So far as I can tell, there is absolutely no evidence that vaccines have any link to autism in children. The CDC has issued a report reviewing the evidence and has found no connection between MMR vaccines and autism. A similar report was issued by the Institute of Medicine, rejecting any notion of a link. Nonetheless, there are a number of people who strongly believe that MMR vaccines and autism are related, and this gets substantial media coverage of anecdotal cases of children showing symptoms after being vaccinated. There is a very nice rebuttal of that argument here, which notes that MMR vaccines are usually at about 12 months of age, and autism symptoms (even in the absence of vaccinations) are first observed only a few months later. This coincidental timing can lead to anecdotes that look causal, especially since the media keeps reporting on the topic. Even though in empirical studies, no hint of a link has ever surfaced.
However, lots of people still believe the autism/vaccination link. Here is a set of arguments on why not to believe the CDC report from Katie Couric’s site at CBS news and is reposted on the National Autism Association news and views site. Both seemingly credible sources. But the arguments in that article are specious at best. Continue reading »
Today’s New York Times has an extremely interesting article discussing new advances in the field of evolutionary-development, and what it means for our understanding of the processes of evolution. Assuming that the information presented in this article is correct (a decent assumption, but one should always take mass-media articles on technical subjects with a significant grain of salt), biologists are making a lot of headway in understanding the basic question of how species evolve. In particular, they are discovering that genetic mutation may actually be a lot easier than was first assumed. For instance, it turns out that fish have most of the same genetic building blocks that would allow them to grow the limbs and appendages necessary to walk on land. These genes, however, are sort of tuned to different settings, however, which cause the development of other body parts instead. If this is correct, it may explain how fish were able to evolve into land-creatures relatively rapidly.
In an excellent blog entry at NYTimes.com, law professor Stanley Fish notes that three recent books critiquing religion all share a few basic ideas, including the dismissal of faith. These books, like so many others who attack religious belief, set faith as the opposite of reason and then claim that any argument that cannot be proven, or at least adequately demonstrated, is not an argument that the intelligent or rational mind should consider. Moreover, the willingness to act out of faith, and not reason, leads men to do monumentally stupid and dangerous things.Of course, it isn’t just a few authors who make this claim. The media often juxtaposes “science” or “reason” with “faith” or “religion”. Religious leaders buy into that argument when they attack the scientific claims made by evolutionary theory or the some archaeological find that seemingly contradicts the Biblical account. I’ve heard any number of stories of people who break from the Church because they cannot stomach the seemingly necessary contradiction between belief and “scientific fact”.
So, Yahoo news recently reported that kids who’s parents are divorced are much more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD and be prescribed Ritalin. Of course, the implication is that divorce causes kids to get ADHD. Here are some other possible explanations:
1) Kids who act out and have ADHD lead to more stressful family relationships, and increase the likelihood of divorce
2) Parents with ADHD (or non-clinical levels of similar behavior patterns) are harder to stay in relationships with, and thus are more likely to get divorced. The predisposition for ADHD is passed down genetically to their children.
3) Kids with mild ADHD who otherwise would go untreated go to a psychiatrist to deal with the stress of the divorce, and the psychiatrists notices the ADHD which had previously gone undetected.
4) Poverty leads to increased divorces and an increased chance of ADHD.
5) Disfunctional family relationships lead to both ADHD and divorce.
The reason this is important, is that people will see this finding and immediately start suggesting policy solutions to divorce, using this as evidence that its bad for children. But there are plenty of good reasons why there might be a relationship between ADHD and divorce, without divorce CAUSING ADHD. In fact, for two of my proposed mechanisms (3 and 5) the fact that the parents got divorced would actually lead to improved outcomes for the kids – (in #3 because the problem would have otherwise gone untreated, and in #5 because the kid would be stuck in the situation that would only exacerbate the problem).
I’m not advocating divorce here. I’m simply stating that I hate it when these correlational studies get so much press and are then used as evidence in policy debate when they don’t really prove anything.
I’ve thought about this a lot, and I just don’t get it.
In 1979, Marilee Jones applied for a job at the MIT Admissions Office. It was an entry level position to work with a group whose goal was to increase the number of women at MIT. At the time, Ms. Jones probably needed the job, and while a college degree was not mandated by the job description, she lied on her application and said she had one; she was one of probably millions of Americans to falsely embellish their resumes that year alone. And she got the job. By all accounts, in fact, she was good at her job. She has worked in the MIT Admissions office for the last twenty-seven years, rising to become Dean for the last decade. She’s won awards for her skill at the job. She co-wrote a book on the college admissions process. She has become a leading critic of the pressure of the college admissions process and of the myth that high school kids have to be perfect to get into the best schools. She was by all accounts one of the most well-liked and well-respected people in her field. And yesterday, she was forced to resign because twenty-seven years ago, she lied on her college application. Apparently, it turns out, despite her success at her job, it was a job she wasn’t qualified to have.
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