Evidence of Harm : Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy

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Avoiding hyperbole while writing about a possible medical catastrophe is no easy task, but David Kirby has created a fine balance of investigative and personal detail in Evidence of Harm. Combining stories from the parents of autistic children with reports, speeches and studies from researchers, pediatricians and government officials, he creates a picture that is as terrifying as anything dreamed up by Hitchcock.

The topic at hand is determining whether high levels of organic mercury present in an inexpensive preservative used in vaccinations can cause either autism or autism-like symptoms. Kirby's in a delicate position, searching for the truth between frantic parents (he focuses on the founders of political action group Safe Mind) and the self-protective pharmaceutical industry (the author thanks the nameless person who placed a pro-Eli Lilly litigation rider into the Homeland Security Act of 2002). He's also honest enough of a reporter to admit to the temptation of deciding mercury is the culprit behind a range of disorders, even in light of some inconclusive test results. The ultimate truth isn't clear, and Kirby is direct about each of the reasons his sources have for their biased opinions.

While some of the straight research reports will likely to go over the head of anyone not well versed in the terminology, the book is never dull--there is a continual urgency in the material that resists pedantry. However undecided the experts, readers will likely land firmly in one angry camp or the other. Jill LightnerIn the 1990s reported autism cases among American children began spiking, from about 1 in 10,000 in 1987 to a shocking 1 in 166 today. This trend coincided with the addition of several new shots to the nation's already crowded vaccination schedule, grouped together and given soon after birth or in the early months of infancy. Most of these shots contained a little-known preservative called thimerosal, which includes a quantity of the toxin mercury.

Evidence of Harm explores the heated controversy over what many parents, physicians, public officials, and educators have called an "epidemic" of afflicted children. Following several families, David Kirby traces their struggle to understand how and why their once-healthy kids rapidly descended into silence or disturbed behavior, often accompanied by severe physical illness. Alarmed by the levels of mercury in the vaccine schedule, these families sought answers from their doctors, from science, from pharmaceutical companies that manufacture vaccines, and finally from the Center for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration-to no avail. But as they dug deeper, the families also found powerful allies in Congress and in the small community of physicians and researchers who believe that the rise of autism and other disorders is linked to toxic levels of mercury that accumulate in the systems of some children.

An important and troubling book, Evidence of Harm reveals both the public and unsung obstacles faced by desperate families who have been opposed by the combined power of the federal government, health agencies, and pharmaceutical giants. From closed meetings of the FDA, CDC, and drug companies, to the mysterious rider inserted into the 2002 Homeland Security Bill that would bar thimerosal litigation, to open hearings held by Congress, this book shows a medical establishment determined to deny "evidence of harm" that might be connected with thimerosal and mercury in vaccines. In the end, as research is beginning to demonstrate, the questions raised by these families have significant implications for all children, and for those entrusted to oversee our national health.

Reader Reviews:

QUOTE: "Mercury Toxicity: Individuals exposed to the metal often have difficulty speaking and understanding language. They become sensitive to loud noises, develop senosory disturbances and an aversion to touch." and "There are no typical symptoms of mercury poisoning. Psychological disturbances are usually present, but these might be manifested as anxiety in certain people, while presenting as aggression or irritablity in others." Also, please read how the CDC admits that there "seems" to be an increasing trend of these neurological developmental octcomes due to thimerosal exposure. Of particular interest are the varients of disorders that result from the time the infant was given the vaccines. (Example from book: "Children exposed to 62.5 micrograms of the mercury exposure were 35% more likely to have a neurological developmental disorder than children exposed to 12.5 micrograms. For Attention Deficit Disorder a child who received 62.5 micrograms by six months was 30% more likely to develop ADD than a child who received 12.5 micrograms. Using the same example for increased risks for language disorders, the exposure of 62.5 ethylmercury made these children 110% more likely to develop a language disorder.) Mercury exposure is causing problems beyond autism. Elevated mercury levels are being discovered in children with milder difficulties like learning disablities, ADHD, Asperger's, etc.
It is hard not to get emotional as you read this book if you have a child with any Pervasive Developmental Disorder. Reading it I felt the shared pain of others like myself. (You have a child and want only the best, only to think about what your child should/could of been. Now, you see the daily frustrations your child goes through. How your child
isolated from other children their age because they are different. It is
the most heartbreaking and hopeless feeling on earth.) The book did not tell how to cure my daughter, but it does give hope by showing progresses made by using DMPS Chelation Therapy in children with autism. I would also like to note my own research regarding the Tomatis Method. I am just thankful books like this are being written so more research and attention will be directed to help our children.I am mother of autistic child. We did everything before chellation just with a little success. After we started chellation symptoms of autism started to despair one by one. I believe my child wills completely recovery when we finish.QUOTE: "Mercury Toxicity: Individuals exposed to the metal often have difficulty speaking and understanding language. They become sensitive to loud noises, develop senosory disturbances and an aversion to touch." and "There are no typical symptoms of mercury poisoning. Psychological disturbances are usually present, but these might be manifested as anxiety in certain people, while presenting as aggression or irritablity in others." Also, please read how the CDC admits that there "seems" to be an increasing trend of these neurological developmental octcomes due to thimerosal exposure. Of particular interest are the varients of disorders that result from the time the infant was given the vaccines. (Example from book: "Children exposed to 62.5 micrograms of the mercury exposure were 35% more likely to have a neurological developmental disorder than children exposed to 12.5 micrograms. For Attention Deficit Disorder a child who received 62.5 micrograms by six months was 30% more likely to develop ADD than a child who received 12.5 micrograms. Using the same example for increased risks for language disorders, the exposure of 62.5 ethylmercury made these children 110% more likely to develop a language disorder.) Mercury exposure is causing problems beyond autism. Elevated mercury levels are being discovered in children with milder difficulties like learning disablities, ADHD, Asperger's, etc. It is hard not to get emotional as you read this book if you have a child with any Pervasive Developmental Disorder. Reading it I felt the shared pain of others like myself. (You have a child and want only the best, only to think about what your child should/could of been. Now, you see the daily frustrations your child goes through. How your child is isolated from other children their age because they are different. It is the most heartbreaking and hopeless feeling on earth.) The book did not tell how to cure my daughter, but it does give hope by showing progresses made by using DMPS Chelation Therapy in children with autism. I would also like to note my own research regarding the Tomatis Method. I am just thankful books like this are being written so more research and attention will be directed to help our children.As a practicing psychologist, prior to reading this powerful book, I (like the great majority of my colleagues)gave no credence to a causal link between mercury in vaccines and autism or related disorders. I had always read that any links that were found were spurious.

Now I am not so sure. In fact,I am inclined to believe that some children cannot effectively excrete mercury and as a result sustain neurological damage consistent with autism.

The author followed a group of parents - highly intelligent, professional, often initially skeptical themselves - as they researched the scientific findings and government studies on mercury and vaccines over a period of about 6 years.

What they found was frightening. Studies that initially found links, then were redone over and over until the link was eliminated. Communications from government agencies - the Centers for Disease Control, National Institute of Health, the Food and Drug Administration - that certainly appeared evasive at best, deceitful at worst. The ubiquitous overlap of government and pharmaceutical players.

Many parents resorted to a controversial treatment called chelation - designed to excrete substances - in this case mercury -by binding them to proteins that are eliminated as waste in urine. Tests measuring output levels of mercury appeared to indicate a significant buildup in the systems of their children. With excretion, many parents noted behavioral improvement, often dramatic.

The book raises important questions that remain to be investigated. How impaired immune functioning may predispose a child to autism. How levels of testosterone may impact risk. How we might proactively predict this risk.

Kirby has made a unique and strong contribution to the autism literature. While his book reads like the mystery it is, some readers, especially already overwhelmed and reading time deprived parents and professionals may be tempted to skip or skim it. But if at all possible, read this book, cover to cover. The devil really is in the details.
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This book, by David Kirby, a science and health contributor to "The New York Times," examines the controversial link between "mercury in vaccines and the autism epidemic [in American children]."

In order to understand this book, you have to understand the meaning of a couple of words:

(1) Mercury is an element of atomic number 80. Because of its low melting point, it occurs as a silver-white, liquid metal. Mercury and most of its compounds are toxic and tend to accumulate in higher animals (such as humans). Some of mercury's organic forms are used in bactericides (that inhibit the growth of microbial bacteria).

(2) A vaccine is any preparation of killed microorganisms, living weakened organisms etc. introduced into the human body to produce immunity (actually an artificial immunity) to a specific disease by causing the formation of antibodies. Vaccines also contains other interesting stuff and the final concoction resembles a "witch's brew." Here are some other components found in many vaccines: formaldehyde, calf serum, fetal rhesus monkey lung cells, monkey kidney cells, chick embryo, fetal bovine serum, sheep red blood cells, antifreeze, antibiotics, and cells originating from aborted human fetal tissue. Vaccines bring in a lot of money to pharmaceutical companies, over a billion dollars a year.

How is mercury related to a vaccine? Answer: vaccines have to be protected or preserved against microbial attack. What's used is mercury (or specifically an organic form of mercury) because, as mentioned above, it's a bactericide.

The preservative used in vaccines (mentioned in this book) is thimerosal (also called thiomersalate). (Thimerosal is pronounced "thigh-mer-uh-sall.") It is made from an organic compound of mercury and an acid. This preservative contains almost fifty percent mercury (which, as indicated above, is toxic). (Thimerosal is also used in the preservation of other pharmaceutical products.) Pharmaceutical companies (such as Eli Lilly) like this particular preservative because it's inexpensive.

This book considers the following question:

Did the injection of organic mercury (via the thimerosal in vaccines) directly into the developing systems of small children (mostly boys) cause autism in many of these children? (Autism is self-absorption where one's internal state is unrealistic and the person sees things in terms of fantasies and dreams, wishes and hopes, rather than in realistic terms shared by and with others. Strange behaviors like head banging and twirling also occur.) Note, and Kirby touches on this, besides autism, other things may occur such as attention deficit disorder, speech delay, motor tics, and neurological or neurodevelopmental disorders.

Following several families, Kirby traces their struggle to understand how and why their once-healthy children after being given a vaccine rapidly descended into autism, often accompanied by severe physical illness. Alarmed by the high levels of mercury in the vaccine schedule, these families sought answers from medical doctors, from medical "science," from pharmaceutical companies, and even from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration. No suitable explanations were given. But by sheer persistence to overcome many obstacles, these families also found powerful allies in Congress and in a small group of renegade (or perhaps, more accurately, conscientious) doctors and researchers who believe in the autism-vaccine link.

Kirby also mentions, among other things, the mercury in dental fillings, mercury in fish, and the Gulf War syndrome (since soldiers received many vaccinations).

This book is punctuated with tables of statistics and revealing graphs from actual research studies so readers can see for themselves what is going on.

Finally, contrary to what some other reviewers say, this book is not biased. Kirby explains: "This book looks at evidence presented on both sides of the thimerosal controversy, but told from the parents' admittedly subjective point of view." In the end, "Readers are invited to reach their own conclusions on the evidence [that's presented]."

In conclusion, ten years ago, a conscientious medical doctor named Guylaine Lanctot made a startling statement in a book she wrote: "People who work with autistic children...know that there is nearly always a vaccination at the root of the problem." (Lanctot lost her medical license for writing her book. So much for free speech!!) Kirby's riveting book reveals that this doctor's statement may be absolutely true!!!

(first published 2005; introduction; prologue; 13 chapters; epilogue; main narrative 420 pages; notes; acknowledgments; index)

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