Over the past 30 years, toxic chemicals, like Teflon, plastics, and formaldehyde have increasingly invaded our homes. We used to think these substances were harmless, but a rising tide of evidence has turned the spotlight on chemical exposures as a possible poison to our children's developing brains.
One group of substances of particular concern is a ubiquitous family of hormone twisting compounds, known as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). These substances are the focus of intense scrutiny because: 1) they're found in every home in America 2) they're increasingly linked to human disease 3) our exposure to them has risen in parallel with the surge in autism diagnoses and 4) they may theoretically affect the developing fetal brain.
In recent years, research has mounted against a virtual police lineup of EDCs, like BPA (in food cans, hard plastic water bottles), phthlates (in soft plastics, cosmetics) and fire retardants (in sofas, computers, flame-resistant clothing). Multiple animal and human studies have linked EDC exposure (during or after fetal development) with a host of hormone-related disorders, like low sperm count, cancer (breast, ovarian, prostate, testicular), congenital malformation of the genitals and even obesity.
In 1996, pediatricians and other concerned scientists convinced Congress to order the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to test hundreds of chemicals for endocrine disrupting effects. The Clinton administration began the process of designing these tests, but the Bush administration defied the law. It ignored this mandate to protect the public health...and organized medicine watched impotently from the sidelines. Today, ten years and tens of millions of dollars later, not a single chemical has been evaluated for endocrine disrupting effects!
Our exposure to EDCs is no mere theoretical concern. In 2000, a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study found detectable phthalates in 99.9% of adults including women of childbearing age. The CDC also discovered detectable levels of BPA in 93% of thousands of Americans tested (6 years of age and older).
The presence of EDCs in women of child-bearing age is especially worrisome. That is because there is evidence that even minuscule amounts of these chemicals -- levels commonly present in a woman's body -- may disturb fetal brain development during highly sensitive periods of neural development known as windows of vulnerability.
The US National Toxicology Program has stated that it is concerned about the "effects on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and children at current human exposures to bisphenol A."
Furthermore, since multiple different EDCs have the same effect on the developing body, exposure to a variety of EDCs may create a large cumulative stress to the body. (In the CDC study quoted above, 84% of adults tested had more than 6 different phthalates coursing through their bodies...and that study didn't even test for the presence of other EDC, e.g. pesticides, fire retardants, etc.)
Are Children with Autism..."Male-adjusted"?
Our increasing exposure to EDCs lends support to a new hypothesis about the cause of autism, called the "extreme male theory." This theory, proposed by Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen and colleagues, speculates that autism is caused by something changing a fetus' hormonal balance that then leads to over-masculinization of the developing brain.
Could that "something" be the slurry of hormone-altering chemicals we're exposed to every day? Are EDCs the reason autism-type disorders are 4-9 times more common in boys? (Vaccine side effects never show such lopsided impact on boys versus girls...a glaring fact that is totally ignored by those promoting the vaccine theory of autism.)
The "extreme male theory" has been supported by two interesting bits of evidence: 1) fetuses with slightly elevated levels of testosterone grow up acting extra-male (more interested in things than people, slow language development, etc.); 2) children with autism -- boys and girls -- show extra-male characteristics (e.g. poor social ability, language delay).
Here is where the very interesting link to EDCs comes into play: EDCs often act as weak estrogens and estrogen feminizines the body, but in a fetus' developing brain estrogen actually has the opposite effect...it causes masculinization.
For now, these ideas are just interesting theories, but the evidence is concerning. We urgently need more research to discover whether EDCs, or other chemicals, are linked to the worldwide rise in autism. Fortunately, on that front, there is very good news to report. Thanks to a dedicated group of pediatricians -- members of groups like the AAP and CDC -- the National Children's Study (NCS) was launched in January 2009.
Originally designed during the Clinton presidency, the NCS survived 8 years of Bush administration attempts to defund and demolish it. But today, the new administration has committed over $3 billion to carrying it out.
The NCS will establish over one hundred study centers across the US to test the blood of 100,000 newborns for scores of synthetic chemicals, including many EDCs. (Workers have already begun going door-to-door enrolling pregnant moms into the program.) For the next 21 years, scientists will carefully follow the children's health, comparing the body burden of chemicals at birth to diseases developed later in life.
The NCS may be our generation's best chance to solve the autism riddle. It is exactly the type of study needed to tease out the subtle relationships that may exist between autism and chemicals.
Fortunately, it won't take 21 years to start getting answers. Within 3-4 years, we expect to have enough data accumulated to start detecting what chemicals might be linked to autism. The NCS will also search for correlations between chemical exposures and other increasingly frequent serious illnesses, such as, diabetes, leukemia, brain tumors, prostate/breast/ovarian cancer, lymphoma, congenital malformations, infertility, attention deficit disorder...perhaps even Parkinson's disease.
Beside the NCS, I support other new studies to look at: 1) the autism risk in vaccinated vs. unvaccinated kids; 2) the metabolism of vaccine ingredients (like aluminum, added to make shots work better), 3) more accurate determinations of the true incidence of autism. (The number of kids getting autism is unclear. Some studies suggest that much of the autism spike is just a labeling shift: kids who used to be labeled "mentally retarded" increasingly are being labeled as "autistic.")
In conclusion, I thank all parents for their concern and interest and I especially want to salute activist parents for standing up and making their voices heard on behalf of their children...and all of our children.
Parents have the immensely important duty to nurture and raise their young children. Mastering scores of scientific studies and arguing science with biochemists or toxicologists is a great challenge that should not also be their responsibility. It's unfortunate that our nation's insufficient response to the autism surge has forced so many parents into this position. But, now is the time for all of us to join together to solve this very serious burden on our families, our economy and our collective future.
In case you missed the first two parts in this series, here are links to Part 1: Vaccines and Autism: A Proven Trigger or A Terrible Coincidence and Part 2: Good Common Sense About Vaccines and Autism.
Dr. Harvey Karp is a world renowned child development expert and America's most read pediatrician. Creator of the bestselling DVDs and books, The Happiest Baby on the Block and The Happiest Toddler on the Block, his work has literally revolutionized our understanding of the needs of young children.
The Happiest Baby teaches how parents can calm even the fussiest babies in minutes...or less...and help any baby sleep an extra one to three hours per night. The Happiest Toddler teaches a new way to communicate with children eight months to five years of age that can quickly prevent 50-90 percent of tantrums and boost a toddler's patience and cooperation in just days!
Dr. Karp’s work is taught in hundreds of hospitals, clinics and military bases across the US and has been featured times on shows like Dr. Phil, Larry King Live, The View and Good Morning ... no wonder the NY Times celebrated his work by proclaiming "Roll over Dr. Spock!"
For more information about Dr. Karp and his work, please visit: www.happiestbaby.com or follow him on facebook
The Happiest Baby On the Block: Super Soothing Sleep Sounds
The Happiest Baby On the Block DVD
The Happiest Toddler On the Block
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http://www
But I think we all know that will never happen.
In health,
Jock Doubleday
Director
Natural Woman, Natural Man, Inc.
A California 501(c)3 Public Benefit Nonprofit Corporatio
http://www
director@s
It's a shame a few people here are trying to cover for him & attacking you.
He showed his true colors by avoiding you & so did those foolishly commenting on his behalf.
Thanks for trying.
Truth is out & these people will stoop to any level they can to try & keep up the charade.
Some are guilty in knowing they're lying but others are innocent in that they're plainly & simply duped.
http://www
Don't listen to anyone.
Test your kids for mercury posioning. There's no harm in testing.
But this reminds me of when some of you said you avoid informatio
One on your side foolishly said that word turned them off & they didn't read the post because of it.
That's ridiculous & explains sort of how some can remain so ignorant in this day & age.
By the way VD, it is in Webster's dictionary
Look it up!
"Frankenfo
No harm in spending thousands of dollars on something that has been scientific
They didn't even remove it back when they said they did to get it down to trace levels, either.
They said they did but they lied & people know it.
I can see science really opening up.
Obama Nominates Francis Collins to Lead NIH
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Here's Dr. Collins' Wiki file:
http://en.
Here's his website:
http://www
Part of the stimilus package is 10 billion to NIH for research. If there's ever a time to get research done for autism, it would be now while they have extra money.
Dr. Collins seems to me to be level headed and people orientated
As far as religion goes. I believe in both God and science but not blindly. I think both need some level of faith to accept answers and move forward. Plus, both have changed radically over the years so I assume they will also change in the future. Both have evolution.
A claim is scientific if it is falsifiabl
An uneducated person might think magic is real. Not because of their beliefs but because of their lack of knowledge in physics or mechanics. And there is a graduated scale from uneducated to trained.
At what point on that scale do we accept things as fact? Everything should be questioned well beyond their stated facts. History proves we are always wrong.
They mislabaled the atom and Einstein is still questioned
Do we have facts proving we know the most about these subjects at this time or do just use faith?
The best protection against quackery and nonsense is the scientific method, which is self-corre
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Meth houses- mercuric chloride is one component of meth cooking.
Fluorescen
At work, I have to dispose of flourescen
There are millions of CFL's out there each with a minute amount of mercury in them. It's like we are going backwards.
Up until this point, we have always assumed that vaccines work. Why?
Is it because after you get the vaccine, you stay healthy. Well that's simply correlatio
We are told that devolping autism after vaccinatio
If (to quote you) 'because after you get the vaccine, you stay healthy' was the nature of the studies, then yes it would be only correlatio
I would also suggest you actually go read up on how vaccines work.
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Garth L Nicolson is a true hero for speaking up - we need more ethical Scientists and more medical profession
I wonder how the rest of them sleep at night. Some of 'um are just as ignorant as their pharmaceut
I want to take this opportunit
Thank You!
They know, we know, what we know & probably are afraid of what's to come next.
I know I would be "very afraid" if I was one of them, responsibl
If they're smart, they'd take their blood money & run while they can.
I meant to thank the profession
They will be the heroes who help us bring this chapter to it's much needed close.
Over at the new link>
http://www
They're saying Mother's having autoimmune disease is linked to autism.
It seems reasonable to think that this, too, was more likely than not, caused by toxins such as are & were in vaccines & damaged those Mother's in the first place.
Then all the increase we see now in the children with autism is understand
My "God" it's right in front of our faces so why do some choose not to see it?
It's crazy!
When will this argument end & we work together & demand the clean up of these toxins that are just everywhere
Yes, including & especially in the vaccinatio
Does the same apply the other way around? Will persons who consistant
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Each time more & more informatio
"Military guinea pigs"
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All kinds of wonderful conspiracy theories here!
http://adv
"Videos of the Maine CDC Autism Conference
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The one thing that struck me in the first video is how we can track swine flu so closely and develop a vaccine so quickly but can't tell you one up-to-date thing about autism.
We've come a long way baby & those like Ginger Taylor are helping get us to where we need to be.
How in the world did you get that out of what he was really saying?
He was comparing the tracking of one to the not so much of the other. He was referring to the work, the effort, the research that went into each.
Am I missing something? You attacked me why?
If you disagree with my informatio
What a good choice of songs!
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These are childhood diseases that the body's immune system handled as Mother Nature intended until man made a mess of that.
It used to be you'd get them out of the way & go about your life.
Let's hope we can get back to nature when it counts, eventually
http://www
"Dr. Garth Nicholson, microbiolo
The government doesn't require vaccine makers to test for certain biological contaminan
Because the vast majority of physicians are unaware of this common source of chronic illness they don't test for it or have protocols to treat it. I imagine most doctors, after taking their fees, tell patients suffering from these illnesses that it's "all in their heads."
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Tetanus http://www
Polio http://z.h
http://www
Measles http://new
http://www
Mumps http://www
http://www
Pertussis http://www
HiB http://www
Diptheria http://www
Chicken Pox http://www
Rubella http://www
Join us if you are ready to band together and stand against:
the anger,
the bitterness
the woo that charlatans try to sell desperate parents,
the idea that vaccines, heavy metal toxicity, lyme disease, herpes, SV-40 and whatever the next nonsense is are the cause of autism.
Join us if you are ready to:
follow the science, wherever the science leads,
accept that autism is a life long developmen
support other parents kindly and compassion
be tolerant of where others are on their journey of acceptance
be critical evaluators of both the science and the claims made by those pursuing pseudoscie
love your children unconditio
This new group, born out of a desire by several parents to raise our voices to counter the negative, inaccurate
Sirenity,
Unlike others in here, I have one name. That's all I've ever had. I am not ottoschnau
In your own words, " Repeat after me correlatio
It amazes me how you guys can be proven wrong but can't see it. Proven wrong but still have the same agenda. If I'm proven wrong, I question myself. It's the only healthy thing to do. There is nothing wrong with learning something new.
You guys used to assume I was a girl. Then you assumed my name was secretly changed. If your wrong in some areas, then why can't you be wrong in other areas?
How can you be so confident when it comes to vaccines and autism? Maybe it's time to reflect and ask some new questions of yourself. Do that tonight while your laying in bed.
It's our kids that are suffering while we bicker.
If the evidence strongly says that they dont, dont you think we're wasting time keep again and again and again looking only at these?
as you say:
"It's our kids that are suffering while we bicker."
Acceptance
Obama wants to revamp both these systems - parents of all special needs children should be banding together to get what all of these kids need as well as the adults that will never be able to live independen
It's strange that so many want to continue the efforts to divide instead of finding common ground to help so many.
http://www
In your article you state,
"We used to think these substances were harmless, but a rising tide of evidence has turned the spotlight on chemical exposures as a possible poison to our children's developing brains".
Then you say,
"not a single chemical has been evaluated for endocrine disrupting effects!"
Autism caused by the MMR was proven in a court of law:
http://www
Do you have proof that ECD's cause autism?
You're speaking of the same studies backed by those who have been discovered to have vested & conflicts of interest, so it's actually science that's lost, as well as those like you, including the duped individual
For now!