Another epidemiology study confirms the link between parental age and risk of austistic spectrum in the offspring:
After adjustment for the other parent’s age, birth order, maternal education, and other covariates, both maternal and paternal age were independently associated with autism. . . . Firstborn offspring of 2 older parents were 3 times more likely to develop autism than were third- or later-born offspring of mothers aged 20-34 years and fathers aged <40 years . . . The increase in autism risk with both maternal and paternal age has potential implications for public health planning and investigations of autism etiology.
Durkin MS, Maenner MJ, Newschaffer CJ, Lee LC, Cunniff CM, Daniels JL, Kirby RS, Leavitt L, Miller L, Zahorodny W, Schieve LA., “Advanced Parental Age and the Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder,”Am J Epidemiol. 2008 Oct 21. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 18945690 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
We still have no definitive causative agent. Epigenetic alterations that accumulate with age can be one possible cause. As previously pointed out, even transient high heat from sitting in the jacuzzi can cause DNA changes in sperm DNA
. Jacuzzi®s were invented in 1968 — can this be correlated with the uptick in autistic spectrum diagnosis? And, high scrotal heat can result from heated car seats. Wars, stress and any number of other things can induce maternal epigenetic alterations.
One would think, though, other epigenetic changes would manifest throughout the population, apart from only autistic spectrum.
Edmond Albius, Orchid Horticulturalist, Pioneer of Modern Commercial Vanilla Orchid Practices
Mercury in vaccines is largely, if not totally, disproved. But, I’ve had another mercury-based conspiracy theory sort of congealing, like a vanilla creme brule:
Were indonesian vanilla beans, possibly used in baby foods, a source of mercury?
An explanation of this totally unsupported theory: A lawyer friend represented a US company who bought a couple-three tons of Indonesian vanilla beans, and imported them to the US. After delivery, it was discovered that the locals injected the bean pods with mercury to beef up the weight (after all, it was a down market). Why mercury? Well, convenience – as a liquid, it is injectable, so tough to detect. Plus, it weighs a lot.
But, where did Indonesian vanilla bean farmers get all that mercury? To take a left turn, this is related to Newmont Mining, a US mining company under almost continual fire for turning pristine beaches into Superfund sites. Newmont, stripping Indonesia of its precious metals, apparently dumped mercury tailings locally as a matter of course. For vanilla bean subsistence farmers looking to put a thumb on the scale, scrap mercury added zero to the cost of goods.
In a way, I suppose, this was some kind of post-modern, ecological- coordination. Or maybe passive-aggressive diplomacy, taking US toxic waste and feeding it back to us. I digress. Indonesian growers, unregulated and in loose cartels, shot up vanilla beans with mercury, got a higher price for the beans, and bid adieu to the US buyers - until they were, apparently, sued for fraud.
I asked my friend the lawyer where the vanilla beans went? One answer: baby food flavoring. I certainly don’t want to implicate any innocent baby food manufacturers who added this poison unknowingly, if at all. Plus, there are many steps between the raw beans and the extract used in flavorings.
I seem to recall reading some FDA materials on this a few years ago, and just searched the FDA site, but couldn’t find anything. There was also a litigation pertaining to insurance coverage. (I’ll post what I can find).
To rehabilitate the reputation of vanilla beans, here is a recipe (check out the photos in the pop-up): candied tangarines and a tangarine-tini cocktail (via FamilyStyle Food). Basically, get a vanilla bean, scrape out the inside and mix with sugar and water over heat, and add some tangerines. Cool that down, and add the tangerine syrup to citrus vodka. There. Vanilla beans rehabilitated.
Update: Rave reviews on candied tangerines de château Swivelchair. Here’s what you do: Forget measuring anything, just make a sugary syrup with vanilla in a small pot on the stove. (Probably about 66% sugar if you were to use a handheld refractometer, for all the syrup wonks out there). I used Vanilla extract with bourbon which has a bourbon-y flavor. Clearly, a vanilla bean would have been better. Get it really hot – bubbling but not browning – then drop in tangerine slices. The tangerine slices balloon up. Remove with a slotted spoon and feed to everyone standing around the stove looking slightly worried because you are actually cooking. Seriously, hot candied tangerines infused with vanilla are seriously delicious. Cold, not so much, they deflate. Next time, it’s manderine en feu with 151 rum and a match.
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