California Confirms Rise in Autism Cases – (11-07-02)



California Confirms Rise in Autism Cases

I know the rising rates of autism has been denied by many in the medical profession, explaining that increased diagnosis is what has accounted for the rise. A 273% increase. Want my opinion? We’re doing something to our kids that are predisposing them to this condition. Multiple vaccinations, food allergies, poor prenatal/pregnancy care? I personally believe that not every child will get autism from the MMR vaccine (which is the vaccine most blamed for the onset), but that a certain percentage of children have the genes that make them susceptible  probably when combined with other factors such as a poor diet. This is NOT from the genes…it is from the way we are treating the genes. It takes hundreds of thousands of years for true genetic variation to occur, and this is occurring in decades.

Read entire article here

California researchers say that the state is seeing a sharp rise in the number of autistic children–but said they were mystified about what caused the unprecedented spread of the developmental disorder.The report by researchers at the University of California-Davis’ M.I.N.D. Institute released on Thursday showed a 273% increase in the number of autistic children entering various state treatment centers between 1987 and 1998.The findings also indicate that the increase could not be accounted for by other factors such as the misclassification of cases or changing diagnostic criteria.”Speculation about the increase in autism in California has led some to try to explain it away as a statistical issue or with other factors that artificially inflated the numbers,” lead investigator Dr. Robert Byrd said.”Instead, we found that autism is on the rise in the state and we still do not know why. The results of this study are, without a doubt, sobering,” he added.Medical experts say it is difficult to compare California’s autism numbers with other states’ because tracking systems are different. But they say anecdotal evidence indicates rates may also be rising elsewhere in the country.The California study, which was launched this year in an effort to determine why observed cases were increasing, looked at a statewide sample of 684 children from both English- and Spanish-speaking families.But the research did little to solve the mystery.Dr. Byrd’s team found that the rising number of autism cases could not be attributed to a loosening of the criteria for diagnosis, or an appreciable rise in the number of mentally retarded children misdiagnosed as autistic.They also found more than 90% of children in the survey were native born–blowing a hole in theories that the migration of children with the condition to California might be behind the higher numbers.”While this study does not identify the cause of autism, it does verify that autism has not been over-reported” in California, Dr. Byrd said.

 

James Bogash

For more than a decade, Dr. Bogash has stayed current with the medical literature as it relates to physiology, disease prevention and disease management. He uses his knowledge to educate patients, the community and cyberspace on the best way to avoid and / or manage chronic diseases using lifestyle and targeted supplementation.







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