Autism is a brain disorder that limits a person's ability to relate and communicate with the world and with other people. It first appears in young children. Some people can navigate their world, some have exceptional abilities, while others struggle to speak. Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) affect about one in 68 children, and strikes nearly five times as many boys as girls. (A visual guide to autism) Autism rates in developing countries have risen greatly in the past 20 years. For children born in 1992, according to the U.S. CDC, about 1 in 150 would be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. For children born in 2004, about 1 in 68 children would receive an ASD diagnosis. It’s hard to compare autism rates of the 1990s and 2000s with …show more content…
In 1995, a group of British researchers published a study in the Lancet showing that people who had been vaccinated with the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine were more likely to have bowel disease than people who had not received the vaccine. One of these researchers was gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield, MD, who went on to study a possible link between the vaccine and bowel disease by looking at that infection with vaccine virus caused disruption of the intestinal tissue that further led to bowel disease and autism. Over the next twelve years, the possibility of a link between MMR and autism was studied extensively. No study confirmed Wakefield’s findings, but instead many studies have not found a link between MMR and bowel disease or between MMR and …show more content…
I have done an extensive amount of research that shows that autism develops from a combination of genetic and nongenetic, or environmental influences. Research has shown that autism usually runs in families. Changes in genes increase the risk that a child will develop autism. If a parent carries one or more of these gene changes, they may get passed to a child. Other times, these genetic changes occur in an early embryo or the sperm and/or egg that combine to create the embryo. Most of these gene changes can not cause autism by themselves. They are just a huge factor to what can cause autism. How do these genetic and nongenetic influences cause autism? Many appear to affect critical parts of early brain development. Some appear to affect how brain nerve cells communicate with each other. Others appear to affect how entire regions of the brain can communicate. Research is continuing to look at this disorder with a way to cure and help people live normal
In 1999 a study was done in the United Kingdom to see if there was a link between the two. In this study, researchers compared children had had and had not gotten the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination. The study identified four hundred and ninety-eight cases of autism including core autism, atypical autism and Asperger syndrome in children born in the United Kingdom since 1979. There was an increase in cases by year of birth with no change after the introduction of the vaccination. There was also no age difference at diagnosis between the cases vaccinated before or after eighteen months of age and children that were never vaccinated. These results showed no temporal association between the onset of autism within one or two years after being vaccinated with MMR and developmental regression was not clustered in the months after vaccination. The data from these results does not support the connection between MMR and autism and if an association was to occur it was so rare it could not be identified. Many studies have been done over this topic but the results prove that it in fact does not cause autism. It is likely that this myth is strongly accepted because the symptoms of autism begin to occur around the same time as the child is to be vaccinated with the MMR
All the children had intestinal abnormalities. Before receiving the MMR vaccine, all the children had showed satisfactory achievement of their early milestones. Soon after receiving the vaccine, regression occurred in seven of the children. Wakefield’s results suggested that the direct cause of the children’s illnesses were the MMR vaccine. Based on the knowledge that I know now; Wakefield article is not accurate. There were many signs that pointed to this research being wrong. Some things discussed in “Vaccine War” were that all of the children studies in his research were referred to him by an attorney that was working on a case against the manufacturers of the MMR vaccine. Another major issue with Wakefield’s findings is that they are not able to be reproduced. A large part of research being credible is its ability to be reproduced in another study, and without that, the finding that he found are not sound. Because of the evidence the research may not have been correct, there was an editorial written stating that Wakefield’s findings that the MMR vaccine and autism were connected were fraudulent. This editorial also brings to light the fact that Wakefield relied heavily on the recall and beliefs of the parents and altered many of the facts about the patient’s medical histories in order to support his
Despite all the testing and approval process of vaccines, many people still mistakenly believe that vaccines cause autism, even in light of research that has disproven the notion. This evidences the difficulty of dispelling false statements once someone has accepted a falsehood, especially if it has scientific research backing the results. It also highlights the gullibility of the public at large to believe anything that medical research reports without questioning the findings. Unfortunately, the media attention such examples of junk science receive aids in convincing many of its truthfulness. The hype surrounding the belief that vaccines cause autism began in 1998 when Andrew Wakefield in the UK published an article in the Lancet linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR...
The main question is to why is there such an uneasiness around vaccinations? The answer is former Dr. Andrew Wakefield. Mr. Wakefield s a British former surgeon, known for his fraudulent 1998 research paper in support of the now-discredited claim that there is a link between the administration of the MMR vaccine and autism. He wrote two papers, both of which have been debunked. “Wakefield's hypothesis was that the MMR vaccine causes a series of events that include intestinal inflammation, loss of intestinal barrier function, entrance into the bloodstream of encephalopathic proteins, and consequent development of autism. In support of his hypothesis Dr. Wakefield described 12 children with neurodevelopmental delay (8 with autism). All of these children had gastrointestinal complaints and developed autism within 1 month of receiving MMR” (Immunization). After this first paper there was no real investigation into his findings until 2003, which gave ample time for panic to spread.
Since then many case-control studies have been done to investigate the relationship between vaccines and autism. This means, they compared a group which was vaccinated with a group that was not vaccinated but apart from that identical. They did not find MMR vaccines to be the cause of autism. Neither did they find an increased risk for autism by the vaccination.
Despite the doctors’ reassurances and mounting evidences about the safety and value of immunization, many parents are still wary about getting their children injected. Some even opposed it because they fear that the vaccine itself is not benign. It is often considered unnecessary in many cases because the illnesses don’t pose a big threat to the child’s life. However, others point out that they help eradicate many contagious illnesses and prevent many deaths. For example, polio and smallpox, once killed thousands of children, are eliminated because of the use of vaccines. There were many studies conducting to show whether it can trigger serious reactions and disorders. In 1998, Andrew Wakefield published an observation of 12 children that linked the measles, mumps, and rubella combination vaccine with intestinal problems which he believed led to autism. Once people heard this news, they become alarmed. However, many large studies had been conducted and found no association between the t...
As sickness struck person to person, rendering them helpless, it left sadness and tragedy across the world. As a result, vaccinations were created to prevent and put an end to diseases and the sorrow. The measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations (MMR), that are supposed to help are being questioned by people believing they are linked to Autism. Numerous studies have shown that there is no connection between the two. The holes and lies in this theory are prevalent when looking in depth at how this theory was established, whom it benefits if it's true, and the facts that disprove it.
The CNN article, “The end of the autism/vaccine debate?” done by Rope (2010), talks about how Andrew Wakefield, suggested that the MMR vaccine might cause autism. In the article you also come to learn that a lawyer who was going to court on behalf of parents who believed that the MMR vaccine cased their child’s autism paid Wakefield. Wakefield was found doing unnecessary painful procedures on children, and in 2010 was banned from practicing medicine. Unfortunately, this study did a lot more harm than good. This study put a lot of fear in parents and they refused to vaccinate their children because of this. Physicians now warn parent’s that refusing to vaccinate your child is not a risk-free choice and in some cases may even have deadly consequences.
Doctor Andrew Wakefield had written a paper in Lancet journal in 1998 which suggested that MMR vaccine causes autism. In his research, he found out that MMR vaccine was responsible for bowel inflammation that leads to the translocation of non-permeable peptides into the bloodstream. (American Academy of Pediatrics) This in turn carries them to the brain causing the root of autism spectrum disorder to form. His research was called weak by drug corporations, governments and media companies and was then discredited earning him a fraud reputation. His paper has since raised a decade long argument on MMR vaccine originating autism spectrum disorder. This has caused a lot of parents to withdraw their children from being vaccinated, which increased measles infections.
There is no known single cause of autism. Researchers are investigating a number of possible theories including genetics, heredity, medical problems, problems during pregnancy or delivery, as well as environmental influences. It is widely accepted that it is caused by abnormalities in the brain structure or function. There is evidence from neuropathological studies that autism has its origins in abnormal brain development early in prenatal life which continues postnatally, showing acceleration in brain growth measured by head circumference (Zwaigenbaum, L., Bryson, S., Rogers, T., Roberts, W., Brian, J., & Szatmari, P., 2005). The disorder also seems to have a genetic basis, although researchers have yet to find the specific genes that link to the onset of autism. There could be a cluster of genes that have somehow interfered with normal brain development and function. Studies show that twins of children with autism were more likely to be autistic themselves than the regular population, demonstrating there is a heredity lin...
...s teacher, classmates, friends and family members at risk. Immunization and vaccines save millions of lives each year. Vaccines imitate infection, but do not cause illness, what they do is cause the immune system to produce T-lymphocytes, antibodies and B-lymphocytes that will remember how to fight that disease in the future. The bacteria and virus’ that cause life threatening diseases still exist, but because of vaccination, there are 90% less cases of these illnesses in America today. Less than 1% of children have severe side effects to vaccinations. In the recent past many celebrities have chosen to voice their opinions regarding vaccinations. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has done extensive research on the link between the rise in the cases of Autism and vaccinations, since Wakefield’s 1998 study and has found vaccinations to be safe and effective.
In 2010, after an eight-year court process in the US federal vaccine injury compensation court it was concluded that the MMR vaccination did not cause autism in the six test cases that were examine by the court. Both theory one and theory two were found to be implausible (Kirkland, 237-261).
A common argument against vaccination is that it leads to childhood autism. While autism rates have significantly risen, there is no scientific evidence to back this claim. A 1995 study in which Andrew Wakefield, a gastroenterologist, was involved seemed to conclude that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine caused a bowel disease which lead to autism. Then, in 1998, he conducted another study stating that the measles virus was found in children vaccinated with the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. This research caused panic, and parents were refusing to vaccinate their children. However, it was discovered in 2004 that Wakefield was actually paid to conduct this "research" by attorneys that were attempting to make money through a lawsuit which, according
The Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine controversy started with the 1998 publication of a fraudulent research paper by Andrew Wakefield in The Lancet linking the combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine to colitis and autism spectrum disorders. However, this research has been proven to be a hoax according to multiple researchers. On the topic of autism and vaccinations Paul A Moffitt M.D, part of the Division of Infectious Disease at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine states (about research from the university) :
Vaccines against diphtheria, polio, pertussis, measles, mumps and rubella, and more recent additions of hepatitis B and chicken pox, have given humans powerful immune guards to ward off unwelcome sickness. And thanks to state laws that require vaccinations for kids enrolling in kindergarten, the U.S. presently enjoys the highest immunization rate ever at 77%. Yet bubbling beneath these national numbers is the question about vaccine safety. Driven by claims that vaccinations can be associated with autism, increasing number of parents are raising questions about whether vaccines are in fact harmful to children, instead of helpful (Park, 2008).