Lancet Retracts Study Linking Vaccines to Autism

Autism and vaccines.  They sort of go hand in hand, don’t they?  After all, for years natural health practitioners—even some traditional health practitioners—have told us that they may lead to autism, a developmental disorder that affects one in every 110 children (and one in 70 boys).

Well, 12 years and scores of people who’ve heeded this warning later, doctors now say there’s no link between autism and vaccines after all.

This “debunking,” of sorts, comes from the publisher of the study, the British medical journal Lancet. They issued a retraction of the 1998 study last month because the results were based on false data sets.  The study’s lead researcher, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, was dealt a stinging rebuke by the British medical panel that issued the retraction, saying Wakefield showed “callous disregard” for the facts.

Despite this well-publicized retraction, however, it’s done little to quell parents’ concerns regarding vaccines and their safety.

According to a recent study performed by researchers from the University of Michigan, 54 percent of the 1,552 parents polled remain worried that vaccines pose a risk for significant side effects.  Twelve percent admitted to the fact that they’ve refused to get their kids certain vaccines because of their reputed link to autism (e.g. varicella vaccine, meningococcal conjugate).

Now, I’m not a parent, so I can’t tell you whether or not you should or shouldn’t get your son or daughter vaccinated from potentially deadly diseases.  That’s a decision best left between you, your spouse, and your pediatrician.

What I can tell you is that I’m very wary of vaccines’ effectiveness and have only grown more wary of them since I got into the natural health business over a decade ago.

One person who really opened my eyes on vaccine safety is Dr. Cynthia Foster. I recently posted an interview I had with Dr. Foster regarding the effectiveness of the H1N1 vaccine, and vaccines in general.  If you haven’t read it yet, I encourage you to read it.  It’s a bit lengthy, so you may want to print it so you can read it at your leisure.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be talking with Dr. Foster again to get her two cents about the Lancet’s recent retraction of their 1998 study.  I’ll be interested to hear what she has to say and hope you’ll be as well.  Stay tuned.

Sources
autismspeaks.org
nytimes.com
health.yahoo.com