Medical Questions » Children Questions » Question No. 1159
| Question: | What causes autism? Is it the MM R vaccine? |
| Answer: | As with many conditions, there is a debate as to whether autism is inherited or caused by something like diet or environment. Autism is four times as common in boys as it is in girls. Parents and siblings of autistic children are far more likely to suffer from milk or gluten allergy, have digestive disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, high cholesterol, night blindness, light sensitivity, thyroid problems and cancer. Being breastfed also increases the risk. At first glance, one might suspect that autistic children may inherit certain imbalances. However, an alternative explanation might be that other family members eat the same food and may be lacking the same nutrients, and there is growing evidence that some of the nutri- tional approaches used to help correct dyslexia, dys- praxia and ADHD can make a significant difference to the autistic child.
Recently there has been a raging debate over the danger of the MMR vaccine causing autism in chil- dren. The official line is that there' s no good evidence of such a danger, and it' s too early to jump to conclusions about Dr Andrew Wakefteld' s research at the Royal Free Hospital, which suggests that the vaccine damages the gut and releases toxins to the brain.
And for most children, the MMR vaccine is unlikely to be a problem; however, no one really knows the full consequences or giving a child three immune attacks all at the same time. This simply doesn' t occur in nature, so there' s a logical argument for single vaccines if a parent so chooses, especially for children with weakened immune systems. Perhaps for children with nutrient deficiencies, lacking essential fatty acids, susceptible to food allergies and or gutproblems, these triple vaccines are the last straw. My opinion is that MMR is a small part of the overall picture for most children with autism. |
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