MMR and Autism Link Locked

[Jetsettingbaby]

Now I know this post is quite controversial and everyone has an opinion on this but I felt it was an important thing to write about.

My son Dylan was diagnosed with being on the Autistic Spectrum a few months ago. Since then I have devoted my life to finding out all I can about autism. There are some people that are born with autism there are some that have "got" autism from other factors like the MMR or other environmental factors.
Before I launch in to some fact I want to tell you my story.
Dylan was born 2 weeks over due at a very healthy weight of 9lbs 2 he hit all his mile stones on time he crawled and walked on time he was very loving lots of eye contact. He started saying a few words around 16 months. Dada Mama, shoes ( my proudest moment as a shoe lover) He got his MMR vaccine a little later than most at 17 months purely because he had a cold or something came up. After he had the MMR vaccine he became very ill for a month. Being hospitalized, vomiting none stop. I just thought he had an unlucky month. After a few weeks He seemed to not be able to hear me ( i thought this was just his male way of having selective hearing) His words disappeared. He then said nothing at all. I thought he was going deaf so I bought him in to see my GP. he had many other traits of being autistic which my GP picked up on which is why she referred me to St Johns therapy center for further testing. He hated people , didnt like other children scratched other children , ignored people. fascination with wheels trains cars, his hands. he would lie on the floor for hours watching his cars go back and forth, lining up objects, jumping laughing hysterically at 3am like he was in a trance ect. Once he was diagnosed i went in to a depression like state for a few days while I tried to get my head around it all. i soon started my quest for how to help my son. I came across jenny Mcarthys book and wesite and she mentioned the MMR vaccine as being a cause for autism. She listed a number of natural therapies to try and i tried them . Gluten and wheat free diet and probiotics and mineral and vitamins. I almost immediately saw a difference. He started looking in to my eyes again listening to me and seemed to be calmer , no more jumping in the bed at 3 am. So I really began to sit up and take notice of the link between MMR and autism. Now I am not saying vaccines are bad because they are not , children do need them. But not everyone can take penicillin not everyone can take vaccines. Babies immune systems are weak anyway so when we pump them full of Measles mumps and rubella and a large dose of mercury (the cheapest way to preserve vaccines) some babies will react. Dylan may have had a weaker immune system so when he had the MMR it just crashed him. The mercury cause problems in the gut, called leaky gut syndrome and this leaks toxins in to the blood which goes to the brain which can cause autism. Now I could talk about this for hrs but there is a video that Jenny Mcarthy did which i will post so you can watch it. http://www.generationrescue.org/home/ab ... -mccarthy/
It has some more info as well as her story.
I have spoken to Drs most of whom ignore what i am saying. but I have also spoken to natural health people and a very senior neurologist in harley street who all agree there is definite link between the two. I am currently putting together a file to lobby the government in the UK and Ireland to stop using mercury in vaccines.
A quick fact. You and I never got the MMR vaccine it was bough in, in 1990. Before 1990 1 in 10,000 children had autism after 1990 1 in 98 children have autism and its rising every year. I have been told by drs that its because they are more aware of it now. this is true however we are just finding out the side effects to some of this vaccines now as well.
I got Dylan tested for metals in his blood and hair samples and it came back with an alarming amount of mercury in his body.

This is every parents choice but I wish that I had the option of knowing about this and doing my own research before I bought my son in to have his MMR vaccine. I would have asked for it to have been separated which you can do. It just costs more.

I just want to bring awareness to other mums who perhaps don't know about this.
Thanks for listening, sorry for the long post

[coldatchristmas]

I am dreadfully sorry your son has been diagnosed with autism.

However even though this is an emotive subject I think it's misleading to write that there is a link between mmr and autism.

There is no link.

It's has been proven statistically not to exist and I know that will not bring you comfort it is true.

I won't get involved in a discussion because I suspect that you truly believe there is a link but there isn't.

[Jetsettingbaby]

I totally understand what your saying. But there is no medical evidence to this because its the pharmaceutical companies who fund these researches. Vaccines is a multi million dollar industry. My partner used to work in pharmaceuticals and knows the scary truth about how much they hide. They also do a lot of good but at the end of the day its a business and a profitable one at that.

[supergirl]

Hi
I am sorry to hear for your child. I hope you have been able to find ways of helping to continue to develop and you have support both to help you with your child abd emitionally for you.

I am a pro vaccines person. A few members of my family should not have died young if a vaccines would hace been available. I also wish the pharmaceutical companies woyld agree on making generics for poorer countries.

Having said that. My youngest is due for 2nd mmr. Can you plse explain about asking for one that is separated? I mean if i can give her one with less or no mercury i d rather... Does every surgery can give it to you?

Thanks. Sx

[AbbevilleMummy]

I agree with CAC, I'm terribly sorry for you and your son, however, there is NO link between MMR and Autism and posts like these are so damaging.

I also conducted my own research before allowing my daughter to have it there is nothing at all to suggest there is a link. The evidence you mention is purely circumstantial and there could be many many other causes for your son's autism and the increase in reported cases which I won't go into as I don't think it would achieve anything here. And in the case of the pharmaceutical companies, Andrew Wakefield, who published this 'link' in the Lancet (later retracted), himself had severe conflicts of interest.

One thing I have to say is that vaccines only work to eradicate dangerous diseases if everyone has them which is why we no longer die from Smallpox etc and are vitally important to all of our children. Millions more children die from measles than are diagnosed autism (whatever the cause), and that following the last furore on this issue, death from measles increased dramatically due to children not being vaccinated.

[Anjelika]

Jetsettingbaby, I feel so sorry for your son and totally agree with you! We know a family, absolutely healthy, who swore, theare both children got autistic after MMR. How sad! So, I did the reserch my self and decide to give my children separate option. Some of the parents were arguing with me "we did it MMR for our children and nothing happens, so you should do the same. It's safe!". Well, good for them, I'm glad those children are fine, but everybody entitle to theare opinion. All the children are different, some have strong immune sistem, same are not. So, I thought, even if it's 1 chance in a million, to get autism after mmr, then why risk it? It wouldn't be a smock without a fire. And I've done it separately. It's private, you have to pay for that and not available on NHS. But it doesn't matter, I would rather pay, then take a risk like Russian roulette, if my children will be ok or not. My 2 children had it separately, my third one is due to it now, and I would love to do it the same, but unfortunately mumps vaccine is not available anymore, so I'll wait. Hopefully, soon another company will start producing it, but at the
moment, there are long waiting lists for mumps vaccine around UK. Well, I can see a lot of people might start attacking me, because they had it and they are all right, but this it's just my opinion and experience. But, please, remember, if it didn't happens to you, it doesn't mean, it's not exist.

[Jetsettingbaby]

This post is not meant to be damaging merely to bring awareness to the subject. As I said its an opinion and every parents choice. but the fact is there are millions of people who have evidence that their children got autism after the MMR vaccine. I have also started to detox my son and his autism is almost non recognizable now. he is not yet talking and says few words but he is trying and we understand what he is saying. Its a very real subject and I too think vaccines are a great thing , to a certain extent. If Drs tell us not to eat too much sushi or tuna to avoid Mercury poisoning then why are we giving it in such high dosages to our children? It would cost millions to replace the mercury in vaccines but they need to make them green. Like I said I didnt have the choice of the knowledge of this when my son had his vaccines and I wish I did.

[kiwimummy]

I'm sorry to hear about your son, and I hope he is getting the help he needs.

Several members of my wider family are autistic. (Some forms of autism are inherited.) So I do have some direct experience of this.

I don't believe there is a link between MMR and autism. I am not going to be very popular for saying this, and I know I am not going to change your mind, but for the benefit of other readers of this post:

There is a massive amount of misinformation on the internet about vaccines. Much of this junk science has led to concerned parents not vaccinating their children. There is no reason for children to be catching measles or whooping cough or other readily preventable diseases in developed countries, but now they are due to falling levels of vaccinations. Often the children most at risk are those that cannot be vaccinated - newborns or children with compromised immune systems. Babies died in California last year due to a whooping cough outbreak because vaccination levels had fallen too low.

Vaccines were developed because the illnesses they prevent caused real harm to children. Many of us have never seen these diseases due to the success of the vaccine programme.

Posts like this spread this misinformation, and discourage people from getting vaccinated. Some of the posters above already queried how they could avoid certain vaccines.

Sorry for the long post, but this is something I feel very passionate about. My children are fully vaccinated despite the family history.

[coldatchristmas]

I was woken by a knock on the door a few years ago, it was a neighbour who is a doctor. She is a family friend.

She had spent part of the evening looking after a child with measles in the ICU.

The child subsequently suffered brain damage.

She was incandescent that parents would through selfishness break years of great work in wiping out dangerous diseases and that MMR was, in her opinion, absolutely necessary and she was desperate to know if our two had been immunised as there were small breakouts in sw London.

This was a while ago but it stuck with me.

This friend is one of the most intelligent people I know and has dedicated her life to public health and I would be surprised if "big pharma" could pull the wool over all these wonderful doctors eyes

[Jetsettingbaby]

I am not against vaccines not at ALL.In fact I am pro vaccines as well. I am not a hippy that is just saying this to scare people or put out misleading facts. All i am saying is they need to make them green. also to get them separated. There is no need to give them all 3 at once its too much for some babies to take.
I think Drs are wonderful as well, but they are also wooed by pharmaceutical companies to take there products. my partner used to take a lot of the male Drs golfing in spain to woo them! Just saying.. I think its ignorant not to look at both sides of the coin and not to even acknowledge there could be a link. Drs also gave out tablets to stop morning sickness in the 60's and that ended up with children that were deformed by Thalidomide?
There are a lot of unanswered questions, and all i know is that autism is rising rapidly. Not all babies can take so many vaccines all in one go.. Why cant they give the MMR in 3 different goes? It makes sense even to the most cynical person, No?

[Anjelika]

I think, they can't give them separately, because of the time it will take. It means every child coming back every 6-8 weeks to do each vaccine. It's much easier for them to stick all in one.

[MGMidget]

I looked into this when my son was vaccinated and the measles vaccine was not available in this country as an individual vaccine so having them all done separately may not be an option any more. Vaccines do contain some toxins in small amounts but for the vast majority the benefits of being vaccinated far outweigh the risks. jetsettingbaby, I am so sorry to hear about your son. Mercury poisoning apparently has very similar effects to autism. With an adequate detox and all the efforts you are making I hope his autism symptoms will go. Mercury can come from a number of sources of course. Vaccinations are only one source.

[kiwimummy]

They don't like to give them separately as it often ends up with the child missing one or more of the vaccines.

[BalhamMumWorkingFT]

My 2 cents...

Firstly, I think separating is great and also delay is ok. However, it is really important kids are vaccinated for all the above reasons and more. In the US, kids aren't allowed to enter school without vaccines and while I enjoy the choice, I can understand why.

Also, I had a child with suspected Autism (ended up being speech and language delays) and the signs started appearing around the same age as the MMR was given... and at the time I was also suspicious of a link. I am so happy you found that diet changes made a difference. That is such a big commitment and I am in awe of amazing Mums out there doing fabulous things to ensure their children have a fulfilling and fun life.

However, the doctor who claimed there was a link can not longer practice medicine as he falsified evidence and scared us all! See wikipedia's entry below:

"The MMR vaccine controversy was a case of scientific misconduct which triggered a health scare. It followed the publication in 1998 of a paper in the medical journal The Lancet which presented apparent evidence that autism spectrum disorders could be caused by the MMR vaccine, an immunization against measles, mumps and rubella

Investigations by Sunday Times journalist Brian Deer revealed that the lead author of the article, Andrew Wakefield, had multiple undeclared conflicts of interest,had manipulated evidence, and had broken other ethical codes. The Lancet paper was partially retracted in 2004 and fully retracted in 2010, and Wakefield was found guilty by the General Medical Council of serious professional misconduct in May 2010 and was struck off the Medical Register, meaning he could no longer practice as a doctor. The research was declared fraudulent in 2011 by the BMJ. The scientific consensus is that no evidence links the vaccine to the development of autism, and that the vaccine's benefits greatly outweigh its risks.

Following the initial claims in 1998, multiple large epidemiological studies were undertaken. Reviews of the evidence by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Institute of Medicine of the US National Academy of Sciences, the UK National Health Service, and the Cochrane Library all found no link between the vaccine and autism. While the Cochrane review expressed a need for improved design and reporting of safety outcomes in MMR vaccine studies, it concluded that the evidence of the safety and effectiveness of MMR in the prevention of diseases that still carry a heavy burden of morbidity and mortality justifies its global use, and that the lack of confidence in the vaccine has damaged public health.[10] A special court convened in the United States to review claims under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program rejected compensation claims from parents of autistic children.

The claims in Wakefield's 1998 The Lancet article were widely reported;vaccination rates in the UK and Ireland dropped sharply, which in turn led to greatly increased incidence of measles and mumps, resulting in deaths and severe and permanent injuries.Physicians, medical journals, and editorshave made statements tying Wakefield's fraudulent actions to various epidemics and deaths."

[Ms_Tina]

I'm glad that Jetsettingbaby posted this information. Thank you for this.
Whether or not there is a link between mmr and autism it's good to be aware of such possibility.
My son's mmr is due in couple of weeks and I'm not saying I won't immunize him - I probably will - I'll just do some research before and explore my options.
I'm very sorry to hear about your son Jetsettingbaby. I hope his condition improves. I wish you all the best!