Celebrity fitness trainer and nutritionist Jillian Michaels told Newsmax on Tuesday that vaccines should not be singled out as the sole cause of autism, arguing instead that both environmental and genetic factors are at play.
On “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” Michaels reacted to remarks by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said in last week’s Cabinet meeting that his office is on track to identify “interventions” by the end of the month that are “certainly causing autism” and ways of addressing them.
Although Kennedy’s statement has reignited debate over vaccine safety, Michaels urged caution against focusing on one explanation. She stressed that research suggested genetics may provide a predisposition, while environmental stressors trigger the disorder’s development.
“Could there be a genetic predisposition? Of course,” she said. “And that would, ‘load the gun.’ But it would be the environmental components that would pull the trigger. Like with any disease or medical condition.”
Michaels said those environmental triggers could include a wide range of exposures, from chemicals in food, air, and water to the stress on a child’s body from multiple vaccines administered in the first months of life.
“I think they’re going to find out it’s probably all of it — the load of all these chemicals hitting very young children very early,” Michaels said. She emphasized that the conclusion is based on what she has learned from experts she has interviewed, not on definitive scientific proof.
Michaels urged that researchers avoid narrowing the discussion prematurely.
“We have to be extremely careful,” she said. “There’s definitely something going on here,” she said.
Her comments highlight the tension between Kennedy’s promise to pinpoint specific causes of autism and broader calls from health professionals to consider multiple factors.
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