Ponderings on recent health topics

The focus this week has been on President Trump and Secretary Kennedy heading up a press conference on the cause of autism. But this has turned into a fury of madness on social media. Let’s back up and critically think about what this does and does not mean.

First, this isn’t Kennedy and Trump manufacturing something to make you mad. This recent report was based on a scientific study out of Harvard (yes, that Harvard), but there are also social media posts floating around that show screenshots of articles from years ago making the same point. STOP MAKING EVERYTHING POLITICAL. The left and Trump-haters of the world seem to think that Trump’s administration is incapable of utilizing actual science.

“How dare they tell me not to use Tylenol”. First of all, there are screenshots from 2017 of Tylenol itself saying they don’t recommend its use during pregnancy – apparently Tylenol has taken them down, which frankly is ridiculous. Second, if you read the label of a Tylenol bottle, it clearly says not to use during pregnancy without a doctor’s approval. Third – and here is the critical thinking part – pregnant women are told to avoid deli meat, canned fish, alcohol and tobacco, and a ton of other stuff – is it really that unreasonable to discourage the use of other drugs?

And side note here on TikTok challenges of women taking tons of Tylenol just to prove Trump wrong – there are reports of overdoses out there now. Just stop it.

“But what will women do for fevers????” Yes, this is how the left-leaning media portrayed it. First, I wasn’t aware that there was an epidemic of fevers in pregnant women. Second – and this one might blow you away – maybe we should be concerned about what is causing the fever and treat THAT? Is it an infection? Treat the infection.

But what if they need Tylenol for pain? Yes, pregnancy can be uncomfortable or physically painful. You are growing a 6 – 9 lb human being within a belly filled with several pounds of fluid. Your body parts are out of alignment. Headaches happen. I get all that. But again, if you’ve just been discouraged to fill your body with all kinds of other things, why not consider a different solution to the physical pain first? You know, treating the cause and not the symptom?

Now to the other side – how dare they say Tylenol caused it, I really think something else caused autism in my child! I’ve written on this before – autism likely has multiple, possibly interacting, causes. (also here) This might be the cause in some, not all.

But why do we need to find the cause of autism - my quirky autistic kid is a superhero! There are profound cases of autism that will never be able to live without full-time care. I’m happy for your quirky kid. But finding the cause in these other kids could potentially lead to treatments. I personally know people like this. There are countless others on social media.

In that same press conference, there was mention of delaying the HepB shot to 12 years… note this has not gone through any official bodies like ACIP or the CDC director. And it isn’t even remotely connected to what was discussed at the ACIP meeting. So don’t get too excited or freaked out.

“Where did this come from? This is coming out of nowhere. They are just trying to distract us from the Epstein files.” Not everything is a conspiracy. Were you not paying attention when RFK Jr stopped his own presidential campaign to endorse Trump? He did it with the specific intention of becoming the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Finding the cause of autism was his mission. Both sides need to stop making everything political. While you wallow in your conspiracies, there are mothers rejoicing that the government isn’t gaslighting them anymore.