Between Your Ears #06: “The Truth About Autism & Vaccines”

Main Topic: In this episode of Between Your Ears, we tackle the myth that vaccines cause autism. Autism is a neurological disorder that begins before a child is even born as their brain develops in the uterus. In 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield released results of a study in The Lancet that claimed that he had proven that autism is caused by the combined measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine. However, in February 2010, The Lancet retracted his article, stating that Dr. Wakefield had violated numerous ethical and scientific rules. Other than Dr. Wakefield, no one else has been able to demonstrate the link between autism and the MMR vaccine. The reality is that not vaccinating your children may expose them to far more real and dangerous risks.

Audible.com Pick: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Get it, or any other audiobook, and support the show, by visiting audibletrial.com/betweenyourears.
E-Mail:
Hey Zac, I heard that if you hang upside down for eight hours that you will eventually see right-side up. Is this true?! – Brant
Although hanging upside down can cause damage in blood vessels that lead to stroke (and subsequent brain damage or death), it has been demonstrated that if you flip your vision with a pair of prism goggles for an extended period of time, your brain will eventually compensate and you will once again see right-side-up. The same mechanism occurs in babies within the first few weeks of life as they adjust to the inverted image that hit the back of their retina.

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Sources

  • What is Autism? [Link]
  • Retraction of Dr. Wakefield’s Paper as reported by NYT [Link]
  • Video of Girl Testing Inverted Vision [Link]

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