Causecast

by MELISSA JUN ROWLEY, Contributing Writer

We are nearing the close of April, and the end of Autism Awareness Month, which has been recognized by the United States as a time to educate the public about the elusive developmental disorder, which affects one in 150 children. While we still do not know exactly what triggers the disease that prevents different parts of the brain from functioning cohesively, we can evaluate what we have learned, and understand that we have a long way to go.

We know more today, however, than ever before. We know that there are levels of autism. We know what signs to look for in our children: the inability to relate to others, responsive abnormalities, incredibly short attention spans, lack of imitation skills, and lack of imagination.

Overall, as a society we are much more aware of autism than we have ever been. But this increased awareness has not led to a decrease in the amount of autism cases. In fact, the disorder has been consistently on the rise since the 1970s, especially in the last 10 years.

Over the last three decades, a handful of theories about what causes autism have been put on the table for debate. Autistic traits often run in families. This trend has prompted experts to search for genes that may carry the catalyst. Some medical professionals believe autism is caused by a child’s surroundings or another biological condition. And others speculate that childhood vaccines such as the measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, elicit the disease.

In January, California Department of Health Medical Officer Robert Schecter told WebMD that his institute has found “no link between childhood vaccination and increases in childhood autism in the data [the department has gathered]."

However, some parents of autistic children argue that vaccination cannot be ruled out as a potential trigger. On April 22, Jim Carrey wrote on The Huffington Post, in reference to girlfriend and Causecast leader Jenny McCarthy’s autistic son. McCarthy’s organization Generation Rescue is a movement of scientists researching causes of and treatments for autism. In response to commentary given by CNN’s Campbell Brown, who argued that vaccines are not the cause of autism based on a ruling by the special vaccine court, Carrey shared his own thoughts.

“… a ruling against causation in three cases out of more than 5000 hardly proves that other children won’t be adversely affected by the MMR, let alone that all vaccines are safe…Not everyone gets cancer from smoking, but cigarettes do cause cancer. After 100 years and many rulings in favor of the tobacco companies, we finally figured that out.”

Generation Rescue is a great place to learn more about autism and explore the medical breakthroughs that are making this widespread illness treatable.

Until the evidence indicating a cause is definitive, however, the debate will continue, as will the need to detect the disorder as soon as possible.

Image by alainelorza, flickr