so Jenny McCarthy was on Oprah the other day touting her recent book about the struggles she's undergone since her son, Evan, was diagnosed with autism.
She seemingly blames immunizations on the reason for the rise in autism diagnosis.
We really don't know the reason for the rise. Could cases have been undiagnosed in the past. Are we finding and using new remedies. In recent years, the number of children diagnosed with autism has risen from 1 in every 500 children to 1 in 150—and science has not discovered a reason why.
It really does appear that she is just searching for a reason and that is the only thing she could find.
That is kind of dangerous to me. A former playboy centerfold who is not a doctor espousing such a dangerous opinion to millions of Oprah viewers, many of whom are naive and would not do independent research on their own.
I come from a country where children TODAY die of diseases that have been eradicated in the west, namely b/c of vaccines.
I lost my childhood friend at age3 to German Measles, a disease we both had at the same time.
I used to ask my mom what ever happened to Junior. I went to the funeral and remember very clearly asking why he was in the box (coffin) and if he would play with me the next day.
That is why I really get ticked off at season celebrities, like Tom Cruise and now Jenny McCarthy who have access to gullible audiences debunking the value of vaccines (and in Cruise's case the existence of post-partum depression)
It just seems so reckless.
1 comment:
I only saw a little bit of the episode. I had to turn it off as she was annoying me w/ her weird behavior. Heh. You're right about her putting info out there to folks who might not do the research on whatever topic. It is so important to make educated decisions. Watching Oprah doesn't count. :-P
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