Jenny McCarthy links sons autism to vaccinations and Candida

Jenny McCarthy has said in an interview that she believes her son's autism was triggered by vaccinations he received as a baby and that an anti-fungal diet is primarily responsible for the remarkable improvement in his condition.

Jenny made the comments in a recent television interview with Larry King. Her son Evan was diagnosed with autism in 2005 at the age of 3. The actress/model's appearance coincides with the release of her book about her experiences with Evan, 'Louder than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism'.

Jenny explained: “A lot of these kids have Candida, which is overgrowth of yeast. After I cleaned out Evan’s Candida - and I’m going to say this very clearly - he became typical.”

“He started speaking completely. His social development was back on. He’s now in a typical school. He got that much better. And my story is not alone.”

This is certainly true. The internet is awash with chat rooms and forums where many parents share similar stories. It's not just a case of desperate parents wanting to believe they have found a miracle cure either. Many doctors and researchers have suggested that overgrowth of Candida in the intestines of autistic children could be causing, or at least contributing, to their condition.

Dr. William Shaw while working at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) noticed that two autistic brothers had consistently elevated levels of certain organic acids in their urine. He says that these organic acids come only from yeast and such high levels could only come from yeast, most likely Candida, in the gut. His findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Chemistry in 1995 and Dr. Shaw now runs the Great Plains Laboratory which specializes in organic acid testing.

Other researchers such as those working at the Autism Research Unit at the University of Sunderland in the UK have also noted the possibility of Candida being a factor in the condition.

Jenny also believes that vaccinations her son received as a baby acted as a trigger for him developing autism. She said, “In 1983, the vaccine schedule was 10. Ten vaccines given. Now, today, there are 36, and a lot of people don’t know that. I do not believe that vaccines are the sole cause for autism. I do believe they are a trigger. There’s something in the immune system that is weakened in these kids, they maybe can’t process the vaccines.”

The star also went on to add, “I don’t think it’s solely the vaccines. I think there’s toxins in the environment, pesticides. It’s kind of like a pile-up. If you can fill up a bucket of all this stuff going on with these kids, if they have a weak immune system, all that crap is going to overflow.”

Jenny's assertions echo those of a growing number of people who have experience with autistic kids. Researchers now believe that autism stems from an interplay between genetic susceptibility and environmental triggers.