tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3412583847145043520.post3645980419480550812..comments2024-03-27T19:01:21.504-06:00Comments on Enik Rising: Jenny McCarthy is slowly killing usSeth Maskethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17178036016555722068noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3412583847145043520.post-39620118189784684512009-10-23T13:51:31.857-06:002009-10-23T13:51:31.857-06:00In her defense, she was a much better "Single...In her defense, she was a much better "Singled Out" host than Carmen Electra.Seth Maskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17178036016555722068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3412583847145043520.post-59654514769576295742009-10-23T13:49:37.066-06:002009-10-23T13:49:37.066-06:00It's particularly galling when it's a cele...It's particularly galling when it's a celebrity speaking on a scientific matter where really is an objective right and wrong, *and* when that celebrity attained her fame merely by displaying her junk for pay and telling poop jokes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3412583847145043520.post-55579717038321360652009-10-23T11:57:43.536-06:002009-10-23T11:57:43.536-06:00I don't have a problem with celebrities becomi...I don't have a problem with celebrities becoming informed about an issue and speaking up about it. They'll get attention no matter what they do; there's nothing wrong with trying to use that attention to further a cause they care about.<br /><br />Jenny McCarthy crossed a line for me when she <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/200025/page/3" rel="nofollow">went on Oprah</a> and made a lot of claims about autism that, a doctor on the show pointed out, were totally unsupported by scientific research. She countered, "My science is named Evan, and he's at home. That's my science." She asserted that she should be listened to, and scientists should be ignored, precisely because she is famous.Seth Maskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17178036016555722068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3412583847145043520.post-76363126324152200772009-10-23T11:47:09.929-06:002009-10-23T11:47:09.929-06:00But should we tell all celebrities to pipe down an...But should we tell all celebrities to pipe down and "stop raising awareness" even when we agree with them? That's the tough question. It's too easy to beat up on ridiculous figures like McCarthy... Should celebrities in general be the filtering mechanism for passing information to the public?bshorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08382365536021941653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3412583847145043520.post-50409736786827150972009-10-23T01:53:11.470-06:002009-10-23T01:53:11.470-06:00^Yes, and now there are also now more categories (...^Yes, and now there are also now more categories (Asperger's, High Functioning, etc) that didn't "officially" exist as diagnoses at the time. So the "higher" rate is also just more people counting into the more generalized autism definition that wouldn't have had a label previously.<br /><br />The vaccination nonsense has been mostly if not entirely disproved by now and was always just anecdotal anyway; yeah, most autistic kids had gotten vaccines, but so had most kids PERIOD. You could just as easily blame television, toaster ovens, or whatever else that autistic kids all "have in common" nowadays by sole virtue of them just being facts of modern life for most people.Jeremynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3412583847145043520.post-25955902506530519672009-10-22T21:24:23.863-06:002009-10-22T21:24:23.863-06:00I don't think that the vaccines are causing su...<i>I don't think that the vaccines are causing such a tidal wave of autistic kids, but something sure is. Who knew about autism when we were kids?</i><br /><br />The author makes this point, saying that the rise in autism diagnoses is due to improved ability by doctors to detect it. When we were kids, some of our peers who actually had autism were just diagnosed as retarded or slow or weren't diagnosed at all. So there hasn't been a dramatic rise in autism -- just in our ability to detect it.Seth Maskethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17178036016555722068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3412583847145043520.post-82231868232787284112009-10-22T20:59:09.389-06:002009-10-22T20:59:09.389-06:00I don't know a thing about Jenny McCarthy and ...I don't know a thing about Jenny McCarthy and I do vaccinate my kids but I do say that there's some science somewhere to the gluten/dairy free diet and kids on the autistic spectrum. People have proposed that the dairy and gluten proteins are larger than other proteins and perhaps they irritate the brain of a spectrum kid... I don't really know why it works, but for a decent amount of kids on the spectrum (I think the percentage is around 60%), autistic symptoms can and do dramatically lessen or even disappear.<br /><br />I don't think that the vaccines are causing such a tidal wave of autistic kids, but something sure is. Who knew about autism when we were kids? It was so rare and now it's simply flooding special ed departments all over the nation. I can see why people think it's vaccines (what else do all these different kids have in common other than shots?), but I'm not sure that's the answer.<br /><br />I agree with the author that there are some serious hacks making money off of people's fears as well as celebrities really shouldn't be a reliable "expert" on much unless they truly happen to be an expert. <br /><br />I have a friend who works at the CDC with polio eradication and she shares the same frustration with parents refusing vaccines with such a serious disease which is entirely preventable.<br /><br />My .02 cents.<br /><br />:-)Corynoreply@blogger.com