Autism and Prenatal Vitamins

Original Source: Autism and Prenatal Vitamins

Dr. Harriet Hall has recently written an article pertaining to a new study that was released recently.  The study is entitled "Prenatal Vitamins, One-carbon Metabolism Gene Variants, and Risk for Autism" and was published in Epidemiology on May 23, 2011.  As the name implies the study focuses on the usage of prenatal vitamins during the three months before pregnancy or the first month of pregnancy and what impact this may in terms of having an autistic child.  The authors of the study also found there were genetic factors that predispose a child to having autism or a condition within the autism spectrum.

As Dr. Hall writes: "They [the authors of the study] found that mothers who didn’t take prenatal vitamins were at greater risk of having an autistic child, and certain genetic markers markedly increased the risk. There was a dose/response relationship: the more prenatal vitamins a woman took, the less likely she would have an autistic child. There was no association with other types of multivitamins, and no association with prenatal vitamin intake during months 2-9 of pregnancy."

The fact is, this study isn't really all that shocking.  Numerous studies prior to this one have strongly suggested a genetic factor, and the issue of prenatal vitamins simply ensures the mother and fetus aren't lacking key nutrients which could negatively impact development.  The interesting issue here is that significant, measurable differences in the incidence of autism are clearly seen and there is no correlation to vaccines.

So you may be asking yourself, what do the folks over at Age of Autism have to say about this study?  Surely they would be interested in any study that focuses upon autism especially if that study covers genetics correct?  Well... if that was your thought, you would be wrong because as of this writing, the Age of Autism site doesn't even reference the study.  As is typically the case any time a new study comes out which shows a potential risk factor for autism, the biased contributors at Age of Autism refuse to even consider it.  Rest assured however if they find an article which even suggests a link between vaccines and autism... it will be posted immediately.

The same scenario applies to Mr. Hubbs as well.  He claims he cares about children and claims he wants to find the root cause of autism, yet he blames vaccines at every turn even when there is strong evidence that point to a genetic component.  Mr. Hubbs "backs in" to his viewpoint by finding non-scientific data, opinion pieces, biased websites etc which point to vaccines, but he is unable to look at the body of evidence objectively.

This is why anti-vaxxers like Mr. Hubbs will continue to praise people like Andrew Wakefield long after they have been discredited and why they will ignore proven science if it suggests or even proves something other than what they believe.  This is not letting the evidence guide the viewpoint, but rather this is mandating that the viewpoint guides the evidence.  Unfortunately for Mr. Hubbs and his fellow anti-vaxxers, facts are not open to manipulation nor can they be ignored when they are inconvenient.

The science will continue to speak for itself, and we can look for more and more studies pertaining to the root causes of autism in the future.  Rest assured each time a reputable study is published that shows the root cause pertains to anything other than vaccines, the anti-vaxxers will ignore them as they proclaim there is some vast conspiracy to silence the truth.

This does bring up an interesting point however.  If a study shows that the usage of prenatal vitamins can help reduce the risk of having an autistic child, and since we know most anti-vaxxers are huge proponents (and distributors / sellers) of nutritional supplements... this sort of puts them in an awkward position.  On one hand if they discredit the study they are suggesting that the very nutritional supplements they promote aren't effective.  On the other hand if they suggest the study has merit, they are admitting autism has more to do with a genetic component and nothing to do with vaccines.

I guess we know why they choose to remain silent... because they just can't speak about it while holding on to their preconceived and faulty assumptions.

Vaccines and Infant Mortality Rates

I came across an interesting study recently and felt it was worth sharing.  It is the report on US deaths and death rates put out by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

The actual report can be found here:  http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr58/nvsr58_19.pdf

There is a lot of strong data presented in the report and at the very least it is worth scanning, but several areas stand out.  On page 13, figure 7 displays a chart of infant (under one year), neonatal (under 28 days), and postneonatal (28 days to 11 months) mortality rates from 1940 through 2007.  If you look at this graph, you will notice an alarming trend. 

The statistics show us that the mortality rates for all of these three categories dropped sharply from 1940 through 2007 (newer data is still considered preliminary, so 2007 is the latest "final" data we have available).  Keep in mind this same time period is when most major childhood vaccines have been introduced.  I say "most" because we know there were some vaccines prior to 1940 (the smallpox vaccine comes to mind among others), but in respect to most modern vaccines, this time frame covers them.

On page 14 of the report you will see Table E which is a breakdown of the top 10 causes of death for infants. These, in order of highest to lowest Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities is the leading cause of infant mortality, followed by disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight. From there the remaining eight of the top 10 causes include:

• Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
• Newborn affected by maternal complications of pregnancy
• Accidents
• Newborn affected by complications of placenta, cord and membranes
• Bacterial sepsis of newborn
• Respiratory distress of newborn
• Diseases of the circulatory system 
• Neonatal hemorrhage

So what is the significance of this?  Well objectively if you examine the raw data, you soon find that the primary causes of infant mortality are no longer diseases which are able to be prevented via vaccines.  Whereas decades ago some of the leading causes of infant mortality was preventable disease, today we don't see a single preventative disease anywhere in the top 10. 

In fact if you examine data from 1950, you see causes such as influenza, pertussis / whooping cough, and meningitis mentioned whereas today they are not.  The difference?  Today we have vaccines administered to prevent these diseases before an infant can contract them and suffer from the effects.  Bear in mind we are only looking at mortality rates here and not even mentioning the millions of children who would contract these diseases and not actually die from them, nor are we examining data from older children (1 year +).

This isn't to say that vaccines are the only reason infant mortality rates in our nation continue to fall, but clearly they are a factor.  Even though the number of vaccines has risen in the past 50 years, the infant mortality rate has continued to fall.  Oh and for the anti-vaxxer who likes to blame vaccines for SIDS deaths... they may find it interesting that SIDS was still a common cause of infant mortality decades prior to our current vaccine schedule - so that theory doesn't really hold water either.

So what is the alternative?  If you are a vaccine conspiracy theorist like Mr. Hubbs, you would recommend zero vaccines.  This means we could very well revert back to the days of preventable diseases being responsible for killing thousands upon thousands of infants each year, and tens of thousands of others suffering non life-ending ramifications such as permanent disability caused by diseases such as polio.

Is this really the answer?  Obviously the latest trend for Mr. Hubbs and his fellow anti-vaxxers is to claim that vaccines cause autism, and even though we have zero scientific evidence to support that wild theory, we can play along with that line of thinking for a few minutes.  So if we were to end the distribution and usage of childhood vaccines due to the concerns and fears surrounding them, what would be the alternative?  You guessed it... thousands of dead children each and every year as a result.

What type of progress is this?  Apparently in the mind of an anti-vaxxer (since they seem to be convinced vaccines cause autism), a dead child is better than one with autism.  I'm not sure I understand that type of logic, and it because even less tolerable when you realize that there is no evidence to suggest vaccines actually do cause autism in the first place, but it does show us how out-of-touch these anti-vaxxers really are.

By the way, on page 1 of the report, it also lists the 15 leading causes of death in the US for all residents.  They are as follows:

1. Diseases of heart (heart disease)
2. Malignant neoplasms (cancer)
3. Cerebrovascular diseases (stroke)
4. Chronic lower respiratory diseases
5. Accidents (unintentional injuries)
6. Alzheimer’s disease
7. Diabetes mellitus (diabetes)
8. Influenza and pneumonia
9. Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis (kidney disease)
10. Septicemia
11. Intentional self-harm (suicide)
12. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis
13. Essential hypertension and hypertensive renal disease (hypertension)
14. Parkinson’s disease
15. Assault (homicide)

Notice that nowhere in this list do we see anything relating to medical errors or deaths as a result of pharmaceuticals.  Thus, yet again we entirely discredit Mr. Hubbs and his "modern medicine is the third leading cause of death" nonsense, although anyone who knows Mr. Hubbs also knows even though he has been proven wrong time and time again, he will continue to parrot the same lies and misinformation as long as he feels someone is listening.

The facts continue to line up against Mr. Hubbs and his anti-vaxxer friends.

How to Build a Bridge

Full Article: How to Build a Bridge

I know Mr. Hubbs absolutely hates it when I post information from a science-based source such as the aptly named Science-Based medicine website, but this article is actually very useful for anyone who has ever tried to debate an issue with another person.  It doesn't matter what side of the issue they are on or even what the issue is - the concepts remain the same and are mutually beneficial.

On a side note, I'll never understand why a guy gets so upset when I post someone from a website when the only information Mr. Hubbs has in his entire repertoire comes from *gasp* other websites.  Hypocritical much?

Note to Mr. Hubbs: You can look up the word you don't understand here.

Quack of the Day: Dr. Russell Blaylock

Most anti-vaccinationists (aka: "antivaxxers") have a list of trusted “experts” they often refer to when speaking of vaccinations, and along with people like Andrew Wakefield, Joseph Mercola, or Sherri Tenpenny... Dr. Russell Blaylock is one of the most common names tossed out there anytime this subject comes up. This led me to ask myself what was it about Dr. Blaylock that was so interesting and why would antivaxxers trust Blaylock to provide medical advice about a variety of subjects when these very same people won’t accept the viewpoints or opinions of the vast majority of the medical community?

Could it be that Dr. Blaylock has produced some peer-reviewed studies that are able to determine the root cause of autism? No – because he has published no such studies.

Could it be that Dr. Blaylock has produced evidence showing long term negative side effects of vaccines? No – because he hasn’t bothered to produce such evidence.

Could it be that Dr. Blaylock has studied the long term negative side effects of the sweetener aspartame and has produced scientific evidence to support his theory that it is responsible for causing Multiple Sclerosis? No, because he has never bothered to produce evidence nor has he participated in research to support his theory.

Could it be that Dr. Blaylock has finally been able to produce evidence that his claims about the dangers of aluminum cookware, or fluoridated drinking water, or dental fillings are substantiated and verified? No, because he hasn’t bothered to produce the research, add his name to a study, or even be bothered to write unpublished papers detailing his claims in any detail.

So if it isn’t about evidence or fact, what is it about Dr. Blaylock that leads antivaxxers to cite him as an expert? The real truth is, the only thing antivaxxers appear to know about Dr. Blaylock is what is found on Blaylock’s website or published in Blaylock’s monthly newsletters. Their opinions aren’t based upon published research nor are they based upon proven science - but rather they are based upon self-cited opinion. In short, there are no legitimate third parties supporting any of Blaylock's claims, so citing his opinions is merely the equivalent of taking his word for it.

This is yet another example of how antivaxxers tend to believe anything that is said or written on the Internet provided it goes against conventional medical wisdom or proven and accepted science. Once again we have shown that a lack of critical thinking ability clouds the judgment and precludes many antivaxxers from understanding that just because someone makes a claim does not make it true.

Unfortunately this is a common pattern for many in the anti-vaccination community. They don't trust peer-reviewed studies or proven science, but they will believe a wild claim from anyone who calls themselves an expert on vaccines or medicine. Why is it that we aren't supposed to believe anything the CDC, FDA, WebMD, or any drug company tells us because they are all in it for the money but yet Dr. Blaylock is considered an expert even though he makes the majority of his income from SELLING his information?

Blaylock writes books and newsletters he can sell instead of studies that he wouldn't profit from even though studies would be more apt to influence other doctors and the medical and scientific community (and thus have a greater impact upon the actual patients).

If Blaylock was really serious about getting his message out there, why wouldn't he just post his articles and information on his website for all to see or (dare I say it) actually get one of his papers peer-reviewed so he can rub it in the face of the big bad drug companies? Blaylock claims he knows things the "major media" are afraid to tell you and he is providing "insider health information", but as with all snakeoil salesman of his type he is never able to actually prove his claims with real science.

But then again, why give information away for free when you can charge $48 a year for 12 emailed newsletters (or $54 if you want the hard copy version)?

So what else does Blaylock have to offer the public? You guessed it - Blaylock sells a 30 day supply of his "brain repair" pills for the low, low price of $51.25! Act now and he will toss in a free booklet with your first order!!

Seriously... you couldn't make this stuff up if you tried. Time and time again we find this common pattern with the “anti-vaccine pundits” that antivaxxers just love to quote, and once again we find that when you scrape away all of the wild and unsubstantiated claims or the shocking one-liners meant to spark interest or designed to appeal to the fear of the public, at the end of the day they are nothing more than snakeoil pitchmen selling their nutritional supplements or newsletters or books or DVDs etc, etc.

This just goes to show how out of touch these antivaxxers really are. They won't accept scientific fact, but the first quack who offers to sell them some miracle "brain repair" drug is suddenly an expert on all things related to vaccinations. It is the oldest scam in the book... find an idiot and then convince him to buy a worthless product he doesn't need. Whether it be a Snuggie, a Shamwow, a new type of kitchen gadget, or a bottle of nutritional supplements it is all the same - these products are not designed to make life better but instead are designed for one purpose and one purpose alone... pure unadulterated American profit via the naive, uneducated consumer who doesn't know any better.

I guess poor old Dr. Blaylock couldn't make enough money from these morons by selling newsletters for $48 a year so now he has to sell them pills to fix their brains. Although in Blaylock’s defense, considering his target audience it is quite possible they are in need of brain repair much more than the general populace, so he may be on to something with this one.

I often wonder how many antivaxxers are on the auto-ship program to receive these miracle 'brain repair' pills every 30 days? For those that are, I'd ask for a refund because they clearly are NOT working as designed.

Meanwhile - I have no doubt that Dr. Blaylock is laughing all the way to the bank knowing full well that he has tapped a market of followers that have no interest in separating fact from fiction.

Note (November 2012): I've noticed this particular blog post has been receiving hundreds of hits lately and is being linked to from several online forums and websites. Because of this I have went back through and updated the post to refer to antivaxxers in general terms rather than citing a specific antivaxxer or group of antivaxxers. Considering the recent increase in interest of Dr. Blaylock, I felt this was probably more appropriate since the post should be about him and not about any one specific antivaxxer.

Lowell Hubbs's Personal Website Seized by Homeland Security!

Lowell Hubbs likes to scour the Internet for random conspiracy theories, unscientific opinion, and just random ramblings of fellow antivaxers... and when he finds this information, he likes to upload it to his personal website (using the ironically named "lowellsfacts.com").  Aside from the oxymoron in the URL itself, the website was a treasure trove of nonsense which any sane or rational person would avoid once they spent more than 15 seconds on it and realized what it was.

So the bottom line is, Mr. Hubbs's website was really nothing more than a joke.  It has never been a reputable source of information and other than Mr. Hubbs himself I'm not sure anyone was a regular visitor (even Mr. Hubbs's fellow conspiracy theorists have standards apparently).

So I must admit it came as a surprise when I was told his website had been seized by the US government (specifically Homeland Security) and it now displays a seizure notice on his homepage with a generic message about copyright infringement and counterfeit goods. 

As of today, his website looks like this:

Now it stands to reason that because nothing on his website was actually Mr. Hubbs's own work (but rather information and data he had 'borrowed' from others without offering credit) that the site could be shut down for copyright infringement, but the reality is that is less than probable since there are literally millions of other websites that do the exact same thing.

So why would the US government be interested in Mr. Hubbs's website?  Sources (and yes that is plural Mr. Hubbs as in "more than one source") tell me it may have more to do with pornography... specifically child pornography.  Considering how often Mr. Hubbs has discussed that very topic in his various messages on this very blog and how often he has accused others of being involved in such activity (textbook example of deflection and/or projection on his part), such accusations don't really shock me in the slightest.

Of course who really knows.  Mr. Hubbs claims it was all due to "hackers" who inserted porn links into his website (where have we heard that before) and then he also claims it may be people who want to "silence the truth", but aside from a few dozen excuses and more clever stories invented by Mr. Hubbs I really don't see anything which explains the situation. 

What we do know is Mr. Hubbs once again finds himself on the wrong side of the law, and once again involved in something that he claims is all some massive conspiracy to silence the truth.  I'm not a naive person, so I generally consider Occam's razor (the simplest explanation is most likely correct) which basically means we ignore the continual excuses and see Mr. Hubbs for what he is... a common criminal with a personal fetish for vaccine conspiracy theories who may or may not have a hobby that involves kiddie porn.

Hey - draw your own conclusions, but with evidence like this stacking up day after day it doesn't look like it is very difficult to eliminate the alternate possibilities.

Facts

"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."

                                                -John Adams

The above quote may have been written in 1770, but it is as true today as it was then.  Facts are facts, and no matter how much data we throw at them, no matter how much analysis we examine, no matter how many years we spend on a subject... in the end the facts remain.  You cannot debate facts, you cannot change them, you cannot distort them (although many try).  The reality is, a fact is always a fact and it is only our understanding of those facts that changes with time.

This is why when Mr. Hubbs claims he has "facts" of vaccines causing autism, or that it is a "fact" that modern medicine is the third or fourth leading cause of death in the US, or that it is a "fact" that there are natural cancer cures that are being suppressed or hidden by "big pharma", it isn't that he is actually able to support these statements with evidence, it is merely that he misunderstands the term "fact".

Unfortunately for Mr. Hubbs, no matter how many times a person may claim to have "facts" and no matter how many times they brag about their knowledge, it doesn't actually change anything.  Claims are baseless without supporting evidence, and to date Mr. Hubbs, as well as the rest of the antivaxer community, has never been able to provide one single piece of evidence to support their theory that vaccines cause autism, or that vaccines are even a contributing factor for autism.

Obviously they have tried, but things just haven't worked out for them.  First they claimed autism was caused by thimerosal and they attempted to produce data to support that viewpoint.  However, in time their data was shown to be faulty, and once thimerosal was removed from vaccines and the rates of autism did not decrease... the antivaxers were left scurrying for another cause.  They didn't have the evidence necessary to prove their claims, thus the claims of "fact" were once again proven to have no merit.

Next they claimed it was due to the vaccine schedule itself.  Claims of "too many vaccines, too soon" were heard far and wide, yet when studies in other nations were conducted, we found the rates of autism to be merely identical including both nations that have similar vaccine schedules, or nations that have much lower rates of vaccinations.  Even within our own borders we discovered some areas of the nation suffer from higher rates of autism while others have much lower rates and yet these areas share the same vaccination rates and schedules.  So much for that theory.

So could the antivaxers provide any evidence to support their claims that autism was due to the number of vaccines or due to the schedule itself?  No... but that doesn't stop some of them (Mr. Hubbs included) from continuing to cite faulty information about there being no autism in the Amish community.  Even after research has shown that many of the Amish are in fact vaccinated and that many do in fact suffer from autism, the antivaxers refuse to face the real facts as they try to invent their own version of reality.  However many of them did admit that the Amish story wasn't nearly as solid as they had hoped, so they pinned their hopes on the research of yet another charlatan.

Antivaxers far and wide found their new hero in the form of Andrew Wakefield.  Wakefield claimed that the MMR vaccine itself was responsible for autism, and he produced research to support his claims.  The effect sent ripples throughout the medical community and soon you had many legitimate doctors and scientists wondering if there could be a valid connection here.  Parents stopped vaccinating their children and the rates of Measles and Rubella skyrocketed as a result.  There was only one problem... Wakefield was a fraud and his data was based upon faulty assumptions.  Not only that, but Wakefield fabricated data, engaged in unethical behavior, ignored the entire concept of a random sample, and falsified patient records to reach the conclusion he had already determined in his own mind.

Once the scientific community got wind of Wakefield's fraud, his 'research' was retracted, his fellow authors retracted their association with him, and he was stripped of his medical license as he and his followers began their cries of it all being a massive conspiracy by the government or big pharma or whatever else.  Unfortunately for the Wakefield crowd, none of them had any evidence to support any of their claims, and even Wakefield himself was never able to find a single person on the planet who was able to replicate his research (because fabricated research is rather difficult to replicate).  One again the facts get in the way of the anti-vaccination zealotry.

So where do the antivaxers go from here?  It seems the latest target is the rather vague term of 'toxins' even though they don't bother to identify what these mystery toxins are nor do they have any scientific evidence to show how they are harmful or the differences between those people who may have these toxins and those that do not.  Oddly enough, the same claim of mystery toxins has been used to sell herbal detox supplements, detoxification food pads, colon cleansing products, and numerous other snakeoil treatments for decades.  Of course there is never any legitimate science to support these wild claims, but since when has science mattered to an antivaxer or to someone who just wants to make a quick buck.

If we really wish to speak about facts, we need to be honest about the discussion.  Facts are not debatable (which explains why none of the silly antivaxer requests to 'debate' vaccines are ever taken seriously), but since there does seem to be so much misinformation and misunderstanding of facts, I doubt this conversation will go away anytime soon.

The fact is, there is no reputable peer-reviewed or replicable science showing vaccines cause or even contribute to autism.

The fact is, Andrew Wakefield has been proven to be a fraud.

The fact is, some Amish do in fact receive vaccinations.

The fact is, the MMR vaccine does not cause autism.

The fact is, thimerosal does not cause autism.

The fact is, real science is not open to debate, and the scientifically supportable facts don't change. 

In the end, the antivaxers continue to slide the goal posts in the hopes that one day they will be able to claim victory, but in reality they are no different than a preacher who continually claims to know when the world will end... yet is proven wrong time and time again.

John Adams was right - facts really are stubborn things.  They are also incredibly frustrating if you happen to be a vaccine conspiracy theorist with a severe misunderstanding of what a fact really is.

Lowell Hubbs: Banned From Commenting

As anyone who has read this blog can attest to, I have allowed Mr. Hubbs to add numerous comments to this blog.  Some of his comments were distasteful, most were dishonest, some were borderline insane, some merely entertaining, but for the most part I tended to publish what he said exactly how he said it.  The blog currently holds over 300 published comments the vast, vast majority of which come from Mr. Hubbs.

Don't anyone ever suggest I'm not willing to let someone offer their input.

That being said, yes there were comments I refused to publish.  Those included comments in which Mr. Hubbs was merely repeating the same comments or unsubstantiated statements time and time again, or like some of his most recent comments where he used profanity or resorted to personal attacks towards other commenters, or times where he refused to stay on subject and merely inserted a red herring on each and every comment.  I also refused to publish comments where he linked to his personal blog, website, or the websites of his fellow vaccine conspiracy theorists because I don't believe those are valid sources.  There are also unpublished comments where Mr. Hubbs pretended to be someone else and posted under different usernames or as 'anonymous' because he isn't smart enough to know how comments are easily attributed to him even when he uses the wrong name.  Finally, several of his comments were ignored merely because they didn't add anything to the discussion, and some were full of pornographic writing or links to pornographic websites which I simply don't find relevant to this blog (nor do I have any desire to read about in the first place).

Mr. Hubbs doesn't have to like my reasoning, but the beauty of it is he doesn't really get a choice.  I decide what is published and what is not because... well because this is my blog.  This isn't Mr. Hubbs' personal forum, and thus I publish what I want and when I want to (although I do allow several contributors to submit information to publication as well I have always served as the only comment moderator).  Therefore, as of today, I now have over 245 unpublished comments over 95% of which are from Mr. Hubbs.  Sure there are a few spam comments in there trying to get people to buy fake Rolex watches and what have you, but if I were to count them I would guess around 230 of those 245+ comments are from Mr. Hubbs.

The thing is - I get a little tired of seeing four, five, or six comments from Mr. Hubbs in any given day.  I have warned him time and time again what constitutes an acceptable comment and I have advised him how to keep the conversation on topic, but time after time after time he refuses.  Thus, as many other blogs, forums, and websites have done in the past, I am just going to openly state that Mr. Hubbs is banned from commenting until further notice.  When I say "further notice" I probably mean forever, but you never know... I could have a change of heart next week or a year from now.  The bottom line is at least for the foreseeable future, I'm no longer going to give Mr. Hubbs a forum to spread his ignorance to others, and therefore he will need to find a new stage to spread his craziness to the masses.

I fully expect that to piss off Mr. Hubbs, but the simple truth is I don't care.  The fact is Mr. Hubbs doesn't even allow commenters on his website, and I know for a fact he doesn't publish every comment submitted to his numerous blogs, thus I guess you could call this poetic justice.  I will miss some of his ramblings as they are somewhat entertaining, but the fact is Mr. Hubbs is incapable of debating issues like an adult and incapable of keep his story straight, so I'm not about to give him a forum to spout his madness.  This blog was intended to showcase Mr. Hubbs for what he is - a man who is nothing more than a lying hypocrite with no education, experience, or training, and who has spent far more time in prison than he has in a lab or between the pages of a textbook.  By virtue of my numerous contributors and sources, this blog has shown the public that Mr. Hubbs is not only a vaccine conspiracy theorist, but a vaccine conspiracy theorist with obvious mental health issues and what can only be described as a fetish-like love affair with logical fallacies.

Thus, it is time to move on.  There will be no more comments from Mr. Hubbs or any of his aliases for the foreseeable future.  No more ramblings of a paranoid madman, no more accusations of illegal behavior, no more threats, no more profanity laced tirades, no more comments about pornography which may or may not involve children, and no more examples of a severe mental defect happening right before our very eyes.

So long Mr. Hubbs.  I would like to say we hardly knew ye... but sadly - we know far too much.

Quack of the Day: "Dr" Ben Rall

Ben Rall is one of over 175 Chiropractors who operate in an around the Sioux Falls area, and frankly he isn't even one of the most popular ones, so you are probably wondering why I would devote a post to him.  For all intents and purposes he is just another Chiropractor right?  The difference is, Ben Rall is the Chiropractor of choice for Lowell Hubbs, and Mr. Hubbs tends to put Mr. Rall on a pedestal as if he is capable of performing miracles.

Recently there have been a few comments left on this blog pertaining to Mr. Rall, and Lowell has talked about him numerous times in the past, so I figured it was time to put a little information together on Rall to determine what the whole story is.

In truth, I really don't have a problem with most Chiropractors.  I understand they have their place in the treatment community (even though they are not to be confused with medical doctors) and I understand they can and do offer relief for some conditions like lower back pain and some joint pain etc.  What I do have a problem with is Chiropractors who walk around suggesting, or even openly claiming, that they can treat, reverse, or even cure conditions ranging from heart disease to diabetes to ADHD or even autism.  Obviously these Chiropractors don't have the supporting evidence to prove their treatments can prevent or cure disease, but that doesn't stop many of them from making vague statements while avoiding making promises that they know they can't support with science.

So where does Rall sit in all of this?  To find out, we only need to visit his "Inspired Chiropractic" website, and the first thing we are presented with is a link to an online store, and the offer to purchase some "Daily Detox" nutritional supplements (with no scientific evidence to support that they do anything other than "detox" your wallet by removing $74.95 for a whopping 30 day supply).  If you click on the "Daily Detox" supplements and do a little reading, Rall tells you that once you start taking them you most likely will never be able to stop because of the following statement shown on the FAQ page:

 "Most North Americans are exposed to hundreds of toxins every day from foods, household and personal care products, and even the environment – so the majority of our customers choose to take DailyDetox long-term for ongoing protection". 

As is the case with any good snakeoil salesman, Rall refers to these mystery "toxins" and tries to sell some miracle pill that can remove them.  Funny how these alternative medicine types are always so focused upon toxins yet they never actually bother to list what those toxins are, or provide evidence that shows their miracle solutions are effective at removing them.  The simple truth is, the term "toxins" is a generic term used to sell products and scare the uninformed, but when you really examine the issue you realize the lack of detail is only paralleled by the lack of science.

The good news is if you sign up for the autoship program for Rall's miracle pills, it reduces your monthly cost from $74.95 to "only" $69.95 and they will ever ship them for free!  I have to wonder if Mr. Hubbs has signed up for this program since he seems to believe Rall can do no harm.  Then again Mr. Hubbs is also a huge fan of Andy Moulden, so he probably needs to take his "Brainguard" meds on a monthly basis too.  Then he probably needs to take some of the supplements Mercola sells on his site, and maybe a few of the miracle supplements that Sherri Tenpenny sells, and maybe even a monthly shipment of the "Brain Repair" supplements sold by Blaylock.

I have to admit, being a proponent of alternative medicine and an anti-vaccination conspiracy theorist sounds like it could get very expensive.  If you just follow the advice of those listed in the above paragraph would you need to spend over $300 a month on 'necessary' supplements.

Of course Rall doesn't stop at just offering supplements as that would be far too easy.  He also shows on his homepage an offer to purchase a do-it-yourself "Spinal Correction" kit for the low, low price of only $169.95.  Yes you read that correctly, Mr. Rall sells a kit so you can do your own spinal adjustments right in the comfort of your own home!  Does this sound at all legitimate?  If there is so much training involved in Chiropractic care and if what he can do to a patient is so incredible, I find it odd that he is willing to sell a kit for $170 where someone could basically replicate his treatment at home, but whatever allows him to make a buck I suppose.

The rest of Rall's online store includes offers for various videos, books, protein powders and other nutritional supplements, "at home" spinal care devices, clothing ($45 for a t-shirt that doesn't even come with sleeves??) and even downloadable audio files including one called "Vaccination Awareness" that is offered for the rather high, (and rather odd) price of $46.02.  I guess a flat $46 just wouldn't have been high enough to cover the costs of production.

I wish I could offer more insight on what you get for your $46.02, but unfortunately Rall's site only lists the title of the MP3 and doesn't list any specifics on what it might contain.  For all I know it could be an audio recording of him reading articles written by Mercola or Wakefield, but I would bet there is very little science involved and a whole lot of fear-mongering.  I'll also go ahead an assume Mr. Hubbs has already paid his $46.02 to listen to it. 

My personal favorite item in the Rall superstore however has to be the "Whole Body Vibration Plate" which sells for the astounding price of $1400.00!  I know that seems like a lot, but the list price is $1866.67 so if you buy now you will save $466.67!  So what does this miracle machine do?  Well you won't have any luck finding out on Rall's page, but if you dig around the web you will find dozens of different "whole body vibration machines" for sale out there ranging from a few hundred dollars to several thousand.  What you won't find however is any peer-reviewed science showing the effectiveness of these machines, nor will you find any justification on why they seem to be so expensive.

I could write a series of blog posts on the questionable benefits of vibration training, but thankfully others have already done so, and thus I don't need to repeat what has already been said.  If you really want to learn about the theory behind these machines I would recommend a series of articles written by Sal Marinello which can be found here, here, and here.  Marinello has done several other articles on the subject including on entitled "More Evidence to Indicate Whole Body Vibration to be Ineffective" which is worth a read as well.

This just all goes to show what type of snakeoil Rall is willing to sell provided he can make a buck.  Aside from the fact that vibration machines are a silly gimmick with no proven benefits, the fact is the price Rall has affixed to the machines is simply incredible. 

Truth be told, you can purchase a Black and Decker palm sander from Walmart for around $30, bolt it to the underside of a wood or metal base, fire it up and stand on it... and you will have saved yourself $1370. Because that is what those machines do... they simply vibrate while the user stands on them just as a palm sander vibrates as it operates. Yes you can get fancy with a heavy duty and weighted platform, some fancy isolating shock absorbers, a larger motor that will last longer etc, etc, but basically all these machine do is take the vibration technology built into most cell phones and make it bigger and heavier, and for that cranks across the globe fool an unsuspecting public into purchasing these machines for thousands of dollars when they can probably be manufactured for under $50.

Do these people have no shame?  (Don't answer that - it was a rhetorical question)

I'm actually surprised that Rall isn't selling a power bracelet of some type, because as trendy as those are you would think he would be all over it.  Then again the profit from a $30 bracelet isn't nearly as impressive as a $1400 vibration machine, so he probably has it figured out.

So aside from being yet another alternative medicine guru who sells various products on his website, what does Mr. Rall really offer? He doesn't have any peer-reviewed studies proving his treatments are any more effective than common physical therapy, he doesn't have his name on any research studies that have developed new and effective treatments, and he can't even offer evidence that his claims about weight loss can be verified via clinical study.  What he can do is talk a good game and convince vaccine conspiracy theorists such as Mr. Hubbs that he knows the truth while the hundreds of thousands of doctors, scientists, and researchers who study vaccines and disease across our nation are all in on some massive cover-up for the sake of personal profit.

The moral of the story?  Profit is apparently just fine... if Mr. Rall happens to be the one collecting it.

Maybe one of these days I'll find an alternative medicine practitioner who doesn't have a website packed full of various products that are pushed upon the ignorant and one who isn't continually trying to convince humanity that they need to ingest numerous supplements and vitamins on a daily basis or buy a variety of different machines and contraptions as if that will do anything other than reduce their disposable income... but apparently not today.

These people prey upon ignorance and fear... which probaly explains why Mr. Hubbs seems to be drawn to each and every one of them like a moth to a flame.  It doesn't matter that these pills and machines don't really have any scientific, medical, or health benefit.  It doesn't matter that the treatments are ineffective.  It doesn't matter that there is no supporting scientific evidence to support the theories or that they can't even clearly identify the root causes in the first place... what matters is that these predators tell medical conspiracy theorists what they want to hear and they play the role of being the alternative to modern, mainstream medicine while at the same time making a few bucks on the side.

Does any of this really surprise anyone?

The Difference Between a Skeptic and a Denialist

When discussing controversial subject matter or facts which the average person cannot visually verify themselves, we often encounter a strong sense of skepticism from those who may not be as familiar with the subject matter.  This is why you have people who aren't quite sure if climate change is real and others who have doubts that there are other galaxies in the universe no matter how much science might be provided.

To some degree, a healthy dose of skepticism is a good thing, because it forces people to challenge their own beliefs.  In truth, most scientists and researches are skeptical by nature, and most would never accept anything at face value unless it has been proven, replicated, verified, and proven again.

A skeptic doesn't just develop a hypothesis and assume it is factual.  Rather the skeptic examines a problem, then determines the hypothesis.  They will then perform research to determine if this hypothesis is supported and if so... they will verify the original hypothesis.  If it turns out their research does not support the hypothesis, they will then need to re-examine the data to come up with a different result.  This is what makes science so exciting for real scientists... because they will often admit that the most amazing discoveries come when they least expect it.  Some discoveries are considered nothing more than accidents, and others are found to be the inverse of what was anticipated.

A skeptic doesn't formulate the answer and then find data to support the answer.  Instead, they perform the data and then formulate the answer based upon the findings.  In short a skeptic follows the facts where they lead no matter where that may be.  They don't establish the result before doing the research, and they keep an open mind.

This is a key aspect that identifies the difference between being a skeptic versus being a denialist, because a denialist does the inverse.  A denialist formulates the answer they want to hear, and then they collect information to support that answer while disregarding the information that conflicts with it.  Essentially a denialist determines what their viewpoint is, and then they back into this position by specifically calling out data that aligns with their answer which is often referred to as "confirmation bias".  Confirmation Bias not only involves hand-picking information to support a viewpoint, but also involves interpreting that data in a biased manner.

Thus when you have someone like Andrew Wakefield who (for some reason) gets the idea that the MMR vaccine causes Autism, he doesn't perform legitimate research to prove his hypothesis, but rather he steers his research towards what he believes is the inevitable outcome.  In Wakefield's case, that resulted in manipulation of data, falsification of patient records, numerous ethical violations as well as conflicts of interest etc, etc, but the point is prior to Wakefield being entirely discredited he was doing a bang-up job of convincing others that his hypothesis was supportable all due to his personal bias and lack of scientific integrity.

The same is true with people like Lowell Hubbs.  Mr. Hubbs believes that vaccines cause autism, and instead of being skeptical of vaccines and studying them or researching them to come up with an unbiased viewpoint, Mr. Hubbs instead takes the line of the denialist and simply ignores the mountains upon mountains of evidence which time and time again show there is no such link between vaccines and autism.  He will even go so far as to invent wild conspiracy theories to explain why all of the published studies are never able to find a link while making excuses for the lack of evidence to actually support his viewpoint.

What Mr. Hubbs accepts as truth is only the data he is able to find which supports his version of reality, and because there are no peer-reviewed studies linking vaccines and autism, and because there is no accepted science proving vaccines are harmful, Mr. Hubbs then has to resort to non-scientific sources such as personal blogs, articles hosted from biased websites, personal opinion, non peer-reviewed articles and the ever-present misunderstanding of the basic premise that correlation does not equal causation.

In effect, Mr. Hubbs relies upon illusory correlation as he tends to identify relationships within the data that do not really exist.  He will misinterpret data and display a severe misunderstanding of the data he tends to cite.  Aside from lacking the scientific knowledge to properly understand the complexities of the subject matter, Mr. Hubbs displays an extreme level of personal bias against mainstream medicine, vaccines, "big pharma", and anyone or anything associated with any of the above while displaying an equal amount of personal bias towards anyone or anything which finds fault with mainstream medicine or vaccines. 

In fact, Mr. Hubbs displays a complete disregard for the scientific process, and he has displayed a level of bias which is rarely seen outside of discussions involving climate change, Creationism, or President Obama's birth certificate.  If Mr. Hubbs was truly honest with himself, he would recognize his bias and acknowledge his lack of credibility on the subject matter.  He would also acknowledge he tends to only seek out those who consider themselves firmly entrenched in the "alternative medicine" camp and/or those who have a personal (but scientifically unsupportable) position that vaccines cause autism.

Granted to anyone who knows Mr. Hubbs knows he likely will never shift his viewpoints from those of a denialist to those of an independent thinker, nor will he ever be able to objectively study the information that exists on the subject.  In fact, Mr. Hubbs has taken the denialist role to the extreme and has become nothing more than a common conspiracy theorist who personally believes that doctors, researchers, and scientists are all involved in some massive cover-up to prevent legitimate cancer cures from being released to the public while somehow keeping the lid on all of the data which could somehow prove a link between vaccines and autism.

Whether it be accusations that a three letter agency (FDA, CDC, WHO, AMA etc) is in control of all of the world's scientific data, accusations that 9/11 was an inside job involving the US government and bombs inside the buildings, or claims that people are out to kill him due to the "knowledge" he holds, Mr. Hubbs commonly resorts to such claims of a conspiracy when he recognizes a lack of evidence to support his claims.  He then assumes because his statements are not taken seriously that it somehow suggests they are "truth" which tells us nothing other than the fact that Mr. Hubbs lacks the understanding of the concepts of falsifiability and burden of proof.

Skepticism itself is a good thing and is necessary within the scientific process.  Denialism adds nothing to the equation and merely serves to create a distraction, and full-blown conspiracy theorists such as Mr. Hubbs are the proverbial trainwreck in the center of Logic town.  Yes they might be a mess... but they tend to be rather fun to watch as long as you know you aren't the one who has to clean it up.

Dr. Paul Offit: Debunking the Vaccine-Autism Link - Newsweek

Dr. Paul Offit: Debunking the Vaccine-Autism Link - Newsweek

A good read - and it continues to show how the antivaxers like Mr. Hubbs don't understand the issues. They don't have any science to support their viewpoints that vaccines cause autism, yet they vilify and attack the scientists like Offit who are doing nothing other than trying to save lives. Study after study after study has found no link between vaccines and autism, and no matter how many times the antivaxers shift their focus (first it was the MMR vaccine, then it was thimerosal, next it was aluminum, now it is the sheer number of vaccines) it doesn't change the fact that to date there has not been one single peer-reviewed study on the planet which has proven a link between vaccines (of any type or any quantity) and autism. Not even one!

The science doesn't lie, but antivaxers sure do.