At this very moment, knowing what you know, do you think you would vaccinate your child? And if you don’t have a kid, then pretend you do. Now, keeping your answer in mind, do you know the possible risks that go along with your decision? If you do, great; if not, then I hope you do when the time comes because child vaccination is a parent’s choice, not a doctor’s, so you ought to know what it really means to have your child vaccinated. Recently, child vaccination has been an issue of debate due to possible links to autism, concerns over vaccine efficacy and safety, and even more perturbing, financial ties between huge pharmaceutical companies (“Big Pharma”) and the medical community.

Not So Cruel Intentions

So why did doctors and scientists encourage parents to vaccinate their kids in the first place? Decades ago, childhood illnesses such as measles, mumps, and polio were common and often fatal. So, the original idea behind vaccines was to “build immunity” to certain bacterial and viral culprits responsible for our temporary downfalls in wellness. Sounds like a humanitarian idea so far.

The Fashion Police

 The idea behind building immunity is this: we have an immune system in our body that consists of two sets of “soldiers.” One set, which is called the humoral immune system, is responsible for identifying and recognizing foreign agents that have invaded our bodies. Mother Nature made sure that each foreign agent had some sort of protein “uniform,” or coat, that made it identifiable to our savvy soldiers. For example, the first time that you catch the chicken pox virus, you run a fever and break out in a horribly itchy rash all over your body. You feel these symptoms because your second set of soldiers, called the cellular immune system, are destroying the foreign agents for not following the dress code that is strictly enforced in your body. So, the humoral set of soldiers identifies and recognizes foreign agents while the cellular set destroys them.

Back to those horrible symptoms, these are due to the “acute inflammatory response” (try saying that 10 times in a row!) that occurs when your cellular immune system is at work. Meanwhile, your humoral soldiers are memorizing that hideous protein uniform the foreign agent is wearing. The next time you happen to catch the chicken pox virus in that same unstylish uniform, your cellular soldiers will pulverize them so quick that you won’t even feel the symptoms that occurred the first time you caught the pox! That’s right- you are spared the fever, the unsightly rashes, and excruciating itchiness because you’ve got your personal fashion police making sure you don’t house these fashion victims more than once.

So that was Mother Nature’s way; western medicine’s style stems from this same idea.

But in lieu of catching the full-blown virus from your little brother or your best friend, a  physician injects a “dead” version of the sucker into you. This injection is called a vaccine. The injection is supposed to get your humoral immune system all revved up, and your humoral soldiers go through the process of identifying foreign agents by looking for anyone whose protein coat is an eye-sore. Once the lifeless invaders have been identified, your body is prepared to quickly and efficiently recognize them, sans the symptoms, if you actually catch the virus from someone. The perks of receiving a vaccine rather than catching it from someone is that you are not supposed to actually become ill from the shot. The purpose of the vaccine is to avoid the entire awful ordeal of staying in bed for a week. Notice how with vaccines there isn’t much of a response, if any, from the cellular immune system since they are not going to waste their time and energy killing something that is already dead. If the cellular immune system doesn’t take action, then the acute inflammatory response does not occur. If the acute inflammatory response does not occur, we do not feel sick. Sounds good, right? Well, we’ll see how this is too good to  be true later.

Moreover, the typical childhood vaccines don’t only include chicken pox, but polio, measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis, just to name a few. That’s a whole lot of cocktail for a small person! So is it necessary?

The necessity of vaccines for infants and toddlers has been called into question by parents claiming possible links to autism, as well as the possibility that the risks may outweigh the benefits. And what’s even more alarming are the links between Big Pharma and those who are supposed to be reliable sources of information for the public. I shall go over the rationale behind these concerns.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

What stimulated the fears of a possible autism-stimulating vaccine is a chemical called

thimerosal. Thimerosal is a preservative in vaccines that prevents viral and bacterial growth. The deal with thimerosal is that it is a type of mercury—gasp! But it is not the same kind of mercury that everybody is always associating with fish or pregnant women. Thimerosal contains ethyl mercury, which is different than methyl mercury found in fish. But let’s not kid ourselves, mercury is mercury, and all mercury causes tissue damage. One notable difference between these two types of mercury is their blood half-life. What is blood half-life? It is the amount of time it takes to get rid of half the amount of something you started with. For example, if I happen to have 1 cup of chocolate milk in my blood, and it takes 2 days for me to get rid of a 1/2 cup of the chocolate milk, which is half the amount I started with, then the blood half-life of chocolate milk is 2 days. The blood half-life of ethyl mercury (thimerosal) is 3.7 days, which is much shorter than methyl mercury’s (“fish” mercury) 44 days. Because of the large disparity in blood half-lives, some doctors claim that ethyl mercury’s short half-life makes it impossible for toxin build-up. But what those doctors fail to mention is that just because the ethyl mercury is out of your blood, it does not mean it is not in your brain, fat, or other tissues. And to top it off, ethyl mercury has an easier time than methyl mercury reaching your noggin, and once there, wreaking havoc; hence the concern that vaccines (or more directly, thimerosal), may cause autism.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that a vaccine does not simply contain a piece of inactive virus or bacteria. As I just mentioned, it contains a preservative (thimerosal), and in addition to that, something called an adjuvant. This guy perks up your humoral

immune system, which causes some inflammation in your body. The adjuvant is needed because the dead virus alone isn’t going to perk up your immune system. While autism still remains a mystery to the medical community, it is known that those with autism have an extremely inflamed brain. Because both autism and the adjuvant are linked to inflammation, it is believed that the adjuvant may cause more susceptible individuals to develop full-blown autism.

All this talk of mercury, adjuvants, and inflammation (oh my!) is a bit of a hair-raiser, but one of the things that America seems to do best is panic and worry. So are we over-reacting? Is it possible that everything just happens to be a coincidence? Some parents believe that the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine is associated with autism. That shot is typically given to children 12-15 months of age, and most cases of autism are identified around that same time. It isn’t until the child is about 12 months or older that autistic symptoms, such as difficulty speaking and communicating, can be observed. Although it has been noted that there is a direct correlation between the increasing number of children getting vaccinated and the increasing number of autistic cases being reported, that does not necessarily mean we have a greater incidence of autism. It has been said that the number of cases being reported is just that—the number of cases being reported. Perhaps we’ve always had around 1 out of every 150 children being autistic, and it was just never reported until now.

But let’s be real: 1 out of 150 children being autistic for the past, say 100 years, sounds a bit far-fetched. I have enough experience working with autistic children, even those who are only “slightly” autistic, to feel that it is a difficult a disorder to miss. If there were really 1 out of 150 autistic children in the United States for so many years, then why did it take us so long to notice?

The Sky is Falling!

Perhaps America’s fears have simply shifted from polio to autism. As you probably know, we’ve always got to worry about something, and the new concern is autism. See, years ago people focused their concerns on polio and small pox because they were prevalent in America. It was the thing to worry about, and rightly so because so many children had battled with these illnesses; everyone knew someone who was affected by it. But we haven’t seen any cases of polio or small pox in decades! So it’s no longer sensible to be worrying about polio or small pox now because autism is now the new growing concern for the parents,.

We live in a celebrity-obsessed society, and the mainstream media is doing a great job fuelling the autism concern. We’ve got celebrities like Jenny McCarthy going on CNN, nay-saying vaccines while Amanda Peet is doing commercials urging parents to “do your

research” and “vaccinate your child.” Hey- at least we’ve got cheerleaders on both sides to make the media seem unbiased…

According to the mainstream media, particularly medical journals, some studies were done that “proved” mercury and autism had no connection. And then if you flip to the next page, you are likely to find an ad for Merck’s HPV vaccine, or Pfizer’s Celebrex. So what?

Old McDonald had a Pharm

What’s up is Merck and Pfizer are among the top Big Pharma companies. And as the title, “Big Pharma” implies, they are big pharmaceutical companies, though “Big” would be an understatement. “Big” may be the name, but humongous is the reality of these companies. A Big Pharma company is one whose revenue exceeds $3 billion and/or has a research and development allowance in excess of $500 million. There are thousands of pharmaceutical companies around the world, yet the top 20 companies contain 60% of total pharmaceutical sales! Twenty companies out of thousands is like a single grain of salt out of an entire salt shaker on your corn-on-the-cob, just one really powerful grain. Yet, given time, that single grain is powerful enough to dehydrate most of the kernels on your corn stalk; it leaches each kernel of its sweet juices and causes them to wrinkle and be devoid of any satiable value. Big Pharma is that single grain of salt while each kernel represents a once relatively healthy person whose wallet and well-being gets depleted. Who knew that one powerful grain out of the thousands in that saltshaker could cause so much saltiness? For Big Pharma, the money rolls in by making America sicker, not healthier.

“Show me the Money!”

Making money is the motivation for many people in just about every aspect in life, and sadly, most of the health care field is not any different. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is supposed to be a reliable source of information and advice for all pediatricians, including those who are not looking to profit from drug companies. And you would think so because the AAP is considered a non-profit organization, but what’s crazy is there is no law requiring this organization to provide details of their money-dealings to anyone, not even to the IRS. There are clandestine monetary operations going on between Big Pharma and institutions in which we would intuitively put our trust in. These institutes I speak of include the aforementioned AAP, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and the National

Institutes of Health (NIH). I say we would trust them intuitively because the FDA, CDC, and NIH are government affiliates, and the role of the government is to serve the people in which they govern. These groups were formed on the basis of consumer protection in the food and/or drug industry. But there seems to be a conflict of interest.

Let’s visit Exhibit A: the AAP. One outstanding case of their suspicious financial ties is the year they endorsed Merck’s HPV vaccine. That same year that they endorsed this highly debatable vaccine, they received over $400,000 from them. This the American Academy of Pediatrics! Their main concern is supposed to be of the welfare of our children, yet they are confidently supporting this controversial drug that is being pushed onto 9-year-old girls. And they call themselves a non-profit…

Conflict of interest is the theme that seems to be omnipresent in these financial exchanges, and something we need to look out for the next time we flip through a magazine or surf the web. Be aware of who is monetarily linked to your source. Do they carry stocks or speaking fees with a Big Pharma? Be aware of the Pharm your source’s irrigation system is flowing from.

Pump Your Brakes!

If vaccines may be linked to autism, and they are most definitely linked to money-nabbing organizations and doctors, can these vaccines at least fulfill their role as immune-system boosters? Do the benefits outweigh the risk?

America is always on the run and looking for a quick solution. Can’t afford that flat

screen LCD television set? Charge it on the credit card! Need to skim off 30 pounds from your frame? Liposuction! Whatever happened to good old diet and exercise? Diet and exercise is the solution that takes some time and discipline, but it is guaranteed to work. It is the solution that doesn’t involve going under the knife or injecting toxic chemicals and other foreign substances into our bodies. Quick-fixes to our problems are constantly being promoted and we are increasingly relying on drugs and chemicals to quickly deal with all our health maladies. Does a crash diet work in the long run? No! You end up gaining all the weight back, plus some, or you develop an eating disorder. They call it a “crash” for a reason.

A Balancing Act

Remember our friends, the humoral and cellular immune system? When we catch a cold or the chicken pox (the natural way of building immunity), we make both components of our immune system stronger. This is good because we want to keep them balanced, just like all other aspects of life. But with vaccines, we only stimulate the humoral soldiers (the fashion police). This situation forces our entire immune system to undergo a balancing act.

Try balancing on a huge rubber ball, say 6 feet in diameter. If you can use both feet, you still have to work at it, but it is definitely possible to do. And in the process, you have to use every muscle in your body and intense concentration to accomplish this balancing task, but it will make you stronger. Now try balancing on one foot. You end up doing more damage because you’ll probably twist your ankle in the process, and then your head will break your inevitable fall, and instead of a good workout, you end up hurting yourself.

So having too much of the humoral response from vaccines causes your body to compensate for this by lowering the cellular response. And like I said before, if you don’t have the cellular response, then you won’t get the acute inflammatory response. And now I will address why this is bad: because now it’s a balancing act between the acute inflammatory response and an autoimmune disorder! A stronger acute inflammatory response indicates a smaller likelihood of developing an autoimmune disorder such as diabetes or arthritis. But a weaker acute inflammatory response corresponds to a greater likelihood for these self-destructive diseases.

Now you can see why the effectiveness of vaccines have been called into question. There is a discrepancy as to what exactly caused the decrease in the number of cases of these childhood illnesses. It has been said that, it is improved sanitization, health care, and nutrition that have truly decreased the cases of measles and polio. Vaccines appear to suppress, not boost, one’s overall immune system. So no, it does not look like vaccines fulfill their role as immune-system boosters.

Do Your Homework!

But the choice to vaccinate your child is not just black and white- there are gray areas here. Should you choose to vaccinate your child, you have the option to follow a modified vaccine schedule for your child, which allows your child to still receive the recommended vaccines, but you can start when he/she is a little older and spread out the injections over a greater period of time. This may decrease the likelihood of vaccine injuries. Or you can pick and choose what vaccines you purchase for your child.

The point is we have brains and access to the facts. So I urge you, if and when the time comes for you need to make the decision for your child, do your research and get informed. Don’t just let your child’s doctor tell you to getting vaccinated. If you decide to take a shot at it, then be sure to have your child evaluated to see if he is at risk for vaccine injury. If you decide to vaccinate or opt out, then that is your call, but make it your choice not your blind obligation. Be skeptical of what you read until you know about any financial negotiations. Go online, ask numerous doctors, and educate yourself on vaccines so that you, not Big Pharma, can decide what would be best for your child’s health.