CDC: Mercury in Vaccines Damaged Your Child. Or Not.

If you were informed that mercury in vaccines might double the risk of your son developing motor tics, increase his risk of "phonic tics" by nearly two-and-a-half times, and possibly cause speech, attention or behavioral problems in school, would you still allow him to be injected with the heavy metal -- which, by the way, is 100 times more neurotoxic than that lead coating on his Chinese toys?

And what if your government's most trusted public health agency, the CDC, announced it had funded a study that replicated the findings of a 2003 CDC analysis, which also detected an association between vaccine mercury and tics, and that researchers were now suggesting "the potential need for further studies" between thimerosal and the neurological disorder?

And what if the investigators also said they detected a small but statistically significant association between early thimerosal exposure and impaired "behavioral regulation" in boys?

Or what if they said that increased neonatal exposure (28 weeks or younger) was associated with "significantly lower scores in verbal IQ scores in girls," and "significantly poorer performance" in articulation tests among all children?

And what if the authors further noted that speech problems were also found in the 2003 CDC study, where they said thimerosal exposure was associated with "an increased risk of language delays" at one test site?

Finally, what if those same authors claimed that their findings "suggest a possible adverse association between neonatal exposure to mercury and language development?"

You might think that the government was getting ready to admit that injecting organic mercury into newborn babies was a dumb idea.

But you'd be wrong.

Instead, brace yourself for some gauzy, reassuring reports in the upcoming media cycle about a New England Journal of Medicine study on thimerosal and "neuropsychological outcomes," in which, we are to believe, the connection is nil.

"Our study," the authors concluded, "does not support a causal association between early exposure to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines (and) deficits in neuropsychological functioning at the age of 7 to 10 years." They did not look at autism, ADHD or other major disorders.

On a conference call this afternoon from Atlanta, CDC officials gushed that these data offered nothing but "very reassuring news" about vaccine safety.

The associations found were "small," the investigators wrote, "and almost equally divided between positive and negative effects." In other words, for every "bad" thing associated with thimerosal, there was a negating "good" thing, such as improved finger tapping, or higher IQ scores among boys.

Indeed, the authors reasoned that the "higher scores on the performance IQ tests in boys" who received the most thimerosal, "makes it difficult to draw general conclusions about possible effects of neonatal mercury exposure from vaccines on intellectual abilities."

(If they really mean that thimerosal increases IQ levels in males, then sign me up for a double-dose flu shot this year).

But there might be another explanation. "Children who had been exposed to higher levels of thimerosal were more likely to have mothers with higher IQ scores," noted the authors, who did adjust test scores for maternal IQ -- though it's unclear if their study size, (1,040 kids), was large enough to accurately conduct such a precise statistical correction.

The study had several more flaws, any of which may have served to bring down the relative risks of neurological outcomes associated with increased levels of mercury exposure.

For example, 70% of the families selected for the study declined to even participate, yielding an unusually low response rate of 30% (the ideal is 70%) and data "that may have been influenced by selection bias," the authors conceded.

Next, any child born below 5.5 pounds was excluded from the study, which doesn't make sense, given that an 8 pound baby injected with the hepatitis B vaccine at birth was exposed to 35 times the EPA daily safety level for mercury, (calculated by bodyweight) while a 4 pound infant was slammed with 70 times the EPA level.

The authors also failed to adjust for any treatments these children received for their conditions. All kids were enrolled in major HMOs, where they presumably were eligible for an array of physical, behavioral and/or pharmaceutical therapies. Remember, these children were vaccinated between 0-2 years, but evaluated at 7-10 years. By not accounting for potentially years of speech and other therapies, the investigators "may have ameliorated the potential negative effects of thimerosal exposure," they admitted, and "could have biased the results toward the null hypothesis."

Despite these statistical pressures to drive the numbers downward, the associated risk for tics among boys was a real standout.

Boys who received the highest amounts of thimerosal in the first seven months of life were determined by evaluators to be 2.19 times more likely to have motor tics at age 7-10 years, and 2.44 times more likely to have phonic tics, than boys with the lowest exposures.

Any relative risk between exposure and outcome that exceeds 2.0, incidentally, is considered to be proof of causation in US courts of law.

The researchers did not differentiate between "transient" tics, which go away within a year, and "chronic" tics, which can last a lifetime. Nor did they distinguish between "simple" and "complex" tics.

I know the temptation is strong to think, "Well, it's just tics." But I suggest consulting the literature, which paints a more disturbing picture, especially if it's your kid we are talking about.

The Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders defines "simple" motor tics as "brief, meaningless movements like eye blinking, facial grimacing, head jerks or shoulder shrugs," that usually last less than a second. It says that "complex" motor tics cause slower, longer, more intense movements, "like sustained looks, facial gestures, biting, banging, whirling or twisting around, or copropraxia (obscene gestures)."

On the phonic side, "simple" tics are called, "meaningless sounds or noises like throat clearing, coughing, sniffling, barking, or hissing." Complex phonic tics include, "syllables, words, phrases, and such statements as 'Shut up!' or 'Now you've done it!' The child's speech may be abnormal, with unusual rhythms, tones, accents or intensities."

There is also the "echo phenomenon," (so familiar to autism parents) characterized by "the immediate repetition of one's own or another's words." Coprolalia, meanwhile, is a tic "made up of obscene, inappropriate or aggressive words and statements."

Severe behavioral problems are sometimes associated with tics, as well, and "there is some evidence that temper tantrums, aggressiveness, and explosive behavior appear in preadolescence and intensify in adolescence."

Finally, many children with both phonic and motor tics are diagnosed with Tourette's disorder, which frequently causes "aggressiveness, self-harming behaviors, emotional immaturity, social withdrawal, physical complaints, conduct disorders, affective disorders, anxiety, panic attacks, stuttering, sleep disorders, migraine headaches, and inappropriate sexual behaviors," the Encyclopedia says.

(Interestingly, Tourette's disorder is three-to-four times more common in males than females, the same ratio as autism, ADD and ADHD).

Now, if "simple" tics include head jerks and barking; and "complex" tics can entail biting, banging and screaming obscenities; and if thimerosal can more than double the chance of tics in boys; then Atlanta, we have a very big problem.

It's perplexing that the CDC can report replicating a doubled risk for tics in boys, and an increased risk for speech disorders and attention and behavior problems in other kids, and still insist that this is all "very reassuring news."

I posed the question on the conference call today, and got nothing even resembling an answer (an opinion that was backed up by a producer from ABC News Nightline).

So I will ask it again here.

Given that the CDC has just reported that thimerosal might increase the risk for tics among boys, how is it possible, in addition, to publish the following two phrases within the same report?:

"The findings...suggest a possible adverse association between neonatal exposure to mercury and language development."

AND

"Our study does not support a causal association between early exposure to mercury...and deficits in neuropsychological functioning."

Comments

[faithandhope]

Thank you for pointing out the association between vaccines and increased risk of tics especially in boys. My son has presented with tics since age 3 1/2 and I fully believe that the same issues that are a contributor to bringing out autism in some vulnerable kids are involved in triggering tics and tourettes. I bet there are many more cases of tics in kids since thimerisol has been used in vaccines than are actually known, since the "studies" are usually geared toward providing evidence for autism....Mr. Kirby, I wonder of this is a subject that should get more exposure, as many of us parents are looking for answers for our kids with tics as well...but I bet after parents of kids with tics start coming out of the woodwork, the CDC will never quote that statistic in the study again!

[cmw]

Thank you very much for bringing to attention tics & vaccines. I have had tics for 17 years and was fully vaccinated as a child. At the age of 2, I suddenly stopped eating all of my favorite foods and became very oral hypersensitive along with other sensory issues. As soon as I started talking, I had very bad articulation problems. Eventually, I started to have tics. I've been chelating using Transdermal DMPS for the past 2 years and have had great benefits especially with sensory issues. I'm anxious for research to be done on children and adults with tics regarding vaccines.

[mics]

Thank you for bringing more attention to the connection of neorological problems such as tics and vaccines. I hope this will bring about further research to make vaccines less harmful. My son began tics such as rapid eye blinking and chorea finger movements at thirteen months with high fevers. This was four days after he had his DTP shot in 2003. I've always wondered if there was a connection between his infant shots and his neurological trouble. He was also jaundiced at birth and was given shots. Everytime he's been vaccinated since his tics return. Thanks for bringing attention to an important issue.

[KKTS]

My two son's, ages 10 and 14 have a tic disorder. They were fully immunized as infants.
Believe me, I have never been tempted to say “it's just tics.”
Thank you for providing information that parents struggling to help their children get well, can understand and bringing this issue to the fore. Tic disorders and their co morbid conditions, are an area that desperately need further research.
There are many who are eager for answers regarding this matter.

[lightandlove]

Heraldblog,

'You do have proof, don't you?"

I'm not sure what it would take for you to consider something as proof. Many parents are getting their asd kids back via chelation, monitoring the Hg (& sometimes other heavy metals as well) coming out of their bodies. Is that not some sort of proof in your lexicon? Even if only circumstantial? Or do you mean, like, a record of the batch number, etc?

[usna73]

Ifanyone who is seriously interested in protecting our children and bringing both truth and justice to this deabte, I implore you please to not react to headlines.

Thanks to folks like Mr. Kirby the subject requires much greater scrutiny, even to the admission of the CDC.

Please read this and especially the actual transcripts of the CDC:

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/09/thimerosal-ques.html

[BarbaraFischkin]

Thank you David.
Well put. The story,as you know so well, is always in the questions interview subjects don't answer. I am so glad you pointed that out.

[kwright]

i am so glad that i had decided against immunization for my children. that was three decades ago. as a child growing up in the fifties we were expected to get our shots before beginning school. it became the norm. there was little research for my generation. as a mother i had to be presented with more facts to justify doing this to my kids. i decided not to go the traditional route. they are all healthy and productive adults now. i'm glad i took my stand. i was aware of the risks involved and the only childhood illness they had was chicken pox. there was no vaccine for that back then and they did survive.

[realitytrumpsbull]

Hey, now, and I was just getting lined up for my 765 quinzillion-dollar lawsuit over that,
now what am I supposed to do about my SADD
(Selective Attention Deficit Disorder)?

[RaisingAwareness]

WHAT MERCURY LEVELS ARE CONSIDERED TOXIC:

Water contamination = 2 ppb (parts per billion)
Toxic Waste = 200 ppb
Fish = 1000 ppb


So how much in a infants vaccines?

50,000 ppb



http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6890106663412840646&q=vaccine&hl=en

[rng777]

The CDC continues to throw away the small amount of credibility they have left and soon will be on an equal par with the wacko tabloids.
Thank you David for exposing their deceptive study.

Richard

[wutsername]

Thank you, David, for continuing to represent the families of children with autism. You have done a beautiful job with this piece. It is unfortunate that many members of mainstream media have not taken the time to actually read the study and analyze the data. The reporting on this study has been pure double-speak.

[Olerist]

Contrive Deny Confuse

[usna73]

Correct. At the order of then Senate Majority leader Bill Frist. The single largest contributor to Frist camp was Eli Lilly Co. Original maker and licensor of Thimerosal. The defendant in our and countless other lawsuits.

[rmoffi]

I was stunned to read the CDC "study" actually suggested that thimerosal may have "increased the IQ in some boys".

This "suggestion" should be of major importance to Professor Phillippe Grandjean, Harvard University and the University of Southern Denmark, considered the foremost scientific authority on the development of children's brains, who recently claimed that the average human IQ is "plummeting" primarily due to IQ points being chemically destroyed via low level mercury exposure in children.

The idea thimerosal may actually "increase" a child's IQ is so preposterous it borders on criminality.

When will these "merchants of misery" finally fess up to having contaminated an entire generation of American children?