Tag Archives: Lies

February 10, 2015 · 5:03 am

Measles Cases Rising And Junk Science Is To Blame?

So unless you’ve been under a rock, you’re well aware of the measles outbreak that started in Disneyland and has now spread to 121 cases across the U.S. Doctors, the American Academy of Pediatrics, CDC, and more are urging parents to get their children vaccinated.

This has created a storm of opposition from the anti-vax parents. Seemingly unconcerned with what they deem a mild or non-serious illness, they are defending their rights not to vaccinate. They feel they are protecting their children from autism which they believe is caused by the MMR vaccine. The study that perpetuated the myth was retracted and deemed junk science. Regardless, they remain steadfast in their decision not to vaccinate despite increased concern of a measles epidemic.

I thought I would research the answers to questions that people have been asking regarding all this debate. So let’s look at what perpetuated the notion that the MMR vaccine was causing Autism?

We need to go back to 1988, when a doctor in the UK by the name of Andrew Wakefield published a study with just 12 child subjects. The children were brought to his clinic suffering from diarrhea and/or abdominal pain. These children were said to have a history of normal development but subsequently lost certain skills. When Wakefield was gathering their medical history, he asked the parents when their child received the MMR vaccine and how that correlated to their loss of skills. Based upon this data, Wakefield believed there was a connection between the vaccine and autism.

However, there was no objective scientific data to back his theory up, it was based on the recall of the parents. Given that some of the vaccines were administered as much as 9 years prior, there is reasonable concern about the accuracy. What is even more troubling, is that Wakefield, claimed that the bowel dysfunction was caused by the MMR vaccine which then caused the autism, even though 4 of the 12 children in the study experienced behavioral disorders prior to the bowel issues. This fact alone refutes Wakefield’s theory.

There was also no control group, a critical omission casting more doubt on his findings. A good standard of science, is that the findings can be replicated in a separate setting. After sharing specimens with colleagues at the Royal Free Hospital in London, Wakefield’s findings could not be replicated. His study was later retracted from the Lancet where it was originally published.

The doctor’s troubles did not end there, a paper in the Journal of Molecular Pathology written by Wakefield in 2002, was found to be critically flawed. A recent study in the British Medical Journal found no rise in incidence of autism in children who received MMR as compared to those who did not. The authors also showed that in autistic children (both ASD and classical) the age at which a child received MMR did not affect the age at which the diagnosis of autism was made.

So why then do some parents so vehemently claim that the MMR vaccine caused their child’s Autism? Autism is most often first identified in toddlers aged 18-30 months. Since the MMR vaccine is administered just before this peak age, it causes some parents to link the two together. There is no medical evidence to support this. Extensive reports from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Institute of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conclude that there is no proven association between MMR vaccine and autism. Dr. Wakefield has since lost his license to practice medicine.

So what does all this mean to the anti-vaxers? Are they changing their stance? No, they are not and they are just as steadfast in their decision not to vaccinate. Many claim that the diseases that the vaccines have eradicated are not that serious. Really? This assumption is based on what? Their opinion? The AAP does not take the stance that the diseases are harmless. In fact they warn parents of the risks and urge them to vaccinate their children. Some pediatricians are refusing to treat the children of parents who refuse to vaccinate. They do not want their patients to be exposed to potentially life-threatening diseases in the waiting rooms. There are also many calling for a ruling that unvaccinated children not be allowed to attend public school.

I wonder what these parents are going to think in 15 or so years from now when their daughters and sons are dating and moving toward marriage. Have they thought that their sons could contract mumps and be sterile? Or that their grandchild may suffer debilitating birth defects or be stillborn because their mother contracted measles during pregnancy? Have they thought that far ahead, or do they plan to rush out and try to get their child exposed to these illnesses so they have natural immunity?

Will their pregnant daughters live in constant fear of contracting Rubella? Will they suffer the grief of losing their baby or caring for a child with severe birth defects stemming from a medical decision based on flawed science? Will their daughters rush out and get immunized to protect themselves after seeing the results of primary Rubella infection in unvaccinated pregnant friends and family members? Who knows what they future will hold for them. It’s scary to think about.

While many are still touting unfounded fears linking vaccines to autism, Autism Speaks chief science officer Rob Ring, has released a statement saying vaccinations cannot cause the disorder — and telling parents to vaccinate their children.

So why do they say the measles is a harmless childhood illness? The majority in the anti-vax movement were born after the vaccine, so they have no first-hand experience. Prior to the vaccine, measles killed 500 people a year in the U.S. Measles infection caused 48,000 people a year to be hospitalized and 4,000 experienced encephalitis, a dangerous condition that causes the brain to swell and caused 400-500 deaths.

Measles is one of the most infectious diseases because it’s airborne and lingers in the air causing it to spread quickly. People can spread the disease for four days before they develop any symptoms. Highly contagious, 90% of people not immune will contract the virus if exposed.

So how do you feel on the issue? Let me know, but please keep your comments respectful.

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Filed under cause, Education, Health, Life, Main Page Post, Mommy Ramblings, Ramblings & Rants, Resources

Tagged as Anti-Vax, Autism, Debate, Doctors, Epidemic, Flawed, Health, Junk Science, Lies, Measles, Media, MMR, Mommy Ramblings, Pro-Vax, Safety, Vaccines

October 2, 2013 · 4:13 pm

Crunchy, Organic, Natural, Granola, Lysol???

When I look at the title for my post today it reminds me of the Sesame Street segment, “One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong.” Do I need to give you a hint which one doesn’t belong?

I am on a little bit of a rant today. I find such hypocrisy that so many people who refer to themselves as Crunchy or Granola moms, women who stress about cloth diapering and buying organic produce but think nothing of using or even promoting the use of Lysol, pesticides, Clorox products, Johnson & Johnson’s, Aveeno, Tide, Wisk, Shout, Resolve, Pledge, Neutrogena, Avon and I could go on, but I’m sure you get the picture. I just want to shake them and say, “Do you even know what’s in those products? Do you think you can call yourself “Crunchy” when you allow that toxic waste in your home or worse bathe your baby with it?” I throw up a little in my mouth when bloggers who are extreme couponers show off their enormous hoards of products and cringe as I think about the air quality in their home from the out-gassing of those products. Or when they brag they got it for ten cents, I wouldn’t even take that for free. If you mention something they call you jealous of their stock piled poison.

As a mother of a cancer survivor, I try to educate others on the dangers of these products but it mostly falls on deaf ears, they’re only concerned with right now, not down the road how these products could impact their family’s lives. They talk about allergies, asthma and skin rashes not even thinking it could be from the chemical levels in the air of their homes and the residue left from so many household products they use. I even approached one blogger with Crunchy, Granola, Organic and everything else in her blog title when she was promoting a campaign for Lysol products which was ironically called “Healthy Home”, haha Lysol and Healthy Home a complete oxymoron. I was approached with the same campaign and turned it down flat as I do for Johnson & Johnson’s, Aveeno etc. I would never promote such toxic products. Well, she asked me what I wanted from her, she tries to be crunchy when she can but this was a paid opportunity and she was taking it.

Going through my news feed makes me want to scream, pushes and campaigns, coupons for these carcinogen filled products is so rampant. Please readers if you do nothing else, research what I told you, know what you have in your home and what you’re buying in the store. Don’t think if you don’t concern yourself it won’t matter, because it does. Have you ever wondered why there are such increases in allergies, asthma, cancer, autism, miscarriage, infertility, birth defects, Alzheimer’s etc.? If you have, then you need to educate yourself on the dangers. Please knowledge is power, good health is priceless!!! Stepping off the soap box now and you can rest assured it is not from Tide!

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Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as Cloth Diapers, Crunchy, Granola, Lies, Lysol, Mommy Ramblings, organic, Toxic

February 29, 2012 · 7:50 pm

Does “Green” mean what you think it does?

Toxic Clean???

I want to share something with you that I have been thinking about for a while now. I think we are all aware of the movement in recent years to “go green.” However, I don’t think as consumers we are as aware as we should be and take many things at face value. You may be wondering, what I mean? Let’s talk about cleaners that are marketed as “green,” do you really know what that means? Do you go to the supermarket and see the new cleaners packaged with flowers on the label and called “green something”, toss it in your cart and think you are doing something good for your family and the environment? I did. I used to, if it said it was “green”, “eco-friendly”, “plant based”, I was all for it. Then, I would take my products home and feel good that I was not using harmful cleaning agents.

If you take a look at the commercials that market household products to us like laundry detergent, they will usually be focused on the smell, and how even after 7 days, the smell is still as strong or how they have fabric softeners added right in, so you will never forget. Then, we are told to control static cling by adding a dryer sheet to our clothing in the clothes dryer. It is easy to get wrapped up in the scents of detergents; don’t you want to go to sleep with your blanket as soft as a cloud and smelling like lavender? What we don’t hear about is, the nasty side of all this. The chemicals that are in these products, the toxins that we are cleaning our family’s clothing with, the dryer sheets that are filled with toxic chemicals that we throw in and then heat our dryer up to make sure we release every bit of it onto our clothing. Clothing we wear on our skin, the largest organ that is just absorbing these toxins in.

When we think about the ugly side, it is no wonder that incidents of childhood cancers, infertility, premature menses, autism, ADHD, and other cancers are rising dramatically. Cancers that have no hereditary links, but are due to environmental factors. I know this too well, our teenage son was diagnosed last June with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. We have no risk factors, so if you ask me if I believe that environment and the agents we are exposed to are causing us harm, I think you know what my answer is.

The problem is that most of the time when we go about putting our homes on a detox, that the very products we are replacing them with, are as toxic or more toxic then what we were using. How can that be? Do you know what it takes for a cleaning agent to be deemed “green”? Did you know that a product can be marketed as “green” if it is biodegradable? Are you are using products that are so strong they have warnings on them, not to inhale, only use in ventilated area, harmful to people and pets, may cause eye and skin irritation etc? Do you think these products could be healthy for your family?

I find it amazing that we are marketed wipes and sprays that are said to kill the germs like the rhinovirus and influenza and we are advised to spray all the surfaces in our home, doorknobs, telephones, hard surfaces and the air. Did you know that these very wipes and sprays are not to be inhaled or ingested? Yet, we spray the surfaces we will surely be touching and we are spraying it in the air we are sure to be breathing. Okay, so you may be thinking that you don’t use any of those germicide sprays, you only use air fresheners with pleasing scents like cinnamon and vanilla. You may want to take a look at the back of your air freshener, plug-ins, scented candles, and linen sprays. Very likely, you will find that you should not be breathing these agents in. Why then are we told they are room sprays, air fresheners, room deodorizers when we are not to be breathing them in? Why in the world are we spraying these in our homes and making our air quality unhealthy to breathe?

Then, we can talk about beauty products, skin creams, cosmetics, scrubs, shampoos, baby products which have come under much scrutiny lately for containing chemicals and toxins. A major name in baby care products that we trusted for generations, was found to have 2 cancer causing chemicals in their baby shampoo and products. So you might think that once this was discovered, the FDA ordered all of the products off the store shelves. That is not the case and the company is gradually phasing the use of these chemicals out of their baby products and I believe they plan to have this done sometime in the next 2 years.

Again, there we are, trusting consumers, once again being sold “gentle” products with known carcinogens that we are applying to our most precious little lives. Scary isn’t it? What can we do? It seems we are misled, we can’t believe labels, and we have to be skeptical. Are you still using these products? Is the cabinet under your sink filled with chemical cleaning agents with safety caps, and warnings? If you are truly interested in detoxing your home, and getting rid of the harmful agents, please contact me. You might be thinking that you cannot find products that will do what you need them to do and are natural. I can tell you, that you can. I can show you products that will work as well as chlorine bleach, products that will kill germs and sanitize without putting your family at risk. Products that you will be on average less than the products you are buying in the grocery store. Products that will give you some peace of mind. If you have any questions, please contact me as I would love to help you. It is almost time for Spring Cleaning!!!