The Vaccines-Autism War: Détente Needed

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This article is a breath of fresh air, a much needed calm and rational voice amidst the fractious vaccine war. I do not oppose vaccines (I've had a few in my life), and I also have doubts about our vaccine program similar to those aired by Dr. Healy above. I do not get my medical information from Jenny McCarthy, but I don't villify her either, and I'm suspicious of those on both sides of this debate who use snarky ad hominem attacks to combat views they disagree with. I don't claim to know who is right, but it can't be bad to ask questions, and the whole vaccine/autism debate has certainly not been settled to everyone's satisfaction. What about, as Dr. Healy points out, the overdue studies on vaccinated vs nonvaccinated children? That seems pretty basic, yet it hasn't been done. The debate shouldn't be framed as vaccines vs no vaccines; why can't we ask, which vaccines, how many, how soon, and what else can be done?
The CDC says getting the H1N1 vaccine is the single most important thing one can do to prevent the flu. I question that. What about optimal nutrition, rest, hand-washing, avoiding sick people? What about building the immune system? Vaccines can be wonderful complements to the human immune system but don't replace it. I don't know what I'd do if I were the mother of small children, but I'm inclined to think I might get us all vaccinated. As a healthy woman of 51 living on a farm with one other person, and taking very good care of my health, I feel that for me, a vaccine is not necessary at this time. That doesn't mean I'm anti-science or anti-vaccines, but I do believe vaccines are not the first or most important thing for flu prevention. And deciding not to take the flu vaccine doesn't mean I wouldn't take other vaccines that might be necessary at some point, such as those needed for overseas travel. It's not an all or nothing decision, at least not for me.

Jeanmarie Todd of CA 6:42PM November 02, 2009

lemyaskin rulezz

lemyaskin of IN 9:48PM September 22, 2009

I don't understand people who say there is no genetic component to autism when there are families of seven kids and six of them have autism. Its not only does autism have a "vaccine component" but there is a "genetic component" as well. Just because there aren't "enough cases" for doctors to document, doesn't mean it isn't true.

kara of FL 10:05PM June 08, 2009

As the parent of an austistic child, I can actually pinpoint the exact day when his behavior changed and changed for the worse. It was October 9, 2007 and he received six injections with God knows how many vaccines. He has never been the same since. So regardless of what "side" you're on, the issue exists. I don't care how many letters someone has after their name or how many diplomas and certificates they have hanging on their walls. Unless you experience it, YOU HAVE NO IDEA. My child will not receive another vaccination unless it is completely free of markers and medically necessary. And their are numerous other children that no longer or have never received vaccines and they are just fine.

Kara of FL 10:00PM June 08, 2009

Although many people think of heart disease as a man's problem, women can and do get heart disease. I was in the same misconception regarding the heart disease, but was made aware by a medical checkup campaign. In fact, heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States. It is also a leading cause of disability among women.
The most common cause of heart disease is narrowing or blockage of the coronary arteries, the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart itself. This is called coronary artery disease and happens slowly over time. It's the major reason people have heart attacks. Prevention is important: two-thirds of women who have a heart attack fail to make a full recovery.
The older a woman gets, the more likely she is to get heart disease. But women of all ages should be concerned about heart disease. All women can take steps to prevent it by practicing healthy lifestyle habits.
Actually, right now I am suffering from a blockage in the coronary artery and was once blocked up to 85%. I got the stent implantation which is a mesh like spring which is used to broaden the artery and hence restoring back the blood flow. You can see further information regarding stent operation from www.heartsite.com/html/stent.html. I got to know everything regarding my stent operation from this site. I was really unaware of such a blockage. I sometimes feel dizzy, restless, lazy , but thought that to be something related to mental ability, and hence never worried about it. Once I got my basic medical checkup at Elite health medical office in Los Angeles. The ECG report went to be something suspicious. So, they advised me to have further advance diagnosis to determine and assure regarding the problem in the heart. After my MRI , CT scan and other such scans it came to me as a shock that I was facing a problem of blockage. It was quite surprising to me, and as I was not aware of anything regarding this, I was really frightened. The doctors explained me every information regarding my health and its treatment, and suggested me to have stent operation. That was some dreadful days of my life, which I faced only because I was careless about my health. It was my luck that I somehow went for a basic checkup at elite health, but every woman out there may not be so lucky.

Elite Health of NY 1:37AM June 05, 2009

Dr. Isaac Eliaz has a great video explaining the best way to schedule children's vaccines to maximize safety: http://www.healthiertalk.com/create-your-own-vaccine-schedule

Rockwell of DC 3:43PM June 01, 2009

I thought the article put the finger on a very weak spot: Experts constantly claim vaccines are extremely safe and proven NOT to be the cause of autism, but there is no real heavyweight science to back it up. We know adverse events are tremendously underreported. There is a few epidemiological studies, some of which seem to support the opposite conclusion if you compensate for flaws in the original study. That's all they base their claims on.
On the other side there is a growing number of studies that document very real biological mechanisms that seem to be able to explain almost all of the observed connections between autism and environmental insults such as pesticides, mercury in various forms including thimerosal, vaccine side effects, gastrointestinal issues etc.
Important themes in this research are neuroinflammation, glutathione, and methylation issues among other things. (Deth and others.) The emerging picture is very clear but complex, which is what should be expected, because the biochemical pathways are complex.
This is real science. Measurable effects and models that explain exactly what happens – not statistical abuse of weak data. It also lends support to some of the therapies that are favored by parents of autistic children. And when you start to understand the mechanisms involved and see the complexity, you realize how shockingly unscientific it is for government experts to wave negative epidemiological studies in the air as final proof that there is no connection between vaccines and autism. The evidence value of real positive biological studies beats the evidence value of negative epidemiological studies so thoroughly that there is only a few wet spots left on the ground.
There is a graph that I find useful, showing some of these relationships in a simplified form along with common theories about the cause of autism here:
http://wyrdy.com/news/wp-content/uploads/autismgraph.pdf
as part of an article on antidepressants and neuroinflammation:
http://www.wyrdy.com/news/2009/03/14/the-institutionalized-quackery-of-antidepressants/
Just my 2 cents..

Leif 12:44PM May 18, 2009

Dr Healy should contact the director of the Maine CDC, Dr. Dora Ann Mills. The Maine CDC just sponsored a fabulous autism conference that opened up well reasoned, sensible dialog between researchers, physicians and parents on autism science and even vaccines. It is possible to do this, and in a respectable way. We did it in Maine.
The conference was May 12th, it will be available to watch in full online with a few weeks.

Becky Grant-Widen of ME 10:45AM May 14, 2009

150,000 deaths a year are from unnecessary deaths from unnecessary medications and/or their reactions.
It is one of the top ten causes of death in the US.
Add this to big pharma,s diminishing pipeline of money-making
drugs being produced for market, and
it leaves vaccinations as the last refuge for drug companies' profits.
Drugs are over-priced, overated, and frequently unnecessary when a natural substitute offers superior results.
Yet drug companies are in our pockets in 5 ways -
up-front costs, the largest portion of our medical premiums, Medicare drug costs,
and the medico-legal costs of nosocomial deaths and permanent injury. Finally it is the hidden gem in almost everyone's investment portfoio, mutual funds etc.
No wonder the sacred cow of vaccinations is being vehemently defended from scrutiny and question.
The Emperor has no clothes, and his days are numbered.
Medicine, of course, is a necessary component in our health-care system, but its complete dominance of the system, its inordinate cost, its narrowed control over medical school curriculums, and its dependency on the Wall Street crowd is profoundly disturbing.
We need an entirely new paradigm of funding health and wellness.

Darian Lance Smith of NC 12:00PM May 01, 2009