Fox News

A Bay Area biochemist thinks she's found a sort of autism smoking gun: monosodium glutamate, or MSG. It's a chemical compound almost exclusively connoted with Chinese food, but Katherine Reid points out that it's found in all but 5% of processed food, largely unbeknownst to us: It appears on the food label only about 1% of the time.

But if things like flavor or flavoring, soy protein, whey protein, pectin, corn starch, or stock make an appearance . . . you're consuming MSG, she says, needlessly.

The San Francisco Chronicle points out there "is no science to back up many of her claims," with two doctors confirming to the paper that no MSG studies of the sort have been carried out.

But then there's Reid and her 7-year-old daughter. As the Chronicle explains, Reid's youngest child, Brooke, began showing signs of autism at 2: wild tantrums, repetitive behavior, communication issues, digestive problems.

Tests revealed the girl was moderately autistic. Reid began researching diet options, first eliminating gluten and dairy; then she read about MSG, and the role glutamate plays in the body: It's essential for learning and function, but she came to believe that too much of it interferes with neural function-and that the glutamine in MSG can exacerbate the imbalance.

This is a biochemist saying this---not an ex-Playboy bunny.

Dr. Reid is talking about MSG in food....but, check out the CDC's website below. There's MSG in "a few vaccines." Any studies to show that's safe? Probably not. However I'm sure the CDC can quickly show us that injectable MSG is perfectly safe with instantaneous population studies.

CDC WEBSITE:

Common substances found in vaccines include:

Aluminum gels or salts of aluminum which are added as adjuvants to help the vaccine stimulate a better response. Adjuvants help promote an earlier, more potent response, and more persistent immune response to the vaccine.
See also: "Aluminum in Vaccines: What you should know [2 pages]"

Antibiotics which are added to some vaccines to prevent the growth of germs (bacteria) during production and storage of the vaccine. No vaccine produced in the United States contains penicillin.

Egg protein is found in influenza and yellow fever vaccines, which are prepared using chicken eggs. Ordinarily, persons who are able to eat eggs or egg products safely can receive these vaccines.

Formaldehyde is used to inactivate bacterial products for toxoid vaccines, (these are vaccines that use an inactive bacterial toxin to produce immunity.) It is also used to kill unwanted viruses and bacteria that might contaminate the vaccine during production. Most formaldehyde is removed from the vaccine before it is packaged.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) and 2-phenoxy-ethanol which are used as stabilizers in a few vaccines to help the vaccine remain unchanged when the vaccine is exposed to heat, light, acidity, or humidity.

Thimerosal is a mercury-containing preservative that is added to vials of vaccine that contain more than one dose to prevent contamination and growth of potentially harmful bacteria.

Ars Technica

VANCOUVER-Geneticist Wendy Chung took to the TED stage on Wednesday to discuss one of today's most perplexing problems: the twenty-fold increase in autism diagnoses in children over the past three decades. What we know for certain (and what she made clear) is that vaccines are absolutely not to blame. There is no credible evidence to support the assertion that vaccination causes autism, and there is plenty of evidence to rule it out.

Autism diagnoses are certainly on the rise, though; one in 88 children will be diagnosed with autism this year. But the rise of diagnoses does not necessarily mean that there has been a rise in autism. In fact, Chung does not believe that there has been a massive increase in autism cases. "The vast majority of it is the increase in diagnoses," Chung said. Medical professionals are now far better trained to detect and diagnose autism, so it's diagnosed more often.

Ken Fisher and Wendy Chung are out to convince us that all the autism affecting our children is normal and acceptable.  It's right in time for April--Celebrate Autism Month.  Fisher and Chung may be satisfied that this is a genetic disorder and that there's been no real increase but I'm still waiting for SOMEONE to show us the adults.  And I don't mean adults who'd rather stay home and read a book instead of going to a party.  I want to see the group homes and institutions where the non-verbal, hand-flapping adults in diapers are living.  Where are the 40, 60, and 80 year olds who display the same signs of classic autism we see in our kids?  Where are the elderly autistic people whose medical history includes a sudden and dramatic loss of learned skills, including speech?  Where are the autistic adults with the gut problems and seizures that we see in so many children? 

WSAV Savannah, GA

Georgia lawmakers will end the 2014 legislative session tomorrow, and tonight hope for the Autism Insurance bill hangs in the balance.
Anna Bullard of Lyons, Georgia has been fighting for the bill that was stalled in committee for years.

The Senate showed strong support passing the bill unanimously twice this year.

Is this a surprise, really? Autism is merely a medical curiosity. It's never even been called a crisis by the people in Atlanta. No one in authority is ever sure if there's been a real increase in the autism rate. If all that's true, then we've always managed--without insurance coverage. The media, health officials and mainstream medicine could cause less about what autism is doing to our children, why should lawmakers?

We're still waiting.


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