Autism, Arctic Ice Melt: It's Gotta Be Genetic ... er ... Natural Variation, Natural Fluctuation

Polar Bears photographed by Canadian Environmentalists 

"Arctic sea ice is disappearing on a pace and magnitude unlike anything the Earth has experienced in the past 1,450 years, according to a Canadian-led study published Wednesday in the leading science journal Nature.

The amount of sea ice in the Arctic has been declining continuously for the past four to five decades — and is now some two-million square kilometres smaller in area than it was in the late 20th century. But until this study, spearheaded by researchers Christian Zdanowicz and David Fisher from the Geological Survey of Canada, it remained unclear whether these losses of recent decades were out of line with natural fluctuations of the past."


Vancouver Sun, November 23, 2011


The Arctic Ice is melting at an unprecedented rate according to an article in Nature  but, gee, it is still unclear whether man made environmental factors could be involved or whether "it's gotta be genetic" ... er ... "natural variation".

Oh wait we are not talking about unprecedented, even startling increases in autism disorders are we? No, this is arctic ice melting more and more quickly. Let's take another half century and talk some more about  how we can't be sure it isn't just "natural fluctuation".  Science takes time and we've got unlimited amounts of time right?

No word yet on whether recent Nature contributor and high functioning autism activist Laurent Mottron has confirmed that the arctic ice melt is a natural evolutionary advance, an advantage, not an environmental calamity. 

Vaccine-Autism War: Discover Does Disingenuous

In its June online edition Discover does anything but discover, opting instead for disingenuous, when it asks Why Does the Vaccine/Autism Controversy Live On? There is is little need to read the entire article. The title question is immediate answered in the sub-title Research has soundly disproved the alleged connection, yet fears about vaccines continue to be a major risk to public health.

The article correctly points out the health and safety benefits that vaccines have brought to the general public as a whole. It even, to its credit, acknowledges that vulnerable subsets of the general population might have contracted autism from vaccines:

Kirby says—and even some vaccine defenders agree—that some small subgroup of children might have a particular vulnerability to vaccines and yet be missed by epidemiological studies. But the two sides disagree as to the possible size of that group. “If one or two or three children every year are getting autism from vaccines, you would never pick that up,” Offit says.

Despite that acknowledgement the Discover article, while focusing on Kirby, Robert F. Kennedy and Jenny McCarthy makes no mention of Dr. Healy, Dr. Gerberding ( who also said more studies of unvaccinated children should be done to explore the autism issue) , Dr. Duane Alexander an NIH agency head who has said more studies could be done, or Dr. Jon Poling, a neurologist and father of an autistic child who was successful in obtaining a settlement for his daughters vaccine induced autism, a condition hidden under euphemisms in official statements.

In discussing the vaccine court decisions it is telling that the settlements arising out of vaccine induced autism claims are not mentioned in the article. The names Poling and Banks, in particular are no where to be seen. The article mentions the Times of London allegations against Dr. Wakefield mentioning that he denies the allegations but not mentioning that he has published a detailed response online and is fighting the allegations in professional proceedings that have gone on for so long. Nor doe the Discover article mention that the role of the Times of London and journalist Brian Deer are now under scrutiny.

The Discover article mentions the IOM without mentioning, as was pointed out by Dr. Bernadine Healy, that the IOM in its 2004 report on vaccine safety, expressly discouraged the type of research that could have provided more reliable conclusions about vaccines and autism. While repeating ad nauseum the standard defences of vaccines Discover asks why the vaccine autism controversy continues?

The IACC appears to have at least acknowledged that the way to rebuild trust is to do the research that Dr. Healy, Dr. Gerberding and Dr. Alexandre have all stated or acknowledged could and should be done. It has called for some vaccine autism research in its strategic plan for Autism Spectrum Disorders Research:

To address public concerns regarding a possible vaccine/ASD link, it will be important over the next year for the IACC to engage the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) in mutually informative dialogues. The NVAC is a Federal advisory committee chartered to advise and make recommendations regarding the National Vaccine Program. Communication between the IACC and NVAC will permit each group to be informed by the expertise of the other, enhance coordination and foster more effective use of research resources on topics of mutual interest. Examples of such topics include: studies of the possible role of vaccines, vaccine components, and multiple vaccine administration in ASD causation and severity through a variety of approaches; and assessing the feasibility and design of an epidemiological study to determine whether health outcomes, including ASD, differ among populations with vaccinated, unvaccinated, and alternatively vaccinated groups.

Discover's attacks on Jenny McCarthy, promoting vaccine defenders from Offit to Peet as heroic and demonizing parents who continue to ask questions, is simply more of the same insanity described by Einstein - repeating the same action over and over again and getting the same result but hoping for a different result the next time.

Discover does disingenuous and does a disservice to the public and all sides involved in this very serious debate with this article.

Discover should discover candor and sincerity and follow the lead of the IACC, Dr. Bernadine Healy, Dr. Julie Gerberding and Dr. Duane Alexandre.

Discover should let the research be done without further acrimony inducing rhetoric.

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Nestor Lopez-Duran Ph.D on Autism, Science and Faith-Based Advocacy

"what I believe doesn’t really matter, because “beliefs” rapidly turn into blind faith, even amongst scientists. Instead, good science only occurs when positions are flexible and reflective only of the status of the research (data) at any given time"

Nestor L. Lopez-Duran Ph.D., Translating Autism, About Science and faith-based advocacy

The above quote from Nestor Lopez-Duran's commentary "About Science and faith-based advocacy" on his Translating Autism blog site, and the commentary itself, should be read, and remembered, by EVERYONE providing commentary on science related autism matters. Many issues such as the mercury-autism, vaccine-autism, genetics-environment arguments in autism discussions purport to revolve around science but often depart from the science and embrace the faith-based advocacy referenced by Dr. Lopez-Duran. To the great detriment of anyone with an interest in understanding the nature and causes of autism.

autism