On my 30 something birthday last night Leah and I spent 3 hours watching a very interesting webinar given by Dr. William Shaw (Great Plains Labs). We signed up for this webinar months ago and have been anxiously counting down the days ever since. What got us so excited was the teaser that said, “Why is the autism rate in Cuba so much lower than in the US and is there a single environmental factor that is causing the rise in autism?” We couldn’t wait to find out! The following is a summary of what we learned.
Disclaimer: This is a summary off the top of our heads. It is how we would explain it one mom to another. If you are really interested in this, we suggest you get the facts straight from “the horse’s mouth” by attending Dr. Shaw’s next free webinar, “Unraveling the Cause of the Autism Epidemic: Identifying the Single Most Important Factor” on Friday, January 20th. Register at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/357651425.
First, Dr. Shaw discussed the difference in the autism rates between Cuba and the USA. In Cuba, the autism rate is .00168% where as, in the USA it is .50%. Putting this into perspective, the autism incidence rate in the USA is 298 times higher than the rate in Cuba! So, the first question to be answered was, do vaccinations have anything to do with this difference? The answer was no!
Cuba has a similarly aggressive vaccine schedule to the USA. Children by the age of 6 typically receive 34 vaccine agents and about 99% of the population complies with the vaccine requirements (which is significantly higher than the compliance in the USA). Vaccinations were clearly not the reason for the difference in the autism rates between the USA and Cuba.
Then, Dr. Shaw began to investigate if there was a link between acetaminophen (Tylenol) and autism. He presented a graph showing the autism rate prior to the 1980s where the rate held steady for years and years at about 1 in 10,000. Then, in the 1980s there was the Reye’s Syndrome scare about Aspirin. Aspirin sales went into the toilet. At that time, Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol sales began to significantly increase. What’s interesting is that as Tylenol sales increased, so did the rate of autism. And even more interesting was that, when there were two separate scares about Tylenol (when Tylenol was tampered with and there were several deaths as a result) and Tylenol sales dipped, so did the rate of autism! And guess what, in Cuba there are no over the counter sales of acetaminophen. It is prescription only and you are only allowed 20 tablets maximum. In addition, Cuba does not use acetaminophen prophylactically (i.e., they do not give it before and after vaccines to prevent pain, fever, and swelling). As a side note, Cuba uses a product called Metamizole for fevers. So, Dr. Shaw began to suspect that there is a strong correlation between autism and acetaminophen use.
Next, Dr. Shaw went over the four pathways used by the body to get rid of acetaminophen. If for some reason your body can’t use three of the four healthy pathways (like is often the case in autism), your body ends up using a pathway called “NAPQI” which causes liver damage and depletes your glutathione. In a nut shell, acetaminophen lowers glutathione which then inhibits key enzymes and binds and deactivates proteins (essentially it messes up everything in the body).
The adverse effects of acetaminophen use associated with autism were discussed next. Acetaminophen can cause immune system disorders, allergies, asthma, cholesterol problems, difficulty getting rid of clostridia, elevated dopamine, defective sulfation, and mitochondrial disorders.
As a side note, acetaminophen is even more dangerous when taken on an empty stomach (when sick) or after you’ve been drinking which is often exactly when we use it! Acetaminophen is the number one cause of acute liver failure in the USA.
Bottom line: Question your acetaminophen use.
Something else we found interesting. There have been several fairly recent violations pertaining to acetaminophen. Plants were shut down because the true amount of the drug per dose was more than what was on the label (leading to overdose), another plant was shut down for grime, and there have been several product recalls for Tylenol having a “mold like odor.”
Dr. Shaw dropped a bomb at the end of the presentation. We highly suggest you stay on the call until the bitter end in order to hear it for yourself. It was a jaw dropping moment for us! We really want you to take the time to listen to Dr. Shaw so we are just going to give you a teaser here… Johnson & Johnson, Autism Research Institute (ARI), Thoughtful House, Dr. Wakefield, and Defeat Autism Now (DAN!).
Enjoy connecting the dots and let us know your thoughts.
For an update on this topic please read https://ventography.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/update-from-dr-shaw-acetaminophen-and-autism-connection/.
If you want to stay updated about news on this topic and future studies, please visit Dr. Shaw’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/acetaminophenandautism.
Warning from the FDA March 2014.
UPDATE February 25, 2014: TYLENOL IS LINKED TO MORE THAN ADHD… WHAT THE MEDIA ISN’T TELLING YOU!
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June 13, 2012 at 10:20 pm
Many researchers comment on the similarities between autism and Alzheimer’s. In both disorders disruption in the synthesis of heme – the oxygen-carrying part of hemoglobin – has been found. Damage to the mitochondria is one effect. Porphyrins are precursors of heme. Porphyrin profiles can give an indication what substance has caused the disorder.
Acetaminophen is one of the pharmaceutical drugs known to damage the liver and depleting glutathione, an anti-oxidant that is necessary to metabolize toxins and pharmaceutical drugs.
Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2000 Sep;32(9):983-91.
Effect of acetaminophen on heme metabolism in rat liver.
Noriega GO, Ossola JO, Tomaro ML, Batlle AM.
Source
Centro de Investigaciones sobre Porfirinas y Porfirias (CIPYP), CONICET-Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS:
Acetaminophen (APAP) or paracetamol is a hepatotoxic drug through mechanisms involving oxidative stress. To know whether mammalian cells possess inducible pathways for antioxidant defense, we have to study the relationship between heme metabolism and oxidative stress.
METHODS:
fasted female Wistar rats received a single injection of APAP (3.3 mmol kg(-1) body weight) and then were killed at different times. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO), delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) synthase, ALA dehydratase, and porphobilinogenase activities, lipid peroxidation, GSH, catalase and glutathione peroxidase, were measured in liver homogenates. The antioxidant properties of bilirubin and S-adenosyl-L-methionine were also evaluated.
RESULTS:
APAP increased lipid peroxidation (115% +/- 6; S.E.M., n=12 over control values) 1 h after treatment. GSH reached a minimum at 3 h (38% +/- 5) increasing thereafter. At the same time antioxidant enzymes reached minimum values (catalase, 5. 6 +/- 0.4 pmol mg(-1) protein, glutathione peroxidase, 0.101 +/- 0.006 U mg(-1) protein). HO induction was observed 6 h after treatment reaching a maximum value of 2.56 +/- 0.12 U mg(-1) protein 15 after injection. ALA synthase (ALA-S) induction occurred after enhancement of HO, reaching a maximum at 18 h (three-fold the control). ALA dehydratase activity was first inhibited (31 +/- 3%) showing a profile similar to that of GSH, while porphobilinogenase activity was not modified along the whole period of the assay. Administration of bilirubin (5 micromol kg(-1) body weight) or S-adenosyl L-methionine (46 micromol kg(-1) body weight) 2 h before APAP treatment entirely prevented the increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) content, the decrease in GSH levels as well as HO and ALA-S induction.
CONCLUSION:
This study shows that oxidative stress produced by APAP leads to increase in ALA-S and HO activities, indicating that toxic doses of APAP affect both heme biosynthesis and degradation.
PMID: 11084378
[PDF]
Urinary Porphyrin Profiling
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – Quick View
by RS Lord – Related articles
some of them are highly sensitive to the presence of various toxins. … their porphyria is triggered mid-life by toxic chemicals or drugs,
http://www.metametrix.com/files/…/Urinary-Porphyrins.pdf –
Click to access Urinary-Porphyrins.pdf
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June 14, 2012 at 10:33 am
Thank you for the scientific study information relating to glutathione and acetaminophen! -L&M
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April 23, 2012 at 12:14 pm
What if your children are allergic to NSAIDS ?(ibuprofen, aspirin, naproxen) If they get a fever, what else are you suppose to give them to bring it down? The only alternative is tylenol.
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April 24, 2012 at 10:27 am
That’s a tough decision. We feel your pain. We are not doctors and cannot diagnose, treat, or cure. However, we happen to believe that fevers below 103 degrees are not all bad. We believe fevers are the body’s way of fighting infection. So, often times, we choose not to treat our children’s fevers at all. However, we realize there are times when parents must treat a fever (e.g., higher than 103 or fevers that induce seizures). In that case, the lesser of two evils may be acetaminophen. Just as an FYI, there are homeopathic treatments that may work for low grade fevers. One that we have used is “Fepyr” by the brand Pekana. Hope that helps. -L&M
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April 11, 2012 at 7:34 pm
Thank you so much for this review!! I just included it inmy article!
http://babyfoodsteps.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/mitoxic-why-acetaminophen-may-not-be-good-for-any-of-us-especially-mitochondrial-disease-patients/
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April 12, 2012 at 9:58 am
Thanks so much for including it in your article! -L&M
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March 14, 2012 at 9:27 am
Thank you for this important health information about the connection between Autism and Tylenol. I would like to see the webiniar given by Dr. Shaw.
It makes sense to me that Tylenol might be a bigger problem than vaccines. My two daughters, who have developmental challenges, Aspergers Syndrome and ADHD, were not vaccinated due to my concern about the safety of the vaccines. However, they did receive lots of Tylenol from my husband who is a Registered Nurse. Giving Tylenol is standard procedure in the hospital. However, we has no idea about this new information about Tylenol and Autism. I am very concern about the possible damage my daughters have suffered to important biochemical pathways! Especially my daughter with Aspergers Syndrome, her immune system is weak, she gets sick easily, poor motor coordination, all the symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Never once was she vaccinated. No vaccines! So I know it is not just vaccines that cause ASD. This information about Tylenol makes complete sense to me. Thank you so much for spreading the information to our facebook page and beyond
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March 14, 2012 at 10:27 am
How interesting that your daughters did receive lots of Tylenol. Maybe that really was a factor for them (especially since you didn’t vaccinate). Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Although we don’t know if Dr. Shaw is doing another webinar any time soon, we’ve heard that he may release official transcripts. We will be sure to post them if he does. -L&M
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March 8, 2012 at 10:18 am
Hey, what about the “teaser” information? How can I learn about that, now that the webinar is over?
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March 8, 2012 at 11:07 am
We haven’t validated the remarks made at the end of the presentation. Therefore, we do not feel comfortable sharing Dr. Shaw’s comments. However, we understand from Dr. Shaw’s facebook page that he will be putting out official transcripts soon. We will be sure to post them as soon as they come out. -L&M
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March 7, 2012 at 10:28 pm
I had read somewhere once that tylanol can lower the production of gluthinone therby making the vaccines more toxic because the child can not process it out as well. My son has autism and we did use tylanol like the doctor suggested for anticipated pain from the vaccine. I guess it lowers the immune system in general leaving it more suseptible.
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March 8, 2012 at 9:45 am
That’s interesting that you did use Tylenol for your son who has autism. I used Motrin (Ibuprofen) for Annie but I question whether it had the same effect. Thanks for reading. -L&M
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January 26, 2012 at 7:18 pm
Reblogged this on No Compulsory Vaccination and commented:
This is a connection I had never heard of before but it looks very interesting indeed.Especially since it’s Dr Chris Shaw who has publicised it – he is an excellent researcher. Please have a look and good for A Ventography! for writing this up so well!
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January 26, 2012 at 9:32 pm
Thanks so much for the re-blog and for keeping this in the “forefront.”
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January 23, 2012 at 11:21 pm
That is interesting. Makes sense too. I have a pet theory that all those preservative rich foods we’ve been eating since moms stopped making stuff from scratch have affected some of us differently. ADD increases could also be related. I hadn’t thought of Tylenol. I was a kid in the eighties and never knew anything about why aspirin was unpopular or that Tylenol hadn’t been popular before.
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January 24, 2012 at 12:04 am
Yes, Frankenfoods are concerning. We need to question their roles in the rise of asthma, autism, ADD/ADHD, diabetes, etc. L & M
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January 21, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Thanks for sharing this information. Will spread this through my practice and pediatricians I know. Although, truly believe that mercury, that used as a preservative for some vaccines, might be linked to autism. At least, all children with autism I know, were tested positive for mercury.
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January 21, 2012 at 10:17 pm
Thank you for spreading the word. We could not agree with you more about the mercury piece. My daughter tested “sky high” for mercury and I believe vaccines to be the number one source for that. We do not believe that acetaminophen is is the sole cause of autism. In fact, neither of our children had acetaminophen and they still have autism. So, our belief is that acetaminophen is likely one more toxin causing kids to regress into autism… just like vaccines (and not just the mercury but all the other junk like formaldehyde, yeast, chicken embryos, etc.). We are sure you already know this, but for anyone else out there reading and curious, we listed vaccine ingredients (according to the CDC) and our position on vaccines on our website, http://www.healthinducedautism.com/cdc-vaccination-information.html.
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January 21, 2012 at 4:59 am
This “A Ventography” site is is stated to be a place for ‘non-medically qualified individuals’ to vent their opinions, AND it seems to me that those 2 Moms were promoting this Dr. Shaw’s idea that autism is not caused by vaccines but rather by acetaminophen. Now who would be behind Dr. Shaw’s theory….the pharmaceutical companies or the FDA perhaps? Sounds like brainwashiing propaganda to me. I saw a minor flaw in their theory when stating the Cuban rate of autism as compared to that in the USA(which they say is 298 times higher in the USA). The statement that vaccine schedules in Cuba are similar to the U.S. & that children by age of 6 typically receive 34 vaccine agents & 99% of the population complies with the vaccine requirements.” Well, that may be so BUT how do we know if those vaccines in Cuba had the same amount of thimerasol in them that they do in the U.S. or maybe none at all? Sounds like someone is trying to shift the blame again toward something else…now it is acetaminophen…give me a break! My grandchildren, at the time , were ages 1-1/2 & 2-1/2 when they received the vaccine and both now have developmental delays & autism. HOWEVER, they were fine & developing right on target prior to the vaccines but afterward, regressed, one began having speech problems & the other stopped talking at all & would wakeup many times with excruciating pain in her head at night. Thanks to therapy & specialists who have worked with them to overcome theses issue, they are both now doing well although they will always have the problem….AND they still take Tylenol for headaches. fever, flu, etc with absolutely no indication of the autistic behavior becoming worse. Wouldn’t you think that if a child continued to Tylenol they would become worse instead of better?
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January 22, 2012 at 12:05 am
Thank you so much for your comments. You made us realize that perhaps we wrote our post too quickly and we were not clear on our position. We actually used your comments as a chance to clarify our position on several points to our readers. We actually agree with you that there is a link between autism and vaccines but please see our new post, “Response to Acetaminophen Commenter” for the details. We really appreciate you taking the time to write to us. Best of luck to you and your grandchildren! We pray for their full recovery.
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January 20, 2012 at 10:00 pm
I’m disappointed that you did not include the final part — I have autism and have a hard time with audio tracks. I need transcripts.
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January 20, 2012 at 10:11 pm
We are sorry to disappoint you. We wanted to get the information out as soon as possible and didn’t have a chance to validate some of the remarks made at the end of the presentation. Therefore, we did not feel comfortable sharing Dr. Shaw’s comments. That’s why we urged everyone to get it straight from Dr. Shaw. If we come across transcripts, we will do an update to our post.
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January 20, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Thanks! I will have to look into this. Is it also possible that Cuba uses different ingredients in their vaccines? I imagine Dr. Shaw already looked into that though.
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January 20, 2012 at 9:47 pm
That’s a really good question! We don’t recall Dr. Shaw addressing that point. However, we may have missed it. We are not fans of vaccine ingredients and definitely feel they are one of the many factors linked to autism.
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January 20, 2012 at 10:25 am
Thanks for this…my naturopath has been mentioning the dangers of Tylenol…doesn’t even exist in her home! I have registered for the webinar tomorrow night…wouldn’t have known about it without your blog! 🙂 Thanks!
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January 20, 2012 at 9:41 pm
We are so glad you signed up for the webinar. It gets a little “technical” at times, but we feel it’s worth it and will be enlightening. And remember, if you have been following Wakefield and the DAN! movement, there’s a really interesting part at the end! Molly and Leah
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January 20, 2012 at 10:14 am
How very interesting. So many pregnant women take acetaminophen when pregnant as well…hmmm.
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January 19, 2012 at 7:40 pm
Thank you for liking my post and thereby directing me to yours! I really like the way you have summarized this subject which can be confusing for people who are not neurobiologists by training. Now I’ll explore the rest of your site…
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January 19, 2012 at 9:25 pm
Thanks so much for your comments. We love the title of your blog, “Accidental Autism”… very clever! Leah and Molly
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January 17, 2012 at 11:18 am
It’s interesting because people often say it happened RIGHT AFTER the vax… but usually so does Tylenol.
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January 14, 2012 at 3:01 am
Great Webinar, thank you Dr. Shaw, have you seen the studies, isn’t it interesting how mainstream media (owned by big pharma) does not run these stories… we live in a censured society…
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January 14, 2012 at 3:28 am
“isn’t it interesting how mainstream media (owned by big pharma) does not run these stories…”
We had the same thoughts.
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January 13, 2012 at 5:42 am
WOW! Thanks for taking the time to do this summary. I will definitely attend the next webinar by Dr. Shaw.
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