Autism, the environment, the government, and drug companies

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An interesting discussion can be found at http://www.counterpunch.org/higgs01052010.html

If only there was polls done on psychologists and psychiatrists in 1990, 1994 and 1996 to see how many of them had heard of and diagnosed Asperger's Syndrome and other ASDs. While there is evidence for the argument for vaccines it is circumstantial evidence. There is also the change of society, the introduction of computers into the mainstream that really started in the 90s, the change of culture that brought.

People that focus on environmental and genetic things seem to forget the human element.

I did a google search "mercury autism" as well as looking up the effects of mercury poisoning

chronic mercury poisoning effects include

http://www.harrycroll.com/mercury/mercu ... ptoms.html

Superficially these symptoms may resemble autism.

Also find out that elemental mercury (the liquid "quicksilver", also used in filling) is very slow to be absorbed. Rather it is chemical mercury and mercury vapour that are dangerous (liquid is dangerous as it can evaporate at room temperature and thus be absorbed!). As such mercury from filling is *allegedly* reasonably safe.

the "mercury autism" search did not really bring up much actual scientific studies and most responses involved vaccinations or Thimerosal used in them.

Searching "scientific research mercury autism" showed mostly links to sites saying research had shown no or suspect link.

I guess another thing I would add is generally chemical poisoning and the defects it can cause is rather crude and substantial and work to show effects in the short term. Notice the above chronic effects which state the most frequent symptom is shaking (of the hands). This means an involuntary shaking and while Autistic people often display odd actions (hand flapping, rocking, etc) this is not involuntary. Really I haven't heard of involuntary shaking being related to autism at all, which according to the above would likely be rather common or even prevalent.

I believe a lot of the issue is with people at their limit trying to find a scapegoat to avoid reality. Like prisoners on death row or people facing life in prison that suddenly "find God" and beg him for mercy. This bias comes to mind. When you only search "mercury and autism" you only get results related to it.

While I can't deny there may be a link, we don't know for certain as it is rather circumstantial evidence used and more concrete proof is needed.

If the "evidence" is fiddled sufficiently one can show autism is "caused" by sunspots.

ruveyn

I think his overall position is probably correct: "I believe now, after all these years, that there is no one trigger to autism; there is no one type of autism," "I believe there are many triggers to autism that interact with genetic predispositions." Amazing how the "enemy" can actually have a rational thought.

Which leads me to wonder if all the shouting so loud on vaccines is because he wants it heard, that it might be "one" factor for a small number of cases, and he mostly thinks the research focus has to be broader than it is right now.

I don't know. Vaccines are clearly not THE cause, or even a MAIN cause, but could they be a cause of something that presents like autism in a small number of cases? There really is no evidence to rule that out. Is that, in the end, all he has been trying to say, and it's the followers and desperate parents who have taken it to mean so much more?

I know that MY CHILD's placement on the spectrum is genetic, but I also wonder why he suffers from co-morbids that do NOT seem to have existed for others in the family. SOMETHING made them worse for him, and while I do NOT think vaccines have been an issue, I DO think that something environmental came into play (my thoughts have often turned to how he chewed on his flame retartant PJ's as an infant). Solving that piece of the puzzle, why his co-morbids and certain difficulties related to AS seem to affect him more than anyone else in the family, would improve his life quite a bit while not changing a thing about who he is. There IS some middle ground here, when we're talking about "solving" the mysteries with autism; it isn't about making kids into different people, but about reversing difficulties that maybe didn't need to exist for them.

If I didn't have the MMR vaccine, I would still be autistic.