Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy
Author: David Kirby
In the 1990s reported autism cases among American children began spiking, from about 1 in 10,000 in 1987 to a shocking 1 in 166 today. This trend coincided with the addition of several new shots to the nation's already crowded vaccination schedule, grouped together and given soon after birth or in the early months of infancy. Most of these shots contained a little-known preservative called thimerosal, which includes a quantity of the toxin mercury.
Evidence of Harm explores the heated controversy over what many parents, physicians, public officials, and educators have called an "epidemic" of afflicted children. Following several families, David Kirby traces their struggle to understand how and why their once-healthy kids rapidly descended into silence or disturbed behavior, often accompanied by severe physical illness. Alarmed by the levels of mercury in the vaccine schedule, these families sought answers from their doctors, from science, from pharmaceutical companies that manufacture vaccines, and finally from the Center for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration-to no avail. But as they dug deeper, the families also found powerful allies in Congress and in the small community of physicians and researchers who believe that the rise of autism and other disorders is linked to toxic levels of mercury that accumulate in the systems of some children.
An important and troubling book, Evidence of Harm reveals both the public and unsung obstacles faced by desperate families who have been opposed by the combined power of the federal government, health agencies, and pharmaceutical giants. From closed meetings of the FDA, CDC, and drug companies, to themysterious rider inserted into the 2002 Homeland Security Bill that would bar thimerosal litigation, to open hearings held by Congress, this book shows a medical establishment determined to deny "evidence of harm" that might be connected with thimerosal and mercury in vaccines. In the end, as research is beginning to demonstrate, the questions raised by these families have significant implications for all children, and for those entrusted to oversee our national health.
Kirkus Reviews
A sympathetic account of parents battling the government the and pharmaceutical industry because they're convinced a form of mercury used in vaccines is the principal cause of their children's autism. Kirby, a science contributor to the New York Times, acknowledges that while there is no proof that mercury in vaccines causes autism, neither is there any proof of its safety. Parents of children, mostly boys, who developed autism after being inoculated with vaccines containing the mercury-based preservative thimerosal have been gathering data that they believe demonstrates a link between the increase in thimerosal-containing vaccination and the increase in U.S. rates of autism-from 1 in 5,000 in the 1980s to 1 in 166 today. One side calls this an epidemic; the other claims it's the result of better diagnosis and reporting. Kirby creates warm portraits of parents trying desperately to find treatments for their damaged children while, at the same time, carrying on a war with both big government and big business. With a wealth of detail, he shows the activists waging battle on four fronts: in the scientific literature and at science meetings, in the courts, in Congress and with powerful government health agencies-the Centers of Disease Control and the FDA. Although he presents evidence for both sides, the parents, who willingly talked to him, appear in a more favorable light than the bureaucrats, who did not grant him interviews. Kirby points out that while the government agencies and the drug companies reject the activists' theory that mercury causes autism, its use in pediatric vaccines, except flu shots, is rapidly being phased out in the United States. Further, he notes that an unfortunateresult of this affair is the refusal of some parents to allow their children to receive any vaccinations against serious diseases. With knocks to bureaucrats and kudos to parents, Kirby does a good job of explaining the scientific issues in an unresolved controversy.
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The Second Brain: A Groundbreaking New Understanding of Nervous Disorders of the Stomach and Intestine
Author: Michael D Gershon
Dr. Michael Gershon has devoted his career to understanding the human bowel (the stomach, esophagus, small intestine, and colon). His thirty years of research have led to an extraordinary rediscovery: nerve cells in the gut that act as a brain. This "second brain" can control our gut all by itself. Our two brains -- the one in our head and the one in our bowel -- must cooperate. If they do not, then there is chaos in the gut and misery in the head -- everything from "butterflies" to cramps, from diarrhea to constipation. Dr. Gershon's work has led to radical new understandings about a wide range of gastrointestinal problems including gastroenteritis, nervous stomach, and irritable bowel syndrome. The Second Brain represents a quantum leap in medical knowledge and is already benefiting patients whose symptoms were previously dismissed as neurotic or "it's all in your head."
New York Times Book Review
Persuasive, impassioned... hopeful news [for those] suffering from functional bowel disease.
Kirkus Reviews
The nature of a so-called second brain in the gut is revealed in exquisite detail by a neurogastroenterologist who has spent some 30 years researching the subject. Gershon, professor of anatomy and cell biology at New York's Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, is enthralled by the sophistication of the enteric nervous system. He calls this system, which operates the bowel, a second brain, pointing out that it contains all the classes of neurotransmitters found in the brain. For nonbiologists entering his world, a whole new vocabulary with terms like neural crest, 5-HT1P receptor, and functional ligand must be acquired. While the terminology can be daunting and the exhaustive details sometimes overwhelming, Gershon has wisely included lots of clear line drawings to help the novice understand the nervous system and the complexities of the digestive system that it runs. Happily, he also tells his story in human terms, paying homage to those whose discoveries enabled his own, good-humoredly sharing the exhilaration of jousting with colleagues over his theories, and generously describing the skills and inventiveness of researchers in his own laboratory and those of other neurobiologists. As this research sheds light on how the "brain in the belly" controls the behavior of the bowel, progress can be expected in the prevention, treatment, and control of gastrointestinal disease. When patients present with gastrointestinal problems for which doctors can find no specific cause, too often they are dismissed as neurotic complainers. That answers may be found in the enteric nervous system offers new hope for the 20 percent of Americans diagnosed with functional bowel disorders. An authoritativework that makes abundantly clear the value of basic research; unfortunately, it's encumbered with an intimidating amount of technical detail that may discourage interested readers.
What People Are Saying
Raj K. Goyal
Michael Gershon has been a lifetime student of the enteric nervous system and the role of serotonin as one of its many neurotransmitters. This book, The Second Brain, displays his outstanding ability as a teacher and storyteller. It beautifully, simply and accurately summarizes many difficult scientific concepts about the enteric nervous system in a manner that is so lively and engaging that you won't want to put it down. This book can be enjoyed on many levels -- it is a must read for anyone interested in the workings of the autonomic nervous system, and also a fascinating read for those interested in the gut or even general biology.
Ronald A. Ruden
Dr. Gershon spills his guts in an entertaining and highly informative book about how smart our gastrointestinal tract is. He writes with a fatherly love about his research and that of his colleagues, and engages our sense of wonder about something we almost never think about. Great any room reading!
Table of Contents:
| Acknowledgments | ix | |
| Preface | xi | |
| Part I | The Early Breakthroughs | 1 |
| Chapter 1 | The Discovery of the Second Brain | 2 |
| Chapter 2 | The Autonomic Nervous System and the Story of Chemical Neurotransmission | 8 |
| Chapter 3 | The Turning Point | 37 |
| Chapter 4 | The Workshop | 57 |
| Part II | The Travelogue | 81 |
| Chapter 5 | Beyond the Teeth: The Domain Stalked by Heartburn and Ulcer | 82 |
| Chapter 6 | Onward and Downward | 113 |
| Chapter 7 | "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" | 145 |
| Chapter 8 | A Bad Bowel | 176 |
| Part III | The Origin of the Second Brain and Its Disorders | 189 |
| Chapter 9 | The Enteric Nervous System Now | 190 |
| Chapter 10 | Immigrants and the Lower East Colon | 236 |
| Chapter 11 | Location, Location, Location | 275 |
| Chapter 12 | The State of the Bowel | 306 |
| Endnote: Animals in Biomedical Research | 312 |
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