Autism.. is it really genetic?

I've been reading a lot in the news about Autism. I've heard stories saying that a little girl that was born completely "normal" somehow was diagnosed with Austism after a series of vaccinations. I have also heard stories about a man who was diagnosed with autism as a freshman in high school but never showed any symptoms or signs of the disorder before.



For those of you that aren't familiar with autism, it is a brain development disorder that impairs social interaction and communication, and causes restricted and repetitive behavior, all starting before a child is three years old. really showed signs of it before that.

A common myth of autism is that Autism is solely caused by environmental factors like vaccines. According to CNN's report with Dr. Julie Gerberding, "there's been at least 15 very good scientific studies at the Institute of Medicine who have searched this out. And they have concluded that there really is no association between vaccines and autism." Dr. Gerberding says that all signs point to genetics.

The interesting story that I read, bringing me to the point of this blog is a story I read a few weeks back on MSNBC about a family in Atlanta. The family says that their daughter, Hannah Polings was a very bright child who was speaking clearly at a young age and could whistle on command. Hannah was given a series of 5 vaccinations in July 2000. She was about 18 months at the time and the Polings say that almost immediatley after these vaccinations they saw signs of behavioral changes.

"It wasn’t like a switch being turned off. It was more like a dimmer switch being turned down," her father said.

Hannah who is now 9-years-old has been diagnosed with Autism almost 8 years after the vaccinations. Government officials conclude that the vaccines Hannah received exacberated an underlying condition and the government has agreed to pay the Polings from a federal fund that compensates people injured by vaccines.

Even after hearing this story, Dr. Julie Gerberding, and the Centers for Disease and Prevention still believe vaccinations cannot cause Autism. They also say that just because of this case, there is no change in that position and they still feel vaccines are safe and helpful for children.

According to MSNBC Hannah has a disorder involving her mitochondria. The disorder, which can be present at birth from an inherited gene or acquired later in life, impairs cells’ ability to use nutrients. It often causes problems in brain functioning and can lead to delays in walking and talking.

Nothing says that Hannah could never live a normal life. I know first hand that, even with a disorder such as Autism you can lead a normal life depending on the severities of it but the chances of it are very unlikely in most cases. There isn't even a cure for it. All you can do is try your hardest to get your child the best education available and hope for the best as most parents do for there children.

If this happened to little Hannah and no one knew that she had an underlying condition before then how are doctors able to prevent this from happening again? Had this little girl never received those vaccinations she may have never been diagnosed with Autism and she may be leading a normal life. Now, because a series of shots that were supposed to be helping and protecting her have caused her more problems than good and that may affect the rest of her life. How can scientists and doctors prove that this will never happen again?