BBC Focus Magazine

[Colm]

Hi folks

Recently had a scan of the new baby... Looking at the photos - a series of odd-looking rorsharch tests - I see written at the top is a couple of numbers, one of which is "26Hz"

26Hz? What does this refer to? I thought Ultrasound would be a lot higher (hence the name), i.e. over 20khz...

I rechecked it to make sure it wasn't 26kHz, but no, 26 Hz it is...

[M Paul Lloyd]

As I understand it the term ultrasound can be a bit misleading as it is more akin to a form of high frequency short range sonar with medical diagnostic bands towards the higher cycle rate of 26 Khz and on up to 3 Mhz.
Apparently....
But more importantly, congratulations and the best of luck.

[The Beige Avenger]

it's not the frequency of sound that it's referring to but as of this moment, I don't know what it is the measure of... it could be many things, like for example, sample frequency or screen refresh rate.

Is there a value on the image with the units in "MHz"?

Oh aye, congrats.

[KingPhillip]

If I've crossed the line or gave offense, please edit or delete.

Autism diagnoses have increased, for any countless possible reasons. MMR vaccines have been eliminated as a reason. Prolonged cell-phone use has been shown to over-stimulate the brain adjacent to the ear the phone is held near. Wikipedia mentioned ultrasounds affected fetal mice brain cell migration.

Any longitudinal study exists on pre-natal care (and ultrasound scans) and autism spectrum? Wikipedia also mentioned balancing the risks of not discovering prenatal issues versus minimal heretofore unknown effects associated with ultrasounds..

Any real chance it is 26 kHz and the printer or the printing program is in error? 26 Hz is in the woofer's range. Hearing the cannons fire from Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture without distortion is stirring. I doubt a human fetus would enjoy a minute of that reverberating in the womb.

[M Paul Lloyd]

Well my youngest has been diagnosed as having 'global developmental delay' and associated 'learning difficulties' which present as 'autistic tendencies' and for a while we did suspect the MMR vaccine given its strong co-incidental circumstances.

However we have been told (quite forcefully I might add) that no such connection exists... although I have to say that despite one researchers findings being dismissed (on very valid grounds I might add) I am unaware of any subsequent investigation to actually disprove the apparent connection between the MMR 'jab' and autistic tendencies.
So as far as I am concerned the jury is very much still out on that score.

As for ultrasound being a culprit, well my youngest only had one such scan and yet other children of her age group had several but have not developed any learning difficulties or autistic tendencies, so to be honest I do not see a direct connection from my point of view, and although I do think it is something that could bear a degree of research I suspect that the 'advantages of early diagnoses of other conditions will far outweigh any concerns' etc, etc.... been there done that, as they say.

or gave offense

none taken,

[Shadowwolf]

I apologise for the slight tangent.

However we have been told (quite forcefully I might add) that no such connection exists...
So as far as I am concerned the jury is very much still out on that score.

That would be correct, there is no connection between MMR, other vaccines or the mercury containing thimerosal preservative that was supposed to be the deleterious ingredient. As you know the person that started the whole fiasco has been been struck off the register or something to that effect, and the paper found to be seriously flawed and unethical hence retracted from the Lancet. So the very basis for suspecting the MMR vaccine was in fact spurious. There never was a link in the first place and thus no connection.

However, there have since been numerous studies that have found no link between vaccines and autism, not merely that Wakefield's paper was found to be in error; here are two, http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa021134 & http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/112/3/604.full. The jury has been well done on this, neither MMR, vaccines in general or thimerosal - no longer used anyway - have any connection with causing autism or related.

The forceful manner of delivering this news would likely be related to the scare that the original paper and media circus threw up, and being unambiguous in dealing with the public. There are a number of groups still existing that champion the false idea of vaccines causing autism, willfully ignorant of the science and determined to hold to the original error. Given the original scare, the subsequent confusion and the regular disinformation peddled by anti-vaxxers I'm sure the medical community want to be clear to all that there is nothing to worry about.

[M Paul Lloyd]

Thanks for those links Mr.S, most informative, strange that no-one I encountered during the many visits to hospital etc was able to furnish such evidence!?

However I was actually trying (rather awkwardly it would seem) to draw a parallel between how that scare story grew out of coincidence and how Ultrasound, which is a most useful diagnostic tool, might suffer a similar fate?

[The Beige Avenger]

I only take offence when people assume they can give it.

Ultrasound can cause serious damage.... but so can regular sound.

As far as an imaging technique is concerned, they don't get much safer or more convenient than ultrasound.

I think it's the nature of evolving science and understanding of 'neurological' conditions that have led to an increase in the diagnoses of autism-related conditions. We're all on the spectrum somewhere. I also think that there must be a connection between diet and behaviour and our diet these days tends to be quite 'rich'.

[KingPhillip]

"I think it's the nature of evolving science and understanding of 'neurological' conditions that have led to an increase in the diagnoses of autism-related conditions. We're all on the spectrum somewhere."

Absolute agreement on both points.

"I also think that there must be a connection between diet and behaviour and our diet these days tends to be quite 'rich'."

I recall a study on how a woman's diet during pregnancy affected the ever-growing toddler's food preferences. It may have been a small sampling and reported in New Scientist. Anyways, there should be more research on pregnant women, with emphases on prenatal diet (planned and unplanned pregnancies), wild exotic cravings and the diet's possible long-term impact on the neonate.

BTW, I meant to say sub-woofer for the bass frequency of 26 Hz.