foodconsumer.org: New Study Negates Autism/Mercury Link

New Study Negates Autism/Mercury Link
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admin on 10/20/2009 01:11:00
 
By Rachel Howell Stockton
The question concerning whether or not children who receive vaccinations are
more likely to have autism or autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) may have been
indirectly and/or partially answered by the results of a study reporting that
children with the disorder do not have higher levels of mercury in the
bloodstream than children who are developing normally.
What does mercury have to do with vaccinations?  Not much, at least currently. 
The preservative in the MMR vaccination used to be thimerosal, which has
concentrated levels of mercury.  The theory regarding the mercury/autism
relationship has gained prevalence over the last several years; the researchers
involved in the study wanted to clear up some of the confusion that has arisen
as a result.
Not that other studies haven’t been performed, they have.  But the journal
Environmental Health Perspectives is reporting that prior studies lacked
credibility and consistency.
The researchers studied 452 children from the ages of 2-5; some of the children
had autism or an autism spectrum disorder, some had other developmental issues,
such as Down Syndrome, others were developing normally.
The results showed that in actuality, children with autism had lower levels of
mercury in their blood.  However, as parents of autistic children are well
aware, autistic children are picky eaters; the lower levels in these kids was
attributed to the fact that they ate less fish than the other children in the
study.
CDC estimates show that approximately 1 out of every 150 children has an ASD,
something that warrants an “urgent public health concern. . . and a concerted
and substantial national response,” according to the governmental health
agency's website.
The current study, however, is not without its problems.  First of all, most of
the children analyzed were immunized after thimerosal was removed from vaccines.
 Additionally, mercury has a half life of only a few months; this means mercury
happened post diagnosis in virtually all of the children.  Only time will tell
if the study actually clears up confusion, or if in actuality, it muddied the
waters even more.