or delay....that is the question.
The big, big question that is making me sweat and loose sleep for the time being.
As most of you know I am in the medical field and married to a Marine who has been injected with only God knows what. Vaccines have kept our country from facing disease at epidemic proportions so I've never really blinked an eye at immunizations. Until now.
A very homeopathic nurse coworker/friend of mine has revealed some very interesting statistics to me. It really made me think about this issue in a way I haven't before. She gets most of her information from two guys that have a national radio show. Len and Joe are pharmacists, nutritionists, homeopathic docs and Christian men. She really listens to them and trusts their opinions and I must say I am starting too as well.
Here is a bit of what Len and Joe say about vaccines. They are NOT anti-vaccine. It is just more information to help make informed decisions regarding our children.
(Thank you Lindsey (Bev's daughter) for the email with the info!)
**There has been a dramatic increase in:
-Juvenile Diabetes- 1950-1/7100; 2001-1/400; 2007-1/280 ++vaccine schedule now is 8-fold from the 50's (it is now thought that juv. diab. is caused by immune system attacking pancreas, a sedentary lifestyle isn't helping these stats)
-Asthma- 4 fold increase in 40 years
-Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis- all time high affecting 300,000 children
-Autism Spectrum Disorders ++ 50 yrs ago, before the vaccine era, 1/10000 children were diagnosed with autism. Now 1/68 families have an autistic child. Some say it is because it is diagnosed better now than then, but it is still very scary how the numbers continue to rise.
-Developmental and Learning Disabilities
-ADHD- 4 Million Children
7 vaccines injected into a 13 lb., 2-month-old child is like injecting 70 into a 130 lb. woman
There have been NO double-blinded or placebo controlled trials on the long-term effects of vaccines.
The myelin sheath of a baby's brain does not completely develop and cover the brain until 24 months. Several vaccines are administered before the brain is able to fully protect itself.
**Gulf War Syndrome
Military personnel are vaccinated very aggressively before going overseas. This all happens in a span of a few weeks or even days before leaving. The have ended up with symptoms such as neuropathies, neurological brain disturbance, fatigue, lethargy, MS type symptoms.
The only common ground between all those that had these symptoms is that they had massive amount of vaccines in a short period of time. If this is what happens to adults, what effect do mass vaccines have on babies?!
They suggest this vaccine schedule:
*Begin at 15 mo- 2 yrs, one at a time (no combined vaccine shots), with a minimum of 2 months between to allow immune system to recover between shots
*Do not use vaccines with thimerosal
Avoid live viruses- MMR, chickenpox, live-virus polio
**These are life saving vaccines
Polio-human cell not animal cell
Tetanus
Pertussis
Diphtheria
Other suggestions:
-Find a pediatrician who will work with you
-Ask if they will order the MMR separately and ask to see the insert before vaccine is given
-Research supplements and vitamins to boost the immune system before giving vaccines.
-Avoid using Tylenol to control fever, etc. after vaccine. Acetaminophen can deplete gluathione. Use Motrin instead
-Never give a vaccine when a child has been sick, has a cold, or has been on antibiotics
Again, this is not meant to be ANTI-vaccine. I am just at that cross roads and really want to hear what anyone has to say about this issue. I know there are some very intelligent people reading this blog!
My biggest fear is really the autism thing. It is a higher risk for boys. My Silas has been developing right on track, but has been slow in just about every thing. It took him forever to sit on his own and crawl. At 15 months he is just starting to walk and doesn't talk, babbles some. I know it is just Mommy concerns that I'm having and that he is fine. Nevertheless, I think we are going to wait until after 2 yrs. old for the MMR just in case.
I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer. I'm just really conflicted.
Feel free to post any views on this. I would love to hear them.
4 comments:
What a great post!
With Isaac, I never even considered to delay vaccines. I figured you have to get them, so why not. (Ignorance is bliss, huh?)
However, I am a little more leary this time around. I am attempting to educate myself on the exact reasons why people delay vaccinations and if such reasons seem reasonable and scientifically based. I really appreciated the information you presented because it did make me step back and think. However, my insurance only pays for vax that are done on schedule...so if we delay any with Evelyn, we get to pay full price. Fun times.
I am strongly against using vaccines with thermisol...which is typically not used in the US anymore (maybe in more rural places). Although Isaac had all shots up to this point, I did make sure thermisol was not used as a perservative in them (due to the high mercury level).
Although a direct link has not been found between vaccines and autism (meaning that vaccines directly cause autism), many parents believed that symptoms of autism started to show in their children shortly after the 18month/2 year vax. Some research believes this is because a child born with a weaker immune system or higher levels of mercury already in their little bodies cannot tolerate the vaccinations. Scary stuff.
As far as Silas being behind with the physical milestones, listen to your Mommy instincts. Are you worried simply because other kids his age are walking and you want him to or are you worried because you think there is something else going on? I believe Mommy instinct speaks loudly and can be dead-on.
When Isaac was a little over 2 months old, he could not hold his head up any better than the day he was born. Everyone kept telling me he was fine, but my gut told me something different. I took him to the doctor and he was diagnosed with torticollis (torn neck muscle due to placement in the womb)and did almost 9 months of physical therapy. He also didn't sit until 9 months, crawl until 10 months, and walk until 16 months....however, none of these things really bothered me. I somehow just knew that these were components of Isaac's personality (he is very cautious) and not a significant delay. He also was only saying about 20-30 words at 18 months and by the age of 2 was talking in complete paragraphs. Some things just hit them one day and they run with the new skill.
As for kids' development, I did watch other kids pass Camille by when it came to physical milestones and admittedly was concerned. She was so content sitting that she did not crawl until she was 11.5 months old, and though she took her first steps at 16 months, she did not walk till nearly 18 months old. I would ask her PCP about it and he said we shouldn't look into PT or anything until 18 months if she hadn't walked yet. But, by then she did. Now, she runs and jumps and braves the slides:-)
As for vaccination, I too never really was concerned when vaccinating my kids (except for asking about the mercury in the vaccinations). I really had no clue what I was asking about, but since I have learned that boys more frequently are diagnosed with autism, I've started to have reservations. I'll thank Jenny McCarthy for that:-) Anyway, what you posted has been tremendously helpful in making a more educated decision about Nathan's future vaccinations. I may see about putting off some of them till he's over 2. Either way, I plan on having a chat with his PCP at his next appt.
I can't say I shed much light on this for you. Though, praying about this kind of stuff has really helped me (at least calmed my nerves and) when making tough decisions.
I am coming over from Amy's blog and thought I would comment. All 3 of mine we vaccinated on schedule and I never batted an eye. We were equally blessed to have an amazing pedatrition who explained everything and even told us of "possibilities". There are things that I wondered about (autism with boys, being my oldest 2 are boys) and some of the live virius'. I know that the CDC has recently started testing on what the effect of certain vaccines are on children (linking to autism). But I do believe that there cannot be a one size fits all for each child, as eash child is not the same.
I know I have not given you a response in either direction, but thought I would place my 2 cents in
Great info! I'm going to print your post and take it with me to meet potential pediatricians :-) Unfortunately I have no answers...just questions. Another area I have been trying to wrap my mind around - glass vs plastic bottles.
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