Hearing Gives Burton a Last Shot at Autism Issue

[AlexSatan]

27. Sorry but your source lost me in the abstract

"It can now no longer be denied that the incidence of ASD is alarmingly on the rise in the U.S. [6]."

And what did their source really say?
http://dspace.library.drexel.edu/bitstream/1860/2632/1/2006175339.pdf

"Nonetheless, the question of whether this historical increase can be fully accounted for by these and other changes in diagnosis and classification remains open to debate,"

With that "mistake" in conclusions, the integrity of their methodology and conclusions is completely compromised. If I have been reviewing that paper submission, I would have destroyed it and certainly not accepted it.

The abstract foes on to say:
"We propose that children with the autism diagnosis are especially vulnerable to toxic metals such as
aluminum and mercury due to insufficient serum sulfate and glutathione." They later point out that "The cover page emphasizes that the data report only an association rather than a confirmed causal relationship."

They also claim "A strong correlation between autism and the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine is also
observed, which may be partially explained via an increased sensitivity to acetaminophen
administered to control fever."
However they later caveat it with "We have not examined the records in detail to determine what percentage had autism before receiving the vaccine, and, in fact, in many cases this information is not available from the VAERS record, which may simply list autism as a feature....
If the MMR vaccine is administered simultaneously with DTaP, an aluminum-containing vaccine (as is often the case), then the acetaminophen would likely interfere with the child’s ability to dispose of the aluminum."

Again, not a causal effect.

That source also said
"The prevalence of autistic disorder among siblings of individuals with autistic disorder ranges from 2% to 6% (6), with estimates as high as 14% for siblings of females with autistic disorder (138). Even at the lower end of this range, prevalence in siblings is many times higher than is contemporaneous population prevalence estimates, providing additional support for the heritability of autism.
Family studies have also shown that ?20% of siblings of probands with autistic disorder may have more subtle variants of the core features of ASDs such as aloofness, lack of tact, limited friendships, poor pragmatic and reciprocal language, and preference for predictable routine, which are collectively referred to as the broad autism phenotype (129)."

This matches what I have seen anecdotally. I can clearly see ASD traits in the parents of the Aspys we know, even though they have no diagnosis. When my son was diagnosed I received the news. However, they apparently were concerned about my response , or lack therefof ("OK, thanks for the diagnosis, I'll research it further to see what the best way to deal with and mitigate the effects are"--no wailing or gnashing of teeth) and had a home visit to discusses it with my wife as well. There, the confided that they suspected I was also on the spectrum (we both agree) since most parents have emotional reactions.

I appreciate your civility in your response but the data simply do not support a causal relationship. We have been using acetaminophen for almost 100 years and although the occurrence of aluminum and aluminum hydroxide has risen over the past century there is no strong evidence the incidence of ASD has been rising.