So, I was trying to catch up on my google news feeds tonight (keyword being try... I still have 544 headlines from the past month to go through, down from 587 when I started), when I ran across something interesting about John McCain. Now, those of you who know my style of blogging, I usually steer as far away as possible from politics, but this just irked me.
Apparently McCain has been supporting the supposed link between autism and mercury, and went as far as to say: "It’s indisputable that (autism) is on the rise amongst children, the question is what’s causing it. And we go back and forth and there’s strong evidence that indicates that it’s got to do with a preservative in vaccines." (ABC)
Before I start, let me state the disclaimer that I have a sister with autism. I am not saying this because I don't think it's real or whatever. I'm saying it based on my personal research into the subject because of my sister having the disorder.
There's quite a few problems I see with this statement. We'll start with the evidence, shall we? There is a single study showing that there is a link between autism spectrum disorders and the use of thimerosal (a preservative containing mercury) in childhood vaccines. Well, as far as I know, which is based on a senior seminar lecture last semester. The research OVERWHELMINGLY disagrees with the idea that thimerosal causes autism. Do a simple medline search and you'll see it.
The second is the idea that autism is on the rise. Now, this I have absolutely no evidence for. It is simply based on my own opinion. There are a multitude of health problems in our society today, including diabetes, obesity, and cancer. One hundred years ago, do you think it was possible to diagnose a brain tumor before death? We currently use MRI and CT scans to find those tumors. Because of those two technologies, along with many others, we can now find these diseases and treat them effectively.
Now, switch to autism. There is such a variability in the symptoms presented that it is sometimes difficult to diagnose, even now that we know more about it. So, rather than there being an epidemic of it (it being on the rise... same same), isn't it possible we're simply diagnosing it more often because we know more about it?
Finally, there's the fact that John McCain said this. He's a presidential candidate in pretty good standing. If he says there's 'strong evidence' the vaccines are causing autism, how many parents are going to believe him, just based on who he is? How many parents, then, are going to refuse to get vaccines for their children? How many children, then, are going to be at risk for contracting some really really nasty infectious diseases (including some life-threatening ones)? Do you see the problem?
My whole issue is that McCain probably heard this from one of his advisers rather than doing the research himself (and in this case, research amounts to doing a PubMed search). Do we really want leaders who talk about things so certainly when they don't have a clue about it?
Unfortunately, much of the "scientific studies" that our government uses when making recomendations aren't the most scientific. I have heard, though, that certain diet changes early in a child's life (like glutin free and stuff) can help reverse the symptoms of autism in some patients. I think this worked for Jenny McCarthy's son. From what I've read and heard, I'm convinced there must be SOME link between certain types of autism and external factors, we just need some more research, assuming that it is quality research.