Measles Epidemic

By now most of us have heard about the great Measles Epidemic of 2008. If you are not sure what I am referring to check out this article from CNN.com:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/08/21/measles.outbreaks.ap/index.html

In this article, they take many shots at families who choose not to vaccinate. Those families, families like my own, are having the finger pointed at them because of the current measles outbreaks (which, in the big scheme of things, there is NO epidemic). Funny thing is, if you read the very first sentence in this news story you see something a "little"contradictory. Let me show you:
"Measles cases in the U.S. are at the highest level in more than a decade, with nearly half of those involving children whose parents rejected vaccination, health officials reported Thursday." Did you catch what I caught when you read the opening sentence? If not, let me show you what caught my eye."...with nearly half of those involving children who parents rejected vaccination..."Nearly half. Not the total group, not half, nearly half. So that means that the other half, or actually slightly more than half, came from VACCINATED children. Funny how the news and the CDC can spin things, huh? Seems to me, the CDC should be examining why the half who were vaccinated got the measles. The story even goes on to say that some of the unvaccinated children were too young for the vaccine. That is why they had not received it. See again, the families who choose not to vaccinate are being blamed for those numbers too. Somehow they got grouped in with the rest of us. Later, the article flips and gives a higher number for unvaccinated children. This article is filled with inconsistencies.

I am often asked, "Well, don't you worry about your kids getting Measles?" I certainly wouldn't like to see my boys get the measles, but I trust that they would survive if they got it. Based on the facts that they are healthy, well-adjusted, and have good nutritional habits, I think they would get through measles and would then develop a life long immunity to it, just as they would chicken pox. Like any parent who loves their children, I hate to see my kids suffer. I would feel terrible for them if they were to contract measles; however, I am much more willing to watch them conquer the measles than to suffer a disabling side effect from the MMR vaccine. Not only have I seen a lot of research on the dangerous ingredients in the vaccine, I have also read testimony after testimony of parents who had totally normal children pre-vaccine, and literally hours after receiving the MMR vaccine, they had zombies. So it may not protect my kids from an illness that nearly all kids in America would be able to recover from, but may cause permanent disability? For me and our family, we find the risk to outweigh the possible benefits. This is why I continue to ask parents to please educate yourselves and make the decision that is right for you and your family. Your decision may not be the same as my decision, but make it an EDUCATED decision.

More and More Parents Refusing to Vaccinate

And it may not be the parents you would expect. Many educated middle class families are opting out of vaccinations. Check out the following story to find out more...

http://www.naturalnews.com/023911.html

Just Because it is OTC...

...Doesn't mean it's safe. Many parents think that if medicine can be purchased over-the-counter, then it must be safe. Let me assure you, that is not the case. There are many little-known dangers of giving these drugs to children. Some stories are finally making their way to the public (like the dangers of giving small children cold/cough medicines), however, many are not. You need to arm yourself with knowledge...especially when it comes to your children's health! Check out Dr. Mercola's article:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/08/07/the-little-known-dangers-of-motrin.aspx

A small excerpt from this super informative article:
It’s quite common for parents – especially first-time parents -- to rush to give their children OTC drugs for every pain and sniffle. It’s important to remember that in the first year or two of life, your child's immune system is still being formed, and their experiences during this time can often predict whether or not they will have life-long health problems.
Scientific studies continually support the wisdom of limiting exposures to "foreign" substances for children, including synthetic chemicals -- which includes ALL drugs.
But did you know that many OTC drugs contain otherwise "banned" food additives as well? They too can cause serious side effects, even though they’re not the main ingredient.
According to an expose’ by the British Food Commission last year, ALL BUT ONE pediatric OTC medicine out of 41 contained an additive that had been banned.
The additives found in these drugs included:
Synthetic azo dyes
Maltitol and sorbitol
Benzoate and sulphite preservatives
Chloroform.

Your child deserve the best care possible. Please do all you can to make sure that they receive the care he/she deserves. Remember that God equipped our bodies to heal, we need only to get out of the way and allow Him to work in our bodies. We need to be sure we're feeding our kids healthy foods and make sure that they are getting adequate exercise. We also need to make sure our kids' nervous systems are functioning at their best. Our kids deserve the very best!

Reations to Antibiotics

The story I just read on abcnews.com starts out this way:

Bad reactions to antibiotics, mostly allergic ones, send people to U.S. emergency rooms more than 140,000 times each year, government researchers reported on Wednesday. The findings offer another reason for doctors to limit their use of the drugs, which are overused in the United States, the team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. "This number is an important reminder for physicians and patients that antibiotics can have serious side effects and should only be taken when necessary," said the CDC's Dr. Daniel Budnitz, who led the study.

140,000 emergency room visits! Those are just the ones that are reported. Two super popular antibiotics, penicillin and amoxicillin, accounted for HALF the reactions. The study says that 78% of the visits were due to allergic reactions, and the remaining 22% were caused by errors.An estimated 100 million antibiotic prescriptions are written every year. A lot of studies say that more than half of those prescriptions are unnecessary. I will take it a step further, I say they are unnecessary AND harmful. Most times, antibiotics are prescribed for viruses. Antibiotics are absolutely useless for viruses. They are intended for bacterial infections, not viral. In regards to this, the following quote from the article really stood out:...doctors still often believe their patients are exceptions to the rule and continue to write the prescriptions.Although antibiotics are common, they are not safe. Every drug has side effects, you just don't know how they may affect you...and often times, until it's too late. Don't be another statistic. Only take medications when it is absolutely necessary, for emergency purposes. Give your body a chance to heal. God designed your body to heal. Give it a chance.

To read the whole story, check out the link below:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WireStory?id=5572236&page=2

More Cell Phone Info...

This morning I logged into my email and there is another incredible article on cell phone risks. I can promise you that we are going to be seeing more and more of this information making its way into mainstream news. If you found yesterdays post interesting than you have to check this one out.

Blessings to all!

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/08/12/cancer-institute-warns-of-cell-phone-risks.aspx?source=nl

Cell Phones and Kids

Sorry it has been so long since my last post, but between vacations and getting ready for school to start, I haven't been able t keep up with anything. I do have several good pieces of info to share with you though, so hopefully over the next few days I will get them all posted!

Below is a very interesting article regarding the dangers of cell phones to children and teens. I started learning about the dangers of cell phones a few years ago. I used to thingk the biggest danger was that people were not paying attention to driving while using their cell phones, but it appears that there are far greater dangers. This article does an excellent job of explaining the dangers of information-carrying radio waves. I know of children as young as 7 who have their own cell phones. I also know several teenagers that literally sleep with their cell phones. I have been trying to use my cell phone on speaker whenever possible and as much as I didn't want to learn to text, I catch myself doing it more and more.


http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/08/09/why-children-and-teens-should-stay-away-from-cell-phones.aspx?source=nl