“Autism” on The Daily Caller

Comic actress and model Jenny McCarthy has made a lot of Americans laugh, but her tragically misguided political activism isn’t funny. It’s killing children. (more)

Combining a standard noninvasive test that measures electrical activity in the brain with a high-tech computer analysis may help determine the risk of autism spectrum disorder in infants, according to a new study. (more)

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Parents planning more than one baby may have another reason for giving extra thought to the timing: A new study shows that the risk of autism may go up when a second child is conceived shortly after the first is born. (more)

As we begin a new year, the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) would first like to try and slay the demons and hobgoblins of the past year. We do this each New Year’s Eve by making a list of the top unfounded health scares of the outgoing year. These bouts of hysteria are prompted by many different things. But what they have in common is that there’s no scientific evidence to back up the alarms being sounded. (more)

The way autism is diagnosed could become less subjective by using a brain-imaging-based test that is being developed by researchers and that, in early trials, was 94 percent accurate. Autism is now diagnosed through a symptom-based test: A health-care provider observes a patient for the characteristics outlined in the psychology reference book, “The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV.” (more)

“Fear God (more)

That children born to well-off homes are more vulnerable to autism has been a topic of curiosity and research among experts for decades. But a new study of around half a million American children, published this week in PLoS One, adds some startling concrete numbers to that aspect of the ongoing investigation into autism’s roots. (more)

A doctor who persuaded millions of parents worldwide that a common vaccine could cause autism was barred from practicing medicine in his native Britain on Monday after the country’s top medical group found he conducted his research unethically. (more)

Congress is debating overhauling the Toxic Substances Control Act, the law that guides how the federal government regulates chemicals in the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to regulate five commonly used chemicals and says more will be added to the list regularly. Chemicals are under increasing scrutiny and the trend is toward more precautionary regulations. (more)

Less than two minutes into a cell phone conversation, a new computer program can predict a broken heart — literally and figuratively. (more)

In the 40 years since the first Earth Day, the “Green Movement” has migrated far beyond the prevention of polluted lakes and streams and emissions from coal-burning plants to take on scientifically-shakier targets: allegedly harmful substances in food and consumer products. The goals of Earth Day celebrants now include what they call “green chemistry”—a prohibition on industrial chemicals they deem “toxic” and the embrace of ones deemed unequivocally “safe” (an unachievable goal, since any chemical, natural or synthetic, is toxic at some dose). (more)

Studies published in peer-reviewed journals become the basis for everything from the advice your doctor gives you to the very laws that govern us. A journal’s ability to tell good science from bad is critical. But some journals have used poor judgment, and even replaced judgment with a bias of their own. (more)

A just-released Polish study has dealt another blow to the idea that childhood immunizations are linked to autism. This new study, which found no evidence that children who received measles vaccinations are more likely to contract autism, comes on the heels of the recent revelation that the British health paper, The Lancet, has officially retracted a 1998 article it had published that purported to link autism to childhood vaccines. While hundreds of articles have now reported on The Lancet’s retraction and the anti-vaccine movement’s dangerous impact on childhood diseases, there has been precious little discussion of the threat that anti-vaccine fears pose to our ability to fight bioterrorism. In fact, the dangers in this area may be even greater, and our responsiveness to potential acts of bioterror will depend in part on the ability of homeland security officials to address the challenges posed by the vaccine-autism link. (more)

Social function improved in autism-spectrum patients treated with the hormone oxytocin, according to a small study. (more)

This week the prestigious British journal of medicine, The Lancet, “full retracted from the public record” a flawed and now completely debunked study published in 1998 that claimed a link between childhood vaccines and autism. (more)

Jason McElwain, the 17-year-old manager of a varsity basketball team, goes on a veritable shooting spree despite his autism during a February 15, 2006 matchup against Spencerport High School to determine the division champion. J-Mac’s heroics attracted the attention of  President George W. Bush, who said that the “country was captivated by your amazing story…a story of Coach Johnson’s willingness to give a person a chance…. of Dave and Debbie’s deep love for their son, and…of a young man who found his touch on the basketball court, which in turn, touched the hearts of citizens all across the country.” (more)