World Autism Awareness Day

Today, April 2nd, is World Autism Awareness Day as declared by the United Nations after the UN ambassador from Qatar introduced the resolution last November. On the occasion of the very first Annual World Autism Awareness Day, this is a good time to take a look at some of the issues associated with this increasingly prevalent malady.

Autism is a complex brain disorder that inhibits the ability to communicate or develop normal social relationships, and often comes with behavioral problems that can be extreme. There is a range of autistic disorders from fairly mild to completely debilitating, so doctors call this the “Autism spectrum disorders.” It is currently being diagnosed in 1 of every 150 children in the U.S., with four times as many boys suffering the disorder than girls. That diagnosis rate has increased tenfold over the last ten years, and there is some dispute about why the rate is rising so fast.

Most researchers believe the causes of autism are a combination of genes, gene expression, and exposure to environmental triggers. Chief among suspects for environmental trigger has been mercury, a ubiquitous environmental neurotoxin released by coal burning and contaminating many types of fish consumed by humans. Mercury was also used until 2001 as a preservative and antimicrobial agent in vaccines [thimerosal]. There were significant increases in recommended childhood immunization doses during the 1990s, leading to a situation where it was possible for a 6-month old infant to have been exposed to a cumulative dose of organic mercury that exceeded certain limits set by government health agencies. Many parents of autistic children have connected this situation with the rapid increase in diagnosis of autism.

The annual flu vaccines still use thimerosal, and doctors recommend all children between 6 months and 18 years of age get the flu vaccine every year. 7,000 parents of autistic children have filed claims with the government’s Court of Federal Claims, which exists to settle claims using a vaccine-injury fund established for that purpose. In early March the family of 9-year old Hannah Poling of Georgia won the first settlement in those cases. For the first time, government officials have admitted that thimerosal indeed did cause neurological injury to young Hannah.

Hannah, unlike most other children, suffers a disorder that prevents her from eliminating mercury from her system through skin and hair. Other children have also been tested and shown toxic levels of mercury in their systems. If the government and drug manufacturers can be convinced to eliminate the use of mercury as a vaccine preservative in all vaccines (not just the usual childhood varieties), some medical statisticians expect the sharp rise in autism to stabilize and then sharply decline.

But researchers are not convinced that it’s all about mercury neurotoxin. There are many other neurotoxins in our environment and food supply. Agricultural pesticides, for instance, are so prevalent in our water systems and on fruits and vegetables that a recent study showed that breast milk in ALL women tested was contaminated. Pesticides are neurotoxins.

It is hoped that genetic researchers will soon develop a test to identify children with compromised immune and toxin elimination systems so their exposures can be carefully managed through life. Some parents are opting out of having their children vaccinated at all, and this situation could lead to renewed epidemics of the sometimes deadly childhood diseases that have been practically eradicated from our society.

Because I am old enough to be a grandma, I remember what it was like when mumps or measles, rubella, and whooping cough moved in waves through the student body at my school, sometimes shutting them down for weeks at a time. I remember being very sick, too, and not much enjoying it. Worse, I was born in the years before universal vaccination for polio was instituted. There were classmates and teachers throughout my education who had been crippled by that awful disease, which now strikes only rarely and only in sub-populations that traditionally eschew vaccinations of any kind (like the Amish).

At any rate, all expecting and new parents out there should educate themselves about autism, vaccination, and the issues of special needs children. Today is a good time to start, since it’s World Autism Awareness Day. And all you Grannies out there need to make sure your children are well versed on these issues too, for the health and future of your precious grandbabies!

Links:

Autism Speaks
World Autism Awareness Day
To vaccinate or not to vaccinate?

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Filed under Vaccination, Autism, Research, Medicine, Healthy Babies |