How healthy are American children these days, exactly? As far as adults go, the picture is grim: the United States rates 51st on the world list of life expectancy despite its exorbitant healthcare spending, and the majority of Americans are burdened by chronic illnesses, often struggling with four or more at a time.

Sadly, this illness epidemic in the U.S. often starts early in a person’s life, before they have the knowledge and wisdom to make better choices. The stats are eye-opening to say the least:

-1 in 10 children between ages 5 and 17 are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

-1 in 10 adolescents have experienced at least one major depressive episode every year

-1 in 10 youth have a mood disorder

-Anxiety disorder affects 8% of children ages 13-18

-The eating disorder anorexia nervosa (AN) is on the rise in children as young as kindergartners

-1 in 5 children experience debilitating mental disorders

-72% of all children have some kind of emotional problem

(Source: CDC)

All of the disorders have many potential contributing factors, including environmental ones,  food dyes in much of what children eat, unbalanced diets, GMOs and pesticide-laden foods, to name a few.

But what if there is another contributing factor — childhood vaccinations, and the growing numbers of them on the CDC’s recommendation schedule (25 shots from birth to 15 months old is recommended, and at least 29 more are usually given before the age of 18).

A new study sheds some light to these vaccinations’ potential link to these disorders.

Yale Study: Brain-Related Disorders Rise Following Childhood Vaccinations

A new study led by the Department of Public Health Science at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and Yale University found a surprising association between children receiving vaccinations and then developing brain-related autoimmune and inflammatory disorders: ADHD, OCD, anxiety, depression, bipolar, anorexia, and chronic tic disorder.

For the study, over 95,000 kids analyzed had one of the seven aforementioned neuropsychiatric disorders.

The cases were compared against other kids’ who did not have neuropsychiatric disorders, and others with conditions that could not possibly be caused or contributed to by vaccines: open wounds and broken bones.

As expected, the broken bones and open wounds cases showed no link to vaccinations; those with depression, ADHD and bipolar disorders did not show any significant association with vaccinations either.

But those who had been vaccinated were a shocking 80 percent more likely to be diagnosed with anorexia, and 25 percent more likely to be diagnosed with OCD than their non-vaccinated counterparts. Higher rates of anxiety disorders and chronic tics were also linked to vaccinations.

The study suggested that the correlation is temporary, but concluded that the onset of these disorders may be triggered by the vaccines.

“These findings provide preliminary epidemiologic evidence that the onset of some pediatric-onset neuropsychiatric disorders, including AN, OCD, anxiety disorders, and tic disorders, may be temporally related to prior vaccinations,” the study concluded.

The authors were especially careful in how they phrased their findings. This could be due to the fact that one of the authors, James F. Leckman, has received salary and funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH), and it has been noted that this may present a conflict of interest (the NIH has been taking money from vaccine manufacturers for years).

In the end, the study concluded that more research needs to be done.

But further research has been done in the past. And apart from studies funded by vaccine makers, privately-funded studies have raised their fair share of red flags.

Many Studies Linked Brain, Immune and Neurological Disorders and Vaccines for Years

Vaccine injuries in children are becoming more common. Matthew Gage Downing-Powers passed away shortly after receiving catch-up vaccinations. He is not the only one. Source: GoFundMe.com

Vaccine injuries in children are becoming more common. Matthew Gage Downing-Powers passed away shortly after receiving catch-up vaccinations. He is not the only one. Source: GoFundMe.com

The Yale-PSU study is not the first to find an association between brain-related disorders and vaccinations. And it most likely will not be the last one.

Among the studies showing links are the following (click the blue text for more information):

-Neurodevelopmental disorders are more common in children who received thimerosal-containing vaccines.

-Autism-like symptoms: Chinese scientists witnessed autism-like behavior in mice when injected with thimerosal found in some vaccines.

-Emergency room visits: a pediatrics study found that fully vaccinated children have higher rates of emergency room and outpatient doctor visits than unvaccinated children.

-Heavy-metal contamination: Italian scientists found heavy metal contaminants in all childhood vaccines. These pollutants are associated with brain disorders, and neurological problems (Is this contamination due to vaccines now being made in China, the country known for widespread lead contamination? We may not know due to a surprising lack of regulations).

-Aluminum toxicity: Italian and Israeli scientists find that aluminum in vaccines is responsible for many auto-immune disorders.

-Gardasil and inflammation: Canadian, Israeli, and Colombian scientists found that the Gardasil vaccine is responsible for brain inflammation in mice.

-Hospitalizations: a recent study found that receiving multiple vaccines at once increases the risk of hospitalizations and death.

-Allergies: many studies have suggested that food proteins in vaccine ingredients may induce food allergies. 

The list of studies linking vaccines to a variety of serious health issues goes on, and it keeps growing every year. With that in mind, it’s more important than ever to keep spreading information about the potential dangers of vaccines, and to stand for the right to vaccine choice, while also continuing to question the growing vaccine schedule for children.

A child in the U.S. receives at least 54 shots before they turn 18 (significantly more than any other country), and new vaccines are added to the recommended schedule every year.

Meanwhile, the mainstream media is attempting to make the issue a black-and-white, pro-vaccine vs. anti-vaccine argument.

In reality, the debate centers around corrupt pharmaceutical companies and how far they’ll be allowed to go in the name of profit. Most vaccine studies are funded by pharmaceutical companies, who are well-entrenched in both government and media branches because of their enormous financial influence. From 1998-2016, the pharmaceutical lobby spent over $3.5 billion dollars on lobbying, tops among all industries in the United States.

Vaccines are short on independent studies proving their safety, contain toxic ingredients, and are now being made in China without any U.S. testing. And the results don’t lie — over $3 billion has been paid out to vaccine injured people since 1986, when the U.S. made it illegal to sue drug companies and created a uniform system for reporting the many injuries that happen each year.

One way to spread awareness is to sign and share articles like these, as well as petitions, such as the ones on Change.org, to help keep the pharmaceutical industry honest when it comes to the growing vaccine industry.

A hot topic right now is the push to pass mandatory vaccination laws in all states (which already happened in California). You can sign one of the petitions here.

Study’s Conclusions — Contradictory, Or Fair? 

Despite the findings and potential for harm linked to childhood vaccines, the study’s authors concluded  that parents should continue vaccinating on schedule (the same schedule that many have criticized as being far too bloated and dangerously untested).

From the study’s conclusion titled ‘Clinical Significance’:

“These findings provide preliminary epidemiologic evidence that the onset of some pediatric-onset neuropsychiatric disorders, including AN, OCD, anxiety disorders, and tic disorders, may be temporally related to prior vaccinations,” the study’s conclusion said. “Each of these conditions is etiologically heterogeneous, and host factors likely play an important role in a small subset of vulnerable individuals. However, these findings, even if replicated in future studies, do not prove a causal role of vaccination in the pathoetiology of any of these conditions.”

The authors continued:

“Given the modest magnitude of these findings and the clear public health benefits of the timely administration of vaccines in preventing mortality and morbidity in childhood, we encourage families to maintain the currently recommended vaccination schedules while taking all necessary precautions as documented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” the study concluded.

If the conclusion seems a bit contradictory, you’re not alone: there are plenty of parents out there with vaccine-injured kids who beg to differ, and will likely point to these results as further evidence that something needs to change within the industry before more lives are senselessly damaged, ruined, or possibly even lost.

Ultimately the question of how and whether to administer each vaccination belongs in the hands of parents everywhere, in coordination with their doctors — for each person to weigh all of the evidence available and make the best choice for their children.