Developments in vaccines / drug safety

[Ken]

Obviously “something” has caused the rise in autism. I work with several functioning autistic employees, each with their own unique issues- I am quite sure they’d all love for the cause to be solved- part of the announcement was also about helping autistics. Also Tylenol was not the only possible cause. It would be so awesome to get this solved for both parents and autistic children.

Autism mostly genetic (about 80% genetic) so it isn't ever going to be "solved" any more than any other multifactorial genetic disease is ever going to be "solved" short of some massive eugenics program to weed it out of the gene pool. Mitigated with new therapies perhaps, but not solved.

In any event, I know people on the autism spectrum who are deeply offended by RFK Jr.'s rhetoric about autism which is often highly inaccurate and insulting. Autism is not something that necessarily needs to be eradicated, especially for high-functioning individuals. In many cases it deserves to be celebrated. Here are just a few historical figures that exhibited signs of autism:

Isaac Newton
Ludwig van Beethoven
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Nikola Tesla
Albert Einstein
Michelangelo
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Edison
Mark Twain

And to that list we can add modern personalities like Elon Musk and Bill Gates.

Judging someone's greatness, value, or disability by how well they mingle at dinner parties or socialize with kindergarten classmates is deeply ignorant.

[ohio jones]

Obviously this wasn’t President Trumps own research leading to this announcement so who’s been doing the research.

Research seems to be a DIY field these days.
"Do your own research"

[Valerie]

Obviously “something” has caused the rise in autism. I work with several functioning autistic employees, each with their own unique issues- I am quite sure they’d all love for the cause to be solved- part of the announcement was also about helping autistics. Also Tylenol was not the only possible cause. It would be so awesome to get this solved for both parents and autistic children.

Autism mostly genetic (about 80% genetic) so it isn't ever going to be "solved" any more than any other multifactorial genetic disease is ever going to be "solved" short of some massive eugenics program to weed it out of the gene pool. Mitigated with new therapies perhaps, but not solved.

In any event, I know people on the autism spectrum who are deeply offended by RFK Jr.'s rhetoric about autism which is often highly inaccurate and insulting. Autism is not something that necessarily needs to be eradicated, especially for high-functioning individuals. In many cases it deserves to be celebrated. Here are just a few historical figures that exhibited signs of autism:

Isaac Newton
Ludwig van Beethoven
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Nikola Tesla
Albert Einstein
Michelangelo
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Edison
Mark Twain

And to that list we can add modern personalities like Elon Musk and Bill Gates.

Judging greatness, value, or disability by how well someone mingles at dinner parties or socializes with kindergarten classmates is deeply ignorant.

I don’t know any autistics personally who don’t seem to wish their life was different- I’ve listened to them.
The severely autistic is another story- so they’re saying this is genetic? I’m not buying it. There has been an increase- I’m 67 and I don’t remember anyone in all my years of public school that had these issues. Sure all people can have quirks but these are different- it is not an insult- mothers have been pleading for answers. Obviously if vaccines were considered a possibility for quite awhile (one mother I know of a severely autistic son blamed vaccines (she said this in 2005 as I remember the grad party we were at) then this did not start with RFK or Trump.

Obviously this is different than Down syndrome or mentally handicapped (they use to say mentally retarded) which we see less of as women can make the choice to abort).

So a customer told me today it was all over social media that pregnant women are boasting of taking Tylenol to “show” their anti-Trump reaction. Nice. Why am I not surprised.

[Valerie]

Obviously this wasn’t President Trumps own research leading to this announcement so who’s been doing the research.

Research seems to be a DIY field these days.
"Do your own research"

Read my above list. It didn’t start with RFK nor DJT.
Come up with answers.

[Ken]

Obviously this wasn’t President Trumps own research leading to this announcement so who’s been doing the research.

Research seems to be a DIY field these days.
"Do your own research"

Read my above list. It didn’t start with RFK nor DJT.
Come up with answers.

There are tens of thousands of researchers around the world who are working on autism research as well as every other medical issue. Gutting and politicizing the NIH as RFK Jr. is doing is not "coming up with answers" It is setting the effort back.

[Ken]

I don’t know any autistics personally who don’t seem to wish their life was different- I’ve listened to them.
The severely autistic is another story- so they’re saying this is genetic? I’m not buying it. There has been an increase- I’m 67 and I don’t remember anyone in all my years of public school that had these issues. Sure all people can have quirks but these are different- it is not an insult- mothers have been pleading for answers. Obviously if vaccines were considered a possibility for quite awhile (one mother I know of a severely autistic son blamed vaccines (she said this in 2005 as I remember the grad party we were at) then this did not start with RFK or Trump.

Obviously this is different than Down syndrome or mentally handicapped (they use to say mentally retarded) which we see less of as women can make the choice to abort).

So a customer told me today it was all over social media that pregnant women are boasting of taking Tylenol to “show” their anti-Trump reaction. Nice. Why am I not surprised.

We have been over this. Yes, autism is about 80% genetic. Some estimates place it as high as 90%. That is established science. Look it up.

And the increase in recent decades is largely the consequence of: (1) greatly expanded diagnostic criteria (the definition of autism has been greatly expanded), and (2) greatly expanded diagnoses and testing. Pediatricians and other medical professionals like psychologists are much more likely to screen for autism today than in the past. When you are searching for something you are more likely to find it. Parents these days are also much more eager to diagnose their children with things like ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder so that they can get them IEPs or 504 plans and the special attention that accompanies them. Or just find medical explanations for why they are struggling in school.

Are there other environmental factors out there that may trigger underlying genetic traits or may trigger rare cases of autism? Perhaps. That is a very active area of research. But that doesn't account for most of the increase, the above factors do. And RFK Jr. is lying to the public when he implies otherwise.

Take Tylenol, for example. It was introduced in 1955 and pregnant women have been using it for 70 years as well as the various generic versions of acetaminophen. Tylenol use hasn't exploded in the past decade or two. It has been relatively stable. Same with most of the other suggested environmental causes. So even if there is a rare link between Tylenol use by pregnant women and autism it would not explain the increase you point to. Only some tiny baseline number of cases.

[Valerie]

I don’t know any autistics personally who don’t seem to wish their life was different- I’ve listened to them.
The severely autistic is another story- so they’re saying this is genetic? I’m not buying it. There has been an increase- I’m 67 and I don’t remember anyone in all my years of public school that had these issues. Sure all people can have quirks but these are different- it is not an insult- mothers have been pleading for answers. Obviously if vaccines were considered a possibility for quite awhile (one mother I know of a severely autistic son blamed vaccines (she said this in 2005 as I remember the grad party we were at) then this did not start with RFK or Trump.

Obviously this is different than Down syndrome or mentally handicapped (they use to say mentally retarded) which we see less of as women can make the choice to abort).

So a customer told me today it was all over social media that pregnant women are boasting of taking Tylenol to “show” their anti-Trump reaction. Nice. Why am I not surprised.

We have been over this. Yes, autism is about 80% genetic. Some estimates place it as high as 90%. That is established science. Look it up.

And the increase in recent decades is largely the consequence of: (1) greatly expanded diagnostic criteria (the definition of autism has been greatly expanded), and (2) greatly expanded diagnoses and testing. Pediatricians and other medical professionals like psychologists are much more likely to screen for autism today than in the past. When you are searching for something you are more likely to find it. Parents these days are also much more eager to diagnose their children with things like ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder so that they can get them IEPs or 504 plans and the special attention that accompanies them. Or just find medical explanations for why they are struggling in school.

Are there other environmental factors out there that may trigger underlying genetic traits or may trigger rare cases of autism? Perhaps. That is a very active area of research. But that doesn't account for most of the increase, the above factors do. And RFK Jr. is lying to the public when he implies otherwise.

Take Tylenol, for example. It was introduced in 1955 and pregnant women have been using it for 70 years as well as the various generic versions of acetaminophen. Tylenol use hasn't exploded in the past decade or two. It has been relatively stable. Same with most of the other suggested environmental causes. So even if there is a rare link between Tylenol use by pregnant women and autism it would not explain the increase you point to. Only some tiny baseline number of cases.

Obviously they don’t agree with you- for some reason.

[Ken]

I don’t know any autistics personally who don’t seem to wish their life was different- I’ve listened to them.
The severely autistic is another story- so they’re saying this is genetic? I’m not buying it. There has been an increase- I’m 67 and I don’t remember anyone in all my years of public school that had these issues. Sure all people can have quirks but these are different- it is not an insult- mothers have been pleading for answers. Obviously if vaccines were considered a possibility for quite awhile (one mother I know of a severely autistic son blamed vaccines (she said this in 2005 as I remember the grad party we were at) then this did not start with RFK or Trump.

Obviously this is different than Down syndrome or mentally handicapped (they use to say mentally retarded) which we see less of as women can make the choice to abort).

So a customer told me today it was all over social media that pregnant women are boasting of taking Tylenol to “show” their anti-Trump reaction. Nice. Why am I not surprised.

We have been over this. Yes, autism is about 80% genetic. Some estimates place it as high as 90%. That is established science. Look it up.

And the increase in recent decades is largely the consequence of: (1) greatly expanded diagnostic criteria (the definition of autism has been greatly expanded), and (2) greatly expanded diagnoses and testing. Pediatricians and other medical professionals like psychologists are much more likely to screen for autism today than in the past. When you are searching for something you are more likely to find it. Parents these days are also much more eager to diagnose their children with things like ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder so that they can get them IEPs or 504 plans and the special attention that accompanies them. Or just find medical explanations for why they are struggling in school.

Are there other environmental factors out there that may trigger underlying genetic traits or may trigger rare cases of autism? Perhaps. That is a very active area of research. But that doesn't account for most of the increase, the above factors do. And RFK Jr. is lying to the public when he implies otherwise.

Take Tylenol, for example. It was introduced in 1955 and pregnant women have been using it for 70 years as well as the various generic versions of acetaminophen. Tylenol use hasn't exploded in the past decade or two. It has been relatively stable. Same with most of the other suggested environmental causes. So even if there is a rare link between Tylenol use by pregnant women and autism it would not explain the increase you point to. Only some tiny baseline number of cases.

Obviously they don’t agree with you- for some reason.

The scientific body of autism research does. Because I am just repeating it.

[Wesleyb]

Is it possible this will have a positive effect by introducing a scapegoat to replace vaccines as the cause of autism for the conspiracy minded? It seems to me scaring people off taking Tylenol during pregnancy would have far fewer negative consequences than scaring them off vaccines.

[Soloist]

Is it possible this will have a positive effect by introducing a scapegoat to replace vaccines as the cause of autism for the conspiracy minded? It seems to me scaring people off taking Tylenol during pregnancy would have far fewer negative consequences than scaring them off vaccines.

I doubt it. High fevers are already a serious problem and the research is mixed on Tylenol.
Anyone who is rejecting Tylenol is very likely to have already rejected vaccines to some extent.