Do Vaccines Cause Autism?
Picture this; you are the new parent to a perfectly healthy baby. You and your spouse could not be any happier. Like all parents know, in the first months and years of a baby’s life it is crucial that the baby see a doctor and receive a variety of different vaccines to help and prevent them from future illnesses. Like the good parent you are, you take your child to all the appropriate check ups. For the first year of your child’s life they are growing and developing as a normal child should. You take them to their one-year check up. The doctor asks some questions and then administers the required vaccines. You think everything is fine and then BAM over the next few days you notice your child is acting strange, is not responding to you like they used to, or has lost skills (like motor skills) that they used to have. You find this very abnormal, so you rush your child back to the doctor. After months and months of different doctors running series of tests and behavioral analyses, your child is diagnosed with Autism. You think how could this be? My child was developing perfectly fine up until their one-year check up. What happened at this doctor’s visit that drastically changed my child? Some people think that some vaccines that children receive in their early years are the cause of Autism.
Vaccines being the cause of Autism is one of the largest ongoing debates surrounding this disease. Although it isn’t set in stone that vaccines are or are not the cause, there have been many studies done to prove that they are, but on the other side there have been many studies done to prove that they aren’t. That is why there is so much controversy and uncertainty surrounding this issue.
For example, much of the controversy started in the late 1900s after Dr. Andrew Wakefield found a connection between gastrointestinal inflammation and the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. This quickly led to another finding, which is stated in an article by Ethan A. Huff. It says, “A 2002 study published in the Journal of Biomedical Sciences, for instance, observed a causal effect between the MMR vaccine and autism, particularly with regards to the measles portion of the vaccine. The researchers from Utah State University concluded that MMR is capable of inducing an abnormal measles infection in some children, which in turn can lead to neurological problems that fall under the umbrella of ASD”(Autism Spectrum Disorder). Another part of that study also linked vaccines that contained aluminum as being an aggravator of Autism.
In contrast, many studies have also shown that vaccines aren’t to blame. For example, an article by Susan Brink stated three separate studies where this occurred. It says, “Two studies commissioned by the U.K. Department of Health found no evidence that immunizations were associated with autism. In 2001, a panel of 15 experts from the Institute of Medicine, which advises Congress, found no connection between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. In 2004, a comprehensive review by the Institute of Medicine found no causal relationship between vaccines and autism.”
Since studies on this matter have resulted in different opinions, it has started many debates including those from celebrities. One of the most out spoken celebrities on this matter is Jenny McCarthy, an actress and model who has a son with Autism. She is a strong advocate of vaccines causing Autism. She wrote a book titled Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism. In the book she states that she feels some vaccines are the cause and that toxins should be removed from children vaccines. Besides the book, she also got her view across by starting a movement where she went throughout the country talking at conventions and rallies trying to get toxins removed from vaccines. The picture below shows her at one of these rallies.
It is hard to decide what side to believe since there is evidence pointing to both views. I don’t want to believe that toxins in vaccines are causing Autism in children, but I do know that when I have children of my own someday, I will be very cautious when taking them for their check ups.
Sources:
http://www.infowars.com/nearly-two-dozen-medical-studies-prove-that-vaccines-can-cause-autism/
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