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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGuess the number of comments @ NJ.COM on "Autism continues to climb, with NJ rates now the highest"
Autism continues to climb, with NJ rates now the highest
By Kathleen O'Brien/The Star-Ledger
on March 27, 2014 at 1:00 PM, updated March 28, 2014 at 7:17 AM
The national autism rate continues its upward march, the federal government said today, with New Jersey leading the way.
One in 68 children are now diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder nationally — with boys nearly five times more likely than girls to have autism.
New Jersey’s numbers are even more startling: one in 45 children, with a boys’ rate of one in 28.
"It’s quite likely there is one boy with autism in every classroom," said Walter Zahorodny, director of the New Jersey Autism Study and professor at New Jersey Medical School in Newark. The girls’ rate in New Jersey is one in 133.
The new numbers compiled in 2010 and just released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the rate has more than doubled since the CDC’s 2002 survey.
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Source: http://www.northjersey.com/news/report-new-jersey-s-autism-rate-is-the-highest-in-the-u-s-1.752693
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LiberalEsto
(22,845 posts)I lived in NJ and worked as a reporter at the Star-Ledger in the 1980s.
We seemed to have a hazardous waste incident of some sort almost every other day in the county I covered. Either someone discovered dumped barrels of unknown substances on their land, or a truck carrying hazardous waste was in an accident and spilled some on the road, or there was a fire or a leak at a chemical plant. Or there was a leak of something nasty spilling from a landfill. And there were lots and lots of chemical plants and landfills and Superfund sites in the county. Heaven only knows what kinds of chemicals were in the soil, air and water.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Utah’s autism rate holding steady, but still above average
By Kirsten Stewart And Kristen Moulton | The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published Mar 27 2014 11:01 am • Last Updated Mar 27 2014 10:51 pm
Utah’s autism rate continues to be above average, but it’s holding steady at about 2 percent of the population as the national rate rises, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
One in 54 Utah children have been identified as having an autism spectrum disorder, according to an analysis of 2010 data.
That’s down from 1 in 47 in 2008, but still roughly 2 percent of the population, said Deborah Bilder, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Utah and one of the study’s principal investigators.
Among 11 sites monitoring autism for the CDC, only New Jersey has a higher prevalence, at 1 in 46 children.
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In Utah the autism rate in boys is about four times higher than in girls.
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proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)Since the 1960s, autism prevalence rates have skyrocketed from 4 in 10,000 children to a current reported rate of 1 in 88. The reason behind the rise, however, has remained unclear.
Now researchers are shedding new light on the trend by applying current diagnostic criteria to data from a 1980s study on autism prevalence in what’s believed to be a first-of-its-kind analysis.
The original study, published in 1989, looked at hundreds of Utah residents ages 3 to 25 who were suspected to have autism. Clinicians used DSM-III criteria to assess individuals as “diagnosed autistic” or “diagnosed not autistic” and ultimately found an autism prevalence rate of 4 in 10,000 in Utah at that time.
But when a research team from the University of Utah applied current diagnostic criteria from the DSM-IV-TR to records from participants in the two-decades-old study, they found that most who were deemed to be autism-free at that time would receive the label today.
http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2012/06/29/autism-surge-analysis/15957/
(snip)
Better diagnostic practices may explain these large hikes in incidence, says Maureen Durkin, professor of population health sciences and pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
“There’s much more awareness of autism,” say Durkin, who was not involved in the study. “There’s much more screening going on. And the newer generation of clinicians are being trained in this so they are more likely to see it.”
This increased attention to autism and its symptoms may also explain the rise in diagnoses of teenagers and adults.
An age-stratified analysis shows that children between the ages of 4 and 13 make up about 63 percent of the new autism cases. The fastest acceleration in new cases is in those diagnosed between 14 and 20 years of age.
Individuals diagnosed between 21 and 65 years of age account for about 9 percent of the new cases — but their proportion also significantly increased over the time frame of the study. Like girls, many of the adults are diagnosed with higher-functioning forms of autism, such as Asperger syndrome and PDD-NOS.
https://sfari.org/news-and-opinion/news/2014/rising-awareness-may-explain-spike-in-autism-diagnoses
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)it concerns the retroactive application of current criteria to diagnoses of autism in the relevant period. If it's been "disproven" it'll take more than your flat assertion; provide a link to a refutation of the conclusions, or a retraction by the authors.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)"...the burden of proof is upon anybody who feels that there is NOT a real increase here in the number of kids affected."
- Dr. Thomas Insel, Director of National Institute of Mental Health and head of Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC)
“The increase could be a growing number of children with autism or better screening or a combination of both,” said Dr. Coleen Boyle, the CDC’s director of the national center of birth defects and developmental disabilities.
Related: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014766480
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[/img] Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)I'm autistic. I was diagnosed as an adult after having received an ADHD diagnosis as a child nearly 20 years earlier. Asperger Syndrome was not then a thing. Neither was PDD-NOS or the other things now under the "Autistic Spectrum Disorder" umbrella. "Autistic" referred to classical Kannerian autism of the regressive/noncommunicative/nonverbal type. This is no longer the case and has not been the case since a period which coincides with the observed increase in prevalence. Just as the change in diagnostic criteria under DSM-V is predicted to lead to a lower prevalence of "autistic disorder" as some diagnoses previously under the "autistic" umbrella are recategorised as "Social Communication Disorder".
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)I am the first to admit that I personally would not know. I trust the analysis and judgement of the parents for collectively having the best intentions, highest integrity and greatest dedication to solving autism.
Yesterday
Head's Up. The CDC is delivering the latest round of autism numbers today. Unless a miracle has occurred they will be higher. And this is old data. This will reflect the rate among kids who were born in 2002 and were evaluated in 2010. Four-year old data. To describe the federal response to the autism epidemic as lackadaisical would be far too generous. It is actively negligent. And the most disgusting, and criminal, part of this epidemiology is that it is designed so that the old excuses cannot be ruled out. And we have heard those excuses for more than 20 years now. Twenty years. Changes in diagnostic criteria (which happened 16 years before these kids were evaluated), better case finding and diagnostic substitution will be trotted out once again providing the cover for the CDC, the pediatricians, the psychiatrists, and the federal government to pretend they are concerned, to fake taking action and ignore the worst pediatric epidemic in American history. And we aren't going to stand for this any more. Stay tuned.
Please share this message.
SafeMinds: Top Ten Things to Know about the CDC Report on Autism Prevalence
[center]A SafeMinds Statement – March 27, 2014
Top Ten Things to Know About the CDC Report on Autism Prevalence
A 29% increase in two years.
Not Just Genetics. Not Just Increased Awareness and Better Diagnosis![/center]
On March 27, 2014 the CDC published “Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children Aged 8 Years — Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 11 Sites, United States, 2010” (MMWR Surveillance Summaries / Vol. 63 / No. 2). The study finds the rates of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) of children born in 2002 have increased to 1 in 68, up from 1 in 88 of children born in 2000. With males five times more likely to develop autism, the prevalence rate increased from 1 in 54 in boys born in 2000 to 1 in 42 in boys born in 2002. SafeMinds is in the process of reviewing the most recent report but has these comments based on preliminary data presented to the autism community. A more detailed analysis will be available soon at http://www.safeminds.org.
Problems with the ADDM Data
1. No Unified Process: After a decade, the CDC has still not unified the review process among ADDM sites as it pertains to access to school-based health records, meaning there are site to site differences in the study. CDC notes that the lowest prevalence rates were found in states in which little or no access to education records was available (Alabama, Colorado, Missouri, and Wisconsin). When these four states are removed, total prevalence is 1 in 58, not 1 in 68.
2. Design Flaw: The CDC states that the study covers about 9% of the 8 year olds in the country, “the surveillance sites were not selected to be representative of the entire United States, nor were they selected to be representative of the states in which they are located” and considers this a weakness in the analysis.
3. Subtype Analysis Will Be Lost with Implementation of DSM-V: CDC provides that children with different subtypes or forms of autism are diagnosed at different average ages (autistic disorder: 48 months; ASD/PDD: 50 months; Asperger disorder: 74 months). The subtypes are different in the DSM-V redefinition of autism spectrum disorders and will change future ADDM reports again, making it difficult if not impossible to track trends over time. In this report, the CDC confirms that beginning in 2014 they expect rates of autism to decrease in the surveillance due to the new, more restrictive definition of autism spectrum disorders in the DSM-V
4. Still No Focus on Severity or Co-Morbid Diagnoses: While the current ADDM study reports declining intellectual disability in the portion of children for which they had data in some states, after a decade, the CDC has failed to address the severity of autism and co-morbid diagnoses in this surveillance. Severity factors are vital in planning for education and lifetime service needs. Co-morbid diagnoses are important in looking at causation, treatments, quality of life, and total health care costs.
5. Unable to Track Prevalence Data Over Time: The ADDM collection sites are determined every four years based on a competitive process and funding availability, and the collection sites constantly change which makes it difficult to track prevalence in the same states over time. This latest report is not an ‘apples to apples’ comparison to the previous ADDM network report. This report references the following states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Utah, and Wisconsin. States previously included, Florida, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania, are absent. There is also no evaluation of the high prevalence Somali Cluster in Minnesota.Problems with the reporting of the data
6. Inaccurate Information Regarding Thimerosal Exposure: Thimerosal was not completely removed from vaccines in 2002. The concerns regarding the use of mercury (thimerosal) in infant vaccines surfaced in July of 1999 and it took several years for manufactures to alter their production process to remove or reduce thimerosal content. Vaccines that were being made during these transition years that contained thimerosal continued to be released with 2 year expiration dates, which means children in this report were still receiving thimerosal containing vaccines. Infants in high risk categories were also recommended to receive flu vaccines with mercury starting at 6 months of age and annually thereafter. In addition, the CDC Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices recommends that all pregnant women receive flu vaccines during pregnancy of which the vast majority contained mercury. The fetus accumulates mercury at higher levels than the mother and exposure to mercury during pregnancy is documented to cause neurological harm. Therefore it is impossible to report that there is no association between mercury in vaccines and autism prevalence.
7. Refusal to Acknowledge the Role of Thimerosal Exposure: The CDC’s own original data uncovered by SafeMinds through FOIA over a decade ago showed that exposure to mercury in vaccines in the first 6 months of life (when comparing to zero exposure) increased the risk of developing autism 11 fold(1),(2). In 2000, SafeMinds published Autism, a Novel Form of Mercury Poisoning, which detailed the science confirming the similarity between the symptoms of autism and symptoms of mercury poisoning. Despite accumulating scientific evidence of the harm associated with exposure to vaccine levels of thimerosal from animal studies, CDC continues to utilize poorly designed epidemiological studies (such as this report) which are not designed to address the issue of thimerosal exposure, in order to quell public concern.
8. Refusal to Look at Environmental Causation Including Vaccine Exposure: Given that the ADDM researchers had access to medical records, a valuable opportunity to evaluate immunizations, adverse reactions, and the development of autism has been ignored. We have had two decades of lost opportunities, which shows no sign of changing. The paper states,” Other topics of interest focus on socioeconomic indicators as well as perinatal risk factors such as timing of conception, weight gain during pregnancy, parental age, and interpregnancy interval.” The CDC failed to mention the many other factors which studies are showing increases autism risk, including air pollution, pesticides, proximity to toxic release sites, and medications such as acetaminophen and anti-depressants. While the CDC/HHS continue to tell the public that there is no link between vaccine injury (and exposure to mercury) and the onset of autism, a study conducted by EBCALA(3) and published in the peer-reviewed Pace Law Review confirmed that the government has compensated at least 83 families in the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program whose child suffered a vaccine induced brain injury resulting in the onset of autism.
9. Inadequacies in Coordinating a federal response to Autism: While the CDC indicates in this report that the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) is the federal coordinator of autism activities, a recent GAO Report(4) found that the data provided by the IACC used to coordinate autism research activities was outdated, not tracked over time, inconsistent, and incomplete. These weaknesses limited the IACC’s ability to monitor its progress on its coordination and monitoring efforts—which, in prior work, GAO established as a best practice for inter-agency collaboration, as well as a federal internal control standard. In addition, these weaknesses limited agencies’ ability to use these data to identify coordination opportunities and avoid the potential for unnecessary duplication. This is among the reasons SafeMinds is asking Congress to provide accountability in the reauthorization of the Combating Autism Act this year.
10. CDC Repeatedly Fails to Acknowledge Autism as an Epidemic: Despite the dramatic increase in the number of children being diagnosed over the past two decades with autism, CDC continues to refuse to acknowledge autism as an epidemic. There is an urgent need for a coordinated federal response to the increase in the prevalence of autism and the development of a National Strategy that will address the increasing needs of our developmental disability service system, special education, vocational training, independent living and healthcare services that individuals with autism desperately need. Recognizing autism as an epidemic is the first step in mobilizing national resources to urgently address these ever increasing needs.
SafeMinds remains concerned that the CDC is not maximizing taxpayer provided resources. The ADDM data is slow to be published and has recognized flaws from the outset. CDC should only enroll states that allow access to school related data. CDC should keep the same states in the ADDM study through its duration so time trends can be observed. While the CDC is publishing the latest ADDM data, they have yet to publish any findings from the ten year old SEED study. Originally the SEED study was supposed to include a vaccine and thimerosal component. What are the findings in the SEED study and why have they not been published? The failure of the CDC to publish findings in a timely fashion points to their failure to treat autism like the national emergency that it is. The CDC has the ability to track flu cases in real time, but takes four years or more to publish autism data.
1] http://www.safeminds.org/research/library/GenerationZeroPowerPoint.pdf
2] http://www.safeminds.org/research/library/GenerationZeroNotes.pdf
3] http://www.ebcala.org/unanswered-questions
4] http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/659147.pdf
5] http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/documents/ADDM-2012-Community-Report.pdf
CHARTS AT LINK
More:
http://www.safeminds.org/about-2/executive-board/
http://nationalautismassociation.org/autism-now-affects-1-in-68-children-1-in-42-boys/
Mark Blaxill at AOA has undertaken a massive analysis over the years of this ADDM program.
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)Parents should not be deferred to because parent advocacy is significantly responsible for the mistaken focus on a nonexistent vaccine/autism link (for a start), along with the promotion of harmful quackery like Lupron and chelation therapy and much else besides. For instance see above re "thimerosal exposure". This is ignorant bullshit that needs to fucking stop. There is NO LINK between thimerosal and autism or vaccines and autism. Thimerosal in any case has NOT been in childhood vaccines in over a decade. Thimerosal was NEVER in the MMR vaccine, the one vaccine most closely associated with a hypothetical link to autism thanks to Andrew Wakefield's bogus paper that was retracted by the Lancet and that he got struck off the medical register for.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)As a matter of strict policy, with only very rare exceptions, any claims I post on this subject are backed by objectively solid citations with links included, all from the parents and the professional investigative journalists working with them. Please consider reading up on Hannah Poling (neurologist father and nurse/attorney mother), VICP (Vaccine Injury Compensation Program), and EBCALA (Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law and Advocacy), or don't, your personal choice, obviously. If the NYT devoted a mere 117 words to this story on page A18, none of it must be important or real, eh?
...EBCALA is a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing the legal needs of the autism community.
Members of EBCALA’s board published a peer-reviewed law journal article in 2011 finding that the VICP had compensated 83 cases of vaccine-induced brain damage that included autism. Those 83 cases were from a sample size of about 150 compensated cases, or less than 5% of the total number of 3,200 cases that the VICP has compensated since Congress created it in 1986.
This strong association between vaccine injury and autism in the VICP is irrefutable and in the public domain. This association stands in sharp contrast to the VICP’s rulings in the Omnibus Autism Proceeding’s test cases that found no causal relationship between vaccines and autism.
Congress must explore this apparent paradox. How can it be that vaccines cannot cause autism when a substantial number of cases the VICP has compensated over twenty-five years feature autism as a vaccine injury?
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Unanswered Questions
A Review of Compensated Cases of Vaccine-Induced Brain Injury
Executive Summary: In 1986, Congress created the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (1986 Law). This Program has original jurisdiction for children’s claims of vaccine injury. Because almost all children receive multiple vaccinations for daycare and school, it is critically important that the Program provides fundamental fairness, due process and transparency.
This empirical investigation, published in a peer-reviewed law journal, examines claims that the VICP compensated for vaccine-induced encephalopathy and seizure disorder. The VICP has compensated approximately 2,500 claims of vaccine injury since the inception of the program. This study found 83 cases of acknowledged vaccine-induced brain damage that include autism, a disorder that affects speech, social communication and behavior. In 21 published cases of the Court of Federal Claims, which administers the VICP, the Court stated that the petitioners had autism or described autism unambiguously. In 62 remaining cases, the authors identified settlement agreements where Health and Human Services (HHS) compensated children with vaccine-induced brain damage, who also have autism or an autism spectrum disorder.
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Unanswered Questions from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program: A Review of Compensated Cases of Vaccine-Induced Brain Injury
Mary Holland, NYU School of Law, Louis Conte, Robert Krakow, Lisa Colin
Recommended Citation: Mary Holland, Louis Conte, Robert Krakow, and Lisa Colin, Unanswered Questions from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program: A Review of Compensated Cases of Vaccine-Induced Brain Injury, 28 Pace Envtl. L. Rev. 480 (2011)
Andrew Zimmerman / Poling v HHS Exhibit 3
Published by Heather Rhodes White
In a second case Zimmerman was called to give his expert report on was Poling v. HHS. He revised his testimony, which was in complete contradiction from Cedillo v. HHS. His report to the Special Masters;
“The cause for regressive encephalopathy in Hannah (Poling) at age 19 months was underlying mitochondrial dysfunction, exacerbated by vaccine-induced fever and immune stimulation that exceeded metabolic energy reserves. This acute expenditure of metabolic reserves led to permanent irreversible brain injury. Thus, if not for this event, Hannah may have led a normal full productive life. Presently, I predict Hannah will have a normal lifespan but with significant lifelong disability."
DISCLAIMER: This does not apply to everyone with an autism diagnosis and certainly not you. I apologize if the discussion creates any distress.
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)Judges are also not scientists. And Hannah Poling? pre-existing mitochondrial encephalopathy. Not autism. http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/on-the-rebranding-of-autism-as-a-mitochondrial-disorder-by-antivaccinationists/
Citing a case of a child who isn't autistic to buttress the claim of a nonexistent link between autism and vaccinations? You have no argument. (Neither do the anti-vax nutters.)
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Just discovered that Andrew W. Zimmerman, MD (previously affiliated with Johns Hopkins University) is currently a member of the Dept. of Neurology, MassGeneral Hospital for Children Lurie Center for Autism, see http://www.massgeneral.org/neurology/doctors/doctor.aspx?id=18782 .
Zimmerman AW is the author of 89 publications on PUBMED, see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Zimmerman%20AW%5Bauth%5D , including the following case history written with Dr. Jon Poling, MD, PhD, the parent of a child with autism, see http://hannahcenter.org/page30.html.
It's outrageous to trust an assessment of their work by a crank oncologist with an agenda, Gorski. You're being punked.
J Child Neurol. Author manuscript; available in PMC Sep 15, 2008.
Published in final edited form as:
J Child Neurol. Feb 2006; 21(2): 170–172.
doi: 10.2310/7010.2006.00032
PMCID: PMC2536523
NIHMSID: NIHMS48754
Developmental Regression and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in a Child With Autism
Jon S. Poling, MD, PhD, Richard E. Frye, MD, PhD, John Shoffner, MD, and Andrew W. Zimmerman, MD
<>
Discussion:
To our knowledge, this is the first description of an autistic child with mitochondrial dysfunction, growth failure, and abnormal muscle histopathology without seizures or a defined chromosomal abnormality. This patient exemplifies important questions about mitochondrial function in autism and developmental regression. It is unclear whether mitochondrial dysfunction results from a primary genetic abnormality, atypical development of essential metabolic pathways, or secondary inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation by other factors. If such dysfunction is present at the time of infections and immunizations in young children, the added oxidative stresses from immune activation on cellular energy metabolism are likely to be especially critical for the central nervous system, which is highly dependent on mitochondrial function. Young children who have dysfunctional cellular energy metabolism therefore might be more prone to undergo autistic regression between 18 and 30 months of age if they also have infections or immunizations at the same time. Although patterns of regression can be genetically and prenatally determined,9 it is possible that underlying mitochondrial dysfunction can either exacerbate or affect the severity of regression. Abnormalities of oxidative phosphorylation can be developmental and age related and can normalize with time.10
<>
Andrew Zimmerman / Poling v HHS Exhibit 3
Published by Heather Rhodes White
In a second case Zimmerman was called to give his expert report on was Poling v. HHS. He revised his testimony, which was in complete contradiction from Cedillo v. HHS. His report to the Special Masters;
“The cause for regressive encephalopathy in Hannah (Poling) at age 19 months was underlying mitochondrial dysfunction, exacerbated by vaccine-induced fever and immune stimulation that exceeded metabolic energy reserves. This acute expenditure of metabolic reserves led to permanent irreversible brain injury. Thus, if not for this event, Hannah may have led a normal full productive life. Presently, I predict Hannah will have a normal lifespan but with significant lifelong disability."
Fiction fits here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014767639
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)are people claiming a mitochondrial disorder is autism (it isn't) and people claiming there is any connection between vaccinations and autism (there isn't). Please note that even your link cites the cause of Hannah Poling's disability as an underlying mitochondrial disorder which may have been aggravated by a reaction to vacination; this is not autism, as classically understood, nor has it anything to do with thimerosal (which isn't present in childhood vaccines and wasn't when Poling was vaccinated) or with the mooted mechanism of "vaccine-induced autism" posited by the quack Wakefield in his debunked and retracted paper (on the basis of falsified research while he held the patent to a single measles vaccine and was receiving money from a group seeking a link between vaccination and autism and thus had substantial conflicts of interest).
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)...or rather already has been. Gorski can't legitimately just make things up to contradict this. Similarly, efforts to confuse all the exciting scientific progress (by creating an incomprehensible garbled mess of buzzwords) will FAIL. Real action is happening within medicine. Watch closely there. Hey, so-called skeptics, try to mock these physicians without delegitimizing yourselves.
Prev Med. 2013 Mar;56(3-4):231-3. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2013.01.001. Epub 2013 Jan 15.
Physicians' confidence in vaccine safety studies.
O'Leary ST1, Allison MA, Stokley S, Crane LA, Hurley LP, Beaty B, Kempe A.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES:
To ascertain, through two separate surveys among nationally representative networks of pediatricians (Peds) and family physicians (FM): 1) physicians' reported level of confidence in pre- and post-licensure vaccine safety studies; and 2) changes in reported level of confidence from 2007 to 2010/11.
METHODS:
Two surveys were conducted in August to October 2007 and in November 2010 to January 2011. The survey response rates were 81% (FM, 79%, Peds, 84%, p=0.07) for the 2007 survey (691/848) and 66% (FM, 61%, Peds, 70%, p=0.003) for the 2010/11 survey (532/811).
RESULTS:
One in three family physicians compared to one in ten pediatricians in both surveys reported little or no confidence in pre-licensure vaccine safety studies (p<0.001). Compared to pre-licensure studies, higher percentages of both specialties reported a great deal of confidence in post-licensure vaccine safety studies in both years, and more physicians from both specialties reported a great deal of confidence in 2010/11 than in 2007.
CONCLUSION:
While most family physicians and pediatricians report confidence in post-licensure vaccine safety studies, one third of family physicians report little or no confidence in pre-licensure studies. More research is needed to better understand the reasons behind some physicians' lack of confidence in vaccine safety studies.
John Hiatt - Have A Little Faith.... in the medical profession.
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)Really. Anyone who believes there is a correlation between vaccination and autism is wrong, stupid, and dangerous. Do you know one of the things we DO know causes autism? Rubella in pregnant women. Which is on the rise because of paranoia fuelled by stupidity like this. Here's a helpful hint: there have been extensive vaccine safety studies conducted of commonly-administered childhood vaccines (including the MMR vaccine, which was introduced in 1988!) and these studies have concluded that there is no statistically significant link between vaccinations and autistic disorders. Conflating correlation (child manifests symptoms of ASD around the same age child is vaccinated) and causation (therefore vaccines must have cause child's autism) helps no-one. And it's frankly disingenuous and intellectually dishonest to be saying things like this when there have in fact been studies of the safety of the pertinent vaccines.
See here: http://jpeds.com/webfiles/images/journals/ympd/JPEDSDeStefano.pdf
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)This is not a simplistic situation, as confirmed by the CDC in this excerpt from their website. More at link. And, by the way, you may be in the Sunstein camp, I'm with the FLOTUS. Her speech followed his crushing editorial and left me elated.
Dr Wharton brings tremendous expertise & her customary wisdom & calm to complex leadership demands..."
“That's how we discover the truth,” she said to the crowd of about 200, which included a handful of officials from major universities in the U.S. and China. “That’s how we learn what’s really happening in our communities, our country and our world. And that’s how we decide which values and ideas we think are best — by questioning and debating them vigorously.”
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)So far? After repeated studies attempting to discover any link whatever? All the science says there is no correlation between vaccines and autism.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Voila.
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)supporting any correlation between vaccination and autism. Just one.
TheNutcracker
(2,104 posts)Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)TheNutcracker
(2,104 posts)lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)Published in the January 2009 issue of the journal Epidemiology, results from the study also suggest that research should shift from genetics to the host of chemicals and infectious microbes in the environment that are likely at the root of changes in the neurodevelopment of California's children.
"It's time to start looking for the environmental culprits responsible for the remarkable increase in the rate of autism in California," said UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute researcher Irva Hertz-Picciotto, a professor of environmental and occupational health and epidemiology and an internationally respected autism researcher.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)I'm wondering how much federal money is available for school districts with higher autism rates. Considering how corrupt New Jersey is, I wouldn't be surprised if a scandal emerged about rates being massaged, in some way.
jmowreader
(50,559 posts)I would like someone to do two map overlays: increases in autism prevalence since 2000, and states that have reduced state funding for education since Bush was installed. (I can't do them because the only research that's taken seriously is that done by someone whose name ends in Ph.D. and I don't have one.)
I have this weird feeling Title I money may be being used to replace state contributions and the easiest way to get it is to have a lot of autistic kids in your school...and since the autistic spectrum is so all inclusive, that's not hard.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)Cheers.
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)It's not a very effective tactic. Only 18% of special education costs are paid for by the federal government, and only 12% of students in a district can receive it, regardless of how many special ed students are in the district.
http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2014/03/07/lawmakers-fund-sped/19172/
hollysmom
(5,946 posts)But on the other hand, some say it could have to do with the diagnosis. More may be diagnosed with autism rather than other things, before I heard that word long ago as a child , I knew a family with "retarded" children, there was not specific diagnosis. I asked as I got older what was specifically wrong with these children. The parents could not tell me. We were brought over to play with these children, but they would not look at us or talk to us or even acknowledge we were there. This ended after several tries.
Fast forward to when I physically collapse at work from extreme stress (the job from hell, turns out everyone in the same job was either put on tranquilizers or was treated from severe stress - not just me)) . The doctors would not approve me going back to work until a psychiatrist approved that I could cope, so I had several sessions which culminated in the doctor declaring she thought I had either an extreme cases of ADHD or a mild case of Aspergers - she wanted me to be tested to find out which, she thought it was more likely to be Aspergers. My attitude is I was 56, too late. Not interested in a diagnosis or medication at that point. So I just wonder if the diagnosis is more common in NJ.
Steve Martines
(22 posts)ADHD has ballooned, yet some professionals say that doctors are simply diagonsing ADHD for things that are not it.
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)Given the fact that roughly one of every 30 boys has autism, I would expect a deafening level of discussion.
Changing diagnoses cannot entirely explain the increase.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090108095429.htm
reformist2
(9,841 posts)
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)I confirmed the bottom of the page placement and page number, but not the word count. Appalling, like the non-reporting on GMOs or protests by the NYT.
OTOH, the paper of record in NJ published their article on the front page of section 2. This article appeared online resembling an advertisement (I needed to use C+F to find it) and apparently only 23 readers commented. Typcally, over 500 comments are found on articles about CC. I don't think that necessarily indicates apathy, but it might, and it's sad, IMO.
ck4829
(35,077 posts)I'm picturing it as 0 meaning no autistic traits and 100 meaning all of them as clear as day.
This way, people who are on the very low end, who are probably more shy than anything else will be seen as just that. People who are higher on the axis can get easier access to help if they choose to get it. And a heavier amount of resources can be directed to those who are very high.
It will also help with research finding a cause, I'm willing to bet that as a person goes higher on the scale, we will see comorbid disorders, similar events during pregnancy and childhood, and more.
And as a scale it will also take away a large amount of stigma, I'm certain that a large chunk of the population would be somewhere on the very low end of behaviors and not just 0.
proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)Layoffs at Star-Ledger, NJ.com, other Advance newspapers top 300
By Star-Ledger Staff
on April 03, 2014 at 5:02 PM, updated April 04, 2014 at 6:51 AM
By Mark Mueller and Ted Sherman/The Star-Ledger
Imagine the potential for investigative reporting on autism in NJ by those 300 axed individuals if they organized and sought funding from families of the 12,000 children diagnosed with autism in NJ, and others.
"You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."
- Rahm Emanuel
