Marc Joseph Nutrition - Blog

A large phone survey, commissioned by the non-profit Generation Rescue (GR) and conducted by independent opinion research firm Survey USA, found that, relative to unvaccinated boys, vaccinated boys were 2.5 times more likely to have a neurological disorder such as ADHD or autism.

The survey queried 11,817 households in Oregon and California, and gathered data on 17,674 children ages 4 to 17, including 9,175 boys and 8,499 girls. The survey method closely paralleled the approach and age ranges that the CDC has used to identify national prevalence rates for neurological disorders.

Survey Results

Significant relationships between vaccinations and neurological disorders (NDs) were found only in boys, which, as GR notes, is not too surprising, given that boys represent 80% of all ND cases.

Here are a few of the survey’s amazing findings:

A. All vaccinated boys, compared to unvaccinated boys:
- Were 155% more likely to have a neurological disorder
- Were 224% more likely to have ADHD
- Were 61% more likely to have autism

B. Older vaccinated boys, ages 11-17, compared to older unvaccinated boys:
- Were 158% more likely to have a neurological disorder
- Were 317% more likely to have ADHD
- Were 112% more likely to have autism

(GR notes: “Older children may be a more reliable indicator because many children are not diagnosed until they are 6-8 years old, and we captured data beginning at age 4.”)

C. All vaccinated boys, removing one county with unusual results, compared to unvaccinated boys:
- Were 185% more likely to have a neurological disorder
- Were 279% more likely to have ADHD
- Were 146% more likely to have autism

Also, all vaccinated boys and girls were 120% more likely to have asthma than their unvaccinated peers.

Call for Larger Scale Study

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There have certainly been many questionable articles dismissing the suspected vaccine-autism connection, but the San Francisco Chronicle opinion-piece (The Truth About Autism) written by Kaiser Permanente pediatrician Dr. Rahul K. Parikh is probably one of the more egregious in its twisting of the truth.

Parikh begins by discussing one of his patients:

“Since learning of her son’s diagnosis, Andy’s mother had been vigilant. In her research, which she presented to me in a binder, she was positive about two things:

First, Andy was part of an epidemic of autism that has afflicted kids during the past 20 years. Second, the routine, life-saving vaccines that Andy had received during the first two years of his life had at least contributed to — if not been — the cause of his illness.

On both of these issues, nothing could have been further from the truth.”

One would think such a bold statement denying a vaccine-autism link would be followed by strong supporting evidence. However, Parikh fails to provide that.

Instead, Parikh says:

“The increase in autism cases is due to a better understanding of the disorder and its prevalence.”

Parikh goes on to provide nothing but subjective reasoning to support this claim:

• There is “more professional and public awareness.”
• Kids previously classified as mentally retarded or developmentally disabled are now classified as autistic.
• There is greater incentive to diagnose kids with these disorders because kids diagnosed on the autistic spectrum qualify for state aid.

Question:

If the increase is just a case of better diagnosis, where are all the 40 year-old autistic people? If there has been no change in the rate of autism, there should be millions of autistic older adults.

And, yet, there aren’t.

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As reported in The Huffington Post by David Kirby, journalist and author of the book Evidence of Harm, today marks the start of a key event in the vaccine-autism debate:

On Monday, one of the most important legal proceedings in American medical history will get underway at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington. There, a special panel of three judges will begin hearing evidence to support — and refute — the hypothesis that mercury in vaccines and/or the live-virus measles-mumps-rubella [MMR] shot caused autism or autism-like symptoms in some American children.

Monday will mark the first time ever that evidence of autistic harm from childhood vaccines is examined and cross-examined in a court of law. This is far from a slam dunk case for either side, and the stakes - professional, financial, emotional — could not be more intense.

The case being heard beginning today (Cedillo v. Secretary of Health and Human Services) is the first test case selected from over 4800 autism claims filed with the federal claims court (aka the Vaccine Court). Any decisions in the case will likely affect future guidance for other Vaccine Court and autism cases around the country.

The Stakes

Back in 1986, a vaccine compensation system was developed by Congress to limit the liability of vaccine manufacturers. A 75-cent tax has been levied on each vaccination shot and put in a compensation fund, which currently totals $2.5 billion.

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More insight into the story behind the HPV vaccine:

A lead researcher who spent 20 years developing the vaccine for humanpapilloma virus says the HPV vaccine is not for younger girls, and that it is “silly” for states to be mandating it for them.

Not only that, she says it’s not been tested for effectiveness in younger girls, and administering the vaccine to girls as young as 9 may not even protect them at all. And, in the worst-case scenario, instead of serving to reduce the numbers of cervical cancers within 25 years, such a vaccination crusade actually could cause the numbers to go up.

“Giving it to 11-year-olds is a great big public health experiment,” said Diane M. Harper, who is a scientist, physician, professor and the director of the Gynecologic Cancer Prevention Research Group at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire.

“It is silly to mandate vaccination of 11- to 12-year-old girls There also is not enough evidence gathered on side effects to know that safety is not an issue.”

Internationally recognized as a pioneer in the field, Harper has been studying HPV and a possible vaccine for several of the more than 100 strains of HPV for 20 years - most of her adult life.

Harper goes on to note that all of her tests have been with women ages 15 to 25. Her recommended approach would be test women ages 18 and up for the presence of HPV and then provide the vaccine to those for whom the test result is negative.

For those who test positive for HPV?

“Then we don’t know squat, because medically we don’t know how to respond to that,” Harper said.

The rest of the story

Check out the end of the article for a succinct and useful set of facts about the vaccine.

For months Harper has been trying to get the word out and convince media outlets to report the entire story, but no one would do so. Not too surprising.

Good thing she didn’t give up trying:

“I want to be able to sleep with myself when I go to bed at night,” Harper said. “My concern is still, let’s get women’s health better. It is still a good vaccine. But let’s be honest. Don’t over-promise.”

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Marc Joseph Nutrition

A quick update on the HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine (GARDASIL), which some states, such as Texas, are now considering requiring for all adolescent girls.

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), the nation’s leading vaccine safety and informed consent advocacy organization, has openly questioned both the risks and costs of the HPV vaccine:

“GARDASIL safety appears to have been studied in fewer than 2,000 girls aged 9 to 15 years pre-licensure clinical trials and it is unclear how long they were followed up. VAERS [Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System] is now receiving reports of loss of consciousness, seizures, arthritis and other neurological problems in young girls who have received the shot,” said NVIC President Barbara Loe Fisher. “At the same time, parents who take their daughters to private pediatricians are going to be shocked to find that they will be paying two to three times the widely publicized $360 cost for the three-dose series.

NVIC also notes how the HPV vaccine is being given by some doctors at the same time as other vaccines, despite no research to suggest that this practice is safe:

VAERS reports also indicate the doctors are administering GARDASIL to girls and women at the same with Tdap, DT, meningococcal (Menactra), hepatitis A, and other vaccines, even though the Merck product insert states that, with the exception of hepatitis B vaccine, “Co-administration of GARDASIL with other vaccines has not been studied.”

Certainly, cervical cancer is a terrible disease, but, as discussed in an earlier post, shouldn’t more research go into potential interactions between the various vaccine antigens? Why rush into adding another required vaccine, especially since cervical cancer rates have fallen dramatically because of routine pap smears?

There has been a more than 70 percent drop in cervical cancer deaths in American women since the 1950’s due to routine pap smears and nearly all cervical cancers can be prevented with regular pap smear screening and treatment.

Merck, the manufacturer of GARDASIL, even acknowledges the effectiveness of screening and notes it should not be stopped after vaccination:

In its product manufacturer insert, Merck states that “Vaccination does not substitute for routine cervical cancer screening. Women who receive GARDASIL should continue to undergo cervical cancer screening per standard of care.” Merck also states that “The duration of immunity following a complete schedule of immunization with GARDASIL has not been established.”

Something doesn’t seem quite right …

From the January 1, 2007 issue of American Family Physician (AAFP):

2007 Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedules - Evolution or Intelligent Design?

“The first childhood immunization schedule was released in 1983 and provided guidance to physicians as to which of the four vaccines recommended at the time (i.e., diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis [DTP], oral poliovirus vaccine [OPV], measles, mumps, and rubella [MMR], and tetanus and diphtheria toxoid [Td]) to administer at each of seven age ranges (i.e., two, four, six, 15, and 18 months, four to six years, and 14 to 16 years). All told, a child born in 1983 would receive 11 vaccine doses between birth and 18 years of age…

…The recommended schedule continues to provide guidance to busy physicians. Today, American children receive 39 recommended vaccine doses by age 18, a 3.5-fold increase over the past 25 years. This explosion of antigens has been associated with a 6.3-fold increase in vaccination-related costs. The estimated 1983 private market cost for one child to receive all recommended vaccines was $254 (adjusted to present day, excluding administrative costs); this amount has grown to $1,601 ($1,744 when optional annual influenza vaccine is added for children six to 18 years of age).2 The vaccine cost alone to fully immunize each U.S. birth cohort (approximately 4 million children) is an estimated $6.4 billion.”

PDF of the 2007 Recommended Child Immunization Schedule

Concerns

Evolution or Intelligent Design? Are those our only two choices?

11 vaccine doses in 1983 vs. 39 doses today. Wow.

I’m not necessarily anti-vaccine. There are some pretty terrible diseases out there (e.g., polio). However, that sure is an amazing increase in antigen exposure over a very short period of time.

My health concerns are two-fold:

1. The cumulative toxin exposure, e.g.:

• Ethyl mercury in the preservative thimerosal, which is still used in 90% of all flu vaccines for children and adults, as well as in other adult vaccines, such as tetanus/diphtheria booster shots. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still does NOT recommend mercury-free shots to either pregnant women or children, despite the fact that a mercury-containing flu shot has 50,000 ppb mercury, while liquid with only 200 ppb is considered hazardous waste by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
• Aluminum hydroxide, a common adjuvant (immune stimulant) added to vaccines, which is linked to Gulf War Illness and causes motor neuron death in mice.

2. The potential immune system imbalances created by both the increased number of vaccine antigens injected into young children and the interactions between them.

Financial Incentives

As noted above in the AAFP article excerpt, the pharmaceutical industry’s financial incentives for expanding vaccination schedules are significant. $254 in revenue per child in 1983 vs. $1,601 today.

This recent article in the LA Times describes the “renaissance” in vaccine development:

Breakthroughs in technology, increased funding and higher profits are spurring a boom in vaccine discovery and development that could save or improve the lives of millions of people by attacking such scourges as cancer and malaria …

… “It’s clear there is a renaissance going on around vaccines,” said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “We have made more progress with some [vaccines] in the past few years than we have in the past 30.” …

… Perhaps the best evidence of a vaccine revival is that the pharmaceutical industry is returning to the market …

… Overall, the number of vaccines in development has risen from 285 in 1996 to 450 today.

Drug executives say they can charge considerably more for today’s vaccines — up to several hundred dollars or more — versus a few dollars for older vaccines.

Might financial incentives and political influence be driving the introduction of some of these vaccines?:

Texas Governor orders anti-cancer vaccine

“Perry has ties to Merck and Women in Government. One of the drug company’s three lobbyists in Texas is Mike Toomey, Perry’s former chief of staff. His current chief of staff’s
mother-in-law, Texas Republican state Rep. Dianne White Delisi, is a state director for Women in Government.

The governor also received $6,000 from Merck’s political action committee during his re-election campaign.”

Bottom Line

I’d like to see greater study into the potential interaction between the different vaccine antigens and the effects on the immune system. Creating products that help most people with the risk of potential harm to a small subset of people doesn’t seem like such a good bet when you’re one of the people in the small subset.

With autism and developmental disorders continuing to skyrocket (record numbers in California in 2006 — a topic I’ll cover in a separate future post), we need to better understand the potential risks created by these greatly expanded vaccination schedules.

In this blog, I regularly raise the topic of vaccines and potential toxin and immune injury. The reasoning is that:

1. These injuries affect potentially millions of people in both acute and subclinical ways, with effects that may last lifetimes.
2. The emotional and financial costs of helping family members deal with these illnesses are extremely high.
3. Nutritional and other biomedical interventions can play a significant role in helping people to heal and recover.

David Kirby, author of the excellent book Evidence of Harm that discusses the role of the mercury-containing vaccine preservative thimerosal in autism, has a great post (There is No Autism Epidemic) on The Huffington Post blog.

Kirby notes that there is a group of people who call themselves “neurodiverse” and appear to be high-functioning autistics (often described as Asperger’s Syndrome). This group strongly resists the autism label and the stigma associated with it. Kirby says that’s fine and entirely understandable.

What isn’t ok, in both Kirby’s opinion and mine, is saying, as neurodiversity proponents do, that autism doesn’t represent a significant and widespread health problem, that children with much more severe forms of autism are “neurodiverse” and should be allowed to just live “as is” without treatment. Kirby goes on to list some of the common traits of these affected children, e.g.:

I am talking about kids who begin talking and then, suddenly, never say another word.

I’m talking about kids who may never learn to read, write, tie their shoes or fall in love.

I’m talking about kids who sometimes wail in torture at three in the morning because something inside them hurts like a burning coal, but they can’t say what or where it is.

I’m talking about kids who can barely keep food in their inflamed, distressed guts, and when they do, it winds up in rivers of diarrhea or swirls of feces spread on a favorite carpet or pet (no one said this kind of “autism” was pretty).

Kirby minces no words in calling out the severity of the situation:

American kids are in huge trouble. One in six has a learning disability. Asthma, diabetes, allergies and arthritis are ravaging their bodies in growing numbers. And little of this is due to “better diagnostics” or “greater awareness.”

It can only be attributed to radical changes in our environment over the last 10-20 years. There is something, or more likely some things in our modern air, water, food and drugs that are making genetically susceptible children sick, and we need to find out what they are.

Mercury remains a logical candidate for contributing to “autism spectrum disorders,” either alone or in combination with other environmental insults. Mercury exposure can kill brain cells. It can cause loss of speech and eye contact, digestive and immune dysfunction, social withdrawal and anxiety, and repetitive and self-injurious behaviors.

Go check out the entire post. It’s a good read. The reader comments are interesting as well.

It’s clear that what today are called autism spectrum disorders are really biomedical disorders strongly shaped by environmental factors, such as toxin exposure, and involve significant damage to the nervous, immune, and gastrointestinal systems. Surely, both scientists and practitioners will continue to push forward in 2007 to better understand the environmental triggers and to refine biomedical treatment approaches.

There’s already quite a bit that can be done today using dietary, supplementation, and detoxification interventions to help individuals affected with autism and ADD/ADHD heal and recover function. You can read more about these approaches here.

Beginning this year, 200,000 members of the U.S. military will be required to get the anthrax vaccine or lose their jobs.

The Pentagon is reviving its mandatory anthrax vaccinations despite allegations that the shots have contributed to as many as 23 deaths and sickened hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of soldiers.

How many of them will have a similar experience as James Francis?:

[M}erchant seaman James Francis and his mates got an ultimatum: Take anthrax and smallpox vaccinations or lose your jobs.

Francis’ Seattle attorney, Russell Williams, described the shipboard scene the next day off the isle of Crete as: “Wham, bam. ‘Get in line. Take your shots.’”

Within days of taking the two shots, Francis’ feet began to tingle and burn. When he later took the second in a series of six anthrax shots, his health slid downhill. Since then, the 45-year-old messmate from Las Vegas has fought a rare nervous system disease known as Guillain-Barre Syndrome, along with chronic pain, pneumonia and a life-threatening blood clot.

Members of the military often have the additional problem of receiving multiple vaccinations on the same day (some of which contain the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal). Is it any wonder that soldiers develop neuro-immunological and auto-immune diseases at such high rates?

To-date, the FDA has recorded more than 4,700 reports related to anthrax shots over the last 16 years, but acknowledges that the reports will “inevitably be underreported.” One doctor quoted in the article above notes that she alone has treated approximately 2,000 cases.

There is a little recourse for military personnel if a negative vaccination reaction occurs. Vaccine makers cannot be sued, and military personnel are prohibited from suing the federal government.

The controversial anthrax vaccine is called BioThrax, and its use and potential negative effects have been debated for years:

In 2004, lawyers for sick soldiers won a court injunction blocking the mandatory shots until the Food and Drug Administration reviewed the license of Maryland-based vaccine manufacturer Emergent BioSolutions. In December 2005, the FDA declared the vaccine safe and restored the license.

Despite testimony from military doctors regarding negative anthrax vaccination effects, the Pentagon decided in October 2006 to reinstate mandatory smallpox and anthrax shots. This despite the fact that:

Numerous public health experts believe BioThrax causes a range of problems, particularly among women and people prone to autoimmune diseases. They list Guillain-Barre, which can kill or paralyze; other neurological disorders; diabetes; arthritis; chronic fatigue syndrome; chronic muscle and joint pain; respiratory ailments; vision problems; memory loss, and depression …

… [A]s recently as May, the Government Accountability Office said that the vaccine’s long-term safety “has not been studied.”

In December 2006, the lawyers who succeeded in getting the earlier injunction filed another suit seeking a new injunction.

It’s truly a shame that the members of our military are being used as guinea pigs in this vaccination experiment. Can you blame soldiers like Retired Army Capt. B. David Hodge for saying:

“I love my country,” Hodge said. “It’s my government I don’t trust.”

Surely, he’s not alone in that thought.

Disturbing post on Huffington Post by author David Kirby (Evidence of Harm) regarding the federal government efforts to seal the courtroom proceedings for next year’s autism vaccine trial:

You may not know it, but there is an official federal “vaccine court,” where some 4,750 autism-related cases have been pending for years. Claimants believe the mercury-based vaccine preservative, thimerosal, and/or the MMR vaccine, contributed to their children’s autism, and they are seeking compensation from a special vaccine injury fund administered by the federal government.

The long-awaited autism vaccine trial will commence on June 11 in the courtroom of Special Master George Hastings. The plaintiffs and their attorneys have asked for complete transparency in every aspect of the tribunal, including public disclosure of all evidence and unhindered media access to the hearings. The few autism families whose medical records will be scrutinized as legal examples are waiving their right to privacy and confidentiality, so that their stories may finally be told in an open court of law.

But the DOJ (technically, the “defense”) has other plans. On November 3rd, the Department wrote to Hastings saying it “would oppose public access to the courtroom and public broadcast of the trial,” because such an arrangement. “would pose security and privacy concerns” for those in attendance.

Can you smell something rotten? Kirby (and I’m sure many others can):

Exactly whose privacy are they trying to protect? It can’t be the parents, because they don’t want privacy. The only party fretting about privacy is the DOJ itself, and presumably, the vaccine makers. (As for “security” concerns, isn’t that why we have court officers?).

The government may call this privacy, but I call it secrecy. In fact, there has been a long and unseemly history of secrecy when it comes to federal data on thimerosal and autism.

And let’s face it: People don’t hide something unless they have something to hide. (emphasis added)

Check out the entire post, as well as the many comments of parents who are on top of the issue.

It’s pretty clear that heavy metal toxicity plays a key role in many, if not most, autism cases. The site Put Children First provides good background on the connection.

Hopefully public outcry will help to ensure the court proceedings are public. Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

(For those people who think environmental toxins such as mercury may have played a role in a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting themselves or people they know, there are effective biomedical approaches to healing and recovering.)

In news that you certainly didn’t see on the evening news, the organization Put Children First commissioned a survey of 9,000 individuals regarding the use of mercury in flu shots and got some very interesting results, e.g.:

• 76% of respondents are unaware that most flu shots contain mercury (the vaccine’s preservative, thimerosal, contains 50% mercury).
• After learning that mercury is an ingredient, 74% are less likely to get a flu shot and 86% say they are less likely to get their child a flu shot.
• 77% believe mercury should not be an ingredient in flu shots given to pregnant women and children.
• 73% believe the government should warn pregnant women not to get a flu shot if it contains mercury.
• More than 70% agree that Congress, doctors and medical groups (e.g., the American Academy of Pediatrics) should take responsibility for ensuring vaccines do not contain mercury.
• 80% of respondents and 84% of parents are willing to pay the $2.50 additional cost for a mercury-free flu shot.

Check out the results overview page here. Put Children First includes many eye-opening items of interest, including:

• 90% of the flu shots distributed this year for both adults and children will contain mercury (in the form of thimerosal, as will many other adult vaccines, such as some tetanus/diptheria booster shots).
• A mercury-containing flu shot contains 50,000 ppb (parts per billion) of mercury. If liquid contains more than 200 ppb, it is classified by the government as a hazardous waste. Drinking water cannot contain more than 2 ppb. Simply amazing.
• Mercury is estimated to be 1000 times as toxic as lead. Could you imagine the uproar if lead were included in vaccines? According to the Material Data Safety Sheet for thimerosal, no safe occupational exposure level has been determined.
• Links to recent articles published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the British Medical Journal (BMJ) questioning the effectiveness of flu vaccines.
• Links to studies documenting thimerosal’s extreme toxicity.

Certainly some information to consider before getting that next vaccination…