A connection between autism and the preservative e thimerosal vaccine is on trial again. The second hearing at the United States Court of Federal Claims began this week. At the end of three hearings they will decide what is best to compensate almost 4,800 parents who believe that their children were damaged by the preservative because it is mercury-based.
Scientists believe that parents who have any type of psychiatric problem could increase a child’s risk of being autistic. During the research doctors discovered that the amount of autistic children was higher when their parents have suffered from depression, schizophrenia, or other psychiatric disorders.
“Our research shows that mothers and fathers diagnosed with schizophrenia were about twice as likely to have a child diagnosed with autism,” said Julie Daniels of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who worked on the study. “We also saw higher rates of depression and personality disorders among mothers, but not fathers,” she said in a statement.
UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute and Center for Children’s Environmental Health has conducted research on what can cause autism in infants and young children. They have discovered that antibodies found in the blood of mothers who have had autistic children will bind to the fetal brain cells. This can interrupt the normal and healthy brain developments of the fetus.
For years concerned parents have struggled with the decision of whether or not they should give their child vaccinations. Doctors tell them that they are important in order to protect our children from contracting harmful diseases. Yet, there are other people who feel that vaccines are the leading cause of autism.
Scientists are constantly researching as to the cause of autism. Having had no defined leads they are hoping that this new discovery might lead them closer. Scientists beleive that some mutations in two important proteins may be the cause of autism. One protein is said to increase the excitability of nerve cells and the other protein inhibits cell activity.
Many parents in this day and age are worried that autism may be caused by vaccines that are given to children when they are infants. Many studies have been done on this subject. Nearly all of the leading health organizations including the CDC and the NIH say that there is no relationship between vaccines and autism.
There are many parents who have children that have been diagosed with autism and it is a hard thing to deal with. There is one question that is on the minds of every single one of these parents, what causes autism? Unfortunately there are so many possible reasons, but doctors and researchers have not been able to determine exactly what the cause is.