Autism

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Autism

• Biology or Behavior?

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Autism

• Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are classified by
  the World Health Organization and APA as a
  developmental disability that results from a
  disorder of the human central nervous system.
• It is diagnosed using specific criteria for
  impairments to social interaction, communication,
  interests, imagination and activities.
• The causes, symptoms, etiology, treatment, and
  other issues are controversial

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Autism on the rise?

• The incidence of diagnosed autism has increased
  since the 1990s.
• Is the increase real, is it the result of
  increased awareness and expanding diagnostic
  categories, is it due to environmental changes,
  or all of the above?

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Autism and mercury

• Scientists have identified a biomarker in
  autistic children that strongly suggests that
  these children would be susceptible to the
  harmful effects of mercury and other toxic
  chemical exposures
• It manifests itself as an imbalance in
  glutathione (an antioxidant) one of the the
  bodys major tools for detoxifying and excreting
  metals.

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Glutathione

• In addition to being a powerful antioxidant it is
  also a major regulator of digestion
• Reduced concentrations correlate to intestinal
  ailments
• Degeneration of the jejunum and colon
• Leaky gut disorders where undigested proteins
  pass through the gut and cause damage to the
  brain and nervous system

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Autism and diet?

• Many parents report that their autistic
  childrens behavior improved when the eliminated
  milk and wheat from their diets.
• Many parents report that when their children were
  required to fast for a laboratory test, that
  morning their behavior was improved.

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Mercury in the body

• Highly toxic to brain cells and signature traits
  for mercury poisoning are also features of autism
• Speech loss
• Loss of social and communication skills
• Many parents report children slipping into autism
  shortly after receiving multiple mercury
  containing vaccinations.

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Thimerosals role

• A preservative in vaccines that is 49 ethyl
  mercury
• Major source of mercury exposure from 1988-2002
• Was removed from childhood immunizations at the
  urging of the Public Health Service and American
  Academy of Pediatrics

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Increase in vaccinations

• 1988 CDC recommended several immunizations to
  the infant immunization program all delivered
  before 6 months of age
• 3 hepatitis B
• 3 haemophilis B shots

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Autism in the 1980s

• The incidence of autism increases 10 fold from 6
  in 10,000 in the 1980s to about 60 in 10,000
  today.

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A link?

• 1994 - To understand whether or not the dramatic
  increase in autism was related to the nationwide
  increase in exposure to mercury in vaccinations,
  the CDC conducted an epidemiologic study and then
  convened a panel of the institute of Medicine of
  the National Academy of Sciences

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Findings

• Available funding for autism research should be
  channeled to the most promising areas of which
  the link with vaccines does not appear to be
  one.
• Chief of CDC immunization program
• only junk scientists and charlatans support
  research into the potential link between
  thimerosal exposure and autism

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A problem ..

• The IOM is supposed to be an institution built on
  the notion of free scientific inquiry.
• That blanket statement was a cause for concern
  for many scientists
• Ignored its own statement that the committee
  cannot rule out the possibility that vaccines
  contribute to autism in some small subset or
  unusual circumstances

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Do we need a paradigm shift?

• We have labeled autism as a behavioral disorder
  does this mean that we should only look at
  behavioral treatments?

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National Institute of Mental Health

• Conducting an Interventional study
• to determine whether a gluten- and casein-free
  diet has specific benefits for children with
  autism. (30 Months-54 Months)

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Discover Magazine, April 2007

• Understanding Autism. The Answer May Lie In The
  Gut, Not In The Head.

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Sources

• http//www.nationalautismassociation.org/index.php
  
• http//www.ewg.org/reports/autism/execsumm.php?gcl
  idCJXSy9nCvYoCFRBPUAodw1wUPg
• http//www.autismresearchcentre.com/arc/default.as
  p
• http//www.nimh.nih.gov/studies/studies_ct.cfm?id
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