Last month, when the vaccine hysteria was at a high pitch in the media, a prominent, well-respected neurosurgeon was interviewed on national TV about his views on vaccines. Specifically, he was asked if there was any connection between autism and vaccines. He said, “It’s been proven that there is no connection between autism and vaccines. I’ve had all my children vaccinated and they have had no problem with it. So, you see, the vaccines are safe.”

Really, Doctor?? How can you say that there is no problem simply because your children did not have a problem? What about the role of genetic diversity? I would like to invite you to interview some of the parents whose children behaved in a normal fashion until they were vaccinated and then suddenly underwent profound behavioral changes consistent with autism. Why are we not hearing about those thousands of children whose lives were drastically altered after being vaccinated?

Vaccines are certainly not the only substances that can lead to autism. Recently in the news was the story of the mother who completely avoided vaccinating her son and yet, over time it became apparent that the son was autistic. The mother was angry that she had believed the opinions of the anti-vaccine groups and said her experience proves there is no connection between vaccination and autism.

The mother did not take into account that there are many environmental triggers for autism in genetically susceptible children. Her son’s autism was most likely triggered by substances other than vaccines.

So what is one to believe? Do vaccines cause autism or do they not? The truth lies somewhere between. Let’s introduce some science to the discussion.

When the genes in autistic children are examined, specifically the ones that code for detoxification, it becomes apparent that there are mutations in the genome that predispose these children to have serious problems clearing heavy metals, petrochemicals, solvents, pesticides, certain pharmaceutical drugs and other potentially toxic substances.

If these same autistic children with genetic mutations lived before the 1950s when chemicals began to saturate our lives, many of them would most likely have been normal in their behavior and cognitive skills.

With the study of epigenetics, we have learned that, in most cases, genes are not our destiny—with a few exceptions. While our genetic code itself does not change, the expression of the various genes can be either turned on or off by the proteins that surround the DNA. In order to turn a gene off or on, a trigger is needed to interact with the protein that surrounds the gene, much like a key in a lock. Those triggers that turn the expression of the genes off and on are usually environmental. In other words, if the children diagnosed as being autistic had lived before World War II, most of them would have been totally normal because the defective genes would not have been activated by toxic substances.

There are a multitude of potential triggers for autism. The adjuvants in the vaccines, such as mercury (thimerosal), aluminum, and formaldehyde, can have a devastating effect on children predisposed to have a problem with toxic substances. The heavy metals, when injected, have direct access to the brain. Injected mercury and aluminum can cause brain inflammation, destruction of neurons in the brain, over-activation of the immune system, decreased cerebral blood flow, and mitochondrial dysfunction, as well as many other reactions.

The National Institute of Health, a bastion of mainstream medicine, published an article showing evidence of parallels between mercury intoxication and the brain pathology found in autism. Click the link below to read the abstract.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22810216

So, how are parents to know if their children will be susceptible to the harmful side effects of the vaccines? The answer lies in genetic testing which, at this point, is in its infancy. There are no rapid tests available at this time that would give instant results, Many of the genetic tests are expensive. The more affordable genetic tests, like 23andme.com, leave the customer with a lot of raw data that is difficult to translate into useful information.

In summary, there is indeed a relationship between vaccines and autism in some children, in spite of what the public hears in the media. However, it is not only vaccines that can trigger autism in genetically susceptible children, there is a long list of potentially toxic substances in our environment that can result in the same neurological effects as the vaccines. Until genetic testing becomes more user-friendly, it is difficult to determine who is in the small percentage of people for whom the vaccines can be extremely harmful.

On a slightly different note, I remember in my college psychology class learning about autism and discovering it was a very rare disorder back then in the 1960s, thought to be related to psychiatric problems caused by “lack of appropriate parenting by the mother,” a theory popularized by Bruno Bettelheim’s book about autism, The Empty Fortress:Infantile Autism. His caricature-like image of the “refrigerator mother,” was a pernicious theory that was taken up by mainstream media and turned into accepted truth through mere repetition. 

In these times, it takes some effort to uncover unbiased research so that we can make truly informed decisions, instead of parroting what we hear in the media, repeated over and over until we stop questioning.

In case I rattled your brains with this blog post, below is a peaceful picture of my backyard taken at the first morning light, with the wisteria creeping up my porch and the deep, purple lilacs in the background.

 

May you be peaceful and may you be happy—in spite of it all.

Erica