Author Topic: Autism theories  (Read 4036 times)

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Offline Anonymous

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Autism theories
« on: December 20, 2005, 09:45:00 PM »
Nationwide News

Oxygen Deprivation During
Birth May Contribute to Autism
HealthSCOUT - December 20, 2005

New research with rats suggests that oxygen deprivation during birth could be a contributing cause of autism.

There?s no easy way to test the oxygen-deprivation theory in humans, and the finding isn?t likely to lead to better treatments in the near future. Still, the research gives scientists greater insight into how factors other than genetics may play a role in autism, said Fabrizio Strata, a neuroscience researcher at the University of California, San Francisco and co-author of the study.

Symptoms of autism, the most common condition in a group of developmental disorders known as autism spectrum disorders, can range from mild to severe. The disability usually strikes by age 3. It lasts a lifetime, and there is no cure, although some people with autism can learn to function well.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, autism is characterized by three distinctive behaviors. Autistic children have difficulties with social interaction, display problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and exhibit repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests. Scientists are not certain what causes autism, but it is likely that both genetics and environment play a role.

For reasons that aren?t clear, autism seems to have become more common in recent years. One hotly debated theory suggests that vaccines are responsible, although some studies have failed to find a link.

Oxygen deprivation during birth is considered one possible cause because it can lead to brain damage.

By boosting the level of nitrogen in the air, Strata and colleagues deprived rat pups of normal levels of oxygen for as long as 10 to 12 minutes during birth. When the rats grew older, they displayed symptoms similar to those found in autistic children. It took longer for the rats to respond to some sounds, for example, and the brain regions that handle sound were disrupted.

Why would a baby be oxygen-deprived in the first place? According to Strata, a complicated labor can cut off a newborn?s oxygen supply, as can a twisted umbilical cord.

Andy Shih, chief science officer with the National Alliance for Autism Research, said the oxygen-deprivation study presents an "interesting hypothesis," although the research hasn?t been confirmed in humans.

It?s possible that future research could lead to changes in obstetric practices to minimize the chance that babies will go without oxygen, Shih said. But "we?re far away from that at this point."

The study findings appear in the Dec. 19-24 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

More information

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development can tell you more about autism.
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Offline Anonymous

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« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2005, 01:17:00 PM »
I hear Robert Kennedy talking about how he thinks it was the mercury in some childhood vaccinnations that helped cause the spike in autism cases in the mid 90's. Any truth to this?
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Offline try another castle

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« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2005, 10:09:00 PM »
Quote
On 2005-12-21 10:17:00, Anonymous wrote:

"I hear Robert Kennedy talking about how he thinks it was the mercury in some childhood vaccinnations that helped cause the spike in autism cases in the mid 90's. Any truth to this?"


No. Because modern day vaccinations are significantly lower in mercury than the vaccinations 20+ years ago when autism was much less common. Besides, my nephew is autistic and he had the vaccinations which were mercury-free.
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Offline Anonymous

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« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2006, 03:35:00 PM »
Mercury's Safety Endorsed
by Doctors' Thumbs-Up

United Press International - February 10, 2006

As doctors and health authorities fight state bans on mercury in vaccines and keep giving it to kids and pregnant women, one fact stands out: their certainty.

The image of pediatricians and public officials as valiant defenders of mercury takes a bit of getting used to, given their longstanding efforts to keep the toxic element out of our food, our bodies and the environment.

No reasonable person -- let alone health professional -- would advocate keeping mercury in childhood vaccines unless they were absolutely certain it was an exception to this lethal legacy.

That?s especially so because vaccines can be made without the mercury preservative, called thimerosal. You can take it out and still protect the health of American children through vaccination, and if you had a shred of doubt about its safety, surely you would.

If you keep it in, you had better be right.

But what is the real degree of certainty that thimerosal is safe? Is it absolute? Beyond a reasonable doubt? A preponderance of the evidence -- the lesser standard that applies in civil cases but not when someone?s freedom (or life) is at stake?

Here?s the kind of thing that makes doctors -- most of whom have no more ability than you or I to investigate the safety of vaccines for themselves -- feel so certain. It?s a paper titled Vaccine Safety Controversies and the Future of Vaccination Programs, and it appears in the November 2005 issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

The authors are from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends the childhood immunization schedule; the United Nations World Health Organization, which oversees the vaccination of tens of millions of people worldwide every year, and several big universities. The report was supported by unrestricted grants from GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Sanofi Pasteur MSD, several universities and other institutions.

Thimerosal has been used for (more than) 60 years in infant vaccines and in other applications and has not been associated with adverse health effects in the general population, except when persons have been exposed to amounts many orders of magnitude greater than found in vaccines or pharmaceuticals, the authors write.

That?s a ringing endorsement of safety (whether it?s supported by the data is an issue I?ll address in upcoming columns). But keep reading: It should also be borne in mind that the risks of thimerosal-containing vaccines to the fetus, premature infant and low-weight infant have insufficiently been studied.

Whoa. Insufficiently studied -- after more than 60 years of giving thimerosal to pregnant women and babies of every size and shape? Nonetheless, the CDC recommends flu shots for pregnant women and 6-to-23-months-olds and won?t recommend thimerosal-free versions. As a result, most flu shots still contain mercury.

Another new study is condescendingly titled, When science is not enough -- a risk/benefit profile of thimerosal-containing vaccines, by Australians C. John Clements and Peter B. McIntyre in the journal Expert Opinion on Drug Safety:

Thimerosal is safe as a vaccine preservative, and should continue to be used in settings where accessibility and cost require that multi-dose vials of vaccine are available.

Clements advises the WHO on vaccine policy; McIntyre is director of Australia?s National Center for Immunization Research and Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases.

The overwhelming weight of scientific opinion rejects the hypothesis that neurodevelopmental abnormalities are causally related to the use of thimerosal in vaccines, they point out.

This is the kind of ammunition public health officials and the American Academy of Pediatrics are firing back at proponents of mercury bans --overwhelming evidence that thimerosal is safe. In Illinois, the state AAP vigorously opposed the ban.

Though well intended, these bills do not advance public health and could inadvertently diminish our state?s efforts at fighting influenza, the AAP said. Though it is a mercury-containing compound, thimerosal does not pass from the bloodstream into the brain to any significant degree.

The state legislators listened politely to that dubious assertion -- and voted to limit thimerosal in childhood vaccines anyway. But that was not the last word.

As reported by R. L. Nave in the Illinois Times last month: Citing cost concerns and a potential shortfall for the upcoming flu season, the Illinois Department of Public Health filed for a 12-month exemption to the Mercury-Free Vaccine Act, passed last summer to limit the use of vaccines containing mercury. However, child-health-care advocates who lobbied for the bill?s passage are upset by what they believe was a premeditated attempt by IDPH to circumvent state law.

This is what you call chutzpah -- public health authorities thwarting the express will of the people, certain that flu shots will save humanity and mercury never hurt anybody. Does the governor never fire anyone?

Almost lost in this crossfire is the simple fact that in 1999, these selfsame health authorities -- the CDC, the Public Health Service, the pediatricians, the family physicians -- urged drug companies to remove thimerosal from childhood immunizations in the United States as soon as possible.

Most childhood vaccines -- in the United States, not overseas -- are now thimerosal-free. But that?s hardly a blanket reassurance, because most flu shots do contain thimerosal.

Yet the CDC is still studying whether thimerosal causes autism.

We do agree the preponderance of evidence to date suggests there is no association between thimerosal and autism, CDC spokesman Glen Nowak told us last month. But he said CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding is committed to exploring all possibilities until the cause or causes of the disorder are identified.

Dr. Gerberding has made it clear the CDC has not ruled out anything as possible causes of autism, including thimerosal, Nowak said. Science is a dynamic process. We have continued to fund studies to look at the role, if any, of thimerosal.

Given these caveats, what would you do? Well, there are two maxims of medicine that might apply. First, do no harm, is the obvious one.

The second, related concept is the precautionary principle which, according to wikipedia.org, is the idea that if the consequences of an action are unknown, but are judged to have some potential for major or irreversible negative consequences, then it is better to avoid that action.

So: Vaccines don?t need mercury. Even government experts acknowledge some possible risks -- to the fetus, for example -- are insufficiently studied 60 years on. A link to autism has not been ruled out. They?re continuing to investigate, as they should.

But the doctors and their public and private allies are battling state by state to stop mercury bans, and the CDC won?t recommend a thimerosal-free flu shot for kids and pregnant woman. There?s a phrase for this approach:

Bombs away.
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Offline Anonymous

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« Reply #4 on: February 10, 2006, 05:01:00 PM »
So why the sudden rise in Autistic cases?

Or are they just able to diagnose more due to better dianostic tools/etc?
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Offline try another castle

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« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2006, 08:06:00 PM »
Quote
On 2006-02-10 14:01:00, Anonymous wrote:

"So why the sudden rise in Autistic cases?



Or are they just able to diagnose more due to better dianostic tools/etc? "


Nobody knows. There are plenty of theories, though.
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Offline Deborah

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« Reply #6 on: February 10, 2006, 11:22:00 PM »
Mercury is a problem in our water, air, fish we eat, dental fillings....to name a few. I think it's probably a cumulitive effect.

http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... 120#122602

Google David Kirby for more info
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=& ... 2B+mercury

And mercury toxicity in general. I think there may be many people diagnosed with 'mental illnesses', kids sent to programs, etc who could have toxic levels of mercury.
I still have a few mercury fillings, have changed them as needed, so I do a homeopathic mercury de-tox annually.
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Offline Nihilanthic

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« Reply #7 on: February 10, 2006, 11:56:00 PM »
I was diagnosed as having "aspergers syndrome"

Ask Helena Handbasket... Im not.  :wink: Im everything but autistic.

I really think its a function of society and a lack of socialization. When I came out of my shell (and publik school) and started hanging out with people and doing things, I MAGICALLY found my groove and social skills. Zippa dee doo dah?

But, I degress, Im sure there are plenty of 'clasically' autistic children born to perfectly social parents who have a real disease, plus I dont know all the facts about oxygen deprevation or mercury influences.

Just tossing out an idear for everyone to think about is all.

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DannyB on the internet:I CALLED A LAWYER TODAY TO SEE IF I COULD SUE YOUR ASSES FOR DOING THIS BUT THAT WAS NOT POSSIBLE.

CCMGirl on program restraints: "DON\'T TAZ ME BRO!!!!!"

TheWho on program survivors: "From where I sit I see all the anit-program[sic] people doing all the complaining and crying."

Offline Deborah

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« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2006, 12:18:00 AM »
One thing that tipped researcher to mercury was the late onset. Kids were fine until they received their 3rd or 4th round of immunizations and suddenly they were dx autistic. Perfectly fine one week, the next, autistic. It presents in many ways, but I agree that the social skills aspect is very important. I tend to see the classicly autistic child as 'afraid to come out and play'. With enough attention and building of trust, they can emerge. Son Rise by Barry Kaufman is a hopeful, and true, story of how two parents helped their son come out. Required reading in some college psych courses. Professionals all over the country told them to give up, there was no hope. They refused. Their level of comittment was very touching.
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Offline Anonymous

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« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2006, 11:30:00 AM »
Wrong Intelligence Testing Being
Used on Individuals wtih Autism

China Daily; North American ed.
February 22, 2006

ST. LOUIS -- People with autism are more intelligent and able to function better than previously believed, but mistrust of doctors, biased tests and the Internet have bred myths about the condition, experts said on Sunday.

At a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, researchers presented reports showing that even autistic people who do not speak can have above-average intelligence.

They also offered additional studies disputing claims that vaccines can cause autism.

"The current figures are that 75 percent of autistic people are mentally retarded, with the mute the most ... impaired," said Dr. Laurent Mottron, an autism researcher at Montreal?s Hopital Riviere des Prairies.

But Mottron believes the wrong intelligence tests are used to assess autistic children. Many are tested using the Wechsler scale, a common IQ test that includes questions about words and concepts learned in school.

The Raven?s Progressive Matrices test measures abstract reasoning and consistently gives autistic children higher scores, Mottron said.

The average boost in score is 30 points, Mottron said, enough to put someone previously considered mentally retarded into the normal range and the average to gifted status.

Mottron was so impressed by the abilities of one autistic student, Michelle Dawson, that he made her a co-author of some of his papers.

Autism is a term used to describe a broad range of symptoms, from an inability to use language normally, to exhibiting deeply disturbed and repetitive behaviours. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it affects anywhere between one in 500 and one in 166 children.

Morton Gernsbacher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison questioned a common idea among autism researchers that autistic people lack a "theory of mind," which, among other things, gives an ability to empathize with others.

Again, she said, the wrong tests are used to assess this ability.

Dr. Judith Grether, a California epidemiologist, said she questions the idea that there is a new autism epidemic. She said it is impossible to find out how many cases of autism there were in the past, because many people with autism were often diagnosed as retarded, or never diagnosed.

Without that information, it is impossible to say if the number of cases has grown, she said.

"We have to do the studies to find the answers," she said.

Grether said researchers in California have begun taking prenatal blood samples from pregnant women and will look for clues when and if some of their children are diagnosed with autism. They are examining hormones, heavy metals, immune system proteins and other factors.

The studies found no link with vaccines, said Dr. Irving Gottesman, a psychiatrist at the University of Minnesota, but said the CDC has initiated four new studies "to tie up the loose ends."

New studies are focusing on genetic susceptibilities.

Gottesman said the studies may help ease the fears of parents that a vaccine-autism link has been covered up.

But he said scientists are battling a plethora of Internet websites devoted to the idea that mercury causes autism such as http://www.safeminds.org/.

Gernsbacher, the mother of a child with autism, said some parents may join these lobbying groups over the advice of doctors because they get "pat answers" to initial concerns about their children.

"The mistrust (of government-funded studies and of their pediatricians) may have arisen from those kind of experiences," she said.
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Offline TheWho

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« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2006, 02:00:00 PM »
There is also Fluoride which has been thrown on the table a few times as a possible cause.  Introduced into our water system 50+ years ago and since has developed into the most important way to insure the development of healthy teeth.  Pediatricians are prescribing tablets/supplements to newborns along with their other daily vitamins.  The use has further increased with the recent surge of health food conscience adults who embrace homeopathic remedies / natural foods.

Hypothyroid condition in the mother and at birth, for the baby, was thought to also contribute to autism Spectrum And PDD (Pervasive Development Disorders) and still may but I believe this is screened for in Newborn Screening test and easily treated through medication, since the early 1980?s.  This is still an issue with children born in countries which do not have newborn screening in place.

My personal hope (short term) is that until the cause can be identified, all Autistic Children can be helped through Early intervention and through the application of  ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) which, to date, is the most effective approach to improving the lives of children with Autism.  I personally feel, based on the visibility Autism is receiving from the medical field and the media along with the amount of data that is being collected a solution isn?t far off.
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Offline Anonymous

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« Reply #11 on: February 23, 2006, 01:02:00 PM »
There was a story on the news this morning
about an autism teenager who scored 20 points
in a high school basketball game.

It is a very uplifting story, on this usual
negitive issue.
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Offline TheWho

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« Reply #12 on: February 23, 2006, 01:27:00 PM »
Quote
On 2006-02-23 10:02:00, Anonymous wrote:

"There was a story on the news this morning

about an autism teenager who scored 20 points

in a high school basketball game.



It is a very uplifting story, on this usual

negitive issue."

That?s very nice to hear, there was a time when autistic children were taught in separate buildings and have now been integrated with all the other children, but sports has always been a special challenge with many of these children as autism typically can affect fine and gross motor skills.  A story like that is inspiring to the rest of us as we take on our own obstacles, they don?t seem so daunting in comparison.

Thanks
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Offline Anonymous

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« Reply #13 on: February 23, 2006, 01:38:00 PM »
I don't want to even think about how many Asperger's kids have ended up in RTCs and various other programs and what's happened to them in there.  :cry:
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Offline TheWho

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« Reply #14 on: February 23, 2006, 02:13:00 PM »
Quote
On 2006-02-23 10:38:00, Anonymous wrote:

"I don't want to even think about how many Asperger's kids have ended up in RTCs and various other programs and what's happened to them in there.  :cry: "

Yes it is sad,  but the good news is with all the awareness that Autism is receiving and the training that emerging pediatricians are getting, the number of children going undiagnosed is shrinking quickly.  Aspergers is unique in that the children are very high functioning and parents tend to dismiss some possible other behavior signs because they may seem so advanced in other areas.  So more time may expire before a diagnosis which makes treatment more difficult and as you had mentioned may end up in an RTC.  This is why I feel more regulations as well as standardized screening should be mandatory before any children are admitted to these facilities.
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