Taking A Look At Formaldehyde

Although there is no scientific proof that vaccines cause autism, proponents still believe that they do. The theory that vaccines cause autism were based on unproven facts and falsified information (DeStefano 81). In an article called CNS Drugs, the author writes about how a man named AJ Wakefield stun the public with a theory that the MMR vaccine may cause autism and how enterocolitis (bowel dysfunction) and MMR vaccine may be linked to autism (DeStefano 831). Even though Wakefield falsified information and his theories were proven to be discredited many people still

The controversy over the MMR vaccine started in the late 1990’s when Andrew Wakefield suggested that there was a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism in a scientific paper which he had published with several other co-authors. Although there has not been a proven fact that the MMR vaccine is the causation to autism it has brought concerns to parents and has caused a major drop in immunization rates. For example, Dannetun et al., 2005 states that, “Fear of side effects and beliefs

Martin Kramer, a spokesman for the Health Resources and Services Administration, said “There is no reliable scientific evidence that vaccines cause autism even in cases where an acute encephalopathy, brain damage, following vaccination has occurred” (Udesky 3). Since the researchers have been coming up with no reliable scientific evidence to prove that vaccines cause autism and the controversy has been going on and on, it is very complicated to believe in Wakefield’s study. Thus, I would agree with the majority of the researchers.

Andrew Wakefield is a former gastroenterologist and medical researcher who was discharged from his medical register in the UK, because of his dishonest research paper he released back in 1998, that analysed a possible link between measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and the presence of autism and bowel disease (Godlee, F., et al, 2011). Wakefield's research generated a substantial scare for the MMR vaccine and MMR vaccination rates began to drop because parents were concerned about the risk of autism after vaccination (DeStefano, F., Chen, R.T., 1999). After the paper was published by the Lancet medical newspaper, other reviews were trying to repeat Wakefield's conclusions,

This led to the support of various unproven vaccine-autism theories by parents in both the UK and America. After findings of intestinal disease in children with autism, Wakefield claimed that separating the MMR into three different vaccinations would be safer. Since then, Wakefield’s research has been discredited, he was charged with serious professional misconduct by the General Medical Council for violating several ethical practices, and he was investigated for failing to disclose conflict of interest – a pending patent on a rival measles vaccine (Gross, 2009). Although false, many still believe wholeheartedly that vaccines are harmful.

The topic of childhood vaccinations and the dangers that accompany them has been a topic of controversy in contemporary times. At the near edge of the twenty-first century, a man named Doctor Andrew Wakefield released a study which created a mass uproar in both parents and health professionals alike. Parents were panicked as to whether or not they should have their young child vaccinated (in fear of their acquiring autism), and health professionals fearful that the population percentage of people acquiring measles, mumps, or rubella (for it was the M.M.R. vaccination that the parents feared in particular) would rise to a number which would lead to a mass risk of disease. Despite Wakefields’ study, the truth persists in all types of experiments related to vaccination. Whether being tested in a replication of Wakefields’ study or in any other, vaccines have been proven to work at preventing disease and display no causation of autism.

Another concern with vaccines is the addition of a form of mercury called thimerosal. “Thimerosal is best known as a preservative used in some vaccines to keep them from becoming contaminated”

One such factor helping to manifest these large-scale epidemics is a study from 1998 by Andrew Wakefield, which claimed that there was a direct link between autism and the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine (Smith 1). As a result, many parents refused to vaccinate their children out of fear, and vaccine-preventable diseases like measles began reappearing more in both America and Britain, the place where Wakefield conducted his study (Cohen 2). Although a later investigation by the British Medical Journal discovered that Wakefield had distorted or altered the medical records of all twelve of the study’s participants and that he had been paid $674,000 USD by lawyers attempting to sue vaccine manufacturers, the atmosphere of apprehension surrounding vaccines is still strong among many individuals, and especially parents (Cohen 1-2). But despite all the controversy and the scientifically unsupported arguments of anti-vaccine sympathizers,

The argument that vaccines cause Autism began in 1998 when British surgeon Andrew Wakefield published a study, suggesting that the MMR vaccine given to prevent measles, mumps, and rubella increased autism in children. Autism is a mental condition involving issues in the brain development, it is

The autism scare started 17 years ago, in the year 1998, when a paper was published in the British medical journal called The Lancet. Andrew Wakefield, M.D., a British gastroenterologist, and his colleagues were the authors of this paper which started the scare of immunizations causing autism. "Wakefield had a case study of eight children who had received the MMR and then developed symptoms of autism, says Paul Offit, M.D., chief of infectious diseases at the Children 's Hospital of Philadelphia. He also believed they had abnormal intestinal tracts and proposed a syndrome -- linking intestinal inflammation from receiving the MMR with the development of autism.” (Rope)

Autism is a condition typified by abnormal qualitative development of social interactions, communication and imagination, with restricted and repetitive interests and activities (Edward Purssell RGN, RSCN, PhD of the University of London). What causes autism? Many parents like to say that the vaccination MMR has caused their child to have autism later in life. Purssell and other authors and doctors have done countless research to find out the truth about MMR and their being a link between the vaccine MMR and autism. On February 28, 1998, Andrew Wakefield, a gastroenterologist did a paper about eight children whose first symptoms appeared after a month after they had received the MMR vaccine. All of those children had signs of gastrointestinal disease. From what Wakefield observed, the MMR vaccine caused intestinal inflammation, that lead to the blood stream and eventually to the brain where it affected development. Backing this up,

In 1998 a study was published by Andrew Wakefield theorizing that there was a link between autism symptoms and receiving a MMR vaccination. However, his findings are to be inconclusive considering he did not take the proper procedures to conduct a controlled study. First, he did not include control subjects in his study, so the results cannot be compared properly if there were any changes in the subjects. Second, the endoscopic or neuropsychological assessments were not done blind and the data was not collected systematically or completely. Third, the symptoms found between the children with autism and gastrointestinal problems were inconsistent. In reality, many health groups are theorizing that a vaccination does not cause autism by any

hazardous chemicals that regular cigarettes do. It is unfair that electronic cigarettes are not always included in laws pertaining to the use of nicotine based products in public places. Bystanders should not have to face problems that a change in legislation could fix. The authors of this article went on to describe a study that was conducted to show how often users smoked cigarettes, how many cigarettes they averagely smoked at once, and where users received second hand smoke. Many of the places that users smoked and were around other smokers, were public areas. Second hand smoke will drastically decrease if clean air laws included electronic cigarettes under the same category as traditional smoking. After the results of the study were

Having read three essays over the last five days, I can now sincerely say that the way an essay is written is as important as its topic, when we think about its effect on the audience. That’s actually why I didn’t like “Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain” even though it was enlightening me about a pretty interesting topic. The writer chose the give the information step-by-step, and it was quite boring reading twelve pages of concatenated data along with some quotes. Also the sentence: “The hands should be cupped slightly for a more lifelike, relaxed appearance” (Brady) made me think about death, in all the cultures, it is showed as if dying is a good thing rather than bad. Why do people try to make dead people look better than they really are?

In this generation of American society, there is a great emphasis on living a healthy lifestyle from factors such as diet and exercise. Yet today many of the products that Americans use and consume are full of cancer causing agents. In a society where there is a vast amount of research conducted and strict regulations, many daily used products are like a time bomb ready to explode. One-third of all people will develop cancer in our lifetime and one-fourth will die from this disease. Many cancers are due to preventable revelations to industrialized carcinogens and toxins in the food people eat, and household products and cosmetics people use daily.