguely remember being told that he managed to get mumps because of the lack of vaccination. I suppose it's possible he got it later, but he definitely displayed traits before then and after. I don't think my grandfather would have had it either; the family wasn't real big on that sort of stuff.
I don't think that the nurse being distant is really that important. It's possible that she recognized that there would be no changing your mother's mind, or perhaps she was tired that day or something. I've had odd nurses with shots before; it had nothing to do with the shots, just the nurses themselves. *shrug* I had one nurse tell me that anyone would didn't visibly react to the shot (flinch, shake, ect) was either under the age of five and therefore unable to tell the shot was coming, or "just crazy". I didn't react to the shot at all, just sat there and watched her with a bit of interest; I was 16 at the time. I wasn't crazy (well, maybe), I just wasn't sensitive to needles.
As some others have mentioned, any of the trio of diseases can be quite serious. It's better to live than to risk having some symptoms increased. And if you're all ready autistic, I don't think it's really going to affect you more; you've had the shot once all ready.
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