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Study Finds Genetic Link Between Autism and Vaccines
When I first heard about people making a connection between Thimerasol and autism, I was skeptical. I didn't dismiss the possibility out of hand, but the anecdotal evidence consisted of parents taking their apparently normally developing child in for the scheduled MMR vaccine (which up until 1999 used Thimerasol as a preservative), and seeing the onset of autistic behavior shortly thereafter. My reaction was to see two equally likely possibilities: 1) the Thimerasol really was a trigger (it's mercury based, and the symptoms of autism are nearly identical to the symptoms of mercury poisoning), or 2) the first noticeable symptoms of autism just happen to appear right around the same time that children normally get the MMR vaccine.
So what did studies find out about a causal link? Well, pretty much every study so far showed no evidence whatsoever of any link. Then there came this most recent study, linked to above. In a nutshell, this newest study consistently saw a connection between Thimerasol and autistic behavior in only one particular strain of lab mice. Presumably that strain all has the same genetic tendencies, which differ from those of other strains. That would explain the mixed results of earlier studies, and combined with the anecdotal evidence coming out of California (which is seeing the first month-to-month drop ever in the reporting of new cases of autism just as the first children to receive MMR vaccines without the Thimerasol preservative are coming into the system) this could be major news.
And then if you combine this with the results of the genome study currently underway, there is the potential for a huge breakthrough in the understanding of autism within the next year.
Here's a theory: there exists a particular gene (or combination of genes), more common in boys, that leaves a child more susceptible to neurological damage during the phase of development around the end of the first year when the brain is growing rapidly and building neural connections. An exposure to any kind of mercury compounds (say from Thimerisol or from the mercury pollution readily absorbed into the body tissue of tuna fish), combined with this genetic predisposition, results in poorly developed neural connections. Sara ate a *lot* of tuna while she was pregnant; she craved it constantly and ate a seemingly endless supply of tuna sandwiches and tuna salad. Tuna is notorious for being particularly prone to absorbing any mercury in the water. For most people, the levels of mercury in tuna is too small to pose any significant danger, but what about a developing fetus with this particular set of genes?
Of course, that's just a theory and it means nothing without the scientific research to back it up. It entirely likely that, like any other theory, it is completely wrong. Or kind of right, but wrong in the details. I don't know. But what I do know is that the pace of research is moving so rapidly that I may know the answer before I make the last payment on my current auto loan.
When I first heard about people making a connection between Thimerasol and autism, I was skeptical. I didn't dismiss the possibility out of hand, but the anecdotal evidence consisted of parents taking their apparently normally developing child in for the scheduled MMR vaccine (which up until 1999 used Thimerasol as a preservative), and seeing the onset of autistic behavior shortly thereafter. My reaction was to see two equally likely possibilities: 1) the Thimerasol really was a trigger (it's mercury based, and the symptoms of autism are nearly identical to the symptoms of mercury poisoning), or 2) the first noticeable symptoms of autism just happen to appear right around the same time that children normally get the MMR vaccine.
So what did studies find out about a causal link? Well, pretty much every study so far showed no evidence whatsoever of any link. Then there came this most recent study, linked to above. In a nutshell, this newest study consistently saw a connection between Thimerasol and autistic behavior in only one particular strain of lab mice. Presumably that strain all has the same genetic tendencies, which differ from those of other strains. That would explain the mixed results of earlier studies, and combined with the anecdotal evidence coming out of California (which is seeing the first month-to-month drop ever in the reporting of new cases of autism just as the first children to receive MMR vaccines without the Thimerasol preservative are coming into the system) this could be major news.
And then if you combine this with the results of the genome study currently underway, there is the potential for a huge breakthrough in the understanding of autism within the next year.
Here's a theory: there exists a particular gene (or combination of genes), more common in boys, that leaves a child more susceptible to neurological damage during the phase of development around the end of the first year when the brain is growing rapidly and building neural connections. An exposure to any kind of mercury compounds (say from Thimerisol or from the mercury pollution readily absorbed into the body tissue of tuna fish), combined with this genetic predisposition, results in poorly developed neural connections. Sara ate a *lot* of tuna while she was pregnant; she craved it constantly and ate a seemingly endless supply of tuna sandwiches and tuna salad. Tuna is notorious for being particularly prone to absorbing any mercury in the water. For most people, the levels of mercury in tuna is too small to pose any significant danger, but what about a developing fetus with this particular set of genes?
Of course, that's just a theory and it means nothing without the scientific research to back it up. It entirely likely that, like any other theory, it is completely wrong. Or kind of right, but wrong in the details. I don't know. But what I do know is that the pace of research is moving so rapidly that I may know the answer before I make the last payment on my current auto loan.
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