A courtesy of Healing Touch Chiropractic and Dr. Gary Easter
Feburary 1st, 2005 New study reexamines the relationship between thimerosal and autism.
The study"Neurodevelopmental Disorders Following Thimerosal-Containing Childhood Immunizations: A Follow-up Analysis" just published in the peer-reviewed scientific/medical International Journal of Toxicology. The authors previously published the first epidemiological study from the United States associating thimerosal from childhood vaccines with neurodevelopmental disorders based upon assessment of the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database. A number of years have gone by since their previous analysis of the VAERS. The present completely open epidemiological study was undertaken to determine whether the previously observed effect between thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders rare still apparent in the VAERS as children have had a chance to further mature and be diagnosed with additional neurodevelopmental disorders. In the present study, a cohort of children receiving thimerosal-containing Diphtheria-Tetanus-acellular-Pertussis (DTaP) vaccines in comparison to a cohort of children receiving thimerosal-free DTaP vaccines administered from 1997 through 2000 based upon an assessment of adverse events reported to the VAERS database (online VAERS database updated through 28 February 2004) were evaluated. It was determined that there were significantly increased odds ratios (ORs) for autism (OR = 1.8 p < 0.05), mental retardation (OR = 2.6, p < 0.002), speech disorders (OR = 2.1, p < 0.02), personality disorders (OR = 2.6, p < 0.01), and thinking abnormalities (OR = 8.2, p < 0.01) reported to the VAERS database following thimerosal-containing DTaP vaccines in comparison to thimerosal-free DTaP vaccines. The present study provides additional epidemiological evidence supporting previous epidemiological, clinical and experimental evidence that administration of thimerosal-containing vaccines in the United States resulted in a significant number of children developing neurodevelopmental disorders. The authors concluded, "Despite, the recent conclusion from the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine that there is no evidence of relationship between thimerosal and autism, and that no further scientific research should be undertaken to evaluate to evaluate the relationship between thimerosal and autism, the results of the present study, taken with data recently published by a number of researchers, demonstrate a connection between mercury exposure via infant vaccinations and the dramatic increase in autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders in the United States. It is clear that the results of the present study, mandate that additional research should be undertaken, no only for autism, but other childhood neurodevelopmental disorders, by evaluating childhood mercury-associated exposures, especially from thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines." For a list of current vaccines that contain Mercury, Click Here Recently, California became the second state after Iowa to ban mercury in vaccines. In a recent Health Food for Thought I discussed the danger of mercury in vaccines in relation to the annual Flu Vaccine. The decision to vaccinate your child is a personal one with exemptions allowed for every state in the union. It seems to me that with this mounting evidence it would be prudent that if you did vaccinate your child that you would insist on mercury-free versions of the vaccines. Laughter Therapy Marines and the police The following is supposedly a true story relating a situation that actually occurred in Los Angeles. |