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...Poling, other than the dire need for more research. One plausible conclusion is that pediatricians should avoid giving small children a large number of vaccines at once, even if they are thimerosal-free. Young children have an immature immune system that's ill-equipped to handle an overload, says Dr. Judy Van de Water, an immunologist who works with Pessah at U.C. Davis. "Some vaccines, such as those aimed at viral infections, are designed to ramp up the immune system at warp speed," she says. "They are designed to mimic the infection. So you can imagine getting nine...
...Poling case is also causing deep concern among public health officials, eager to reassure parents that vaccines are safe and, indeed, hugely beneficial. In a public statement on Friday, Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), insisted that "the government has made absolutely no statement about indicating that vaccines are the cause of autism, as this would be a complete mischaracterization of any of the science that we have at our disposal today...
...Dr. John Shoffner, the Atlanta-based neurologist who identified Hannah Poling's mitochondrial disorder, is "genuinely puzzled" by the court's judgment. Shoffner, who has been studying and treating these disorders for 20 years, says it's impossible to say whether Hannah's mitochondrial disorder was, in fact, a pre-existing condition that set the stage for her autism (as the government contends) or if it developed along with her autism. A specialist in mitochondrial disorders, he is investigating the relationship between autism and these disorders and plans to present a paper on the topic at the annual meeting...
Could thimerosal or some other aspect of vaccines be one of these factors? "It's always possible that there's a small subset of kids that have this vulnerability," says Dr. Isaac Pessah, director of the Center for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention at the University of California, Davis. Pessah's lab is looking at dozens of possible environmental factors, including pesticides, plastics and flame-retardants. "This is a very emotional debate," he says, "and we need more research directed at these questions...
...While many people are genetically prone to develop arthritis as they age, there are steps individuals can take to reduce the odds that they will become part of the joint replacement epidemic. Weight control is paramount, says Dr. Joseph Buckwalter, an arthritis specialist at the University of Iowa Medical Center. "For someone who is obese, even losing a relatively little amount - 15 to 20 lbs. - can make a huge difference, both in terms of pain and progression of the disease." For every pound of weight lost, you can take 3 to 5 lbs. of force off a bad joint. Lose...