Cate Nelson at Eco Childs Play recently discussed the results of a study that looks at the relationship between environmental pollutants in breastmilk and autism.
Here’s a quick blurb from Cate’s article:
Dr. Merzenich also called some attention to the rise in cases of autism spectrum disorder and tied it to the rise in breastfeeding rates of the past 30 years, as though in that case correlation is causation. Source: Eco Childs Play
I’m passionate about this as I’m the mother of two children on the autism spectrum and of course a big proponent of breastfeeding. Autism is truly a mystery and studies that show correlations are becoming more popular. I just hope that this doesn’t get sensationalized and moms decide to forego on the amazing benefits of breastfeeding in the hope that their child doesn’t develop autism.
On a related note, I had the opportunity to have lunch with Cate at BlogHer ’09 and she is an amazing momma. It was great to sit down with her and other AP mommas during the hectic conference.
Photo by Raphael Goetter
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*BREASTMILK TOXICITY CAUSING AUTISM?—THINK AGAIN!!*
The mercury-based preservative, Thimerosal (49.6% ethyl mercury), has been used in killed bacterial vaccines since the 1930’s without ever having undergone adequate testing for toxicity. In the past two decades, as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have added many more vaccines containing Thimerosal to the routine vaccination schedule for all children and states have mandated these vaccines, children have been exposed to much higher levels of mercury through vaccination. During this same time period, childhood developmental disabilities have dramatically increased to the point where today the CDC estimates 1 in 6 American children is developmentally delayed with a diagnosis of autism, learning disabilities, attention problems or other learning or behavioral problems. The CDC estimates that 1 in 166 American children has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (the incidence in boys is more like 1 in every 100). Clinical and scientific evidence is now emerging which is linking mercury-containing vaccines to the regressive type of autism in some children. There has been a 2000% increase in reported cases of autism in New Mexico in the last decade.