Thanks for posting the link, but the video is really quite misleading.
She states that in children with the rare mitochondrial dysfunction, immune stress can lead to autism like symptoms. If the vaccinations lead to immune stress, then this could be a cause, but bacteria/viruses in the environment would lead to immune stress anyway.
In fact, by not having a child vaccinated, they will still be exposed to the same pathogens (and so still likely to develop Autism symptoms)
but could also contract serious illnesses like chicken pox.
These illnesses could then easily spread to other non-vaccinated non-autistic children or worse, non-vaccinated pregnant women.
Also, the editing and selective quoting in this video amounts to propaganda.
By selectively quoting out of context (at one point, the text implies that the mitochondrial dysfunction is "not rare"; yet in the context of the conference call it was indicated that it may not be rare in autistic people)
the videos creators are misleading and twisting the actual content of the interview.
I reply as someone who has been researching ASD for the past 3 years.
I haven't yet seen any compelling evidence that there is a link, but I'm still open-minded about it.
The link between MMR and autism is tenuous to say the least (ASDs were around long before MMR), but Professor O'Leary's results do rattle small chains in the murkiest recesses of my little beaver brain; albeit for no reason other than his being highly respected and without the vested interests of Dr Wakefield. I do, though, add a large caveat as his sample, as with that of Dr Wakefield, was extremely small (12 people). Were the same results produced in a much larger sample (at least 100) then I would give the theory more credence.
I can't see how a vaccination, which doesn't generally produce any illness is a bigger dose of toxins than, say, catching a stomach bug, that does produce illness.
That's an emotive claim made without evidence and seems to me to be at odds with the facts.
This simple truth is that extensive research has found no correlation between autism and vaccination. That's either because the link is extremely weak or because there is no link.
What is clear is that unvaccinated children are more likely to get these illnesses, some of which can definitely cause brain damage.
Sharon (MakeItLady) raises a good point about funding. The UK government was 1 of Dr Wakefield's harshest and vociferous critics, so providing funding that could prove him correct is a non-starter.
There is also research being conducted in China that I'm keeping an eye on.
The authors stated that the data were not able to establish a causal link between MMR vaccine and autism.
Other larger studies have found no relationship between MMR vaccine and autism. For example, researchers in the UK studied the records of 498 children with autism born between 1979 and 1998. They found:=
1) the percentage of children with autism who received MMR vaccine was the same as the percentage of unaffected children in the region who received MMR vaccine.
2) there was no difference in the age of diagnosis of autism in vaccinated and unvaccinated children.
3) the onset of "regressive" symptoms of autism did not occur within 2, 4, or 6 months of receiving the MMR vaccine.
Many experts, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, agree that MMR vaccine is not responsible for recent increases in the number of children with autism.
In 2004, a report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that there is no association between autism and MMR vaccine, or vaccines that contain thimerosal as a preservative.
It is because of evidence such as this that I'm inclined to think there is no connection; but I am willing to change my mind if definite reason for doubt is forthcoming.
There is also research being conducted in China that I'm keeping an eye on.
Can you point me toward that? I have not heard of that one.
This recent negative study with >1000children may serve us well:
Thiomersal is an ethylmrecury compound so it's a good deal less toxic than methylmercury.
I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me how the bacteria make appointments to attack children.
If they don't then, as I said, the children are always fighting off stacks of bugs. A few more or less couldn't really matter.
There's no clear difference between a vaccination and any other infection (apart from the preservatives in the vaccine perhaps) so how come the vaccine is uniquely able to produce this effect?
I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me how the bacteria make appointments to attack children.
If they don't then, as I said, the children are always fighting off stacks of bugs. A few more or less couldn't really matter.
There's no clear difference between a vaccination and any other infection (apart from the preservatives in the vaccine perhaps) so how come the vacciner is uniquely able to produce this effect?
Incidentally the thiomersal that sometimes gets the blame for autism gets lumped in with the methylmercury compounds that caused problems in places like this
http://www.einap.org/envdis/Minamata.html
Which is interesting.
Methyl mercury compounds are particularly toxic because they get bonded to a cysteine molecule in the body and the product is simmilar enough to another natural amino acid (methionine) that it is readily taken up by cells.
This doesn't happen with ethylmercury compounds.
Thiomersal is an ethylmrecury compound so it's a good deal less toxic than methylmercury.
Various surveys (such as the one iko cited) have failed to find any connection between incidence of autism and thiomersal.
So, I'm still looking for any real evidence of a plausible mechanism and the stats show there's no observable correlation.
Aluminum Potassium Sulfate, Ammonium Sulfate, Bovine Extract, Formaldehyde, Formalin, Gelatin, Polysorbate 80, Sodium Phosphate, Fetal Bovine Serum, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Phosphate, Monobasic Monohydrate, Sodium Hydroxide Sucrose, Ammonium Sulfate, Formaldehyde or Formalin, Sucrose, Aluminum Phosphate, Amino Acid, Soy Peptone, Yeast Extract, Aluminum Hydroxyphosphate Sulfate, Amino Acids, Dextrose, Mineral Salts, Potassium Aluminum Sulfate, Soy Peptone, Yeast Protein, Calf Serum Protein, Monkey Kidney Tissue, Neomycin, 2-Phenoxyethanol, Polymyxin B, Streptomycin, and our good friend Thimerosal. (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf)
Again... our kids do not have typically functioning immune systems, so your protestations that most kids can ___________ does not apply. My son is not most kids.
Incidentally, the assertion that vaccines produce a particularly strong immune response doesn't seem right to me. The disease clearly produces a much stronger response.
Sorry to hear that, but I'm sure that you are better off getting a mild dose from a jab than a full blown infection.
I got a mild dose of Cholera from a jab. It was exceedingly unpleasant.
I got a mild dose of Cholera from a jab. It was exceedingly unpleasant.
how did this happen? was it an infection that you contracted while recieving the vaccination?
what sort of vaccination were you getting?