Am I The Only One Who Can See The Link?

[AliB]

Now here's a thing.

I am an analyst. Not by vocation, by nature. I have a questioning nature. I have always needed to have answers. I read, I absorb, I filter, and I cogitate.

Diabetics get neuropathy. Amongst other things. Undiagnosed Celiacs get neuropathy. Amongst other things. The neuropathy experienced by Celiacs is due to malabsorption. Namely, Vitamin B12 but may also be compounded by a deficiency in other things.

Neuropathy in Diabetics is shrugged off as a 'symptom of Diabetes, particularly uncontrolled'. Very rarely (particularly here in the UK) is any blood testing done to look for deficiencies, and in any case, what is considered 'normal' levels is still, sadly, probably due to a lack of research, still a very inexact science. The level my body functions happiest at is not necessarily the same as yours and because (I believe) Gluten Intolerance due to over-exposure is so widespread, whether low-level or higher, even so-called 'healthy' individuals who are used as controls in any research, may even themselves not be displaying optimum nutritional levels!

I do not believe that we can separate Glucose Intolerance from Celiac Disease. Celiac is a progression of GI. Some individuals have a genetic leaning toward Celiac and that is what they, if the GI is not addressed early enough, at some point will develop. Some will have genetic vulnerability to other diseases. Some people's GI will eventually trigger other ailments/diseases, depending on their risk factors - their vulnerability, and degree and range of malabsorption deficiency, such as Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, possibly even Cancer.

Why do I see over again, when I read the experiences on this and other forums, people saying, "I am Gluten Intolerant and have started eating Gluten-Free and amazingly, my CFS, FM, RA, Psoriasis, Migraines, Diverticulitis, IBS, Chocolate Addiction, etc., etc., has gone away, cleared up, disappeared. I am so much better". The key is Gluten.

Why am I not surprised? I do not look for complicated answers. I look for simple ones. The answer to this is so blatantly simple it has completely been ignored. If plain, ordinary, bog-standard Gluten Intolerance was taken far more seriously then maybe there would be an awful lot of people out there who would never end up developing the dreadful diseases that they find themselves having to cope with, costly drug treatments would be unnecessary and people would have a far better degree of health.

Am I the only one who can see this...............?

[RiceGuy]

Yes, and more. I answered this in the other thread:

Open Original Shared Link

[Tim-n-VA]

Since no one seems to agree what "gluten intolerance" means, it might be a stretch to say that celiac is a progression of GI.

There are multiple auto-immune diseases and they frequently occur in clusters. Jumping to the conclusion that one caused the other is different than saying that people with one should be aware of the other.

Just scanning the topics on this board, there seems to be a bit of that phrase "Give a kid a hammer and everything looks like a nail".

[SurreyGirl]

Am I the only one who can see this...............?

With you all the way AliB!

The various conditions are probably a result of genetic variability.

I am trying currently to understand what turns malabsorption into autoimmune diseases and so far leaky gut is one of the possibilities. And leaky gut can be caused by serious immune assault (the trigger, like serious illnes, vaccines or similar).

But what really makes my blood boil is how we get brainwashed into "gold-standard" celiac diagnosis - like if celiac was the only answer. My son would have failed that well and truly, I refused to go back on gluten because he improved so much and he has DQ1, when you have no gut symptoms but you still get neurological damage from gluten.

Thank God for some enlightened drs and this forum!

[mftnchn]

I agree that many who don't meet the gold standard for diagnosis are likely still celiac--and I place myself in this category. However, I agree with Tim about the caution of equating gluten intolerance with celiac because another reason for GI might be missed.

A couple of people I know on this forum have found their gluten intolerance due to another issue and have successfully been able to return to eating gluten.

[AliB]

With you all the way AliB!

The various conditions are probably a result of genetic variability.

I am trying currently to understand what turns malabsorption into autoimmune diseases and so far leaky gut is one of the possibilities. And leaky gut can be caused by serious immune assault (the trigger, like serious illnes, vaccines or similar).

But what really makes my blood boil is how we get brainwashed into "gold-standard" celiac diagnosis - like if celiac was the only answer. My son would have failed that well and truly, I refused to go back on gluten because he improved so much and he has DQ1, when you have no gut symptoms but you still get neurological damage from gluten.

Thank God for some enlightened drs and this forum!

I think you are absolutely right about 'leaky gut'. That sneaky little Candida (and other similar yeasts) have a lot to answer for, but at the end of the day, they will only get out of control if we allow them to. Some of us seem to have a disposition that finds it hard to process sugars and carbs and the yeasts take advantage of that.

We are a very sick society. Whilst there has always been disease, we are now plagued with things that were unheard of in history. I believe that most of this has come about over the last few centuries as sugar and carbohydrate has become such a huge consumption. We are surrounded and overwhelmed by sugar and stodge. The concept, except for within a very few (pretty healthy!) groups in the World, of not eating sugar is just unheard of.

Whilst sweetness may have been consumed occasionally in the past in the form of honey (the real high-value McCoy, not from sugar-fed bees), most of what was eaten was savoury protein and fats (Nomadic tribes and Eskimos have lived on a protein and fat diet quite happily for centuries!). Carb in the form of fruits, veg and bread (in its low simple chromosome form, unlike the modern complex protein form today) may for some have been a regular but certainly not over-exposed food group. Today we are over-exposed to way too much, especially to high carb, empty calorie sugar and wheat-based foods and derivatives, not to mention the chemical additive bombardment. It is killing us.

[DingoGirl]

Am I the only one who can see this...............?

No, most decidedly, no. Most of us here see this...but unfortunately, most DOCTORS do not.........no money in it for them.

We are a very sick society. Whilst there has always been disease, we are now plagued with things that were unheard of in history. I believe that most of this has come about over the last few centuries as sugar and carbohydrate has become such a huge consumption.

And do not forget about MSG - one of the vilest of all the evils. I don't know about its use in the UK - but in America, it's everywhere, and it's one of the major causes of the morbid obesity we are seeing more and more.

Yes, we ARE a very sick society.....we really need to get the word out, as much as we can, about the evils of gluten, sugars, and chemical additives.....doctors aren't going to tell people.

[ccrrgn]

Now here's a thing.

I am an analyst. Not by vocation, by nature. I have a questioning nature. I have always needed to have answers. I read, I absorb, I filter, and I cogitate.

Diabetics get neuropathy. Amongst other things. Undiagnosed Celiacs get neuropathy. Amongst other things. The neuropathy experienced by Celiacs is due to malabsorption. Namely, Vitamin B12 but may also be compounded by a deficiency in other things.

Neuropathy in Diabetics is shrugged off as a 'symptom of Diabetes, particularly uncontrolled'. Very rarely (particularly here in the UK) is any blood testing done to look for deficiencies, and in any case, what is considered 'normal' levels is still, sadly, probably due to a lack of research, still a very inexact science. The level my body functions happiest at is not necessarily the same as yours and because (I believe) Gluten Intolerance due to over-exposure is so widespread, whether low-level or higher, even so-called 'healthy' individuals who are used as controls in any research, may even themselves not be displaying optimum nutritional levels!

I do not believe that we can separate Glucose Intolerance from Celiac Disease. Celiac is a progression of GI. Some individuals have a genetic leaning toward Celiac and that is what they, if the GI is not addressed early enough, at some point will develop. Some will have genetic vulnerability to other diseases. Some people's GI will eventually trigger other ailments/diseases, depending on their risk factors - their vulnerability, and degree and range of malabsorption deficiency, such as Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, possibly even Cancer.

Why do I see over again, when I read the experiences on this and other forums, people saying, "I am Gluten Intolerant and have started eating Gluten-Free and amazingly, my CFS, FM, RA, Psoriasis, Migraines, Diverticulitis, IBS, Chocolate Addiction, etc., etc., has gone away, cleared up, disappeared. I am so much better". The key is Gluten.

Why am I not surprised? I do not look for complicated answers. I look for simple ones. The answer to this is so blatantly simple it has completely been ignored. If plain, ordinary, bog-standard Gluten Intolerance was taken far more seriously then maybe there would be an awful lot of people out there who would never end up developing the dreadful diseases that they find themselves having to cope with, costly drug treatments would be unnecessary and people would have a far better degree of health.

Am I the only one who can see this...............?

HeyYou

With the analynical mind I will join you or just add to what you have said,

here is my history; was working so tired I would go and come with tears in my eyes, just plain tired

enter good Dr did tests could find nothing , said we will treat it like mono, had to go back to work after 6 month with many tests , no change. 10 yrs later new Dr. ask for test for chronic fatigue I had read about it, and by now fibromialgia had set in and could not work, he refused said "you don't want to know for there is nothing we can do for you". I was not happy being sick looking well and having no answers, so I pushed and was tested after 12 yrs . The results were positive, and I aplied for disability and was refused because I had been out of work to long and our wonderful CPPlan did as much as give me the finger. Oh well the Dr.s treated C.F.ers like leaches .

My sister and I went to a M.E. [Chronic Fatigue] meeting and half the women in my small town were there, these people had given up, We were not going to sit arround feeling sorry for our selves and this M.E. was not get the best of us . I was so fortunate that I had a sister that liked a good fight.

Over the next 3 yrs we studied nutrietian and would try any thing any one said that would help. In our search we found a few thing out that helped, we went from being bed riden 16 hrs a day and being absent minded to the point of not knowing if we had eaten or not,starting and to caring for 5 acres of gardens.Just when I thought it couldn't get any better I developed lupus like symtoms. By this time I had out lived another Dr. and the new one did tests for lupus results were positive. I was getting sores on my hands that seem to develope deep in the tisue and within 2 days I would have open ulcers on my hands, up to 30 at a time, he treated it with penicilin even though I told him I was alergic to it and I lost all the skin on my face,neck,feet,legs handsand arms, [ I prayed to die] but not my body only where I had been tanned.The dermatoligist said it was an alergic reaction to penicilin but because it was not on my body it was also related to lupus which my G.P. said I did not have O.K. Now if I have lupus I can not get travel ins.

Now I have developed D. H. I have at least 3 kinds of rashes on my body they have been identified as psorisas exzema and D.H. I really think that this prosses of immune illnesses has one origin,and I think you are right that there is one innitial cause and I hope we find it soon as I am getting dang tired of the fight. What we need is a few good Dr.s that do not have to scare everyone into thinking they are gods. I am sure I am not the only one that knows how many they kill every year. Sorry about that negativity. I am sure everyone knows that does not work.

In my studies I found out that in the U.S.A. a study was done on the nutritional value of the produce in 1929 and again in 1956 they discovered that the produce had lost 75% of it nutritien and in Canada the same study done between 1986 & 1996 and 25% was lost. Now if you take the 25% left in 1956 an decreace it by 25% every 10 Years scince then you will reallize where we have to begin. My daughter was left unable to care for herself let alone for her 4 children of which the youngest was 2.5 yrs old or to run her thriving busines. The baby is now 10 and my daughter not only survived but put her business back on top and sold it, as it was grooming dogs and was very hard on her health.Through determination nutritional suppliments and help from the Lord she is my insperation

Be inspired be thank ful for each new day. Every day we rise up in the morning ready to do battle with the negative forces that press in against us and thankful that we have freinds that stand with us. Knowing they will pick up the fight and continue.

My daughter had an accident that destroyed the front and center lobes of her brain as well as damaging her lunge & kidneys sheared her rotator cup on her right arm, broke her colar bone her shoulder blade and several ribs.Yes she lived and we have no reason why we should give up.

[geokozmo]

If you are the only one who sees this? as some member said it:

" No, most decidedly, no. Most of us here see this...but unfortunately, most DOCTORS do not.........no money in it for them. "

I agree. But slowly, partly due to these foirums, things will change hopefully. I thinktha bipolars autists and schizos who get better could raise their voice...Of course it is not easy. Generally we will not find an openmindend audience. There are people who suffer and refuse to take advice. I was told I shd try to eliminate gluten fr 6 years and I did not listen...I do not know why. I meet very intlligent friends with sons who have autism or schizo - and they refuse to try this diet. Instead they take drugs.

That is life.

[VioletBlue]

I think you have to be careful about saying that these disorders are new or unheard of in past societies. "Consumption" was kind of a catch all way back when for wasting diseases which Celiacs would qualify as. We did not have the tools back then to diagnose the diseases currently in vogue. I doubt statistics would say we're any more sick now than say 100 years ago. The biggest difference is that we have names for things and we turn conditions into diseases now and we keep track of every little statistic with national databases in a way we never could before. Acid Reflux is a classic example as is IBS. Those things have always been present and probably indicated the presence then of the same underlying diseases as they represent now, we've just given them a name in the last twenty years and thrown a bunch of pills at them.

You have to step back and realize that you are being bombarded daily with ads for this cure or that cure for this or that condition. It may well look or feel like you're surrounded by a sick society, when more likely you're surrounded by a medical and pharmaceutical industry gone wild. I don't think illness is necessarily any more prevalent, but talking about illness, running TV ads in every commercial break for drugs and huge billboards along the freeway and doctors constantly pushing new pills on you for every hiccup is at an all time high. What you may perceive as a physically sick society could more likely be called an out of control marketing bonanza. Bottom line, people are living longer now than they did 100 years ago. And the mostly likely reason for that is because we've gotten better at figuring out the human body and diagnosing and treating disease.

I think you are absolutely right about 'leaky gut'. That sneaky little Candida (and other similar yeasts) have a lot to answer for, but at the end of the day, they will only get out of control if we allow them to. Some of us seem to have a disposition that finds it hard to process sugars and carbs and the yeasts take advantage of that.

We are a very sick society. Whilst there has always been disease, we are now plagued with things that were unheard of in history. I believe that most of this has come about over the last few centuries as sugar and carbohydrate has become such a huge consumption. We are surrounded and overwhelmed by sugar and stodge. The concept, except for within a very few (pretty healthy!) groups in the World, of not eating sugar is just unheard of.

Whilst sweetness may have been consumed occasionally in the past in the form of honey (the real high-value McCoy, not from sugar-fed bees), most of what was eaten was savoury protein and fats (Nomadic tribes and Eskimos have lived on a protein and fat diet quite happily for centuries!). Carb in the form of fruits, veg and bread (in its low simple chromosome form, unlike the modern complex protein form today) may for some have been a regular but certainly not over-exposed food group. Today we are over-exposed to way too much, especially to high carb, empty calorie sugar and wheat-based foods and derivatives, not to mention the chemical additive bombardment. It is killing us.

[ShayFL]

There is some truth to what you are saying Violet. But also, as a kid, I dont remember ANY autistic children at my school. Only a few kids had allergies. And it was VERY RARE that a kid in any of my schools up through HS got cancer. It is not the same anymore, from what my daughter reports and from knowing other families with children around my neighborhood and at her school.

[Rachel--24]

There is some truth to what you are saying Violet. But also, as a kid, I dont remember ANY autistic children at my school. Only a few kids had allergies. And it was VERY RARE that a kid in any of my schools up through HS got cancer. It is not the same anymore, from what my daughter reports and from knowing other families with children around my neighborhood and at her school.

This is very true.

Just in the past couple decades there have been some VERY noticeable changes.

We are all exposed to enormous amounts of chemicals....with more of them put on the market each day. There are alot of things that we are exposed to now...which were not issues 100 years ago.

Toxicity is a huge issue....and studies show that we are all toxic. There is an average of over one dozen toxic chemicals found in a newborn's umbilical cord.

We did not have these problems 100 years ago. Autism was unheard of 20 years ago......now its an epidemic!

If we're all living on the same planet....then we're all exposed to a huge amount of toxins.

Yeah...we may have plenty of drugs available to treat all of the various symptoms...and we may be more capable of prolonging life with all of the different medications...however, what about QUALITY of life??

Having multiple food intolerances, allergies, chemical sensitivites, leaky gut, chronic dysbiosis issues, autoimmune disease and all of the symptoms associated with these problems definately affects the QUALITY of life.

So yeah...in my opinion living longer does not necessarily mean that we are HEALTHIER. In fact, if we look around I think its pretty clear that as a society we are definately having significant health problems which were not quite as apparant just a few decades ago.

I think the fact that these ads are *everywhere*....only indicates that this is big business. If we werent all suffering from various chronic symptoms the demand for these "treatments" would not be so high.

These symptoms were not so prevelant in the past.

[VioletBlue]

You wouldn't have had autistic children in public schools back then, at least not those who had a severe case of it. They would have been institutionalized or kept at home; that's a sad reality. Or you may have had a kid in your class who had attention issues but autism wasn't a known named disease back then the way it is now. I remember a kid in Junior High who was mainstreamed into our classes. We were told he has "issues" but no one gave it a name back then. Looking back, this would have been the early seventies, it's obvious to me now, he was severly autistic.

Again, we've gotten better at diagnosing autism and in particular mild cases. Though that is one disorder that has grown to some would say epidemic porportions just over the last ten years.

If a kid disappeared from class say when you were in the fifth grade and never came back, unless you knew that kid well would you have known he was undergoing cancer treatment? As adults we're more aware of things like that now when they happen around us, then children are. And again, back then people just didn't talk about stuff like that as openly as they do now. There was a stigma and a sadness to childhood illness that people dealt with by hiding it and not talking about it. Think back to how radically different we treated illness of any kind twnety or thirty or forty years ago compared to how we treat it now. We've learned the benefit to the patient and families of being open and forthright about it rather than hiding it.

So I think you truly have to be careful about comparing what you remember life being like when you were ten to what life is like now. Society has changed, and you perhaps weren't as aware then as you are now.

There is some truth to what you are saying Violet. But also, as a kid, I dont remember ANY autistic children at my school. Only a few kids had allergies. And it was VERY RARE that a kid in any of my schools up through HS got cancer. It is not the same anymore, from what my daughter reports and from knowing other families with children around my neighborhood and at her school.

[ShayFL]

I think I would remember "disappearing kids". I have a very sharp memory. Sometimes I wish it wasnt so sharp. I remember a girl broke both of her arms in 2nd grade. I even remember her name: Tammy Mosier. Why do I remember her name when we werent even friends. I was pretty aware of what was going on around me in schools. I lived in a smaller community and we were bused into HS. In our town we knew everyone in the community at least by face (if you lived here long enough). Many went to churches, we had community events and of course school. Gossip was common. A kid couldnt simply "disappear" without anyone knowing why.

In HS one boy got stomach cancer my senior year. 1 girl got into a car accident and had permanent brain damage but returned to school. 2 kids died....one sadly was electrocuted the other a car accident. 4 girls in my class got pregnant and had their babies. No there wasnt a bunch of cancer or autism. We had a special ed class in HS that had about 20 students. A few of them probably had autism, but out of 1200 students......it wasnt rampant.

Im not that old. But it was different 20 - 25 years ago. There wasnt as much sickness.

For instance, kids in our community are ALWAYS sick. ALWAYS on antibiotics. ALWAYS missing school. It wasnt like that when I was a kid. It just wasnt.

[home-based-mom]

This is very true.

Just in the past couple decades there have been some VERY noticeable changes.

We are all exposed to enormous amounts of chemicals....with more of them put on the market each day. There are alot of things that we are exposed to now...which were not issues 100 years ago.

Toxicity is a huge issue....and studies show that we are all toxic. There is an average of over one dozen toxic chemicals found in a newborn's umbilical cord.

We did not have these problems 100 years ago. Autism was unheard of 20 years ago......now its an epidemic!

If we're all living on the same planet....then we're all exposed to a huge amount of toxins.

Yeah...we may have plenty of drugs available to treat all of the various symptoms...and we may be more capable of prolonging life with all of the different medications...however, what about QUALITY of life??

Having multiple food intolerances, allergies, chemical sensitivites, leaky gut, chronic dysbiosis issues, autoimmune disease and all of the symptoms associated with these problems definately affects the QUALITY of life.

So yeah...in my opinion living longer does not necessarily mean that we are HEALTHIER. In fact, if we look around I think its pretty clear that as a society we are definately having significant health problems which were not quite as apparant just a few decades ago.

I think the fact that these ads are *everywhere*....only indicates that this is big business. If we werent all suffering from various chronic symptoms the demand for these "treatments" would not be so high.

These symptoms were not so prevelant in the past.

I agree completely. When I was growing up, there was no autism, ADHD, and few life-threatening allergies, etc.

But everything has changed. In the name of convenience, we have added a whole laundry list of poisons and petrochemicals and preservatives and who knows what else, in doses so low the damage doesn't show up for decades. As I told my daughter one day, if a guy on a sail boat dumps a bucket of pee overboard in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, there is no noticeable change, but if it happens often enough eventually the pollution will be measurable. Our bodies are bombarded with pollutants day after week after month after year.

With all the knowledge about disease prevention and cure (hand and food washing, penicillin, etc.) people should be approaching the Biblical limit of 120 years in droves, and be healthy right up until the end.

That ain't happening. IMHO it ain't happening because of all the toxins we are slowly poisoning ourselves with.

Geez, I can't believe I've become one of those "health nut fringe element weirdos!"

[home-based-mom]

I think I would remember "disappearing kids". I have a very sharp memory. Sometimes I wish it wasnt so sharp. I remember a girl broke both of her arms in 2nd grade. I even remember her name: Tammy Mosier. Why do I remember her name when we werent even friends. I was pretty aware of what was going on around me in schools. I lived in a smaller community and we were bused into HS. In our town we knew everyone in the community at least by face (if you lived here long enough). Many went to churches, we had community events and of course school. Gossip was common. A kid couldnt simply "disappear" without anyone knowing why.

In HS one boy got stomach cancer my senior year. 1 girl got into a car accident and had permanent brain damage but returned to school. 2 kids died....one sadly was electrocuted the other a car accident. 4 girls in my class got pregnant and had their babies. No there wasnt a bunch of cancer or autism. We had a special ed class in HS that had about 20 students. A few of them probably had autism, but out of 1200 students......it wasnt rampant.

Im not that old. But it was different 20 - 25 years ago. There wasnt as much sickness.

For instance, kids in our community are ALWAYS sick. ALWAYS on antibiotics. ALWAYS missing school. It wasnt like that when I was a kid. It just wasnt.

Shay, I don't know how old you are but I am almost 60, so I was in school in the 1950's and 1960's. And you are right - it just wasn't like that then. Kids were not always sick. Kids didn't just disappear. There were kids who were described as "slow" and yes I do remember names even though it's been 50 years and I was not close to them. They sometimes left our school for classes that could better meet their needs and sometimes stayed and struggled but they were definitely neither ADHD nor austistic. I remember a case of downright child abuse - a girl severely allergic to cats whose parents were hoarders. I was in their house once so I can really relate to the episodes on Animal Cops cuz I've seen it and smelled it. The girl was put in foster care and we knew it. She did not just disappear.

Some people ate the school lunch, some people brought lunch from home and some people went home for lunch. No one who brought lunch from home or went home did so because the school food was unsafe for them to eat because of their allergies or intolerances.

The only condition that I look back with dread and wonder about some kids is sexual abuse. There were some kids who just showed up every day and never shared anything about themselves. They were always there and yet no one really knew them. I will always wonder - and yet that was something that has probably always been around but only recently coming to light.

Anyway, yes I think kids are much sicker than they were 50 years ago. More kids have more conditions.

[veggienft]

There is no evidence showing an increase in western environmental chemicals over the last 50 years. On the contrary, western countries have been so rabid in getting rid of chemical processes that the resulting shipment of manufacturing processes and jobs abroad is strangling our economies. The list of banned substances is staggering .....aerosol solvents, CFCs, asbestos, DDT, Malathion, PCBs, even bullet lead.....

Yet after eliminating these chemicals, isn't it odd to witness the staggering increase in diagnosis of "autism spectrum"? Equally ironic is how this staggering increase coincides with implementation of the 1990's Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and similar laws in most western countries?

For decades now we've been told that paying taxpayer money for suffering will make the suffering go away. But decades of paying for things like poverty, illegitimacy, child abandonment and STDs has proven only one thing. We get more of the things we pay for.

And so it is with autism. Before the ADA forced neighborhood schools to spend money for a professional autism infrastructure, "autism spectrum" was practically unheard of. But today, increases in the amounts spent by local schools on autism has been eclipsed only by the clamor of "counselors" inventing new needs for their services.

Autism is a real disease, and has been associated with ingested proteins like gluten. It's also been associated with nerve viruses like varicella zoster and Epstein Barr. The reason why medical science is at a loss to explain the burgeoning diagnosis of "autism spectrum" is that the diagnosis is subjective, and driven by bureaucracy.

Bottom line, there are only two points of knowledge about the increase in autism spectrum diagnosis:

* diagnosis is increasing

* taxpayers are paying more

All the other junk is just speculation.

..

[VioletBlue]

The biggest problem with this is what you're talking about is that it's anecdotal information. It's not statistics, it's based on personal memories which are subject to all sorts of conditional issues. To just look around and say "Boy people are sicker today" doesn't mean much without numbers or verifiable information. All of us, our memories and experiences are subject to so many influences from where we lived to how we were raised and taught that one POV or even 12 can't be trusted to determine with certainty what is or isn't so.

Then you throw in the influence of the media and it has even less meaning. My background and education is in media and advertising and marketing. One of the very first things I was ever taught in Media 101 way back when is that we are the dog and the media is the owner, not the other way around. Media more and more each day determines what you believe and feel and think, not the other way around. Media influence us, we do not influence media. They tell you what to buy and what to think feel and believe; that is the literal meaning to The Medium is the Message.

Thirty years ago there were no ED commercials, and in fact no drug commercials on period. The initials ED thirty years ago did not mean to anyone what they mean to the average consumer today. Heck, ask a 12 year old on the street today what ED is and they'll probably know. Can you imagine anyone in the fifties sixties or even seventies talking about ED much less a commercial on TV? The media, which is backed by the huge pharm industry, determines what you see. How they present what you see determines how you feel about it. It's in their best interested to make you believe we're a very very sick society who desperately needs their drugs. It's in their best interests to make you afraid and paranoid in the hopes that you'll go running to them for the answers.

Personally I think allowing the pharm industry to air commercials for prescription medicine was the beginning of the end of any rational discussion about the state of American health. The entire discussion is now framed by commercials that make you believe a single pill will cure you of a disease you didn't even know you had. And consequently it makes creating new diseases so much more attractive. And it certainly makes the average consumer so much more aware and afraid of the effects of heart disease, high blood pressure ED and who knows what else. That is a double edged sword.

It annoys me no end to see how many people are manipulated into fear and terror everyday by a media that makes death illness and destruction seem like the norm rather than the rare exception.

[ShayFL]

This is an ongoing debate.....Im not going to beat a dead horse...or a live one for that matter.

[Rachel--24]

There is no evidence showing an increase in western environmental chemicals over the last 50 years. On the contrary, western countries have been so rabid in getting rid of chemical processes that the resulting shipment of manufacturing processes and jobs abroad is strangling our economies. The list of banned substances is staggering .....aerosol solvents, CFCs, asbestos, DDT, Malathion, PCBs, even bullet lead.....

I dont agree. Every single day new chemcials are put on the market and the majority are not tested for safety.

US industries manufacture and import about 75,000 chemicals, using 3,000 of them at the rate of more than a million pounds a year. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the federal government

[Jestgar]

everything she said

turn off your tv

[Rachel--24]

turn off your tv

I dont watch TV.

It doesnt change whats going on all around me.

[frec]

The increase in some of today's new (?) health problems may be from improved diagnosis, etc. I know that the incidence of autism has really increased, however, and so has ADHD. I have taught elementary school for thirty years. Every classroom at my school now has one and sometimes two or three autistic students--usually boys. (Our special services people are terribly overworked as a result. We have fewer counselors, etc. than we did ten years ago, not more.) These kids are the kind a teacher does not forget--strange, heartbreaking, exhausting, wonderful little boys--and I did NOT have students like them thirty years ago.

[Rachel--24]

These kids are the kind a teacher does not forget--strange, heartbreaking, exhausting, wonderful little boys--and I did NOT have students like them thirty years ago.

Yup...these kids are the kind that *nobody* forgets.

Through the '90s, cases tripled in California. "Anyone who says this is due to better diagnostics has his head in the sand."

California is not alone. Rates of both classic autism and Asperger's syndrome are going up all over the world, which is certainly cause for alarm and for the urgent mobilization of research. Autism was once considered a very rare disorder, occurring in one out of every 10,000 births. Now it's understood to be much more common - perhaps 20 times more.

Previously, traditional medical experts would claim that this increase was an artifact of improved diagnosis. This is the classic traditional approach, but you don't need a degree in advanced pediatric neurology to diagnose a child with autism. An autistic child's behavior can usually be diagnosed by most people in a busy airport.

Report to the Legislature on the Principal Findings from The Epidemiology of Autism in California: A Comprehensive Pilot Study.

The study, led by Dr. Robert S. Byrd, section chief of pediatrics at the University of California at Davis Children's Hospital, issued its report on August 17, 2002. It concludes there is "no evidence that loosening in diagnostic criteria contributed to an increase in the number of children with autism," and that, therefore, "some, if not all, of the observed increase represents a true increase in cases of autism."

The numbers of children being diagnosed with autism is rising at a meteoric rate -- too fast to be explained by more frequent diagnostic recognition.

Since the autism epidemic began, the percentage of overall caseload growth for autism in the California system has increased from a steady 3% of the total caseload, which also includes mental retardation, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy, to the current 30 to 34% of the caseload.

An astonishing 1,000% plus increase over a 20 year period.

Again, these numbers do not include any autism spectrum disorders other than full-blown professionally diagnosed cases of DSM IV autism.

The most recent 556 new intakes, as always, are children under 10 years of age. There is no evidence of "underdiagnosed" or missing adults or teenagers who have now been discovered with autism coming into the system.

These are newly diagnosed children, not adults or teenagers. The California system has been diagnosing autism for over 30 years. It is absolutely astonishing to me that anyone could suggest that somehow in the past we have missed or misdiagnosed a condition that anyone who spends less than 1/2 hour with a person with autism couldn't recognize from across an airport, be it in 1969, 1979, 1989, 1999, or today.

I have seen no evidence that would suggest that the dramatic increase in autism is due to better diagnostics....as the previous poster mentioned you dont just "forget" these kids....they dont go "unnoticed" in society. As the last quote mentions...we do not have "missing" adults or teenagers now being diagnosed with Autism.

If the increase in autism were mostly linked to better diagnositics....we would be having teenagers and adults diagnosed just as frequently as the young children...but that's not happening. We dont see that because autism was not this prevelant 20 years ago.

Media more and more each day determines what you believe and feel and think, not the other way around. Media influence us, we do not influence media. They tell you what to buy and what to think feel and believe; that is the literal meaning to The Medium is the Message.

If you've ever been around a child with autism...its not something you "forget".

This is what influences me more than anything else....it has an impact which is far greater than anything I might pick up on in the media. Real life experiences....this determines what I believe and feel and think.

The initials ED thirty years ago did not mean to anyone what they mean to the average consumer today. Heck, ask a 12 year old on the street today what ED is and they'll probably know.

I'm 37 and I have no idea what ED stands for??

It annoys me no end to see how many people are manipulated into fear and terror everyday by a media that makes death illness and destruction seem like the norm rather than the rare exception.

Like I said....its the real life experiences which make the biggest impact. All of my concerns come from what I've seen and what I've learned through real life experiences. I formed my own opinions...came to my own conclusions....the media had nothing to do with it and as far as autism goes...I feel the media is not giving this the attention it deserves.

[purple]

Rachel and those that agree with her...YOU GOT IT RIGHT...I did research on the beginnings of Big Pharma and may other related topics. Anyone that disagrees-research: pharmaceutical companies, Monsanto, pesticides, pasteurization health risks, synthetic drugs, alliance between MD's and big Pharma, medical/hospital funding, Skull and Bones, Rothschilds, Rockefellers, Federal Reserve, rocket fuel in milk, toxic waste in toothpaste, how harmful fluoride is in our water and toothpaste, dangers of using your microwave/banned in other countries, mercury, cancer cures/not allowed in U.S.A., Hitlers medical experiments, aspartame, who financed our many wars, chemicals/drugs tested on our armed service people, the black pope, hundreds more. Whats the answer? Someone wants to have all the money and control. How do they get it? Drug us up, make us pay them, keep us sick any way they can, keep us paying, etc. What should we do? Accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.....My personal opinion.