Natural Communities Magazine A magazine devoted to the local natural wellness culture.

Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS) holds that parents should not be allowed to exempt their children from vaccinations: at least not without some required medical “counseling.” Their article addresses vaccine-hesitant parents and how they are not heeding scientific evidence but buying into mistrust of government, and media and celebrity hype. Those parents who him-haw “complicate things,” “So new, innovative approaches are needed to reach vaccine-hesitant parents who are susceptible to the messages of the antivaccine folks.”

So what does this counseling consist of? Gathering ideas from different pro-vaccine groups, the article coaches doctors to use social media “intervention” and pressure, fear-raising statistics, getting the parent alone for one-on-one talk, ultimatums and cold shoulder (i.e. refusal to see children till vaccinated), appealing to their sense of community, and breaking down their fears using empathy.

But why would parents be concerned about vaccine safety? It’s not like they can read about the ingredients, find scientific data to the contrary, hear from bereaved parents or that the Vaccine Compensation Injury Program has doled out more than $1.8 trillion in vaccine-injury claims…oh, wait.

If only 2-3% of parents are adamantly opposed to vaccinations, as they say, then what are they worried about? They want laws to demand mandatory vaccinations for everyone, but in the meantime they want doctors to aggressively appeal to those parents who are teetering on the edge of refusal.

In fact, the state of Washington is leading the effort with quietly passed legislature requiring doctors to sign off on doctor-approved religious exemption provided by parents and file to the state.

Note: Dr. Paul Offit of PIDS who co-wrote the statement is paid handsomely by Big Pharma. His comments that a baby’s immune system would withstand 10,000 vaccinations appeared in Newsweek where he said it was closer to 100,000 vaccinations! He expects that to quell parents’ fears how exactly?

~Health Freedoms, healthfreedoms.org

Vaccine Baby Deaths

“The greatest lie ever told is that vaccines are safe and effective” – Dr. Len Horowitz
The Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society recently issued a position statement that “opposes any legislation or regulation that would allow children to be exempted from mandatory immunizations based simply on their parents, or, in the case of adolescents, their own secular personal beliefs.”

In the statement, Infectious Diseases in Children, editorial board member Paul A. Offit, MD and others said any legislation being considered should contain certain provisions; notably, that parents who are claiming exemptions be given counseling about the importance of immunization to their own children, as well as to the community overall.

Unfortunately they are not talking about genuine counseling but instead forced propaganda brain conditioning sessions.These are the terrorists I wrote about in my free e-book The Terror of Pediatric Medicine and now also in Humane Pediatrics. It was sad for me, tragically so, that Fukushima happened the week I launched both my pediatric site and this new book, which creates a new paradigm for the practice of pediatrics and the care of the very young. Most of the officials and pediatric organizations are staffed with human beings of questionable character and integrity for they cherish their poisonous vaccines more than life itself. Dr. Offit and all these others are the ones who need counseling about how to return to a humane state of consciousness. That really is, for all practical purposes a real impossibility, so I am not sure what should be done with the lot of them.

“The primary reason cited by parents who are reluctant or who refuse to vaccinate is concern over safety and efficacy of vaccines. Lack of trust in the government, the perception that their children were not at great risk and that vaccine-preventable diseases were not severe are additional reasons often given by parents,” goes a vaccinationist’s propaganda article.
The total award paid as of August 6, 2008 was $1,804,415,262.35.  — National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
On May 4, 2011 a new study by Neil Z. Miller and Gary S. Goldman was published online by SAGE, entitled “Infant mortality rates regressed against number of vaccine doses routinely given: Is there a biochemical or synergistic toxicity?” This study is another in a long line of studies revealing evidence showing the more vaccines a baby receives, the more chance they have of dying from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
“Crib death” was so infrequent in the pre-vaccination era that it was not even mentioned in the statistics, but it started to climb in the 1950s with the spread of mass vaccination against diseases of childhood.  — Harris L. Coulter, PhD

Newborn babies are the most vulnerable of all beings. Vulnerability says it all when it comes to a newborn infant. It is easy to hurt most beings but little babies are the most vulnerable and the easiest to hurt. Parents are of course vulnerable to their infants vulnerability but most pediatricians would just squash both parents and their infants in their mania to vaccinate—to inject poisonous substances and heavy metals directly into their bloodstreams.

Children deserve the best medical treatment from the best form of medicine human intelligence can implement. What they get is the worst. Pediatricians start attacking babies almost the minute they come out of the womb. They are monstrous beasts and perhaps that label is too kind. One of the reasons civilization needs to crash hard is that these arrogant ones need to be extinguished from the human experience, purged from civilization so we can regain our humaneness.

Who Knows Best?

Many pediatricians refuse to offer services to parents who only want partial vaccines or who refuse them altogether, according to Infectious Diseases in Children editorial board member and practicing pediatrician, Richard Lander, MD. “At issue is the parents’ rights vs. that of the community or that of the minor,” Lander said in an interview. Lander thinks he knows what is best for the community and for minors but his assumptions and perceptions are based on a cruel arrogant type of medical consciousness. Doctors like Lander have both closed hearts and closed minds and cannot entertain the possibility that they have been terribly wrong about the vaccine question.

Dr. Stan Block says, “All of us in pediatrics know the routine for the two-month-old checkup. Perform the routine history and physical examination. Dispense routine advice. Administer routine vaccines.

Then the impasse begins. About 75% of parents are totally respectful of and adhere to our immunization recommendations.” The remaining 25 percent are scared witless of the dangers and side effects that pediatricians insist are not there but actually are there according to formal statistics in the government’s vaccine damage database. After all, the government pays out billions of dollars to parents whose children have been severely hurt by vaccines that your local card-carrying pediatrician will swear to his or her last breath are safe.

Dr. Ari Brown writes:

Suspicious parents can be reassured of vaccine safety with proper communication strategies, openness and empathy. There are four types of parents when it comes to vaccines: 1) believers—those who believe vaccination is safe and necessary; 2) relaxed—those who are cautious but still trust their physicians; 3) cautious—those who don’t really have a problem with vaccines until seeing media coverage or speaking with friends; and 4) the unconvinced—those who staunchly believe that not getting vaccinated is in the best interest of their child. Pediatricians should target the cautious parents, who are typically scared but respond to education efforts. Many parents have been put off by physicians whom they felt were condescending. Physicians must maintain proper and sensitive communication habits despite time constraints with each patient. Break down their fears and see where they’re coming from. Fewer and fewer parents are asking about specific vaccines and instead have this global, vague mistrust. If you ask them to specify their fears, you can respond appropriately.

Many doctors sink to the level of using openness and empathy to try to manipulate and trap parents into doing something against their child’s best interest. If they are fooled they might then have to regret that for the rest of their lives if their child suffers harm. There is no appropriate response to vaccine fears because they are too be greatly feared. Only an absolute animal of a person would inject ethyl-mercury or aluminum directly into the bloodstream of an infant. Parents who are fooled are not to be blamed for mostly they are mislead by their pediatricians who need the money more than they need integrity, honesty, and humility—all humane qualities being deliberately thrown out the window in medical school.

Dr. Brown continues saying:

The most effective pitch for a vaccine is one that is emotional and personal. You can throw out all the science and data and research, but at the end of the day, what really makes families comfortable is that you yourself are vaccinated and that you vaccinate your own kids. You must reassure your patients that you wouldn’t do anything different.

I have heard many stories through the years about doctors who do not vaccinate their own children but do it to other people’s kids.

The vaccine controversy seems to be a never-ending one. It is obvious from how pediatricians write that they are 100 percent sure that they are absolutely and undeniably right. If one studies the question hard enough it becomes evident that they are terribly wrong. To test that, all you have to do is present some hard evidence to your pediatrician and see how hard he or she hits the ceiling or bounces up against a wall. Confronting an oncologist or a pediatrician with solid information against something they adamantly promote immediately dissolves their smiles and empathetic nods, and they get downright mean. Their dark side surfaces and you can see they are not to be trusted with your children’s lives.

In England

“‘Sixteen jumbo jets crash killing everyone on board, 6,500 lives lost.’ Can you imagine that headline—everyone would be talking about it there would be a public outcry. Well, in the UK, at least 17 babies die every day; that is every day; almost 6,500 babies die every year. Where is the public outcry? There is none because they are babies; there are only platitudes and promises the next time will be different,” write Colette Murphy and Jo Hart.

Malnutrition, lead poisoning, vaccines, inappropriate medical care, violence, drugs, incarceration, HIV, and poverty wreck many postindustrial U.S. cities, all leave tiny victims in their wake. I don’t know how many children around the world die or are damaged by vaccines every year but we know that number to be quite substantial.

Vaccines Cause Cancer and Other Diseases

The steady escalation in the number of vaccines administered has been followed by an identical rise in the incidence of autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, subacute lupus erythematosus, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, asthma) seen in children. While there is a genetic transmission of some of these diseases, many are probably due to the injury from foreign protein particles, mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde and other toxic agents injected in vaccines.

In the early 1900s an astute Indiana physician, Dr. W. B. Clarke, stated, “Cancer was practically unknown until compulsory vaccination with cowpox vaccine began to be introduced. I have had to deal with 200 cases of cancer, and I never saw a case of cancer in an unvaccinated person.”

Interestingly, this week the U.S. National Institutes of Health said that the strong-smelling chemicalformaldehyde causes cancer. The NIH said Friday that people with higher measures of exposure to formaldehyde are at increased risk for certain types of rare cancers, including those affecting the upper part of the throat behind the nose.

Dr. Mark Sircus is a natural health expert and self-sufficiency advocate.  He is the author of several must-read books including titles such as Survival Medicine For the 21st Century,Winning the War on Cancer, and Humane Pediatrics.  You can find all of Mark’s informative articles at his website http://imva.info/humane-pediatrics/.

Source:  http://healthfreedoms.org/2011/06/23/push-to-reprogram-parents-on-vaccines-disallow-exemptions/

Recent data presented to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Children’s Vaccines has revealed some shocking information about the effects of the H1N1 / swine flu vaccine on pregnant women. According to the report, the rate of miscarriage among pregnant women during the 2009 H1N1 / swine flu pandemic soared by over 700 percent compared to previous years, pointing directly to the vaccine as the culprit — but the CDC denies the truth and continues to insist nobody has been harmed.

According to the CDC, nearly 50 percent of all pregnant women were vaccinated with the H1N1 vaccine during the 2009 / 2010 influenza season. Those whose physicians instructed them to get a seasonal flu shot were three times more likely to get it, while those instructed specifically to get the H1N1 shot were ten times more likely to get it. And the numbers clearly show that along with the rise in vaccinations due to the H1N1 scare came the sharp increase in miscarriages, including a slew of actual reported adverse events.

But the CDC does not seem to care about the facts, as numerous reports indicate the agency has failed to report any of this vital information to vaccine suppliers. In fact, when presented with the data for the third time, Dr. Marie McCormick, chair of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Vaccine Risk and Assessment Working Group, actually had the audacity to claim that there were no vaccine-related adverse events in pregnant women caused by the vaccine.

“This baseless and fallacious assessment by the CDC assessment group has given the green light to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to continue their recommendation to give the 2010/11 flu shot to all people, including pregnant women,” explained Eileen Dannemann, director of the National Coalition of Organized Women, presenter of the information.

“This upcoming 2010/11 flu vaccine contains the same elements that are implicated in the killing of these fetuses, the H1N1 viral component and the neurotoxin mercury (Thimerosal). Additionally, it contains two other viral strains — a three-in-one shot for all people.”

Overall, the number of vaccine-related “fetal demise” reports increased by 2,440 percent in 2009 compared to previous years, which is even more shocking than the miscarriage statistic. Meanwhile, the CDC continues to lie to the public about the vaccine, urging everyone, including pregnant women, to get it.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/030657_vaccines_miscarriages.html

Americans seem to be wising up about the flu shot scam, according to a new study in Consumer Reports indicating that fewer people than last year are planning to, or have already gotten, the flu shot this year. Thirty-one percent of respondents indicated they are unsure if they will get this year’s three-in-one combo vaccine because of concerns about its safety and effectiveness, while 30 percent said they definitely will not be getting the shot.

Statistics Canada recently released a report indicating that 60 percent of Canadians and 80 percent of Americans refused the H1N1 vaccine last year, even though media and government campaigns pushed people for months to get it (http://www.naturalnews.com/029919_H…). And this year, despite endless prodding, most people are still opposed to getting any sort of flu shot.

According to the results of the survey, 44 percent of those opposed to the flu shot cited concerns about negative side effects. And these concerns are valid, considering that flu vaccines are known to cause severe neurological problems (http://www.naturalnews.com/026866_s…). Forty-one percent expressed concerns about the overall safety of flu shots, while 45 percent said that last year’s swine flu pandemic was overblown and that the flu shot is likely unnecessary.

In another survey conducted by drug retailer CVS, two-thirds of respondents said that even though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends that everyone over six months old get a flu shot, this advise plays no role in their decision-making process. Most people are simply ignoring authorities’ recommendations, in other words.

There really is no good reason to get a flu shot. No legitimate evidence exists proving that they even work at all. But they do contain a variety of toxic additives that can cause severe health problems. So instead, it is better to maintain healthy vitamin D levels and take immune-boosting supplements and superfoods., which will do far more to improve health and prevent influenza.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/030242_flu_shot_vaccine.html

There is no shortage of real health myths that can, and do, have a massive impact on tens of thousands if not millions of people. Here is my list of the top 12 health myths:

1: Cardio is One of the Best Types of Exercise

In recent years, researchers have begun to realize that conventional cardio, such as jogging, is not all it’s been cracked up to be, and that you can actually improve your health and increase fat burning by making slight modifications to your cardio routine.

The problem is that traditional cardio only works on the slow twitch muscle fibers in your red muscle, completely ignoring your white muscle super-fast twitch fibers.

“Peak 8” refers to peak exercises done once or twice a week, in which you raise your heart rate up to your anaerobic threshold for 20 to 30 seconds, followed by a 90-second recovery period.

To perform these properly you will want to get very close to, if not exceed, your maximum heart rate by the last interval. Your maximum heart rate is calculated as 220 minus your age. You will need a heart rate monitor to measure this as it is nearly impossible to accurately measure your heart rate manually when it is above 150.

Researchers have found that interval cardio produces a unique metabolic response that is in large part responsible for its superior benefits. Intermittent sprinting produces high levels of chemical compounds called catecholamines, which allow more fat to be burned from under your skin and within your muscles. The resulting increase in fat oxidation is thought to drive the increased weight loss.

It is also the only type of exercise that will increase growth hormone levels. This becomes especially important after the age of 30, when growth hormones steadily decline. It is much safer and far less expensive to have your body make growth hormone naturally though Peak 8 type exercises than inject it like many athletes do to the tune of $1500 per month.

2: Vaccines are Safe and Effective and Prevent Disease

I completely understand that for many this issue is not debatable as they believe that vaccines are one of the greatest gifts to public health in the history of civilization.

If you believe that, then let me encourage you to open your mind and explore other views held by many well respected physicians, scientists, clinicians and pro-vaccine safety educators.

You might want to review the article Read This Before Vaccinating for Anything, to help you start your exploration process.

When it comes to vaccines, there are three primary questions that need to be considered.

1. First, is the vaccine in question safe?
2. Secondly, does it effectively prevent disease?
3. And third, which vaccines can safely and effectively be given together or in close succession?

Unfortunately, these issues have not been sufficiently studied for most vaccines, and those vaccines that have been studied frequently show that they are either unsafe or ineffective, or both!

Pro-vaccine-safety educators have long been saying that vaccines can over-stimulate your child’s immune system, sometimes causing the very disease it’s designed to protect against, or worse. And, when several vaccines are administered together, or in close succession, their interaction may completely overwhelm your child’s developing immune system.

This is one of the primary problems with vaccines in general – their detrimental impact on your body’s primary, natural defense against ALL disease.

Now consider that if your child is vaccinated according to the CDC’s recommended schedule, by the time your child starts kindergarten he or she will have received 48 doses of 14 vaccines. Of these, 36 doses will be given during the first 18 months of life – a time when your child’s body and brain is undergoing massive development!

Public health officials have NEVER proven that it is indeed safe to inject this volume of vaccines into infants. What’s more, they cannot explain why, concurrent with an increasing number of vaccinations, there has been an explosion of neurological and immune system disorders in American children.

This issue covers so much ground, it’s impossible to even try to summarize the many hazards and the lack of efficiency data for all the vaccines currently being given, in this article.

For more information please visit our vaccine section at http://vaccines.mercola.com/

3: Fluoride in Your Water Lowers Your Risk of Cavities

The theory behind the introduction of fluoride in your water supply initially seems beneficial – to reduce the incidence of dental caries in children. However, the health dangers of fluoride are so numerous; they far outweigh any benefit to your teeth, and that’s IF water fluoridation actually did what its claimed to do.

Today, even promoters of fluoridation concede that the major benefits are only from topical applications; fluoride works from the outside of the tooth, not from inside of your body, so why swallow it?

Statistics tell us that water fluoridation is ineffective for preventing caries. There is practically no difference in tooth decay between fluoridated and non-fluoridated countries, and no difference between states that have a high- or low percentage of their water fluoridated.

Meanwhile, fluoride can cause significant harm, from dental fluorosis to thyroid damage to reduced IQ… and much more.

I’ve joined forces with the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) to help end water fluoridation poisoning in Canada and the United States.

For more about the dangers of fluoride, and information about how to get involved in this campaign, please see this recent article, which also includes an excellent interview with Dr. Paul Connett, who created FAN and is one of the foremost experts on this topic.

4: GMOs Crops are Safe, Well Tested and Economically Beneficial

GMOs may be the greatest health disaster in the American diet. Within 9 years of their introduction in 1996, multiple chronic illnesses jumped from 7 percent to 13 percent of the population, food allergies doubled in less time, and many other ailments have exponentially increased with the introduction of GM foods.

Millions may already be suffering health problems caused by genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in their diet. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine has already urged doctors to prescribe non-GMO diets for all patients, citing studies that show how GMOs cause disorders such as vital organ damage, gastrointestinal and immune system problems, accelerated aging, infertility, and dysfunctional regulation of insulin and cholesterol.

But not only are GM foods a health disaster, they also pose a significant environmental threat, and industry promises of financial benefits have turned out to be false as well.

For a quick introduction, I recommend reading the article 10 Reasons to Avoid Genetically Modified Foods, which delves into everything from the health problems associated with eating GM foods to the evidence against GM crops as a sustainable, economically and environmentally viable alternative to traditional farming.

5: Sun Causes Skin Cancer

There are many misconceptions about melanoma – the most dangerous type of skin cancer that accounts for more than 75 percent of skin cancer deaths. But despite all the bad press linking sun exposure to skin cancer, there’s almost no evidence at all to support that stance. There is, however, plenty of evidence to the contrary.

Over the years, several studies have already confirmed that appropriate sun exposure actually helps prevent skin cancer. In fact, melanoma occurrence has been found to decrease with greater sun exposure, and can be increased by sunscreens.

In my interview with vitamin D expert Dr. Robert Heaney, he explains how the conventional recommendations are in fact causing the very health problem they claim to prevent.

How does sunlight prevent, rather than cause, skin cancer?

In short, it’s the vitamin D formed in your skin from exposure to sunlight that provides this built in cancer protection.

The vitamin D goes directly to genes in your skin that help prevent the types of abnormalities that ultraviolet light causes. Unfortunately, if you follow the conventional recommendation to avoid sun exposure or always use sunscreen, your skin will not make any vitamin D, leaving you without this built-in cancer protection.

Statistics confirm the truth of these findings, as melanoma rates have increased right along with sun avoidance and increased use of sunscreens. If avoiding the sun actually was the answer, then melanoma rates should have decreased exponentially over the past couple of decades…

Instead, sun avoidance and the excessive use of sun screen are actually the two primary reasons for the rise in melanoma.

6: Saturated Fat Causes Heart Disease

As recently as 2002, the “expert” Food & Nutrition Board issued the following misguided statement, which epitomizes this myth:

“Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol have no known beneficial role in preventing chronic disease and are not required at any level in the diet.”

This dangerous recommendation, which arose from an unproven hypothesis from the mid-1950s, has been harming your health and that of your loved ones for about 40 years now.

The truth is, saturated fats from animal and vegetable sources provide the building blocks for cell membranes and a variety of hormones and hormone-like substances, without which your body cannot function optimally.

They also act as carriers for important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Dietary fats are also needed for the conversion of carotene to vitamin A, for mineral absorption, and for a host of other biological processes.

In fact, saturated is the preferred fuel for your heart!

For more information about saturated fats and the essential role they play in maintaining your health, please read my previous article The Truth About Saturated Fat.

7: Artificial Sweeteners are Safe, Well Tested and Help Promote Weight Loss

Most people use artificial sweeteners to lose weight. The amazing irony is that nearly all the studies that have carefully analyzed their effectiveness show that those who use artificial sweeteners actually gain more weight than those who consume caloric sweeteners.

In 2005, data gathered from the 25-year long San Antonio Heart Study showed that drinking diet soft drinks increased the likelihood of serious weight gain – far more so than regular soda. On average, each diet soft drink the participants consumed per day increased their risk of becoming overweight by 65 percent within the next seven to eight years, and made them 41 percent more likely to become obese.

The reasons for this ironic reality are still being investigated, but there are several potential causes, including:

• Sweet taste alone appears to increase hunger, regardless of caloric content.
• Artificial sweeteners appear to simply perpetuate a craving for sweets, and overall sugar consumption is therefore not reduced—leading to further problems controlling your weight.
• Artificial sweeteners may disrupt your body’s natural ability to “count calories,” as evidenced in studies such as this 2004 study at Purdue University, which found that rats fed artificially sweetened liquids ate more high-calorie food than rats fed high-caloric sweetened liquids.

In the end, the research tells us that artificial sweeteners are NOT a dieter’s best friend, because contrary to what the marketing campaigns claim, low- or no-calorie artificial sweeteners are more likely to help you pack on the pounds than shed them.

There are also a large number of health dangers associated with artificial sweeteners and aspartame in particular. I’ve started compiling a growing list of studies pertaining to health problems associated with aspartame, which you can find here. If you’re still on the fence, I highly recommend reviewing these studies for yourself so that you can make an educated decision.

For more information on aspartame, the worst artificial sweetener, please see my aspartame video.

8: Soy is a Health Food

The meteoric rise of soy as a “health food” is a perfect example of how a brilliant marketing strategy can fool millions. But make no mistake about it, unfermented soy products are NOT healthful additions to your diet.

If you find this recommendation startling then I would encourage you to review my Why Soy Can Damage Your Health, which contains links to dozens of articles on the topic, and a video I recently did.

On the contrary, thousands of studies have linked unfermented soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility—even cancer and heart disease.

Not only that, but more than 90 percent of American soy crops are genetically modified, which carries its own set of health risks.

Here is a sampling of the detrimental health effects that have been linked to soy consumption:

• Breast cancer
• Brain damage
• Infant abnormalities
• Thyroid disorders
• Kidney stones
• Immune system impairment
• Severe, potentially fatal food allergies
• Impaired fertility
• Danger during pregnancy and nursing

I am not opposed to all soy, however. Organic and, most importantly, properly fermented soy does have great health benefits. Examples of such healthful fermented soy products include tempeh, miso and natto.

9: Whole Grains are Good for Everyone

The use of whole-grains is an easy subject to get confused on especially for those who have a passion for nutrition, as for the longest time we were told the fiber in whole grains is highly beneficial.

Unfortunately ALL grains, including whole-grain and organic varieties, can elevate your insulin levels, which can increase your risk of disease.

It has been my experience that more than 85 percent of Americans have trouble controlling their insulin levels — especially those who have the following conditions:

• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Protein metabolic types
• Overweight

In addition, sub-clinical gluten intolerance is far more common than you might think, which can also wreak havoc with your health.

As a general rule, I strongly recommend eliminating grains as well as sugars from your diet, especially if you have any of the above conditions that are related to insulin resistance. The higher your insulin levels and the more prominent your signs of insulin overload are, the more ambitious your grain elimination needs to be.

If you are one of the fortunate ones without insulin resistance and of normal body weight, then grains are fine, especially whole grains. It is wise to continue to monitor your grain consumption and your health as life is dynamic and constantly changing. What might be fine when you are 25 or 30 could become a major problem at 40 when your growth hormone and level of exercise is different.

10: All Plant Based Supplements are as Good as Animal Supplements

The primary example here is that of omega-3’s. It’s very important to realize that not all omega-3 fats are the same, and that the type and source of your omega-3 will make a big difference in the health benefits it provides.

There are three types of omega-3 fats:

1. DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid)
2. EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid)
3. ALA (Alpha-Linolenic Acid)

Many people do not realize that most of the well-known health benefits associated with omega-3 fats – such as mental health, stronger bones and heart health — are linked to the animal-based omega-3 fats (EPA and DHA), not the plant-based omega-3 fat (ALA).

ALA, which is the type of omega-3 found in flaxseed and nuts, is converted into EPA and DHA in your body, but only at a very low ratio.

So even if you eat large amounts of ALA, your body can only convert a relatively small amount into EPA and DHA, and only when sufficient enzymes are present.

This does not mean plant-based omega-3 fats are intrinsically harmful or that they should be avoided, only that you ideally want to include an animal-based form as well. Personally, I regularly include omega-3 (ALA) plant-based foods, like flax and hemp, in my diet, but these are always combined with animal-based omega-3 fats.

But in order to reap its most important health benefits, your omega-3 needs to be from an animal source. For more information on this topic, please read through my previous article, Are You Getting the Right Type of Omega-3 Fats?

11: Milk Does Your Body Good

Can milk do your body good?

Yes, if it’s RAW.

Unfortunately, this myth insists that conventional pasteurized milk has health benefits, which is far from true. Conventional health agencies also refuse to address the real dangers of the growth hormones and antibiotics found in conventional milk.

Please understand that I do not recommend drinking pasteurized milk of any kind, including organic, because once milk has been pasteurized its physical structure is changed in a way that can actually cause allergies and immune problems.

Important enzymes like lactase are destroyed, which causes many people to not be able to digest milk. Additionally, vitamins (such as A, C, B6 and B12) are diminished and fragile milk proteins are radically transformed from health nurturing to unnatural amino acid configurations that can actually worsen your health.

The eradication of beneficial bacteria through the pasteurization process also ends up promoting pathogens rather than protecting you from them.

The healthy alternative to pasteurized milk is raw milk, which is an outstanding source of nutrients including beneficial bacteria such as lactobacillus acidophilus, vitamins and enzymes, and it is, in my estimation, one of the finest sources of calcium available.

For more details please watch the interview I did with Mark McAfee, who is the owner of Organic Pastures, the largest organic dairy in the US.

12: Low-Fat Diets are Healthy

The low-fat myth may have done more harm to the health of millions than any other dietary recommendation. Again, just as the recommendations to avoid sunshine has increased melanoma rates, the low-fat craze led to increased consumption of trans-fats, which we now know increases your risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

To end the confusion, it’s very important to realize that eating fat will not make you fat!

The primary cause of excess weight and all the chronic diseases associated with it, is actually the consumption of too much sugar — especially fructose, but also all sorts of grains, which rapidly convert to sugar in your body.

If only the low-fat craze had been a low-sugar craze… then we wouldn’t have nearly as much chronic disease as we have today.

For an explanation of why and how a low-fat diet can create the very health problems it’s claimed to prevent, please see this previous article.

By Dr. Mercola
Source: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar……

Vaccinating children has become sacrosanct in our culture. Doctors and government officials insist that vaccines are safe, and parents are pressured into compliance. In fact, parents have been reported to social services by doctors who consider not vaccinating to be a form of medical neglect or child abuse. Legislators across the country are attempting to pass laws in which parents will have no rights to refuse what is injected into their children.

The inconsistency of rules involving the care of children is striking. Mothers are in complete control of their child’s health while in the womb. They make choices against eating tuna, taking medications, smoking cigarettes and avoiding alcohol. Mothers may choose to even terminate the pregnancy. But the moment the baby arrives, control over their child’s body is forcibly surrendered to healthcare providers and the government. The leg is jabbed with shots, eyes are gooped with antibiotic ointment and the heel is poked to get a drop of DNA-containing blood. With the passage of the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act of 2007, signed into law April 24, 2008, the blood will be collected and warehoused for scientific research. Parents have little or no say in any of these events.

Vaccination is promoted by an industry that capitalizes on fear and the perceived necessity of the procedure has become multi-generationally entrenched. We have been programmed by the medical community and the media to believe that everyone – children and adults — will become sick, and likely die, unless they are vaccinated. This explains why not vaccinating can be unfathomable to new parents who are unreasonably terrified of what were considered normal childhood illnesses only a few decades ago. The majority adults over 50 years of age remember having measles and the chickenpox. Both were mostly mild diseases, lasting seven to fourteen days, and leaving behind lifetime immunity.

And even though chickenpox is rarely fatal, most parents opt to vaccinate. Merck & Co. estimated that as of December 31, 2007, 80 to 85 percent of all four to six-year-olds had received two doses of Varivax®, at one year and a booster before school. With little attention on the problems with the chickenpox vaccine cited in the media, most don’t realize that it can cause harm. Research shows that nearly 1 in 5,000 children who receive the chickenpox inoculation develop shingles within ten years of being vaccinated. Shingles, an intensely painful, blistering rash, is most commonly seen in the elderly or the chronically ill. It was rarely, if ever, seen in healthy children before the introduction of this vaccine. Other serious side effects, such as seizures, pneumonia, and anaphylaxis (a severe allergic reaction), have been reported as a result of Varivax. Before it became available, about 50 children died every year from rare or unusual complications of the chickenpox. Put in perspective, 53 children died in drowning accidents in the [U.S.] state of Georgia in 1999.

Vaccination has been cited as one of the ten greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. However, it doesn’t require an advanced degree in science to grasp that the public health accolades, celebrating high vaccination rates and low infection rates, have lead to serious health consequences across the globe. Vaccine ingredients seem to be playing a substantial role.

Problems With Vaccine Ingredients

Gelatin, one of many ingredients in vaccines, is known to cause allergies and asthma. Allergies are now the most frequently reported chronic condition in children, limiting activities in four out of 10 children. Asthma, the second most common chronic childhood disease, affects more than one child in 20. The combined healthcare costs of asthma and allergies have soared to more than $25 billion/year. Vaccines that contain gelatin include chickenpox, MMR, Boostrix (teen pertussis booster), Tripedia (DTaP) and the adult shingles vaccine, Zostrix. Vaccine gelatin may be contributing substantially to the skyrocketing incidence of, and expenditures on, asthma and allergies.

Another vaccine additive, formaldehyde, can interrupt the normal function of the immune system. A colorless, pungent-smelling gas, formaldehyde can cause watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes and throat, nausea, difficulty in breathing and asthma attacks when exposed to amounts as small as 0.1 parts per million. It is listed as a hazardous chemical on eight federal regulatory lists and considered to be one of the ten worst compounds on the ecosystem and health. Between 10 and 20 percent of general population has a reaction coming in contact with formaldehyde. Topical exposure can cause a mild reaction, such as dry skin and redness. The California Indoor Air Quality Fact Sheet states there is no known threshold level below which cancer risk does not exist. The World Health Association (WHO) recommends that an exposure should not exceed 0.05 ppm or 0.05 mg/kg. So, for 12 pound baby (about 5kg), the maximum exposure should be below 0.25 mg. But with the current schedule, children receive more than ten times that amount, more than 3.5 mg, if they receive every mandated vaccine. Vaccines that contain formaldehyde include DTaP, polio, influenza, hepatitis A and hepatitis B.

Thankfully, mercury (in the form of thimerosal) has been removed from most vaccines. However, measurable amounts are still found in multi-vial flu shots, tetanus boosters, Energix-B (hepatitis B vaccine), Menomune (college meningitis vaccine), TriHiBit and Tripedia (both DTaP vaccines), and Twinrix (a combination hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccine). Trace amounts remain in many more. Countless children have developed autism and there is strong evidence that their brains were injured by the preservative thimerosal.

Follow the Money

Positioned as a loss leader, vaccines appear to be the economic drivers of both the medical and the pharmaceutical industry. A loss leader is a business technique in which a less-expensive product is sold or given away for the sake of offering another product at a greater profit. This common practice is utilized to introduce new customers to a product, to build a new customer base and/or to secure future recurring revenue. Using a loss leader is more than just a nifty business trick - it can be a very successful economic strategy when executed properly. The classic example of a loss leader is the sale of razor blades. Companies like Gillette essentially give their razor units away for free, knowing that customers will buy their replacement blades, where the company makes all of its profit, for as long as they use the razor.

Vaccines play a similar role for the drug companies. The cost of a vaccine is relatively inexpensive compared to the billions of dollars spent on medical interventions, medications—and even more vaccines—dispensed as a result of a vaccination side effect.

Consider this example: the potential consequences of an inoculation with one of the two newly approved vaccines to prevent a rotavirus diarrheal infection, RotaTeq® and Rotarix®.

Side effects listed on the package insert for RotaTeq include diarrhea, vomiting, irritability, fever, wheezing and coughing. RotaTeq has also been associated with bloody stools, a warning sign of a serious complication called an intussusception. Triggered by the vaccine, intussusception is an event where a portion of the bowel slides into the next, much like the pieces of a telescope, causing an obstruction. Swelling, inflammation, and decreased blood flow to the fragile lining of the bowel cause the intestine to die. Between February 3, 2006, when RotaTeq was licensed, and January 31, 2007, twenty-eight cases of intussusception were reported in infants who received RotaTeq in the U.S. Sixteen of the 28 infants required hospitalization and surgery on their intestine.

In February, 2008, the FDA issued a warning that there was a “statistically signficant increase in pneumonia-related deaths and seizures” associated with the other vaccine for rotavirus infection. To reduce the risk of pneumonia, doctors promote the pneumococcal vaccine, Prevnar®. A side effect of Prevnar, as listed in the package insert, is ear infections, increasing the use of antibiotics. The many rounds of antibiotics required to treat recurring ear infections can cause serious bowel problems, leading to blood tests and evaluations by the pediatric gastroenterologist. The cause of all these additional problems is rarely indentified as a side effect of a vaccination.

All of this can result from a Rotarix or a RotaTeq shot, given to avoid a common infection that most children contract, and recover from uneventfully, by the time they are three years of age.

Another example is the hepatitis B vaccine, given at birth, can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and dyspepsia (a condition associated with gnawing or burning stomach pain and persistent vomiting). Tiny children receive x-rays, undergo procedures such as endoscopy, and are given adult medications such as Prilosec® or Nexium® to resolve their discomfort. Unfortunately, since the dyspepsia is not recognized as a vaccine side effect, additional dosages of the hepatitis B vaccine are administered, often compounding the problem.

Vaccines are the bedrock of expanded illnesses, skyrocketing medical costs and exponential drug sales. But it is more than individual vaccines that are cause for concern. The sheer number of vaccines children now receive between birth and six years of age is staggering and include: Diphtheria (a rare throat infection), pertussis, and tetanus (the DTaP shot); Haemophilus influenza type b (the Hib vaccine); measles, mumps, and rubella (the MMR shot); pneumococcus (the Prevnar vaccine); polio (three strains); rotavirus (five strains); and individual vaccines for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, chickenpox, and meningitis. Flu shots (three strains) are now given annually, beginning at six months of age. That adds up to 113 vaccine antigens by kindergarten given in about 33 shots.

Parents are becoming wary of the many needles being jabbed into their precious babies at the tender age of two, four and six months. In response, the drug companies are combining several vaccines into a single injection. Comvax (hepatitis B and HiB), ProQuad (MMR and chickenpox), Pediarix (DTaP, polio and hepatitis B) and two newly approved vaccines, Kinrix (DTaP and polio) and Pentacel (DTaP, polio and HiB) have been developed. Parents are deceived into believing that the combination shots are fewer vaccines; they are not: The number of jabs is reduced, but the number of antigen doses remains the same.

A significant problem with the combo shots is that, in the event of an adverse reaction, there is no way to determine which component caused the problem. This eliminates the ability to refuse additional doses of a particular vaccine. The ability to make a claim with the Vaccine Injury Compensation program is likewise negated.

For adults who believe the days of deciding about vaccines are over because their children are now teenagers, think again: Teenagers are the new target market for the vaccine industry. Boosters are being recommended for vaccines given before five years of age and the new teen vaccines, Gardasil (for cervical cancer) and Menactra (for college-type meningitis), are being heavily marketed by doctors and the media. The additional vaccines add substantially to the total number of vaccine antigen. If little girls receive all doses of all recommended vaccines, they will have received 156 vaccine antigens and about 45 shots by middle school. Boys, not yet approved for Gardasil, receive slightly fewer: only 144 vaccine antigens and about 42 shots.

Many more vaccines in the pipeline will put teens and adults in the industry crosshairs. In 2007, adult-teen vaccine sales overtook pediatric sales, the first time ever, accounting for 50.6% of all revenues. This development has been attributed to robust sales of influenza vaccines and the success of Merck’s advertising to promote Gardasil for the HPV virus. Gardasil alone posted $1.5 billion in sales in 2007.

And yes, it’s about the money. In addition to driving revenues as a loss leader, the newer vaccines are driving revenues through direct sales of expensive vaccines. According to Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News,

In 2007, the world market for preventive vaccines totaled $16.3 billion, up more than 38%, from $11.7 billion, in 2006. The market is predicted to increase at a compound annual rate of 13.1% during 2008. This growth rate is unheard of in other drug categories, especially since this is expected to be a challenging year for the pharmaceutical industry. Few other drug categories will see as many new product introductions and such public-policy attention.

In 2007, global sales of pediatric vaccines exceeded $8.0 billion, an increase of 25.2% over 2006 sales of $6.3 billion. This high growth was due in part to continued heavy gains of Wyeth’s pneumococcal vaccine, Prevnar, as well as the introduction of Merck’s, RotaTeq….This will result in an overall market expansion of 14.2% per year from 2008 to 2013, with total sales reaching $18.8 billion at the end of the forecast period.

Vaccines are promoted as a way to boost the immune system. It only stands to reason that injecting multiple doses of pathogens and measureable amounts of chemicals taxes the immune system instead of enhancing it. I’ve observed in families who have more than one child and have chosen to vaccinate the first, but not subsequent children, the younger siblings seem to come down with fewer infections and are much healthier overall. I don’t believe that’s a coincidence.

Preventive measures aimed at enhancing health can be incorporated into simple, lifestyle changes. Here are a few helpful suggestions:

• Staying away from white (refined) sugar and opting for healthy foods and sugar-free snacks is the first step.

• A high-quality, sugar-free, multi-vitamin/multi-mineral supplement is recommended for all ages, too, not just for picky eaters.

• The benefit adequate sleep has on health cannot be overstated. Without adequate sleep, the body is much more susceptible to illness. Toddlers need up to 14 hours a day of sleep, but they typically get only about 10½. Children between the ages of three and six need at least 10 to 12 hours per night; between seven and twelve years of age, 10 hours; and teens and adults need at least 8 hours. Most children get far less; and parents need to enforce bed times for their children, and for themselves.

• Provide your family with clean, filtered water.

• Encourage regular—but not obsessive—hand washing.

• Make sure to get away from the TV and the computer several hours a day to run and play outside. Exercise stimulates the immune system and has a whole cascade of positive effects.

Persons who investigate both sides of this issue rarely continue vaccinating. That speaks volumes. If you do decide to “Say No to Vaccines,” you’re not alone. Thousands of parents who have experienced first-hand the consequences of vaccination, including autism, are not looking for “something to blame.” They are begging other parents to learn about the risks before they proceed. Learn to trust your intuitive sense and investigate the full spectrum of the vaccination issue. You’ll be glad you did.

Sherri J. Tenpenny, D.O., is regarded as one of the country’s most knowledgeable and outspoken physicians on the negative impact vaccines can have on health.  www.DrTenpenny.com, www.SayingNoToVaccines.com

Source: http://www.newswithviews.com/Tenpenny/sherri19.htm

Every year it is recommended that people get a flu shot to avoid spending time feeling horrendously bad over the winter. Elderly people are especially warned that without a flu shot, their health could be in serious jeopardy. In recent years, this warning has been extended to children, and more recently even teenagers. Yet, there is mounting evidence that flu shots do not guarantee a healthy winter, and, in fact, they cause far more harm than good.

Here are 6 reasons to avoid getting a flu shot.

1. There is absolutely no evidence that flu shots actually work. The flu shot is only able to protect against certain strains of the flu, so if you come into contact with a strain that you are not protected from, then you will still get the flu. This is, in fact, not uncommon. In 2004, The National Vaccine Information Center reported that the vaccine given that year did not contain the flu strain that caused the majority of flu outbreaks that year. A study published in the Lancet in August revealed that there was no correlation between the flu shot and reduced risk of pneumonia. Further, a large study of 260,000 children between 23 months and 6 years discovered that the flu vaccine is no more effective than a placebo. This was reported in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

2. The flu vaccines, as well as all other vaccines, contain mercury, which is a seriously health-compromising heavy metal. Vaccines contain Thimerosal, which is made up of mercury. The amount of mercury contained in a multi-dose flu shot is 250 times higher than what is legally classified as hazardous waste. Side affects of mercury toxicity are vast and include depression, memory loss, attention deficit disorder, anger, oral cavity disorders, digestive disorder, anxiety, cardiovascular problems, respiratory issues, thyroid and other glandular imbalances, and low immune system to name a few.
3. The flu vaccines contain antibiotics such as neomycin, polymyxin B and gentamicin which are added to eliminate stray bacteria found in the mixture. Evidence shows that antibiotics wipe out beneficial bacteria that is needed for optimum health. Antibiotics ironically lower the immune system and cause Candida overgrowth.

4. Vaccines contain Polysorbate 80 as an emulsifier. This highly toxic agent can seriously lower the immune system and cause anaphylactic shock which can kill. According to the MSDS sheet at Science lab.com, Section 11, Polysorbate 80 may cause reproductive effects, cancer, and may be a mutagenic, (changing the genetics), in animals. According to PubMed.Gov, neonatal rats that were injected with small doses of Polysorbate 80 had serious damage to their reproductive organs, often resulting in infertility. Imagine that they are recommending this for young girls! It’s no wonder that the infertility rate is skyrocketing each and every year.

5. There is growing evidence that flu shots cause Alzheimer’s disease due to the aluminum and formaldehyde combined with mercury since they are even more toxic together than they are alone. Some research suggests that people who received the flu vaccine each year for 3 to 5 years had 10 times greater chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease than people who did not have any flu shots.

6. With so many potential side effects, it seems clear that the flu shot is potentially dangerous while not making a difference anyway. In addition, it is also completely unnecessary. Everything that we need to enjoy amazing health is right here on planet earth. Nothing man made is ever, ever needed in order to ward off illness and live vibrantly.Here are some powerful ways that you can ensure you don’t get the flu this year without injecting yourself with the extremely toxic flu shot:

• Make sure that you get plenty of sunshine over the winter. Research continually indicates that the winter flu is often a result of Vitamin D deficiency from lack of sun. If you live in a place without sunshine, take cod liver oil, find a place that offers sunshowers (natural tanning beds); and, if it is sunny, go outside as much as you possibly can no matter how cold it is. Raw, unpasteurized milk is another Vitamin D abundant food.
• Exercise, exercise, exercise! When you get out and get your body moving, you are much less likely to get sick. Yoga, for example, is a fabulous way to get fit, relieve stress and boost the immune system.
• Eat plenty of immune-boosting foods such as garlic, Vitamin C containing fruits and fresh green juices (broccoli, cabbage, cucumber and celery.) A diet rich in live foods is a sure way to stay healthy all year long.
• Cut out sugar. Sugar suppresses the immune system and causes disease. Today, there are so many wonderful healthy alternatives, such as agave nectar and xylitol, that it is totally unnecessary to ever consume sugar.
• Deal with emotional stress. Anger and stress suppress the immune system. Yoga, meditation, counselling, natural therapies and plant medicines can transform stress and help you live with abundant health in mind and body.
• Get plenty of sleep. A lack of sleep suppresses the immune system, but it is a reality for millions of people. Find ways to make life less hectic so that you have more time to catch those zzzzs.

Sheryl Walters is a kinesiologist, nutritionist and holistic practitioner.
Her website www.younglivingguide.com provides the latest research on preventing disease, looking naturally gorgeous, and feeling emotionally and physically fabulous.

Source: www.naturalnews.com

Mainstream health care isn’t based on “health” or “caring.” It’s actually based on an engrained system of medical mythology that’s practiced — and defended — by those who profit from the continuation of sickness and disease. This system of medical mythology might also simply be called “lies”, and today I’m sharing the top ten lies that are still followed and promoted under mainstream health care in America today.

Lie #1) Vaccines make you healthy

Vaccines have emerged as the greatest and most insidious mythology yet fabricated by western medicine. The idea that vaccines protect you from infectious disease is blatantly false in the long term because this year’s flu shot actually makes you more susceptible to next year’s influenza (http://www.naturalnews.com/028538_s…).

On top of that, even the theoretical short-term effectiveness of vaccines is dwarfed by the far more effective protection offered by vitamin D and other immune-modulating nutrients. (http://www.naturalnews.com/027385_V…)

Lie #2) Pharmaceuticals prevent disease

The big push by Big Pharma is now focused on treating healthy people with drugs as if pharmaceuticals were nutrients that could somehow prevent disease. This is the new push with cholesterol drugs: Give ‘em to everyone, whether they have high cholesterol or not!

But pharmaceuticals don’t prevent disease, and medications are not vitamins. Your body has no biological need for any pharmaceuticals at all. People who believe they need pharmaceuticals have simply been the victims of “fabricated consent” engineered by Big Pharma’s clever advertising and P.R. spin.

Lie #3) Doctors are experts in health

Doctors don’t even study health; they study disease. Modern doctors are taught virtually nothing about nutrition, wellness or disease prevention. Expecting a doctor to guide you on health issues is sort of like expecting your accountant to pilot a jet airliner — it’s simply not something he or she has ever been trained in.

That’s not to say doctors aren’t intelligent people. Most of them have high IQs. But even a genius can’t teach you something they know nothing about.

Lie #4) You have no role in your own healing

Doctors, drug companies and health authorities all want you to believe that your health is determined by their interventions. If you believe them, you have virtually no role in your own health or healing — it’s all managed by their drugs, their screening, their surgeries and their interventions.

Lie #5) Disease is a matter of bad luck or bad genes

Western medicine wants you to believe in the mythology of spontaneous disease — disease that strikes without cause. This is equivalent to saying that disease is some sort of voodoo black magic and that patients have no way to prevent disease through their own diets or lifestyle choices.

It’s funny, actually: Western medicine claims to be driven by scientific, rational thinking, and yet the entire industry still fails to acknowledge that chronic disease always has a cause and that most of the time, that cause has everything to do with nutritional deficiencies, exposure to toxic chemicals and a lack of exercise.

Disease is almost never a matter of bad luck or bad genes.

Lie #6) Screening equals prevention

Western medicine doesn’t believe in disease prevention. Rather, the industry believes in screening while calling it prevention. But screening isn’t prevention by even the wildest stretch of the imagination. In fact, virtually all the popular screening methodologies actually promote diseases.

Mammography, for example, emits so much radiation that it causes breast cancer in tens of thousands of women each year (http://www.naturalnews.com/027558_m…). Imaging dyes used in radiological scans can cause horrific side effects, and psychiatric “disorder” screening is little more than a thinly-disguised patient recruitment scheme disguised as medicine.

Real prevention of disease must involve disease prevention through nutrition, patient education about the causes of disease and lifelong changes in eating habits. Yet western medicine teaches absolutely none of these things. Heck, it doesn’t even believe in such ideas.

Lie #7) Health insurance will keep you healthy

This is a favorite lie of those who recently pushed for the Big Pharma-sponsored health care reform that has swept across America. The lie supposes that merely having health insurance will provide some sort of magical protection against disease. But in reality, health insurance doesn’t make you healthy! It is only YOU and your choices about foods, exposures to toxic chemicals, pursuit of exercise and time in nature that can make you healthy.

Health insurance is, in effect, a wager that you will get sick. How does gambling on your sickness provide any protection whatsoever for your health? It doesn’t. Personally, I’d rather bet on health than sickness, and the way to do that is to invest in nutritional supplements, organic produce, superfoods, physical fitness and non-toxic personal care products.

Lie #8) Hospitals are places of health and healing

If you want to stay healthy or get healthy, a hospital is the very last place you want to find yourself: They are unhappy, unhealthy places that are infested with antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Hospitals usually serve disease-promoting foods and lack health-enhancing sunlight, and potentially deadly mistakes with pharmaceuticals or surgical procedures now appear to be frighteningly common in U.S. hospitals.

Certainly, emergency rooms in hospitals play an important role in urgent care for injuries and accidents — and emergency room physicians do an amazing job saving lives — but for people with chronic, degenerative disease, a hospital is a very dangerous place to be. Unless you really need immediate critical care, try to avoid hospitals.

Lie #9) Conventional medicine is “advanced” state-of-the-art medicine

Even though doctors and health authorities try to pass off western medicine as being “advanced” or “modern,” the whole system is actually pathetically outdated and stuck in the germ theory of disease. Western medicine has yet to even acknowledge the role of nutrition in preventing disease — something that has been scientifically documented for at least the last several decades. Western medicine fails to acknowledge mind-body medicine and hilariously believes the mind plays virtually no role in healing.

Neither does western medicine acknowledge the bio energy field of living systems, nor that organ transplants carry memories, nor that living food is qualitatively different from dead food. Seriously: Conventional doctors still believe that dead food is exactly the same as living food! (And the USDA food pyramid still makes no distinction between the two…)

“Modern” medicine isn’t so modern, it turns out. It is, in fact, hopelessly outdated and desperately needs to upgrade its approach to health and wellness if it hopes to survive the next hundred years.

Lie #10) More research is needed to find “cures”

This lie is especially hilarious because western medicine does not believe in any “cure” for any disease. They aren’t even looking for cures! This lie has been repeated since the 1960’s, when cancer scientists claimed they were only a few years away from curing cancer. Today, four decades later, can you think of a single major disease that western medicine has cured? There aren’t any.

That’s because drug companies make money from sick people, not cured people. A patient cured is a patient lost. It is far more profitable to keep patients sick and pretend to “manage” their disease through a lifetime of pharmaceuticals. So when drug companies and disease non-profits claim to be searching for a “cure,” what they’re really doing is taking your money to fund more drug research to patent more medications that don’t actually cure anything.

Remember this the next time you’re asked to donate to some search for “the cure.” The cures already exist in nutrition, herbal remedies and naturopathic medicine, but Big Pharma and the conventional medicine cartel isn’t interested in real cures — they only want to promote the idea of a cure while pumping patients full of drugs that don’t cure anything.

Beyond the ten lies

When it comes to western health care, there are more than 10 lies, of course, but these big 10 lies are perhaps the most relevant to your own health decisions. By avoiding being suckered in by these lies, you can take charge of your own health and avoid the health care scam by staying healthy!

Staying healthy isn’t as difficult as you think, and it doesn’t require health insurance or disease screening. It only requires making informed, intelligent decisions about what to eat, what to put on your skin and how to get more sunshine and physical exercise. Once you do these basic things, you’ll find that you are no longer held victim by a western medicine health care system based on lies and outdated medical mythology.

It’s time for a revolution in medicine… a revolution that finally advances past the mental roadblock of a system of medical mythology stuck in the 1940’s. Don’t get me wrong, 1940’s medicine was great in the 1940’s. But this is no longer the 1940’s, and the germ theory of disease is hopelessly outdated when it comes to the primary diseases that are striking the population today. Yet the profiteers of our dishonest, outmoded health care system are doing everything in their power to keep us all stranded in the past, a past based on treating the body like a chemical battleground and attacking every disease with a patented pharmaceutical.

That whole approach to health care is so far outdated that it’s hilarious it can still be pushed with a straight face. No wonder doctors only spend an average of two minutes with patients these days. That’s the limit of how long they can hold their faces without breaking out in laughter at how stupid this whole “treat the symptoms and forget the causes” approach to health care really is. Even they know it! That’s why most doctors actually eat superfoods and take vitamins themselves, even if they never dare suggest it to patients.

True fact: It is illegal in every U.S. state for a doctor to recommend any vitamin, nutrient or food for the prevention or treatment of any disease. Doing so can cause a doctor to have his medical license permanently revoked. How crazy and outdated is that?

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/0…

By Russell L. Blaylock, M.D.
Advanced Nutritional Concepts, LLC
 www.russellblaylockmd.com

After 30 years of intensive research, much has been learned about how brain cells work and what goes wrong when disease arises. One of the great enigmas has been the connection between vaccinations and certain brain disorders such as:

• Autism
• ADD
• ADHD
• Gulf War Syndrome

More common neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s dementia and ALS)

As we learned more and more about how brain cells should work, we discovered that often normal processes, such as metabolism, could result in the accumulation of powerful chemical byproducts, called free radicals, that have the capacity to destroy these cells.

Free radicals, basically, are very reactive particles that bounce all around the cell damaging everything they touch. Most originate during the process of metabolism but can also arise from toxin exposure, irradiation and toxic metals. Because they are so destructive, cells have a network of defenses designed to neutralize them. This antioxidant network is composed of numerous components that include vitamins, minerals and special chemicals called thiols (glutathione and alpha-lipoic acid).

What Causes the Free Radicals

The idea that free radicals play a major role in all of the conditions listed above is now proven—the big question is why are so many free radicals being generated? In the case of autism, ADD and ADHD many came to support the idea that mercury derived from vaccines was the source of the radicals. And it was known that mercury could cause free radicals to be generated in large numbers within the brain. Evidence connecting mercury to the autism spectrum disorders, neurodegeneration and the Gulf War Syndrome is strong, but not exclusive.

Interestingly, all of these diseases also share another common event—over activation of a portion of the immune system.

It is important to appreciate that only a certain part of the immune system is overactive, because other parts, such as cellular immunity, are actually diminished. In some instances, as with the childhood disorders, the problem is congenital and in others it develops as a result of many factors such as aging, toxin exposure, poor nutrition and excessive vaccination itself. Mercury can impair immune function as well.

How Vaccines are Made

Basically, vaccines contain either killed viruses or bacteria, germ components, toxic extracts or live organisms that have been made less virulent—a process called attenuation. To stimulate an enhanced immune reaction against these organisms, manufacturers added powerful immune-stimulating substances such as squalene, aluminum, lipopolysacchride, etc. These are called immune adjuvants.

The process of vaccination usually required repeated injections of the vaccine over a set period of time. The combination of adjuvants plus the intended organism triggers an immune response by the body, similar to that occurring with natural infections, except for one major difference. Almost none of these diseases enter the body by injection. Most enter by way of the mucous membranes of the nose, mouth, pulmonary passages or GI tract. For example, polio is known to enter via the GI tract. The membranes lining these passages contain a different immune system than activated by direct injection. This system is called the IgA immune system.

It is the first line of defense and helps reduce the need for intense activation of the body’s immune system. Often, the IgA system can completely head off an attack. The point being that injecting organisms to induce immunity is abnormal.

Because more and more reports are appearing citing vaccine failure, their manufacturers’ answer is to make the vaccines more potent. They do this by making the immune adjuvants more powerful or adding more of them. The problem with this approach is that in the very young, the nutritionally deficient and the aged, over-stimulating the immune system can have an opposite effect—it can paralyze the immune system.

This is especially prevalent with nutritional deficiency.

An early attempt to vaccinate Africans met with disaster when it was discovered that many were dying following vaccination. The problem was traced to widespread vitamin A deficiency among the tribes. Once the malnutrition was corrected, death rates fell precipitously.

Another problem we see with modern vaccines is that the immune stimulation continues over a prolonged period of time.

This is because of the immune adjuvants. They remain in the tissues, constantly stimulating immune-activating cells. With most natural infections the immune activation occurs rapidly, and once the infection is under control, it drops precipitously. This, as we shall see, is to prevent excessive damage to normal cells in the body.

What Happens to the Brain With Vaccination?

It seems the brain is always neglected when pharmacologists consider side effects of various drugs. The same is true for vaccinations. For a long time no one considered the effect of repeated vaccinations on the brain.

This was based on a mistaken conclusion that the brain was protected from immune activation by its special protective gateway called the blood-brain barrier. More recent studies have shown that immune cells can enter the brain directly, and more importantly, the brain’s own special immune system can be activated by vaccination.

You see, the brain has a special immune system that operates through a unique type of cell called a microglia.

These tiny cells are scattered throughout the brain, lying dormant waiting to be activated. In fact, they are activated by many stimuli and are quite easy to activate. For our discussion, activation of the body’s immune system by vaccination is a most important stimuli for activation of brain microglia.

Numerous studies have shown that when the body’s immune system is activated, the brain’s immune cells are likewise activated. This occurs by several pathways, not important to this discussion. The more powerfully the body’s immune system is stimulated the more intense is the brain’s reaction. Prolonged activation of the body’s immune system likewise produces prolonged activation of the brain’s immune system.

Therein lies the danger of our present vaccine policy.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Practice have both endorsed a growing list of vaccines for children, even newborns, as well as yearly flu shots for both children and adults. Children are receiving as many as 22 inoculations before attending school.

What Happens When the Brain’s Immune System is Activated?

The brain’s immune system cells, once activated, begin to move about the nervous system, secreting numerous immune chemicals (called cytokines and chemokines) and pouring out an enormous amount of free radicals in an effort to kill invading organisms. The problem is—there are no invading organisms. It has been tricked by the vaccine into believing there are.

Unlike the body’s immune system, the microglia also secrete two other chemicals that are very destructive of brain cells and their connecting processes. These chemicals, glutamate and quinolinic acid, are called excitotoxins. They also dramatically increase free radical generation in the brain. Studies of patients have shown that levels of these two excitotoxins can rise to very dangerous levels in the brain following viral and bacterial infections of the brain. High quinolinic acid levels in the brain are thought to be the cause of the dementia seen with HIV infection.

The problem with our present vaccine policy is that so many vaccines are being given so close together and over such a long period that the brain’s immune system is constantly activated. This has been shown experimentally in numerous studies. This means that the brain will be exposed to large amounts of the excitotoxins as well as the immune cytokines over the same period.

Studies on all of these disorders, even in autism, have shown high levels of immune cytokines and excitotoxins in the nervous system. These destructive chemicals, as well as the free radicals they generate, are diffused throughout the nervous system doing damage, a process called bystander injury. It’s sort of like throwing a bomb in a crowd.

Not only will some be killed directly by the blast but those far out into the radius of the explosion will be killed by shrapnel.

Normally, the brain’s immune system, like the body’s, activates quickly and then promptly shuts off to minimize the bystander damage. Vaccination won’t let the microglia shut down. In the developing brain, this can lead to language problems, behavioral dysfunction and even dementia.

In the adult, it can lead to the Gulf War Syndrome or one of the more common neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s dementia or Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS).

A recent study by the world-renowned immunologist Dr. H. Hugh Fudenberg found that adults vaccinated yearly for five years in a row with the flu vaccine had a 10-fold increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. He attributes this to the mercury and aluminum in the vaccine. Interestingly, both of these metals have been shown to activate microglia and increase excitotoxicity in the brain.

Direct Effect of the Cytokines

Various cytokines have been used to treat cancer patients as well as other common diseases.

Studies of the effects of these cytokines on brain function reveal some very close parallels to the diseases we have been discussing. For a more in-depth study of these effects I suggest you read my article appearing in the Journal of the American Nutriceutical Association (volume 6 [fall], Number 4, 2003, pp 21-35) and in the summer issue 2004 of the Journal of the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons.

One can see:

• Confusion
• Language difficulties
• Disorientation
• Seizures
• Memory problems
• Somnolence
• Low-grade fevers
• Irritability
• Mood alterations
• Combativeness
• Difficulty concentrating
• A host of other behavioral problems

In the child, brain immune over-activation has been shown to be particularly damaging to the amygdala and other limbic structures of the brain. This can lead to unusual syndromes such as the loss of “theory of mind” and ” Alice in Wonderland syndrome.” It has also been shown to damage the executive functions of the frontal lobes.

In essence, what is lost is that which makes us social human beings, able to function in a complex world of ideas and interactions.

Several studies have indeed shown elevated levels of cytokines in autistic children. It is also interesting to note that these cytokines, especially interleukin-1ß and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) dramatically increase the damage produced by excitotoxins. So, what we see is a viscous cycle of immune activation, excitotoxin and cytokine excretion, and free radical production. The latter starts the cycle all over again.

The Role of Autoimmunity and Viral Persistence

Studies in autistic children have shown that a state of immune attack on the brain is occurring. Similar findings are seen with neurodegenerative diseases and the Gulf War Syndrome. It must be appreciated that this autoimmunity was triggered by the vaccinations and by organisms contaminating the vaccinations. Once started, the immune reaction cannot stop, thus triggering all the destructive reactions I have discussed.

Dr. Garth Nicolson has shown a direct connection between mycoplasma contamination of vaccines and the 200 percent increased incidence of ALS in Gulf War veterans. The disorder is produced by the same mechanism described above.

Another, even more common, problem is the use of live viruses in vaccines. The reason live viruses can be used is that they are weakened by passing them through a series of cultures—a process called attenuation. These attenuated, non-disease-causing viruses are then injected in hopes of stimulating the body to produce an immune attack.

The problem with this idea is two-fold.

First, we now know that in far too many cases these viruses escape the immune system and take up residence in the body—for a lifetime. A recent autopsy study of elderly individuals found that 20 percent of the brains contained live measles viruses and 45 percent of the other organs contained live measles viruses. Similar findings have been described in autistic children and the measles virus is identical genetically to the one used in the vaccine.

The second problem is that most of these viruses were found to be highly mutated. In fact, different mutations were found among viruses in various organs in the same individual.

This has been a secret kept from the public.

These attenuated viruses undergo mutation brought on by the presence of free radicals in the tissues and organs and they can mutate into virulent, disease-causing organisms. Recent studies have confirmed this frightening finding. In fact, a large percentage of Alzheimer’s disease patients have live viruses in their brain as compared to normal individuals.

Once these live viruses are injected, they cannot be removed. Because the viruses stay in the body, they will be under constant free radical exposure, which can increase during times of stress, illness, exercise and with aging. It is the free radicals that cause the virus to mutate.

In essence, the viruses can exist in the brain, or any organ, either silently and slowly producing destruction of the brain or spinal cord or producing sudden disease once the virus mutates to a highly lethal form.

Conclusions

We have seen that the policy of giving numerous vaccinations to individuals, especially infants and small children, is shear idiocy.

A considerable number of studies have shown conclusively that such a practice can lead to severe injury to the brain by numerous mechanisms. Because the child’s brain is undergoing a period of rapid growth from the third trimester of pregnancy until age 2 years, his or her brain is at considerable risk from this insane policy.

We have also seen that live-virus vaccines and contaminated vaccines hold a special risk in that the viruses tend to persist in a substantial number of individuals and that free radicals can cause the latent viruses to transform by genetic mutation into disease-causing organisms later in life.

It is vital that anyone scheduled for vaccination follow a schedule that allows no more than one vaccine every six months, allowing the immune system time to recover.

Live-virus vaccines should be avoided.

This was recently illustrated by the switch from the live polio vaccine to the killed virus. All cases of polio after the introduction of the vaccine, in the developed world, came from the vaccine itself. This was known from the beginning.

Finally, it is vital that anyone undergoing vaccination should start nutritional supplementation and adhere to a healthy diet before vaccination occurs. Vaccine complications are far fewer in individuals with good nutrition.

By Russell L. Blaylock, M.D.
Advanced Nutritional Concepts, LLC
 www.russellblaylockmd.com

Source: www.mercola.com

The parents of more than 2,300 students in Prince George’s County, Maryland, could face fines of $50 a day and 10 days in jail if their children do not meet the state’s immunization requirements.

Prince George’s has been struggling to get its 131,000 students immunized for chicken pox and hepatitis B, as is required by the state. More than 2,300 students have not been immunized, and have therefore been barred from attending schools.

School officials have previously made calls, sent letters and conducted home visits in attempts to make arrangements for free appointments for the shots.

The most recent round of letters ordered the parents to show up at Prince George’s Circuit Court for a court hearing and free on-the-spot vaccinations of up to 17 required doses.

Any child lacking immunizations can be expelled, and their parents then brought up on truancy charges, which can result in a 10-day jail sentence for the first offence, and 30 days for a second.

Angry and upset parents called county�s action �intimidating, and �very heavy handed.

School officials deemed the court action a �success, as the number of children lacking vaccinations dropped from 2,300 to about 1,100 by Friday November 16. That leaves about 900 children out of compliance with the vaccination requirements, said school system spokesman John White.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) issued a press release condemning Maryland�s vaccine roundup, promising to do everything it can to support parents who refuse to immunize their children.

This power play obliterates informed consent and parental rights, said Kathryn Serkes, director of policy for the AAPS, one of the few national physician groups that refuse corporate funding from pharmaceutical companies. �This campaign of intimidation to brutally enforce blanket vaccine mandates by government agencies and the school district gives no consideration for the rights of the parents or the individual medical condition of the child.

The AAPS press release goes on to state, �Children should be carefully screened, medical records taken and decisions made carefully not in an ad hoc assembly-line clinic in a county courtroom and under the brutal watch of law enforcement. This is a man-made disaster ready and waiting to detonate. Children could receive a dangerous cocktail of several vaccines without proper examinations.

The procedure is reckless and subjects children to the risk of severe reactions. Physicians would not be allowed to treat children in this way, without individual histories and physical exams or informed consent, said Jane M. Orient, M.D., AAPS Executive Director.

Interestingly, the state’s attorney, Mr. Glenn Ivey himself apparently has no problem invoking his own right to informed consent and parental control. In a radio interview on Thursday, November 15, he admitted that he has chosen to refuse the hepatitis B vaccines for his own children. The AAPS stated that Mr. Ivey�s �galling hypocrisy clearly demonstrates that not every vaccine is right for every child.

Washington Post November 14, 2007

Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Press Release November 16, 2007

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

What makes this story even more infuriating is that there is virtually no medical necessity to justify using these vaccines. I was strongly opposed to both the hepatitis B vaccine, and the chicken pox vaccine long before they both became mandatory — for some very good reasons.

I am happy to see the AAPS is setting up a legal team to help parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated despite these Gestapo-like tactics, and encourage anyone who needs their help to contact them. The AAPS were also the coalition responsible for overturning Texas Governor Perry�s executive order to make the HPV vaccine (Gardasil) mandatory for schoolgirls, last spring.

If this kind of forced medical treatment does not bother you, then you may have given up the very last shred of personal freedom you, and your children, have.

If that is the case, make no mistake it will not end with the forceful poisoning of your children. There are lots of medications out there that the pharmaceutical industry would love for everyone to eat in lieu of breakfast What medications, and how many, would you like to be force-fed every day? Or do you truly believe industry, together with your government, would never take it that far even if they could? I believe public opposition is the only thing standing in their way.

Where are We Heading?

To get a glimpse of your potential future without using a crystal ball, just look at the current trends. For example, according to a BBC news brief, aired over the Thanksgiving weekend, autism has skyrocketed from 1 in 10,000 in 1993, to the current rate of 1 in 150. The mandatory immunizations program and the MMR vaccine were introduced in 1998.

Coincidence?

Hardly. Although you will read reports, and hear through the conventional media that this has been disproven, don�t you believe it, as nothing could be further from the truth.

Are they involved in all cases of autism?

Probably not, but they are a major factor in many, especially in conjunction with the absolute explosion in exposure to information-carrying radio waves from cell phones, cell phone towers and WiFi routers. These waves tend to disrupt intercellular communication microtubules, which greatly increase these children�s ability to tolerate heavy metal insults that can cause severe free radical injury.

What are some other trends?

• The pharmaceutical industry makes more than three times the average profit of all other Fortune 500 industries — even after including all research and development costs
• Between 1960 and 1998, the public expenditure on health care increased more than one hundred times, from $35 to $3,633, and government health care spending went from a budget of $13.6 billion is fiscal 1941, to $1.65 trillion in 1998
• Drug prescription deaths are now in second place for unintentional deaths in the United States, rising from 4.4 to 7.1 per 100,000 in the five years between 1999 and 2004
• “Preventive drugs and vaccines for everything from cancer to dental caries are on the rise, which, of course, are prescribed to perfectly healthy people
• Pharmaceutical companies are also pushing for more and more non-logical uses of their drugs, such as administering the HPV vaccine to young boys, even though they do not have the prerequisite anatomy to contract the disease
• Death attributed to psychotherapeutic drugs (anti-depressants and sedatives) nearly doubled, from 671 to 1,300 deaths between 1999 and 2004
• State mandated drugging of children as young as three years old with psychiatric drugs is now on a steady rise
• In January 2006, the FDA put in place the preemption protection scheme that bans private lawsuits against drug companies and physicians in state courts, once a drug has achieved the FDA�s stamp of approval

What do you believe all these trends point toward?

However, there are always two sides to a coin, and on the flip side, more and more people are slowly waking up and are searching for true health.

In a survey from 1990, 34 percent of the people surveyed used at least one �unconventional intervention in the past year. Indeed, their visits to �alternative practitioners exceeded visits to primary care medical physicians in that year. A follow-up study in 1997 reported that utilization of some form of �alternative health care had increased to 42.1 percent, and as of 2002, 62 percent of Americans use it!

Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical industry appears quite ruthless when it comes to protecting profits, and perhaps the rise in alternative health care spending is one of the reasons behind more aggressive advertising, and increased �incentives to doctors and public officials to enforce �public health issues. At gunpoint if necessary.

What Can You Do to Avoid Vaccinations?

Remember, frightening as it may seem, you still have the legal right to refuse to vaccinate your children. While all 50 states have immunization requirements, 28 allow parents to opt out for medical or religious reasons. Another 20 states allow parents to opt out for personal or philosophical reasons as well.

Mississippi and West Virginia allow parents to opt out for medical reasons only.

Maryland, despite their handling of the issue, also still offers the right to opt out. My previous article, How To Legally Avoid Unwanted Immunizations Of All Kinds, spells out how you go about practicing this right.

You also need to educate yourself on the dangers of the vaccines that your doctor or pediatrician insists on administering. I have numerous articles detailing the dangers of various vaccines on this site, and you have the entire internet at your disposal in addition to what I have documented through the years.

A good place to start is my vaccinations links page, and there is an entire chapter in my book Take Control of Your Health devoted to this very topic.

I also recommend reading my previous article about chicken pox, which explains why your child REALLY DOESN�T need the state mandated chicken pox vaccine, and Michael Belkin�s Testimony to Congress about the dangers of the hepatitis B vaccine. Mr. Ivey probably knows these facts already you should too.

www.mercola.com

---

Many parents stay on top of their children’s vaccinations, while others question their medical effectiveness. Contact your physician for any medical advice regarding vaccines, inoculations or other health issues, whether the vaccine is for hepatitis or allergies.

According to the National Association of County Health Officials (NACHO), an independent affiliate of the National Association of Counties representing 1,300 local health departments, mercury poses the following dangers: “Mercury can be extremely toxic, especially to infants and children. Mercury occurs in three forms: the elemental form (also referred to as metallic), inorganic salt, and organic compounds called methylmercury. Each form has characteristic pathways of exposure and unique health effects. Mercury affects the nervous system, causing brain, nerve, kidney, and lung damage. Though symptoms may be absent or non-specific, a fact that will hinder diagnosis, they frequently include skin rashes, particularly redness and peeling of the hands and feet in children; tremors; muscular weakness; inability to walk; convulsions; personality changes; memory loss; and in extreme cases, death. The developing fetus is the most sensitive to the effects of mercury, and so women of child-bearing age are the population of greatest concern. Children of women exposed to relatively high levels of methylmercury during pregnancy (and through breast feeding) have exhibited a variety of abnormalities, including delayed onset of walking and talking and reduced neurological test scores.

“Elemental mercury, such as that which was once found in thermometers, slowly evaporates when exposed to the air. Nevertheless, small amounts spilled can reach contamination levels with exposure to room temperature air. Vacuuming, even with specially designed vacuums, can exacerbate the problem by increasing levels of mercury vapor. From there, mercury vapor is easily absorbed in the lungs and is toxic at low concentrations in air. Elemental mercury can also be absorbed through the skin and cause allergic reactions.

“According to the National Institutes of Health, ingestion of inorganic mercury compounds can cause severe renal and gastrointestinal toxicity. Organic compounds of mercury such as methylmercury are considered the most toxic forms of the element, with exposures resulting in neurological damage and even death.

Mercury in the Environment

“Releases of mercury to the environment are usually in the form of elemental or inorganic forms. Mercury is a naturally occurring element released when volcanoes erupt and rocks erode. It can also be released into the air through industrial pollution, including fossil fuel combustion, metal sulfide ore smelting, gold refining, cement production, refuse incineration, and industrial applications of metals. Mercury concentrations in air are usually low and of little direct concern, but when mercury enters water, biological processes change the chemical form to methylmercury, which is the organic, more toxic form found in fish. Methylmercury bio-accumulates through the food chain and, once in the body, can affect the fetal and adult nervous systems.”

In fact, they have determined mercury to be so toxic that they have created a fact sheet entitled “The Use of Mercury for Cultural and Religious Purposes” to warn local health departments of the potential danger of certain “Afro-Latino-Caribbean and Brazilian based traditions” using mercury in certain cultural traditions.

According to the fact sheet, these groups may use mercury as follows:

“Mercury is often ingested as a treatment for gastrointestinal problems. It may also be used for spiritual cleansing, to protect from evil, and to bring luck, love, and fortune. As such, mercury is sprinkled throughout homes, worn on necklaces, and burned in candles. Thus, mercury can enter the body through ingestion, direct contact to skin, or through inhalation of the scent-free vapors. Exposure to this toxin can come from indirect sources as well. People who do not use mercury in their homes may be at risk of mercury poisoning if the prior tenants have used mercury there. The vapors or physical material, both of which have a long half-life, may still be found in cracks in the floor, sink drains, or other parts of the home.”

Yet somehow, the group that compiled these data are silent on the fact that we are bringing mercury into our homes in the form of compact fluorescent light bulbs, injecting mercury into our children as a vaccine additive, and producing thousands of metric tons of this toxic chemical annually, all of which ultimately ends up in our bodies or our planet’s water supply.

While global production of mercury has been steadily declining from a high of 7100 metric tons in the early 1980s to about 1800 metric tons in 2000, the question has to be asked: Why are we still supporting the production of mercury at all? The use in lighting, electrical switches, vaccines, dental fillings, and batteries and chlorine manufacturing have all seen advances in technology that offer safer alternatives. LED bulbs are substitutes for CFL bulbs. Lithium, nickel-cadmium, and zinc-air batteries are substitutes for mercury-zinc batteries. Indium compounds substitute for mercury in alkaline batteries. Diaphragm and membrane cells replace mercury cells in the electrolytic production of chlorine and caustic soda. Ceramic composites can replace dental amalgams. Organic compounds have replaced mercury fungicides in latex paint. Digital instruments have replaced mercury thermometers in many applications.

According to GreenFacts.org, an international independent non-profit organization with a multi-stakeholder governance:

“In the past, a number of organic mercury compounds were used quite broadly, for example in pesticides (extensive use in seed dressing among others) and biocides in some paints, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. While many of these uses have diminished in some parts of the world, organic mercury compounds are still used for several purposes. Some examples are the use of seed dressing with mercury compounds in some countries, use of dimethylmercury in small amounts as a reference standard for some chemical tests, and Thimerosal (which contains ethylmercury) used as a preservative in some vaccines and other medical and cosmetic products since the 1930s. As the awareness of mercury’s potential adverse impacts on health and the environment has been rising, the number of applications (for inorganic and organic mercury) as well as the volume of mercury used have been reduced significantly in many of the industrialized countries, particularly during the last two decades.

“However, many of the uses discontinued in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries are still alive in other parts of the world. Several of these uses have been prohibited or severely restricted in a number of countries because of their adverse impacts on humans and the environment.

“Furthermore, while there is a general understanding of mercury production and use around the world, it is crucial to gain an even better understanding of global mercury markets and flows in order to assess demand, to design appropriate pollution prevention and reduction measures, and to monitor progress towards specific objectives.”

This chemical is so toxic, that the world’s 30 leading industrialized countries have agreed to “cease all further work on mercury” (and yes the United States is among the 30 OECD countries), yet we still allow this chemical to be imported from the countries which have not yet discontinued mercury production including: Spain, China, Kyrgyzstan and Algeria. We allow the importation of this dangerous chemical for strictly economic gain. We allow it to be brought into our homes in compact fluorescent light bulbs and we allow it to be injected into children as the vaccine additive Thimerasol. Mercury production should be halted globally. The US has already agreed to “cease all further work on mercury” yet we still allow the sale of products containing mercury. This must be stopped.

By purchasing CFL light bulbs or Thimerasol laden vaccines, you are supporting the production of mercury and the destruction of human health and the environment.

About the author
Herb Newborg is president of Chiropractic America LLC. Chiropractic America was established in 1994 and maintains www.YourSpine.com a website built to serve as an outlet for doctors nationwide to champion natural health care and lifestyle choices and for patients to have access to spinal health information. Chiropractic America has an advisory board comprised of leading chiropractors to ensure doctors and patients have access to the most current, accurate, and relevant information.

www.newstarget.com