Trump’s post also drew criticism due to the fact RFK Jr has previously endorsed debunked theories that vaccines cause autism.

But a growing body of recent research suggests other external factors cannot be dismissed as conspiracies.

Some studies have shown growing pollution and chemical contamination in food and water may allow toxins to infiltrate the bloodstream of pregnant mothers and travel to the brain of the developing fetus, causing inflammation that impairs nerve signals that lead to autism.

Some experts have also speculated a surge in pesticide use may also be responsible for lower IQs and delays in children.

Additionally, more babies are surviving being born prematurely than in decades past, making them more vulnerable to developmental delays and autism.

This could be related to the fact women are having children older than ever, or other changes to do with parents, such as the rising prevalence of obesity.

However, the increased prevalence of autism may not be a uniquely American phenomenon.

In the UK, a record 200,000 Brits in 2024 were reportedly waiting to be screened for autism, a nine-fold increase from 2019, data from the country’s National Health Service shows.

  • @[email protected]M
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    16 hours ago

    I was gonna do a post on vaccines

    Lack of Clarity With Terms

    I think some confusion comes in when people use the word “vaccines” when they really mean “all vaccines” or “some vaccines”, or “vaccine theory”

    Some Vaccines Harmful

    It should be an uncontroversial statement, to claim “some vaccines are harmful”. Some people today consider covid “vaccines” (which are thought to be slightly different than traditional vaccines) to be in this category of the “some vaccines [that] are harmful”. That can be debated, but it does not logically imply that if one believes covid vaccines to be harmful, that they believe all vaccines to be harmful.

    Vaccine Theory Versus Vaccines Available

    Thus for example also, one might believe “vaccine theory” to be sound, but for “all vaccines” available today to be harmful. This would be like believing food to be healthy (generally accepted), but if there was only a contaminated source of food available to an island, that that island might argue “all [their] food is unhealthy”. Does this mean they are denying that food itself is unhealthy? No, just that all the food they’re getting is unhealthy.

    “Vaccines are Harmful”

    So when some people are saying this phrase (“all vaccines are harmful”), they might mean either they believe vaccine theory is wrong, that all vaccines available today are harmful, or that some vaccines available today are harmful. There really isn’t a clarity on what is expressed; likewise then the “other side” may argue against positions that they are not taking.

    Problem of Verification

    Overall one of the big problems with vaccines today is the lack of ability for the average person to confirm the quality of the vaccine being offered to them; many of us do not have access to labs to test things ourselves, hence would be dependent on the opinion of alleged experts to determine if the vaccine is healthy or not, and such people’s opinions can be wrong. This makes vaccines often a kind of unexaminable “black box” to the average person.

    Amish as an Example

    Fueling such further speculation about vaccines, we have “control” groups like the Amish who have low vaccination rates, and also low autism rates: https://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/10-autism-facts-and-statistics-autism-rates-in-amish-countries-that-dont-vaccinate-and-more-600444/3/

    Correlation does not imply causation, however it does prompt questioning.

    Conclusion

    The discussion on alleged health benefits of vaccines should maintain clarity to work to get to the root of the issues and should be open about limitations. For example, the flu shot prior to covid was thought to be the “weakest” in effectiveness in recent years… and in looking to link to this story, I see a fresh story about how weak the vaccine is for this year’s flu season: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/flu-vaccine-selections-suggest-this-years-shot-may-be-off-the-mark/

    To the contrary, the placebo effect of getting vaccinated should also be considered… but, if vaccines were to only offer a strong placebo, then we could substitute placebos for vaccines.

    The roles of sanitation (quarantining) shouldn’t be downplayed in preventing the spread of disease, versus the effectiveness of vaccines: https://covidcalltohumanity.org/2022/04/28/study-shows-sanitation-nutrition-better-than-vaccines-at-protecting-children-from-disease/

  • @Hobbes_Dent
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    82 days ago

    Jfc you’re doing harm. To kids.

    Large changes in diagnostics, more than once, have broadened the diagnosis of autism and therefore increased the numbers of diagnoses because it includes symptoms and people that didn’t fit into it before.

    So what helps kids more? Science based health care or this filth?

    • @[email protected]OPM
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      22 days ago

      I was under the impression that it is not controversial to suggest that microplastics and massive amounts of chemically altered food could also be contributing to this…?

      I think figuring out the causes of the increase would also help kids…?