Autism, Melamine, Pet Food?
May 2, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Perhaps this is the inevitable result of reading countless articles about the causes of autism: As soon as I heard about the reports of pet food contaminated with melamine from China, I said to myself, here comes the next purported cause of autism.
And here it is.
Over at Daily Kos is “freeper speculation” about autism and melamine:
What if? If our food supply has been contaminated with melamine for some time, even if it hasn’t been killing people, what has it been doing? And is a link with autism plausible? And are there other links? Help research this with me…
There follows a string of rather loosely linked speculations about gluten intolerance in some autistic children, mention of melamine being found in the wheat gluten in some pet food, a connection between melamine and ammonia, “elevated levels of ammonia” as being “common” in autism, and a quotation about the debilitating effects of “radical changes in our environment over the last 10-20 years.” (It was indeed reported today that there is no link between autism and celiac disease.) The last quotation is from a journalist who, back in January of this year, declared, in very tongue in cheek fashion, that there is “no autism epidemic” (vs. this article which says “there is no autism epidemic,” and means it).
But back to the melamine (more about which can be found here). Mention of it and autism puts melamine—the plastic that is the stuff for so many character-themed plates that our children have eaten off of—in the same category as other common items of everyday life (cell phones, iPods, TV, wi-fi) now under indictment for causing autism. What, one wonders, will not be said to cause autism…..pet food…….?
“What, one wonders, will not be said to cause autism…..”
How about natural variations in neurological phenotypes and development? At least every agrees that it can’t be that
VAB, that’s outrageous, that couldn’t possibly be it!
Never heard of such a thing…….
When I was pregnant, I had a craving for Eukanuba. I should have curbed my urges. If only I had known (shriek!).
Give me a break.
I think what’s scary is how much we take for granted that those packages in the store are safe and benign. And Melanin is not even at the top of the list. How about rat feces? Or arsenic?
I don’t know what causes autism, but I know that the meat that we eat is being recalled left and right, with E coli and Salmonella. Maybe we don’t buy those recalled patties, but who knows what brands the school is buying.
Contamination of the food chain is scary, but are people going to live in fear of every aberration, or just keep going on. We sort of have to watch out for ourselves and be aware of what we’re putting in our mouths.
When I lived in Erie, PA, I thought we had the best tasting water I had ever had. Erie has a curiously high incidence of cancer. After moving away and then going back 5 years later, I noticed that there is an actual taste to the water in Erie. I now know what that taste is. They have to treat the water so much because the inlet for the drinking water is just a mile away from the sewage outlet and both are in Lake Erie. Mmmm, gotta love those chemicals.
Did it cause my Charlie’s autism? Probably not, but that might be why both of my parents died young of cancer, along with nearly every other member of my family. My oldest brother has already had cancer once. People need to be aware, the food chain already is in trouble and you have to watch what you feed your family.
“Elevated levels of ammonia”
Maybe it’s exposure to Windex.
Though seriously, I do advocate an organic diet.
I look forward to seeing what is next.
Kristina, thanks for yet another positively provocative post. (I mean that quite literally; I thought it was positive and thought provoking.) Some of your posts have really given me an opportunity to explore things from a different perspective…and sometimes in some very unexpected avenues! You’ve inspired my post for today on my own blog. Thanks for providing an opportunity for me to find my own voice in this immense universe of parenting a child on the spectrum.
I saw that Kos article too. But I have a solution! Don’t worry about Pet food contamination, vegetarian diets and nutrition, hence forward, dogs,cats, people everywhere can survive on an exclusive diet of Goldfish – I have years of empirical evidence before me, right here and he’s 6.
cheers
Ah, but what kind of Goldfish —- Niksmom, thanks for your “food for thought,” which I am reading right now!
The mention of melamine has jogged another memory for me in regard to all the Barney/blue’s blues/etc. plates and dishes that Charlie used to have. He became very insistent on only using some of these; there were also times when he would ask for the Barney plate and then throw it soon as the food was on it. I have been rotating plates of various designs and types ever since.
I kept waiting for Kevin Bacon to show up. 6 degrees from melamine to autism…
LOL. It just keeps getting weirder and weirder…have you seen the latest on the autism-mobile phone connection? NOT KIDDING…read it here:
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/23300_print.php
Cell phones and iPods too!
And also: Melamine: tastes like chicken (rather plasticy chicken, I suppose).