National groups launch study of autism rates among Somalis

[gemini_snake]

St. Paul, Minn. — National researchers plan to investigate whether there are higher rates of autism among Somali-Americans in Minneapolis, a move that will likely be applauded by Somali parents eager for answers.

In a plan announced Tuesday by the advocacy group Autism Speaks, the National Institute of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will look into concerns that the city's Somali children are disproportionately affected by autism.

"We believe it is important to verify if a true increase in prevalence exists, and if so, why it exists," said Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for Autism Speaks, which is helping fund the investigation.

If the study confirms higher rates of autism among Somali-American children, future research will need to address what factors, such as immigration or nutrition, could account for the increase, project partners say.

The investigation is scheduled to begin later this year, and will likely focus on a select population of children in Minneapolis.

Autism has been a hot topic for many Somali parents in Minnesota.

For the past few years, parent Idil Abdull of Minneapolis has asked for an investigation into the prevalence of autism in her community. Abdull, whose son was diagnosed with autism, has emerged on the front lines of the issue in Minnesota.

Abdull said she is encouraged that this research will take place.

"As a parent, if something is wrong with your child, you take him or her to the doctor with the hope they'll give you an antibiotic or tell you what's wrong," she said. "With autism, they tell you, 'This is a lifelong condition. We don't have a cause. Have a nice day.' And as a mother, I always refused to accept that."

Abdull began raising the alarm about autism in her community in 2008.

The Minnesota Department of Health released a report in 2009 confirming higher rates of Somali-American kids participating in special education classes for children with autism in Minneapolis. But it's still unclear why.

It could be that Somali parents prefer to enroll their children in school-based programs, as opposed to seeking help from autism specialists in the medical community.

Last month, Andrew Wakefield -- who has been widely discredited for his controversial research claiming a link between childhood vaccinations and autism -- visited Minneapolis to gather data and money for research into autism rates among Somali-American children.

Just weeks later, the British Medical Journal declared Wakefield an outright fraud for faking data.


http://minnesota.publicradio.org/displa ... ism-study/

[gemini_snake]

Dr. Andrew Wakefield In-Studio: The Links Between Childhood Vaccines and Autism

[Voltage]

Andrew Wakefield has been discredited. You should be wise to double check sources.

[anilweyne]

Autism? Its being invented by irresponsible single-moms.

[muslim-man]

Andrew Wakefield is a disgrace to the scientific community and a greedy hound. He was sued a few years ago by the same distraught parents he was supposedly fighting for when he presented some dubious findings regarding plausible causes of autism, to win a litigation case against a pharmaceutical company. He's a fraud and fabricated his supposed research linking autism to MMR vaccinations given within the first 6 months of infancy and specifically with additives like mercury. All he's ever done was create unnecessary mass hysteria and fear-mongering amongst parents who then took things even further by refusing most if not all childhood vaccinations including some not remotely linked to autism e.g. hepatitis b & c, polio, and rotoviruses.

Its all genetics and inbreeding. Jews also have disproportionately higher percentages of autism and other genetic disorders as a result of, you guessed it - inbreeding.

[melo]

Andrew Wakefield is a disgrace to the scientific community and a greedy hound. He was sued a few years ago by the same distraught parents he was supposedly fighting for when he presented some dubious findings regarding plausible causes of autism, to win a litigation case against a pharmaceutical company. He's a fraud and fabricated his supposed research linking autism to MMR vaccinations given within the first 6 months of infancy and specifically with additives like mercury. All he's ever done was create unnecessary mass hysteria and fear-mongering amongst parents who then took things even further by refusing most if not all childhood vaccinations including some not remotely linked to autism e.g. hepatitis b & c, polio, and rotoviruses.

Its all genetics and inbreeding. Jews also have disproportionately higher percentages of autism and other genetic disorders as a result of, you guessed it - inbreeding.

If that's the case, why isn't there an autism epidemic in Somalia?

[Voltage]

If that's the case, why isn't there an autism epidemic in Somalia?

You can't be serious?

[melo]

If that's the case, why isn't there an autism epidemic in Somalia?

You can't be serious?

Inbreeding has existed for centuries, yet autism has only become epidemic with Somali community recently. I certainly do not know of any one older than 30 who has autism. So the question is, if inbreeding is the cause of autism, why has it only really become a problem in the west?

[melo]

Btw voltage, you need to get off the fact that i karbashed you in the other thread. Just admit that you know nothing when it comes to Diin and salute my imaamship

[Abdihaliim]

What if the Somalis are a special case? Over on Age of Autism Kirby speculates that it could be more “evidence” of mitochondrial influence on autism.

"I wonder if the fact that Somalians reflect a different mitochondrial haplogroup than most of the rest of Africa (M1 rather than L) might provide a clue here?"


http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... fi&ct=clnk

[ArcadeFire]

Btw voltage, you need to get off the fact that i karbashed you in the other thread. Just admit that you know nothing when it comes to Diin and salute my imaamship

Diinta is a competitive sport miyaa

[melo]

Btw voltage, you need to get off the fact that i karbashed you in the other thread. Just admit that you know nothing when it comes to Diin and salute my imaamship

Diinta is a competitive sport miyaa

Voltage started the game. I just went with the flow

[Faranacab]

Btw voltage, you need to get off the fact that i karbashed you in the other thread. Just admit that you know nothing when it comes to Diin and salute my imaamship

Diinta is a competitive sport miyaa

Voltage started the game. I just went with the flow

Ps. Salana sare Halfdzed.

[udun]

The pharmaceutical industry has a stranglehold of the US Healthcare System and will refute viciously against any thing that points the fingers at the vaccinations. Look no further; these children who are being affected by this epidemic were poisoned by an industry that is in the state of denial. You can check the 1986 vaccination schedule for newborn children and ask yourself why did they change it?

How anyone can have any hope on the US government to do the right thing when the executives of CDC, the agency that is tasked to check these dangerous vaccinations, is run by the same guys who serve the board of the directors of the pharmaceutical industry? Dr. Andrew Wakefield is constantly targeted because of his efforts to point the fingers at the source of the problem. The guy is challenging a powerful interest lobby and all the efforts to point the fingers at his data are designed to silence him and create doubts on his findings.

[abduljrus]

Udun... wakefield is a fraud. His 'studies' were never reproduced so whatever he did in his lap to produce those initial results are very much in doubt. his methods and the fact that he was paid by lawyers suing trying to get money from vaccines is just another evidence to suggest that he was fraud.

Nothing conspiratorial has taken place. Even he can't reproduce the same results. He even came out recently and said he does not recommended not vaccinating your children when he initially said never vaccinate.