Posted by linkadge on August 31, 2016, at 8:33:26
In reply to Re: vaccinations and autism, posted by Baseball55 on August 30, 2016, at 19:56:14
Hey Baseball,
This issue is obviously very polarizing. However, I personally *never* believe in any scientific study (or meta-analysis for that matter) dogmatically. Also, scientific research is an ongoing study of reality - we don't perform one or two studies and then close the case.
For example, in the 90's SSRIs were not linked to birth defects. Many doctors considered them safe during pregnancy.
Folic acid was considered harmless (now linked to increased colon cancer risk)
How many of us believed (for over a decade) that (hydrogenated) margarine was safer for us that butter, only to find out that it is (in fact) worse?
The arthritis medication Vioxx was FDA approved for years and only later (upon withdrawl from the market) has been linked to some 20,000 - 60000 heart attacks.
Sugar is harmless
Scientific research is never free from bias, and it always has the potential to not capture the entire truth and / or misrepresent reality.
Like I said in my original post, the data (currently) does not support a link between vaccinations and autism. However, I personally don't think that is necessarily the end of the story.
Because the ratio of unvaccinated to vaccinated is relatively small *and* the rate of autism is fairly low, it is possible that studies have simply not captured a link. There could also be subgroups of cases which are caused by vaccines which are currently too small to detect.
Another thing to consider (which the meta-analysis has not factored in) is that it may not be that vaccines don't cause autism, it could be that the unvaccinated have additional risk factors which predispose them to autism (and hence mask the effect).
For instance, what kind of parent does not vaccinate their child? Think about the personality of such a parent (i.e. suspiciousness, neuroticism, antisocial tendencies) and whether those traits might be in some way linked to offspring with genetically higher rates of autism - hence masking the effect of vaccines on autism.
More time will tell.
The only reason I lean this way is because of my (personal) reaction to seasonal vaccines which no doctor believes.
My doctors don't believe that the annual vaccine could possible worsen my depression (and cause destabilization).
If my doctors don't believe me, why should I believe them?
Linkadge
poster:linkadge
thread:1091559
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20160819/msgs/1091596.html