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

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(More customer reviews)As the parent of a very high-functioning autistic child, I used to discount any relationship between vaccines and autism. This all changed as I gradually realized how dismal and pharmaceutical-dependent the conventional approach to autism really is. I put aside all preconceptions and reexamined the issue. Each day I found another study implicating mercury in vaccines, including very recent work by researchers such as Jill James, Mady Hornig and Thomas Burbacher. I also found very serious flaws in the studies used to reassure parents that there is nothing wrong with injecting mercury into an infant. I found disturbing similarities between the rhetoric used to defend mercury in medicine today and the rhetoric used 70 years ago to defend lead in paint. While I do not claim that the case has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, I have seen enough to act on the assumption that it is valid. My child's response to the conservative measures we have used in the past few months have only solidified my persuasion.
Kirby's book is an extremely thorough compilation of all the studies, political ramifications, and personal stories that make up the mercury-autism controversy. His research paralleled my own explorations and added some behind-the-scenes information as well. He also made every effort to present both sides of the issue but was hampered in this by the refusal of the CDC, AAP, pharmaceutical companies and others to grant interviews. He is in no way, shape, or form anti-vaccine. I would also like to point out that he did not confuse the MMR and thimerosal issues--perhaps another reader missed Kirby's full explanation of the theoretical interplay between the two as well as his full explanation of what happened with Andrew Wakefield's study in the Lancet, which is much more complex than a simple retraction.
It strikes me as odd if not suspect that any physician would argue that research into the thimerosal issue should be halted when the CDC itself has called for more study, when more and more autistic children are responding to treatment for mercury poisoning and when many of the key players in the research effort are medical doctors who also happen to be parents of autistic children. These are people who have put their names out in the open, people such as Alan Clark, MD, of Missouri, who runs the (...)website with his wife and who has a child who developed Asperger's following two flu shots.
Kirby shows nothing but respect for autistic children and adults. One of the key characters in the book is a researcher with Asperger's and he warmly depicts her creative and non-conformist approach to life. I think it is important to note that there are many wonderful autistic people who are brilliant, creative, free-thinkers, but there are also many non-autistic people who are brilliant, creative, free-thinkers. My child is extremely bright, imaginative, honest, intense and funny, but this is because that's who he is not because he's autistic. In fact, these positives only shine when he is not burdened by anxiety, overwhelmed by normal sensory stimuli or caught in a pattern of inflexibility as he is sometimes due to autism. I'm sure autism has left some indelible mark on his personality and it is true that it is not ALL bad, just as a blind person's vivid sense of hearing is not bad. And of course we must all respect and honor differences, as Kirby does so very well. That is not to say that autism is benign. I imagine the parents of a severely autistic child would find this idea alternately infuriating and laughable.
I strongly recommend reading this book. If you're a health care provider, it will explain where parents are coming from. If you're wanting a summation of the issue, it is a great source. If you have nothing to do with autism or mercury, it's still a compelling story. If you have a child with autism, well . . . I can't recommend it enough; however, I would also recommend that you do your own research. Don't take my word for it--or anyone else's--until you've read the actual primary studies, not the spin that gets reported in much of the media. You may encounter something quite unexpected. I certainly did.

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Vaccine A: The Covert Government Experiment That's Killing Our Soldiers--And Why GI's Are Only The First Victims Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is frightening if true. The premise, set forth in the introduction and detailed in the book, is that the US government has used experimental vaccines from the Desert Shield / Storm era through today on GI's and other individuals. Author Gary Matsumoto methodically - sometimes excruciatingly so - grinds through facts and builds a circumstantial case supported by nearly 60 pages of endnotes.
Matsumoto was the first writer to publish a connection between the anthrax vaccine and the Gulf War Syndrome, doing so in an article published in Vanity Fair in 1999. His book, Vaccine A, is the spawn of that article.
Matsumoto does not have an evident bias of distrust in the US government or even the military. He acknowledges the need to develop and use a vaccine effective against anthrax. He is even willing to understand the failure to obtain knowing consent from those injected with an unlicensed vaccine due to the exigent nature of the Gulf conflict and the fear of biological agents in the possession of Saddam Hussein - at least initially.
As his investigation progresses, Matsumoto learns that one of the ingredients of Vaccine A (anthrax vaccine) is squalene. This oily substance is an adjuvant that stimulates the immune system. Unfortunately, this oil too closely resembles oils found in the body and as a result, the body's immune system begins to attack itself. This causes a plethora of autoimmune diseases.
Disturbingly, it appears that a wealth of scientific knowledge about the dangers of squalene was available to a thorough researcher prior to the Gulf War. Even more disturbing is the unwillingness of the US military to acknowledge more than ten years later the fact that squalene in Vaccine A caused a large number of "casualties".
Matsumoto asserts that the US has stockpiled 75,000,000 doses of Vaccine A with squalene for future use by the military and civilians. He further assets that the several other vaccines have been or are in the process of being developed with the adjuvant of squalene.
At times, this book is like reading a textbook - it is grueling. However, the acquired knowledge is worth the effort. This book should be read (or at least the introduction) by anybody who has family or friends in the military or is contemplating a career in the military. Apparently, enemy fire and friendly fire are not the only risks of military service.
In the "how I would improve this book" category I suggest photographs of key individuals mentioned in the book. Also, it would be helpful include a complete copy of the insert that accompanies the current anthrax vaccine.
A tough book to read - but five stars all the same.


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Vaccine-A uncovers a story of betrayal -- the betrayal of the men and women who serve in the armed forces, the betrayal of medical ethics, and the betrayal of the American people by military and civilian leaders sworn to defend and protect. Veteran journalist Gary Matsumoto shows that the worst friendly-fire incident in military history came from something no soldier had any reason to think would harm him: a vaccine administered by the military's own medics. When troops went to the Middle East to fight the Gulf War in 1991 and the Iraq War in 2003, many -- perhaps thousands -- received an experimental anthrax vaccine instead of the FDA-approved vaccine. Without their knowledge or consent, the U. S. government used them as human guinea pigs in a massive medical experiment that went disastrously wrong.

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