What are your thoughts on what causes Autism?!
Question: What are your thoughts on what causes Autism.?
My niece has Autism and my sister believes it's genetic. If you think it's vaccines have something to back it up because that's almost been eliminatedHealth Question & Answer
Answers:
One of the strongest mechanisms proposed so far is via antibodies from the mother crossing the placenta and attacking developing nerve cells - because developing cells express growth factors and proteins that are not present in the mother. Moreover, when those proteins do show up in an adult, they generally mean a cell is cancerous, and so the immune system attacks them.
What antibodies you produce has a very high genetic component. Every person has a few hundred copies of the V, C, J and D genes. These are randomly shuffled about(not completely randomly, you get several of each letter in each antibody) to produce an antibody. Which kinds of VCJD you have determines what kinds of antibodies you can make - for example there are some people who can make antibodies against HIV that are so potent that they never develop AIDS, however, most people do not have the correct combination of genes.
The idea of maternal antibody involvement is the subject of an enormous amount of research right now. For one, it works based on theory almost perfectly. For another, it works in non-human primates as perfectly as we are able to measure (it's hard to measure say, language skills in monkeys).
And you're right. The vaccine (and thiomersal) theory has been discredited to the point where there might be a handful of cases on the planet where they played even a minor role. The exact metabolism of thiomersal was also unclear for many years, but has recently been nailed down quite well. Thiomersal is broken down into the relatively harmless Ethyl Mercury, which can be spat out by the kidneys damned fast, and more importantly is not broken down into toxic methyl mercury, or dissociate into free metal mercury. Think of the difference in toxicity of methyl alcohol (wood alcohol or rubbing alcohol) and ethyl alcohol (what's in beer and wine) as a comparison. One's a vicious poison, the other's not harmful at all unless you spend a couple decades inundating yourself with it.
Edit: Precious few things are purely genetics, but in even if the above case holds out, that is, it's the real mechanism, the mother would still have to be -producing- the antibodies, not just have the ability to do so potentially. There's no data on how prevalent such antibodies are in the general population in fact, but theoretically they should increase as you age. The immune system is always going about and quenching cancerous cells from the day you're born, so in theory, in the whole population autistic births would correlate with the age and health of the mother (more time, poorer health = more opportunity to generate such antibodies). Of course, this is only a general trend, but it's one we do see.
Since such spontaneous generations of cancerous cells are .. beyond random. That's not to say it can't or doesn't happen outside of that trend, to young, otherwise healthy women, only that the above is more frequent.
When we look at autistic brains in imaging studies, we see alterations, structures that aren't there that are supposed to be. Under functional imaging we see different behavior. There's precious few things that can go in and do that -outside- of development with such specificity and regularity. Actually there's only one that comes to mind that can go into a formed brain and precisely alter one structure: herpes simplex encephalitis.
The anatomical differences in autistic brains are relatively consistent and vary with severity according to the severity of the disease. The fact that these are altered, consistent and not outright destroyed rules out virtually every environmental component. The most they could do is very weakly alter what's in there already.
So far the maternal Ig theory does the best to explain everything. There are others, but none so comprehensive.Health Question & Answer
What antibodies you produce has a very high genetic component. Every person has a few hundred copies of the V, C, J and D genes. These are randomly shuffled about(not completely randomly, you get several of each letter in each antibody) to produce an antibody. Which kinds of VCJD you have determines what kinds of antibodies you can make - for example there are some people who can make antibodies against HIV that are so potent that they never develop AIDS, however, most people do not have the correct combination of genes.
The idea of maternal antibody involvement is the subject of an enormous amount of research right now. For one, it works based on theory almost perfectly. For another, it works in non-human primates as perfectly as we are able to measure (it's hard to measure say, language skills in monkeys).
And you're right. The vaccine (and thiomersal) theory has been discredited to the point where there might be a handful of cases on the planet where they played even a minor role. The exact metabolism of thiomersal was also unclear for many years, but has recently been nailed down quite well. Thiomersal is broken down into the relatively harmless Ethyl Mercury, which can be spat out by the kidneys damned fast, and more importantly is not broken down into toxic methyl mercury, or dissociate into free metal mercury. Think of the difference in toxicity of methyl alcohol (wood alcohol or rubbing alcohol) and ethyl alcohol (what's in beer and wine) as a comparison. One's a vicious poison, the other's not harmful at all unless you spend a couple decades inundating yourself with it.
Edit: Precious few things are purely genetics, but in even if the above case holds out, that is, it's the real mechanism, the mother would still have to be -producing- the antibodies, not just have the ability to do so potentially. There's no data on how prevalent such antibodies are in the general population in fact, but theoretically they should increase as you age. The immune system is always going about and quenching cancerous cells from the day you're born, so in theory, in the whole population autistic births would correlate with the age and health of the mother (more time, poorer health = more opportunity to generate such antibodies). Of course, this is only a general trend, but it's one we do see.
Since such spontaneous generations of cancerous cells are .. beyond random. That's not to say it can't or doesn't happen outside of that trend, to young, otherwise healthy women, only that the above is more frequent.
When we look at autistic brains in imaging studies, we see alterations, structures that aren't there that are supposed to be. Under functional imaging we see different behavior. There's precious few things that can go in and do that -outside- of development with such specificity and regularity. Actually there's only one that comes to mind that can go into a formed brain and precisely alter one structure: herpes simplex encephalitis.
The anatomical differences in autistic brains are relatively consistent and vary with severity according to the severity of the disease. The fact that these are altered, consistent and not outright destroyed rules out virtually every environmental component. The most they could do is very weakly alter what's in there already.
So far the maternal Ig theory does the best to explain everything. There are others, but none so comprehensive.Health Question & Answer
There is a great deal of research that implies a gene-related cause for autism. For example, the rates of autism in the public is approximately 1.5 in 1000, but families with one autistic child have a 5 percent chance of having another autistic child. In fact, the majority of autism experts think that autism is the most likely to be inherited of all the neurobiological disorders.
The most persuasive evidence is the studies completed involving twins. Studying twins can help to identify a genetic link for a condition by analyzing the differencein frequency rates of the complaint in identical (monozygotic) and fraternal (dizygotic) twins. If a disorder is genetic in origin, the frequency rate will be significantly elevated in monozygotic (identical) twins, since they share the very same chromosomes. In the majority of such studies researching autism, the frequency of autism is as much as 90% higher in monozygotic (identical) twins than in fraternal (dizygotic). Health Question & Answer
The most persuasive evidence is the studies completed involving twins. Studying twins can help to identify a genetic link for a condition by analyzing the differencein frequency rates of the complaint in identical (monozygotic) and fraternal (dizygotic) twins. If a disorder is genetic in origin, the frequency rate will be significantly elevated in monozygotic (identical) twins, since they share the very same chromosomes. In the majority of such studies researching autism, the frequency of autism is as much as 90% higher in monozygotic (identical) twins than in fraternal (dizygotic). Health Question & Answer
Here is your over-whelming proof. The doctors who are reversing autism, as in ridding the symptoms, as in the children are no longer disabled and now go to regular shool with no modifications, like mine now do -- say that the cause of autism is from toxins and pathogens, mainly by vaccines and zoonotic infections like lyme and Bartonella. The toxins are from all over the place: dental fillings, air, food, water, vaccines, etc. Cell phones and wireless gadgetry, flourescent lights, etc. make the pathogens grow and decrease the body's ability to fight these toxins. Thus, since these doctors are successfully treating autism, they may just be also correct in their causal beliefs.
On the other hand, the doctors who say it has nothing to do with vaccines, also are the ones who say you are doomed to have autism forever. So the bottom line is: are you going to waste your time going to mainstream doctors who take your money and do nothing for you but add to your ill health, or are you going to go to doctors who are getting results. What's even more shocking is that many of these children recovered were done so by parents, no doctors, but by herbs and such. Thus, the Internet world is not the same world portrayed by media and mainstream medical. My children no longer have autism and that's the bottom line. Are vaccines involved.? Do some googling. You can even just google what the CDC says about vaccines and freak out. You will be shocked to your bones on how ineffective they are, how they only last 5 to 10 years, how they are made from aborted fetuses, and I don't even want to tell you rest. Just go google, and have some Kleenex. You Tube has some terrific videos as well.Health Question & Answer
On the other hand, the doctors who say it has nothing to do with vaccines, also are the ones who say you are doomed to have autism forever. So the bottom line is: are you going to waste your time going to mainstream doctors who take your money and do nothing for you but add to your ill health, or are you going to go to doctors who are getting results. What's even more shocking is that many of these children recovered were done so by parents, no doctors, but by herbs and such. Thus, the Internet world is not the same world portrayed by media and mainstream medical. My children no longer have autism and that's the bottom line. Are vaccines involved.? Do some googling. You can even just google what the CDC says about vaccines and freak out. You will be shocked to your bones on how ineffective they are, how they only last 5 to 10 years, how they are made from aborted fetuses, and I don't even want to tell you rest. Just go google, and have some Kleenex. You Tube has some terrific videos as well.Health Question & Answer
My opinion is that the more vaccines they give 'em, the higher the autism and other brain abnormalities in this country. This CAN be denied and REFUTED by the Medical community since they have all the power, but the reality is that the first statement above is more FACT than fiction/opinion and MORE BELIEVEABLE than anything someone in medicine says. Just remember that those in the Pratice of Medicine is doing just that: Practicing Medicine!
I grew up on an Island of 2,000+ people and knew everybody. And the most important thing is that I spent 23 yrs of my life on that Island without a doctor or nurse on it. There was NO CANCER, NO BRAIN DEFECTS, NO IBS, NO Parkinsons, No Alzheirmers, etc.. Many people reached and surpassed 100 yrs of age...... We had very POOR diets that included frying foods in hog lard and coconut oil. And to top it off I ate no less than a dozen eggs weekly! Everybody had 2 good habits: Eating seafood and Drinking Lots of coffee!!!!!!!!!
I suggest you do a search of coffee and brain, or coffee liver, coffee parkinson or cancer........I have been perplexed why people live so long on that island and ARE MUCH healthier/stronger than people here in the USA which is why i did the searches on coffee. Now ask yourself why Doctors are so vocal about keeping Americans from drinking coffee.?
I put my doctor on the same level as the guy fixing my car......If I don't get sick, then he or she doesn't get paid!Health Question & Answer
I grew up on an Island of 2,000+ people and knew everybody. And the most important thing is that I spent 23 yrs of my life on that Island without a doctor or nurse on it. There was NO CANCER, NO BRAIN DEFECTS, NO IBS, NO Parkinsons, No Alzheirmers, etc.. Many people reached and surpassed 100 yrs of age...... We had very POOR diets that included frying foods in hog lard and coconut oil. And to top it off I ate no less than a dozen eggs weekly! Everybody had 2 good habits: Eating seafood and Drinking Lots of coffee!!!!!!!!!
I suggest you do a search of coffee and brain, or coffee liver, coffee parkinson or cancer........I have been perplexed why people live so long on that island and ARE MUCH healthier/stronger than people here in the USA which is why i did the searches on coffee. Now ask yourself why Doctors are so vocal about keeping Americans from drinking coffee.?
I put my doctor on the same level as the guy fixing my car......If I don't get sick, then he or she doesn't get paid!Health Question & Answer
Heritability contributes about 90% to the risk of a child developing autism. There is also a theory that suggests agents or chemicals that cause birth defects. As you said the thought the vaccines cause autism are very controversial.Health Question & Answer
It is my strong belief that the majority of autism (remember that autism is a spectrum disorder, covering many potentially different things) is caused by environmental toxins. When my brother was a baby he developed normally, even a little ahead of schedule. Then he got his MMR shot. We had lots of home videos of him, and he always interacted with people and the camera. Just a couple of days after his MMR shot, he stopped making eye contact. My brother is now almost 14 and is severely autistic, with very little communication. There is no doubt in my families minds that it was caused by the shot (and believe you me, we are pretty much autism experts, having, over the last decade or so, read the majority of research on it). We believe that early childhood vaccinations are one of the greatest environmental toxins that these children come in contact with and pose a horrendous threat (here is a video that comedically exposes some of the usual vaccine ingredients .?v=SIjm9w_-t..." rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch.?v=SIjm9w_-t... ).
Of course, the worst toxin in the vaccine is mercury, which is included in the preservative Thimerosal, a preservative which is 50% mercury by weight. Mercury is an extremely toxic- in fact, it is the second most toxic element, after plutonium. Depositing just 1/25th of a teaspoon of mercury into a 60-acre lake could contaminate the lake to the point that fish caught there would be unsafe to eat. Mercury causes brain damage by stripping the neurons in the brain of their protective sheath ( .?v=IHqVDMr9i..." rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch.?v=IHqVDMr9i... ). Incidentally, most classic autism symptoms identically mirror those of severe mercury poisoning. Further evidence linking involved a study in an Amish community in Pennsylvania. Because of religious reasons, almost all Amish children do NOT receive vaccinations. According to national statistics, there should have been over 130 people with autism among the Amish community. Instead, there were only two found- and they had both been vaccinated. The current MMR vaccine *officially* doesn't contain Thimerosal (as my brother's did)- but it still is used in the manufacturing process. Now, I do not believe that vaccinations are the only environmental toxins that cause autism, but I do believe that they are a major, if not the leading cause.
Most people have the ignorant, misconceived notion that the primary goal of vaccinations and the pharmaceutical industry in general, is to help people. Their primary, if not only, goal is to make money (if you don't believe me, just research how much money pharmaceutical lobbyists spend in D.C. and watch a few of the countless, omnipresent drug commercials). Many people argue that all the "official" studies have not linked vaccinations with autism (or any other harm, for that matter). Who do you think funds these studies, funds the hospitals where they are conducted, helps fund the universities where the doctors are taught.? That's right- pharmaceutical companies. The doctors are indoctrinated from the infancy of their medical careers that drugs/vaccines are infallible, and that lesson is repeated countless times. My uncle is a doctor and I have been "entertained" by countless stories of gifts given to him and his colleagues by pharmaceutical reps. Most studies done on the subject are one-sided and their results skewed. And any free-thinking doctor who realizes differently and tries to speak out about it is often blackballed by the medical community as a whole. "Why", one might ask, "Would anyone try to do this, to intentionally maim or children.?" I do not believe there is any plot to disable children- the reason simply boils down to two factors. One, the way that they are producing vaccines is the cheapest way (and we already established that is all about money). Two, if they ever admitted fault or had the toxicity of vaccines proven (proof that was universally accepted, that is), there would be the most massive class action suit that this country has ever known. Many pharmaceutical would be put out of business by such litigation and massive fiscal payoffs to the injured children and their families. Plus, the universal trust in vaccines and the obligation to get them (real or imagined) would vanish. That would a massive blow to the industry. Just imagine if you had a company that cheaply produced and sold at a huge profit a product that people were REQUIRED to acquire. That is exactly what vaccinations are to the pharmaceutical company- a colossal source of income. And they are NOT going to give that easy money up. No matter what the cost to the people who receive the shots.
I do not want to come across as a conspiracy theorist, but that is the honest state of things. We know countless people with autistic children and many doctors who echo what we say, but we are drowned out in the overwhelming denial by the "official" contingent of the medical community, and those who thoughtless accept and regurgitate back what that community and the mHealth Question & Answer
Of course, the worst toxin in the vaccine is mercury, which is included in the preservative Thimerosal, a preservative which is 50% mercury by weight. Mercury is an extremely toxic- in fact, it is the second most toxic element, after plutonium. Depositing just 1/25th of a teaspoon of mercury into a 60-acre lake could contaminate the lake to the point that fish caught there would be unsafe to eat. Mercury causes brain damage by stripping the neurons in the brain of their protective sheath ( .?v=IHqVDMr9i..." rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch.?v=IHqVDMr9i... ). Incidentally, most classic autism symptoms identically mirror those of severe mercury poisoning. Further evidence linking involved a study in an Amish community in Pennsylvania. Because of religious reasons, almost all Amish children do NOT receive vaccinations. According to national statistics, there should have been over 130 people with autism among the Amish community. Instead, there were only two found- and they had both been vaccinated. The current MMR vaccine *officially* doesn't contain Thimerosal (as my brother's did)- but it still is used in the manufacturing process. Now, I do not believe that vaccinations are the only environmental toxins that cause autism, but I do believe that they are a major, if not the leading cause.
Most people have the ignorant, misconceived notion that the primary goal of vaccinations and the pharmaceutical industry in general, is to help people. Their primary, if not only, goal is to make money (if you don't believe me, just research how much money pharmaceutical lobbyists spend in D.C. and watch a few of the countless, omnipresent drug commercials). Many people argue that all the "official" studies have not linked vaccinations with autism (or any other harm, for that matter). Who do you think funds these studies, funds the hospitals where they are conducted, helps fund the universities where the doctors are taught.? That's right- pharmaceutical companies. The doctors are indoctrinated from the infancy of their medical careers that drugs/vaccines are infallible, and that lesson is repeated countless times. My uncle is a doctor and I have been "entertained" by countless stories of gifts given to him and his colleagues by pharmaceutical reps. Most studies done on the subject are one-sided and their results skewed. And any free-thinking doctor who realizes differently and tries to speak out about it is often blackballed by the medical community as a whole. "Why", one might ask, "Would anyone try to do this, to intentionally maim or children.?" I do not believe there is any plot to disable children- the reason simply boils down to two factors. One, the way that they are producing vaccines is the cheapest way (and we already established that is all about money). Two, if they ever admitted fault or had the toxicity of vaccines proven (proof that was universally accepted, that is), there would be the most massive class action suit that this country has ever known. Many pharmaceutical would be put out of business by such litigation and massive fiscal payoffs to the injured children and their families. Plus, the universal trust in vaccines and the obligation to get them (real or imagined) would vanish. That would a massive blow to the industry. Just imagine if you had a company that cheaply produced and sold at a huge profit a product that people were REQUIRED to acquire. That is exactly what vaccinations are to the pharmaceutical company- a colossal source of income. And they are NOT going to give that easy money up. No matter what the cost to the people who receive the shots.
I do not want to come across as a conspiracy theorist, but that is the honest state of things. We know countless people with autistic children and many doctors who echo what we say, but we are drowned out in the overwhelming denial by the "official" contingent of the medical community, and those who thoughtless accept and regurgitate back what that community and the mHealth Question & Answer
It might be because mom was smoking or something while pregnant...just a thought.Health Question & Answer