Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

Homeopathy is much more of a choice than people often think it to be. One of its philosophy’s greatest breakthroughs is the realization that the body is not an object but a process with no pre-ordained limits.Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

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The scorching, cruel heat of summer was just setting in the first year of the new century when Mr and Mrs Puri (not their real names) approached us with their only child Ravi (not his real name) who was then four. Two years earlier, at the age of two, he was diagnosed as being autistic. We tested him on the ATEC (Autism Testing and Evaluation Checklist) and his rating was in the moderate to high category. His problem was more in speech/communication and sensory/cognitive areas.
Besides the classical symptoms of autism, the symptoms that actually led us to prescribe Carcinocin were the history of an early eruption of teeth and hairiness. A leading characteristic of Carcinocin is the desire for milk. There are many symptoms – a sweaty head, when sleeping, and physical heat in general; difficulty in falling asleep; the desire for things salty and for chocolate-like energetic foods. Than there are internal restlessness and fidgetiness and love for dancing. Strong passion, sexuality and a very strong family history of cancer in the family are also noticed. The remedy was the boy’s similimum if there ever was one! Fitting him like a glove, the treatment has worked. Ravi has suffered no aggravation in the two years he has been on and off this remedy. The dosage chosen for him was similarly fitting – the LM dose. Positive results were obvious within the first month. Babbling turned into more formative words, hyperactive behaviour became rare and he started obeying simple commands. His self-stimulatory behaviour, too, was nearly gone. Very soon a big achievement came when Ravi started interacting with children and started playing with them. He is now five and is attending a normal school. There are still vestigial signs of his former autism though these are not really apparent to teachers or anyone else besides us (parents and the physicians). For example, his language is occasionally awkward. In moments of stress (e.g. if he is sick), he retreats into himself and utilizes echolalia as a speech strategy. To sum it up, none but the very discerning can make out that Ravi had this serious problem.

How is ASD diagnosed?
Autism is diagnosed by looking at a child’s behavior. Clinicians look at what the child is not doing enough of (e.g., speaking) and what they are doing too much of (e.g., repetitive behavior). There are several well-known diagnostic tools that are used to diagnose or confirm a diagnosis of autism. For example, The Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale (ADOS) and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS-2).Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

In addition, The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) provides standardized criteria to help diagnose ASD. The challenge is that each individual with an ASD diagnosis may have more or less of a challenge in each specific area, making their diagnosis unique compared to another individual with ASD.

Although you are likely familiar with the diagnostic criteria, we will list the broad criteria for you below. Please review the DSM-5 or speak to your child’s developmental pediatrician for more details in each area for further information.

Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts.
Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, as manifested by at least two of the following, currently or by history.
Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (but may not become fully manifested until social demands exceed limited capacities, or may be masked by learned strategies in later life).
Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning.
Autism is considered to be a spectrum disorder because some individuals may have autism with cognitive limitations, while others are only mildly affected by autism. Although ASD is a life-long disability, many individuals show significant progress with treatment, and have the ability to independently participate in learning, social, and community activities with typically developing peers (e.g., attend typical learning environments). For some individuals with autism, early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) can result in growth and learning so that, eventually, the individual no longer meets the criteria for autism.Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

Parents of children in today’s society are much different than those of different generations. They have young children present in a time where technology is advancing rapidly and controversies involving these advances been brought to attention. What most parents don’t know, is that even though they are trying to protect their kids by vaccinating them, there are claims that vaccinations can hurt them. Some parents of autistic children believe that the vaccinations that their child received, has caused their disorder. However, many these same parents are using this as a scapegoat to blame for their child’s disorder, since there is no official evidence supporting their claim. There is no relationship between autism and vaccinations. By undergoing any medical procedure, you are at risk for developing symptoms. But, symptoms do not include social disorders that are developed from causes unknown.

Autism is a developmental disorder found early in age that effects the brain, causing social interaction and communication impairments. According to the Center of Disease Control, “…1 out of every 68 children born in the United States in 2002 had autism spectrum disorder…” (“Vaccine Safety”). Unfortunately, there is no cure for autism, only treatments that consist of medications and visits with a behaviorist. There are no definitive medical tests that determine autism, since it is a psychological disorder; the diagnosis comes from observation of the individual’s social interaction, communication, and interests (“Autism Society”). Given that the disorder affects social and communication skills, it’s harder for them to play with other kids and live a normal young life. Parents obviously want the best of their child, and for them to live a long, healthy life, which can make the diagnosis of autism a very hard thing to deal with. One of the major realities that parents are facing is not knowing what the disorder entails and how their child developed it. Since vaccinations are given around the same age that autism can be developed, this is where the speculation came from.

As mentioned before, the ingredient in common vaccinations that is being speculated is Thimersal, a mercury-based component that is harmful to the central nervous system if taken in high doses (“Vaccine Safety”). When mercury is exposed in high measures, it has been known to cause behavior changes, irritability and incoordination, which are similar symptoms of autism. It was removed from all child vaccines in 2001 expect for one type of influenza vaccine in order for research to be conducted (“Vaccine Safety”). However, in 2004, the Immunization Review Safety Committee of the Institute of Medicine rejected the hypothesis of a casual relationship between Thimersal-containing vaccines and autism (Hurley).Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

This topic wasn’t really brought to media until famous actress and mother, Jenny McCarthy, spoke out about her beliefs regarding vaccinations. McCarthy’s son, Evan, was diagnosed with autism in 2005 after having multiple seizures (Kluger). She became involved in online support groups by trying to find answers to her son’s diagnosis. After finding information about how vaccines with mercury were being speculated, she took her beliefs to the media, explaining her son’s situation. According to McCarthy, she is not “anti-vaccine”, she’s against how many vaccines are given to children at such a young age. There is such thing as a “shot schedule”, which is the arrangement of vaccines given to kids. Over 20 years, the schedule has gone from 10, to 36 shots, which McCarthy believes is “too many, too soon”. Although her son is now recovering from autism, she speaks out to all parents by wanting to make sure that they are aware of what vaccines their children are receiving, and that they do have control in deciding what is acceptable and what’s not.

In 2011 there was a British study that was conducted by Dr. Andrew Wakefield that was retracted and identified as an “elaborate fraud” that has done long lasting damage to public health. The study said that once a child was vaccinated that they started to develop signs of autism days after the vaccination. However, the signs of autism were present before any vaccination was given, which concluded that this study was falsified just to provide some drama in the association between vaccines and autism. This study was considered fraudulent because it was deemed unethical, where the kids were paid to donate blood, specific children were picked for the study, not at random like most credible scientific study. So after this study came to light is when parents stopped vaccinating their kids. But, now that it has been identified as a “medical hoax”, these parents are left wary of what will happen to their children since they didn’t receive this vaccine when they should have (CNN Staff).Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

Since there is no legitimate evidence supporting these allegations that vaccines cause autism, we need to stop being closed off to vaccinating our kids. There are risks for symptoms with any sort of medical procedure, including getting a simple shot. However, that does not mean that any one shot in particular is going to cause your child to develop autism. As mentioned before, autism is a social disorder that is developed at a young age and takes months of diagnosing and observing to be done before any sort of conclusion is reached. In my opinion, these claims were made by confused and scared parents who wanted something to blame for their child developing this incurable disease. Autism support groups encourage parents everywhere to continue vaccinating their children because they prevent disease and sickness. Yes, the amount of shots that children receive nowadays has increased tremendously over time. But, that is only because of the medical and technological developments that our society has established.Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

There has been no medical evidence that supports these claims of autism being caused by vaccinations. Arguing against this topic would be pointless because there is no suggestion stating that it is a cause otherwise. As individuals in a new technological era, we have to accept the adjustments that come along with the modern lifestyle.

In these days of modern medicine, most children are vaccinated early in life for diseases such as rubella, measles, and tetanus. Vaccines have been perfected to shield and protect our body from seriously life threatening diseases that could have the potential to wipe out large populations. Most of America and a lot of western countries see vaccines as beneficial and a common necessity for their children and themselves. However, this view has not always been accepted. In fact, vaccines were only first widely considered to be helpful for diseases when a man named Louis Pasteur began experimenting with rabies. We will start our journey of microbiological history with the discovery of anthrax and move forward through the creation of Pasteur’s rabies vaccine. Rabies had been known about since 2000 B.C. but technology was obviously not advanced enough to try and do anything about the spread of the virus. In the year 1885, France and Belgium had become plagued with more and more cases of the rabies that the fear had soon began to become a very reasonable fear for people to have. This gave Louis Pasteur ample reason to research more about the virus. Pasteur had already done work six years earlier with the disease chicken cholera, a disease that was to blame for the elimination of chicken flock in France. Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

I would now like to enlighten the readers about the intricacies and the sensitive approach necessary for the homeopathic intervention. Autism poses a challenge to homeopaths. It needs a hardcore-Hahnemannian approach. Valuable symptoms including reaction to vaccines, family medical history, thermal sensitivities and sleep postures form a part of the very detailed information that a physician would need. For the parents whose kids are undergoing such intervention, the stimulus/reaction model of symptoms and its significance to the homeopath need to be clearly understood. As the autistic child experiences stress, he responds with a reaction. This reaction becomes a symptom or a sign of characteristic importance. The real challenge is to understand what the child is expressing both verbally (if he is articulate) and nonverbally. By fully perceiving the patient, one may learn to understand the individual?s cycle of stress and response. It is only through such a deep understanding that a homeopath is able to prescribe effectively. The improvement following such intervention also needs to be evaluated regularly on the autism-rating scale. The extent to which the treatment can occur has a great degree of variability associated with it. Two medicines require a special mention for their effectiveness in the treatment of autism Carcinocin and Baryta Carb . Baryta Carb is supposed stimulate the development of brain. This medicine has been found useful in cases of autism where signs of global developmental delay are present with the classical symptoms of the autism spectrum. Another important aspect of the homeopathic treatment of autism is the usage of LM potencies… Homoeopathic medicines in this scale are faster acting and at the same time gentler. It is able to hold the “slipping back” of the old symptoms and can be used for a longer period with frequent repetitions. Homeopathy is undergoing a very strong resurgence in the modern medical world, and one of the main reasons for it is its recent role in treating such illnesses. Homeopathic philosophy is a constant reminder that the greatest healing power lies within the body itself.Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Autism rates in developing countries have risen remarkably 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 (ASD). For children born in 2004, about 1 in 68 children would receive an ASD diagnosis.[1] It is difficult to compare autism rates from the 1990s and later with rates from the 1940s through the 1980s: in earlier years, autism was associated primarily with very severely affected individuals and the rate of autism was estimated to be only about 1 in 10,000 people.[2] Beginning in the 1990s, our understanding of the spectrum of autism has expanded greatly, and now individuals who would most likely previously not have been thought of as having autism may be classified with one of a variety of ASDs.[3]

Whether the high rates of autism today are due to increased diagnosis and reporting, changing definitions of autism, or an actual increase in development of ASD is unknown.[4],[5] Regardless, researchers and worried parents alike have speculated about causes of autism, and the issue has been widely studied. The role of vaccines has been questioned, along with other possible risk factors for ASD, such as genetic predisposition, advanced parental age, and other environmental factors. Vaccines have perhaps received more scrutiny that any other speculated cause of ASD, and the great majority of scientists, physicians, and public health researchers have come to the conclusion that there is no association between vaccines and autism.[6] Some, however, still question whether vaccines play a role in ASD development, and so the public health and medical establishments continue to address these concerns.Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

The MMR Hypothesis
The story of how vaccines came to be questioned as a cause of autism dates back to the 1990s. In 1995, a group of British researchers published a cohort study in the Lancet showing that individuals who had been vaccinated with the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR) were more likely to have bowel disease than individuals who had not received MMR.[7] One of these researchers was gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield, MD, who went on to further study a possible link between the vaccine and bowel disease by speculating that persistent infection with vaccine virus caused disruption of the intestinal tissue that in turn led to bowel disease and neuropsychiatric disease (specifically, autism). Part of this hypothesis – that vaccination was associated with autism – had been suggested previously a few researchers. For example, Fudenberg, in a small pilot study published in a non-mainstream journal, posited this relationship[8], as did Gupta in a review of possible treatments for autism.[9] This hypothesis had not been systematically investigated when Wakefield began to interrogate it.Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

In 1998, Wakefield, along with 12 co-authors, published a case series study in the Lancet claiming that they found evidence, in many of the 12 cases they studied, of measles virus in the digestive systems of children who had exhibited autism symptoms after MMR vaccination.[10] Though in the paper they stated that they could not demonstrate a causal relationship between MMR vaccination and autism, Wakefield suggested in a video released to coincide with the paper’s publication that a causal relationship existed between the MMR and autism: “…the risk of this particular syndrome [what Wakefield termed autistic enterocolitis] developing is related to the combined vaccine, the MMR, rather than the single vaccines.”[11] He then recommended that the combination MMR vaccine be suspended in favor of single-antigen vaccinations given separately over time. (Wakefield himself had filed for a patent for a single-antigen measles vaccine in 1997 and so would seem to have a potential financial interest in promoting this view.[12])

Reaction to the Wakefield publication was immediate. Press outlets covered the news widely and frightened parents began to delay or completely refuse vaccination for their children, both in Britain and the United States. MMR vaccination rates in Britain plummeted.[13]

Over the next twelve years, the possibility of a link between MMR and autism was studied exhaustively. No reputable, relevant study confirmed Wakefield’s findings; instead, many well-designed studies have found no link between MMR and bowel disease or MMR and autism.[6],[14]Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

In 2004, then-editor Dr. Richard Horton of the Lancet wrote that Wakefield should have revealed to the journal that he had been paid by attorneys seeking to file lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers.[15] In television interviews, Horton claimed that Wakefield’s research was “fatally flawed.”[16] Most of the co-authors of the study retracted the interpretation in the paper[17], and in 2010, The Lancet formally retracted the paper itself.[18]

Three months after the retraction, in May 2010, Britain’s General Medical Council banned Wakefield from practicing medicine in Britain, stating that he had shown “callous disregard” for children in the course of his research. The council also cited previously uncovered information about the extent to which Wakefield’s research was funded by lawyers hoping to sue vaccine manufacturers on behalf of parents of children with autism.[19]

On January 6, 2011, the BMJ published a report by Brian Deer, a British journalist who had previously reported on flaws in Wakefield’s work. For this new report, Deer spoke with parents of children from the retracted study and found evidence that Wakefield committed research fraud by falsifying data about the children’s conditions.[20]

Specifically, Deer reported that while the paper claimed that eight of the study’s twelve children showed either gastrointestinal or autism-like symptoms days after vaccination, records instead show that at most two children experienced these symptoms in this time frame. Additionally, while the paper claimed that all twelve of the children were “previously normal” before vaccination with MMR, at least two had developmental delays that were noted in their records before the vaccination took place.Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

After examining the records for all twelve children, Deer noted that the statements made in the paper did not match numbers from the records in any category: the children having regressive autism; those with non-specific colitis; or those showing first symptoms within days after receiving the MMR vaccine. The Lancet paper claimed that six of the children had all three of these conditions; according to the records, not a single child actually did. (See a table entitled “Comparison of three features of the 12 children in The Lancet paper with features apparent in the NHS records, including those from the Royal Free hospital” that breaks down the comparison between the Lancet numbers and the medical records in the Deer article here.)

In an accompanying editorial, BMJ editor in chief Fiona Godlee and co-authors Jane Smith and Harvey Marcovitch examine the damage to public health caused by a tiny study based on parental recall with no control group – a study that turned out to be almost entirely fraudulent, but whose impact continues to this day.[21]

Although the findings of Wakefield’s paper have long been discredited by scientists, the evidence that the data itself was falsified makes this report by the BMJ a landmark moment in the history of vaccines. Evidence is strong that the original study should not have been published not merely because it was poorly conducted, but also because it was a product of research fraud.

The Thimerosal Hypothesis
MMR is not the only vaccine or vaccine component that has been targeted for scrutiny by those who suspect vaccination might be related to autism. After the MMR controversy died down, critics turned their questions to thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative used in some vaccines. (Thimerosal had never been used in MMR, as antimicrobial agents are not used in live vaccines.[22])Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

In the late 1990s lawmakers, environmentalists, and medical and public health workers became concerned about environmental exposures to mercury, particularly from consumption of fish. With heightened attention to known and potential harmful effects of such exposures, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1999 requested that drug companies report on amounts of mercury in their products. The results for mercury in vaccines, in the form of thimerosal, exceeded FDA guidelines for exposures to the kind of mercury found in fish. Mercury in fish appears in the form of methylmercury, which is not readily metabolized and excreted in the human body. It is known to cause, at certain levels of high exposure, harmful neurological effects. The mercury in thimerosal metabolizes in the body to ethylmercury, a compound that, while not widely studied at the time, was thought to be much less harmful than methylmercury.[23]

The FDA had a dilemma: there were no recommendations for exposure to levels of ethylmercury. Should they apply the methylmercury guidelines to ethylmercury? Was there cause for concern about exposure to mercury in childhood vaccines? Unable to answer these questions immediately, together with the American Academy of Pediatrics and other groups, they called for vaccine companies to reduce or eliminate the use of thimerosal in vaccines. Additionally, studies were planned to investigate whether there were harmful effects in children exposed to the amount of mercury in vaccines.

Activists and others became concerned about the safety of thimerosal at this point, and they posited that autism could be an outcome of exposure to mercury in vaccines. The Institute of Medicine undertook a comprehensive safety review of the issue. Their preliminary report, published in 2001, stated that the committee did not find enough evidence to support or reject a causal relationship between mercury in vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders.[24] However, their final report, published in 2004, came to the conclusion that the large body of evidence gathered on the question since 2001 favored rejecting the hypothesis that mercury in vaccines was associated with neurodevelopmental disorders.[6] Since then, evidence from many studies has continued to support rejecting an association between thimerosal and autism.[25], [26]Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

Today, thimerosal is no longer used in most childhood vaccines, though some forms of influenza vaccine available in multi-dose vials may contain the preservative.[23]

Other Hypotheses
After thimerosal was removed from most vaccines, autism rates did not drop. Rather, they continued to rise.[1] Some vaccine critics shifted their attention from a hypothesized mercury exposure/autism connection to other targets. One such target is the number of vaccines given to children. Many vaccines have been added to the childhood immunization schedule since the 1980s, and some critics have voiced concern that this increase in vaccine exposure results in autism. However, no evidence of an association between increased exposure to vaccines and autism has appeared.[27] Others have focused on the aluminum adjuvant in some vaccines as a potential cause of autism. Yet the amounts of aluminum used in vaccines are small in comparison to other exposures to aluminum, such as in breast milk and infant formula. Aluminum in vaccines has not been implicated in any infant or childhood health problems.[28]

Most scientific and medical experts are satisfied that no connection exists between vaccines and autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Still, critics continue to question the issue. Not only do they question the relationship between MMR and thimerosal and autism, they bring up further culprits they believe might play a role in development of autism. Researchers continue to examine these questions, but there is no evidence that these factors play a role in autism development. Most autism researchers hold that the causes of autism are many and include genetic and environmental factors, but do not involve vaccines.

Here is some more info on autism. This article on autism was written by me in Tribune about 2 yrs years back.Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper

Autism is a childhood disorder that begins in early childhood (typically during the first three years of life) which affects the child’s communication skills, social interactions, and causes restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior in varying degrees. Autism (also called as autism spectrum disorder or pervasive developmental disorder) can range from severe to a very milder form. This mild form is called Asperger’s syndrome. The actual cause for autism is not clear. Autism in the first two years of life is slightly difficult to diagnose. Parents are usually the first ones to notice the symptoms, which in the first two years of life are otherwise slightly difficult to find out; usually it is the nonresponsive behavior in the first two years that may make the parents feel concerned. In cases where the child has been growing normally, his sudden withdrawal from social interactions, nonresponsive behavior along with losing that little amount of speech that he had gained initially, may lead the parents to get their toddler screened for this disorder. By the age of three, autism spectrum disorder can be clearly diagnosed. Children with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) may not follow regular developmental pattern like other kids of their age. Verbal and non verbal communication, social interaction and patterns of repetitive behavior (also called as fixations)-like being fixated with carrying some object in the hand all the time e.g. Sticks, pencils, soap suds, etc. Rocking, spinning, excessively arranging things in one line and Behavioral issues like hyperactive behavior and inability to understand emotions are a part of this disorder for some kids. Autism is nowadays called autism spectrum disorder as there is a huge variation of symptoms that the child might suffer from. Key features that should help the parents in identifying this disorder are child’s inability to babble or make meaningful gestures (like social smile, pointing to objects like fan etc,) by 18 months of age. Inability to speak even a single word by the age of two, having a poor or no eye contact, giving the impression as if he is hard of hearing when being called out to. The ‘not in tune’ behavior of the child is the most important differentiating symptom although it is not very easy for a lay person to identify it. Homeopathy for treating autism in kids is gaining quite a popularity all over the world. Clinical experience shows that results are much better when the treatment is started at an earlier age, even though at higher ages like six or seven some kids do show remarkable improvements; but Homoeopathic intervention at an early age(before much behavioral and emotional issues come up) has distinct advantages. One important aspect that I would clearly like to mention is the fact that results with homeopathy in treating autism are selective. This means that where one segment of kids may respond extremely favorable to the treatment others may fail to yield any relief. Even while treating with homeopathy the child needs to be rated on an autism rating scale. Periodical assessments on the autism rating scale are must to gauge the improvements in the child. Homeopathy is a holistic system of medicine; it takes into consideration the constitutional picture (complete physical and mental make up of the child) along with the necessary details of the disease while prescribing. Medicines that are very effective in treating autism are Carcinocin, Hyoscyamus, and Baryta Carb. The role of carcinocin in treating autism requires a special mention. This also does not mean that every child who has autism should be put on it; even for carcinocin to be prescribed the child has to fall within the drug?s constitutional picture Vaccination And Autism Develop In Children Essay Paper