So I went over to Free Republic to see what they thought of the recent FDA Melamine crisis, and I found the predictable railing against China (but not so much against the FDA, and nothing against Bush). However, I also found something else I wasn't expecting, and found interesting:
"Too little, too late. What if it had been babies dying?"
How do we know that babies aren’t dying?
I wonder where the protein additives for baby formula come from? Why is there a rise in autism? Just a thought.
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...
One common treatment for autism is a gluten- or casein-free diet, mentioned at autism.org for autistic individuals with 'leaky gut':
Many autistic individuals have permeable intestinal tracts, and this is often referred to as ‘leaky gut.’
[...]
At the present time, we do not know why the gluten-/ casein-free diet helps many autistic individuals.
However, we now know that melamine has been contaminating our gluten; I don't know if some casein additives might be contaminated as well.
A recent study found no link between autism and celiac disease -- which would imply that autism is not caused by gluten intolerance, but that wouldn't rule out a problem with another additive in the gluten.
Also, the wikipedia entry for melamine mentions the relationship between melamine and ammonia toxicity:
Melamine when heated causes the loss of nitrogen, leaving guanidine, a muscle stimulant used as a pharmaceutical, and ammonia, a poison.[20] The reported symptoms of the animals conform to those of ammonia poisoning since melamine may metabolize into ammonia by the body.[21]
It turns out that elevated levels of ammonia is common in autism:
Elevated ammonia is common in autism, and a study of 65 children with autism found that 70% had levels above the reference range of the lab.
Also read There is No Autism Epidemic, and note his speculation:
American kids are in huge trouble. One in six has a learning disability. Asthma, diabetes, allergies and arthritis are ravaging their bodies in growing numbers. And little of this is due to "better diagnostics" or "greater awareness."
It can only be attributed to radical changes in our environment over the last 10-20 years. There is something, or more likely some things in our modern air, water, food and drugs that are making genetically susceptible children sick, and we need to find out what they are.
The Freepers also mentioned "the tremedous rise of autism in the last 15 years", although there is some dispute over whether or not this is just an artifact of improved diagnostics.
Finally, I'd just like to say that this is the sort of issue where I think we actually share a common cause with the Freepers. We may ultimately disagree with how to treat it, policy-wise, but I think that we should all come together in surveying the extent of contamination to our food supply, and analyzing the possible effects that it has had and could have in the future if left uncorrected, and keep this issue on the front burner for as long as it's still a problem!
P.S. Also, I am no doctor, just one person speculating out loud, so please feel free to shoot down anything in this diary that you find questionable, or add in anything that you don't see here, and I will try to update it as is appropriate. Thanks!