CDC: U.S. kids with autism up 78% in past decade

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redrumloa said:
You didn't read very far.

In 1977, a Russian study found that adults exposed to much lower concentrations of ethylmercury than those given to American children still suffered brain damage years later. Russia banned thimerosal from children's vaccines 20 years ago, and Denmark, Austria, Japan, Great Britain and all the Scandinavian countries have since followed suit.
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You didn't read anything after 1977?

The United States has removed Mercury from ALL infant injections. One noteable exception is the Flu, which is not supposed to be given to people under 2. Additionally Autism is up not only in the US but Germany, Scandinavia, Japan and Russia. All Countries which removed Mercury prior to us doing it. Autism levels are on the rise worldwide.

Which is why the_leander said you missed the train and have to get on aluminum. Now that these injections are mercury free, for about the last decade here and two decades other places, and worldwide Autism continues to increase the anti-vaccers are now trying to blame something else.

Do you realize the original article which started this has been redacted and the Dr. disbarred? Turns out he had a competing MMR treatment which he was trying to damage his competition so he could bring his answer, with worse outcomes I may add, to market.
 
redrumloa said:
The problem here is obviously you will believe everything your government tells you? For some reason you think the CDC would always tell you the truth? Really?
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Well, I don't think anyone here is blindly believing the government. But I think you're stuck in the idea that because the government has lied, they are always lying. No one always lies. Even the crazy lady down the street speaks the truth now and then, even if by total accident. I'm not going to disbelieve a repeatedly proven fact just because the government also says it's true.
 
i'd still like to know how much of the increase is due to diagnostic methodology and classification... the article is kind of alarmist...
 
robert l. bentham said:
i'd still like to know how much of the increase is due to diagnostic methodology and classification... the article is kind of alarmist...
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Autism as it was is now classified as Autistic spectrum disorder and covers a much broader range of people. Aspergers syndrome for instance is now classified as part of Autism, likewise many who would have been classed in decades past as introverted but intelligent are now classed as Autistic. There is also much more information available and parents are more aware of the existence of Autism, so are more likely to get it checked in their children.

Sometimes though I really do love my RSS feeds... This popped up just today and gives the whole antivax scene yet another thorough (and richly deserved) shoeing.
 
Speelgoedmannetje said:
AFAIK Autism spectrum disorders are hereditary.
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There is an increased likelihood of a child of someone with autism being found to have it, however, that could also be down to the parent being better informed than someone who's family has never been diagnosed.
 
the_leander said:
Autism as it was is now classified as Autistic spectrum disorder and covers a much broader range of people. Aspergers syndrome for instance is now classified as part of Autism, likewise many who would have been classed in decades past as introverted but intelligent are now classed as Autistic. There is also much more information available and parents are more aware of the existence of Autism, so are more likely to get it checked in their children.

Sometimes though I really do love my RSS feeds... This popped up just today and gives the whole antivax scene yet another thorough (and richly deserved) shoeing.
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yeah... im on the list of folks who hear these things... i am wholly wrecked by what i know... and what i am supposed to know...
 
the_leander said:
Autism as it was is now classified as Autistic spectrum disorder and covers a much broader range of people.
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It's also somewhat horse manure because lumping all those people together is misleading. There is a spectrum of variability and people can be spread out all over that spectrum and the causes and presentations of those various aspects are all likely somewhat different - only when you get a collection of those deficits does it rise to the level of a problem. trying to draw an arbitrary line of demarcation means that you can increase or decrease the number of people that need treatment by moving the line.

Back in the old days we treated this problem by hanging kids that were unruly - or stoning kids to death who didn't obey their parents or follow the law. We have a lot more tolerance for different types of minds and we have more use for them too as the fields of human endeavour are now so incredibly diverse.

Hopefully one day they will get rid of the umbrella term autism and we will be much better able to then study the various separate conditions that are currently unhelpfully lumped together.
 
FluffyMcDeath said:
It's also somewhat horse manure because lumping all those people together is misleading. There is a spectrum of variability and people can be spread out all over that spectrum and the causes and presentations of those various aspects are all likely somewhat different - only when you get a collection of those deficits does it rise to the level of a problem. trying to draw an arbitrary line of demarcation means that you can increase or decrease the number of people that need treatment by moving the line.
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Presumably you have some evidence to back up that assertion, right?
 
the_leander said:
Presumably you have some evidence to back up that assertion, right?
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here is a very good example... these symptoms... years ago anyway would have been diagnosed as obsessive compulsive disorder...

Unusual Interests and Behaviors​

​
Many people with an ASD have unusual interest or behaviors.​
Examples of unusual interests and behaviors related to ASDs:​
  • Lines up toys or other objects
  • Plays with toys the same way every time
  • Likes parts of objects (e.g., wheels)
  • Is very organized
  • Gets upset by minor changes
  • Has obsessive interests
  • Has to follow certain routines
  • Flaps hands, rocks body, or spins self in circles
  • http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/signs.html
 
the_leander said:
Presumably you have some evidence to back up that assertion, right?
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In a quick digestible chunk? 'fraid not, but "Different people with autism can have very different symptoms." is a revealing statement. It's indicative of the catch-all nature of Autism Spectrum. I suppose we should be glad that we use more precision than we did sixty or seventy odd years when a huge diversity of deficits was grouped under the diagnosis of "simple".

"Because different people with autism can have very different features or symptoms, health care providers think of autism as a “spectrum” disorder—a group of disorders with a range of similar features. Based on their specific strengths and weaknesses, people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) may have mild symptoms or more serious symptoms, but they all have an ASD. This fact sheet uses the terms “ASD” and “autism” to mean the same thing."

And so, one day a guy is just a geeky awkward engineering type with quirks, the next day he's autistic. It depends on where you chose to draw the line.

Different symptoms and presentations would generally point to different underlying causes. A blind person generally has different symptoms compared to a double above the knee amputee - but they both suffer from "disability disorder" or they are on "the disability spectrum".

Autism is more a cluster of spectra than a spectrum and I'll just have to leave that as an assertion but it is my opinion that it would be more diagnostically and treatment useful and in general more meaningful to identify the components than to use the umbrella.

Mind you - every specialist has their preference for what they like to diagnose so what you are depends on who you ask - so more precise categories might not help - because people will still end up in the wrong ones.
 
I was wondering why this thread came up.
Yes, anti-vaxxers and wacko conspiracy nuts, in general, are bad for everyone's health.
 
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