A Safer Vaccination?

[Deb]

Has anyone heard of or have any opinions on this? They also have a shingles version.
http://www.lotushomeopathy.com/homeoprophylaxis.html

Homeoprophylaxis

Sometimes called Homeopathic Vaccinations, Homeoprophylaxis (HP) is an alternative method of protecting against childhood diseases without the potential side effects of vaccinations.

Many people are torn about their decision to vaccinate themselves or their children. On the one hand, the medical profession utilizes fear, uncertainty and doubt to frighten people into get themselves or their children vaccinated. On the other hand, there are many side effects of vaccinations and questions about whether they are even effective, not to mention the toxic ingredients such as mercury, formaldehyde and other adjuvants.

Homeoprophylaxis the use of homeopathic nosodes for disease protection may be the best way to protect you and your child from infectious, contagious disease and prevent the possible side effects of vaccines.

The Basic Childhood Disease Homeoprophylaxis program includes the following:

Pertussin: Whooping Cough
Pneumococcinum: Pneumonia
Lathyrus sativus: Polio
Haemophilus: Hib
Meningococcinum: Meningitis
Tetanus Toxin: Tetanus
Parotidinum: Mumps
Morbillinum: Measles/Rubella

Does it work?
Yes. Homeoprophylaxis was first fortuitously discovered by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann in 1801. He used the homeopathic remedy Belladonna 30 to treat cases of Scarlet Fever. He also gave it as a prevention for other patients and found it worked. He later went on to use homeopathy to prevent such diseases as Cholera and Typhoid.

More recently, Australian Dr. Isaac Golden began a modern day HP program in 1986. The follow up from his 18 year study showed a 90% effectiveness, which is comparable to effectiveness of vaccines which range from 70% to 99%, depending on the individual vaccine. http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/ar ... accination Interestingly, it was found that those children who received HP and no vaccinations were healthier than those children who had no HP and no vaccinations.

In 2007 and 2008, the Cuban Government utilized homeopathy to prevent Leptospirosis, or swamp fever. Five million doses of Homeopathic Leptospiro were given to 2.5 million people at the cost of US $200,000.00. Normally thousands of people are infected each year, in spite of allopathic vaccinations. The result of the HP program is that there were ZERO infections among those that participated. http://homeopathyresource.wordpress.com ... from-cuba/

[tex]

That's news to me, but it sounds interesting/promising.

One potential problem that comes to mind is the issue of "mandatory" vaccinations. Mainstream medicine is probably not going to recognize any of those as legitimate vaccinations because for the most part, allopathic physicians are not known for their open-mindedness when determining whether certain alternative medical practices meet "official" guidelines. But maybe I'm just inappropriately jumping to conclusions.

Thanks for the info,
Tex

[Deb]

That was my first thought too, Tex. My daughter really doesn't want to battle her schools over this and is pretty concerned about the position California has taken. She is now living in Georgia and doing immunizations on a slow schedule.

[Blueberry]

You might write to Dr Suzanne Humphries. She is a conventional doctor that became concerned over some issues with vaccinations. She co-wrote a book on the topic. The book is largely on the history of vaccination, and improving ones immunity with foods and improved sanitation. I know she looked at homeopathic ideas, probably out of curiosity. She does not practice it. It is something her critics use to attack her. Her web sight can be seen at:

http://drsuzanne.net

[Deb]

Thanks, Blueberry!

[BearcatRx]

There are potential side effects to everything we take into our bodies - even "natural supplements" and various other homeopathic remedies. There's not one single thing that has no side effects. Vaccines are no different. You have to weigh the risk vs benefit. Do you want your child to suffer from polio? Die of pertussis? Or run the SMALL risk of some sort of minimal side effect.

[tex]

I certainly agree that there is no such thing as a treatment of any type that is absolutely free of risk. But it's not the small risk of some sort of minimal side effect that most people are concerned about — it's the extremely small risk of a massive adverse mast cell event that can be triggered by a vaccine under certain poorly-understood conditions.

Agreed, no one should worry about minimal side effects. But everyone should be aware of the tiny risk of a major adverse reaction. We have at least several members who have personally experienced such an event, and they now have some form of systemic mastocytosis as a direct result of an adverse reaction to a vaccine. Mastocytosis is not a minimal side effect. It's a very traumatic, life-altering event that leaves the victim permanently afflicted with a major AI issue.

If vaccines were anywhere near as safe as the government and the medical community claims, they wouldn't need the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program to compensate patients who suffer adverse reactions.

National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

Vaccine Injury Table

Sure, vaccines can save lives. But the downside is that by doing so they will also severely compromise or destroy a certain number of lives in the process of "protecting the herd". Why should society have the right to force those potential victims to be victims? Why should those individuals be sacrificed for the good of society? That's the way that animals handle the evolutionary process. I always thought that humans were claimed to be above that. But of course this argument could be applied to either side. So it's a very complex issue.

Promoters of various causes (not just vaccines) are always fond of touting the phrase, "If we can save just one life, or prevent just one injury, etc., etc., ad nauseam". But they always have tunnel vision. They always ignore the negative effects of the policies they are promoting. Unfortunately that's a 2-way street. It would be nice if this were a perfect world, but unfortunately it's not, and everything has consequences. And some of those consequences are not pleasant. The bottom line is that everyone should have freedom of choice, otherwise this country is operating on a lie.

And lest anyone mistakenly conclude that I'm anti-vaccine . . . I'm not. I utilize vaccines that I consider to be useful, and I would hope that everyone else would, also. That doesn't include the much-hyped but mostly useless flu vaccine, however.



Tex

[Gabes-Apg]

years ago it was only minimal side effects, i dont think that is the case now, the side effects are major and more prevalent. (hence why it is getting so much media etc)

my pondering is, are we looking at the root cause why there are the reactions? are the researchers looking for the answers? nutritional imbalances? methylation? biotoxins? (mmm all the things that are linked to increased AI issues?)

[BearcatRx]

I think certain aspects to side effects of vaccines are getting more press because you have brainless dolts like Jenny McCarthy who want to blame her child's autism on a vaccine. Truth is, the researcher who made these claims came out and said all of his data was fabricated.

[Deb]

Bearcat, I don't think Jenny McCarthy is a brainless dolt. I think she definitely experienced changes with her child after a vaccination. We have a doctor in our town who has held seminars on the impact (autistic) that was immediately evident on her child after a vaccination. Because you may have not had the same experience doesn't mean that others who have are idiots or uninformed.

[BearcatRx]

Bearcat, I don't think Jenny McCarthy is a brainless dolt. I think she definitely experienced changes with her child after a vaccination. We have a doctor in our town who has held seminars on the impact (autistic) that was immediately evident on her child after a vaccination. Because you may have not had the same experience doesn't mean that others who have are idiots or uninformed.

Millions upon millions of people have received the same vaccines and never developed autism. So when some useless celebrity starts scaring unsuspecting people into thinking that their vaccines are evil and that they shouldn't vaccinate, I've got a problem. Jenny McCarthy is not a doctor, has no education and certainly hasn't done any clinical trials to back up her false claims.

[Deb]

Jenny McCarthy is not a doctor, has no education and certainly hasn't done any clinical trials to back up her false claims.

No she's not but the doctor I heard was an MD and her child was fine one day and immediately after his vaccine was not. I think some people
are sometimes just a "perfect storm" of perhaps environmental/ immune system irregularities and a vaccine can put them over the edge. It has certainly happened to people on this forum.

[tex]

Jenny McCarthy is not a doctor, has no education and certainly hasn't done any clinical trials to back up her false claims.

I'll take your word on that because I don't know anything about her other than what I have read in this thread. And you are quite correct that millions of people seem to be able to tolerate most vaccinations without any significant problems. But if you are actually a scientist, you are also well aware that science (and medicine) is a game of statistics. And in every aspect of science, tiny percentages associated with exceptions are always ignored. We do the same thing in engineering, because it's "necessary" in order to arrive at a satisfactory solution to problems. The fly in the ointment with this approach is that when we are dealing with human health and human lives, absolutes still matter. 99.999 % of participants in a vaccination program may be happy campers. But if you or I happen to be among that 0.001 % who suffer a severe adverse event as a result of that program, or much worse — if our own child happens to suffer an adverse event, I don't know about you, but I'm going to be damn pissed, no matter how great the program may be for "the rest of the herd", and no matter how many medical professionals mistakenly insist that such an adverse reaction is impossible. You and I both know that such a reaction is indeed possible under the right (or wrong) circumstances.

And allow me to point out that the dietary treatment program that you are currently following to treat your MC is most definitely not only not recommended by most doctors (including GI specialists), but the entire premise that diet has anything to do with MC is still vehemently denied (and often ridiculed) by most gastroenterologists. And in addition, there seems to be a dearth of clinical trials that can be used to back up the claims that the concept of making diet changes to successfully control and prevent MC symptoms has any merit.

I suppose that if Jenny McCarthy were rich, she might well be able to buy some clinical trials to back up her (disputed) claims. As you are surely aware, money can buy research to prove virtually anything desired, these days. But as you also know, that takes more money than most of us have at our disposal.

The Microscopic Colitis Foundation is in the same boat with a desperate need for money to promote clinical trials to back up what we have found to be effective for treating MC. We would appreciate your suggestions on how we can get the level of donations needed to accomplish this goal. Here's a rhetorical question, "How long can GI specialists continue to cling to the mistaken belief that diet has nothing to do with MC?" The answer of course is, "Until someone publishes the results of rigid, random controlled clinical trials that verify that those long-held beliefs are based on nothing more that incorrect assumptions made roughly half a century ago when the disease was first mistakenly described.

And speaking of elitism in medicine, when I published my book on Microscopic Colitis, just as I expected since I do not have a medical degree, as far as I can tell it was very likely met with a smirk, a sneer or 2, a few chuckles, and a huge yawn by the elite of mainstream medicine. But most gratifyingly, 3 years after the publication date, from time to time emails trickle in from strangers, thanking me for writing the book, and praising their doctor for recommending the book to them. The one attribute that seems to distinguish these individuals from the general population is that these people absolutely revere their doctor for going out of her or his way to break from convention in order to help them resolve their MC symptoms.

This is in sharp contrast with your own post where you mentioned something to the effect that your own GI specialist knows "nothing" about MC. Maybe there's a lesson hidden somewhere in all of this. Maybe medicine should be all about resolving patient's health problems rather than by allowing it to be defined by insurance company and drug company profit goals. I'm old enough to be able to fondly remember when that was still true. But that was long before you were born.

Bearcat I apologize for getting off topic here, but I dearly love to debate the merits and demerits of medicine and science in general, especially when an elitist overtone sneaks into the discussion.

Tex

[BearcatRx]

It is most certainly, as you said, a numbers game. Any clinical trial can tell you a NNT (number needed to treat) and a NNH (number needed to harm). When it comes to vaccinations, I would CERTAINLY err on the side of caution and roll dice (a very very large die) as to whether or not my child would either be protected against devastating illness or the minuscule chance my child would have an allergic reaction to one of the components of a vaccine. Now, having said that... our restricted diets have no chance to harm others, whereas a parent who thinks they're smarter than modern medicine and refuses to vaccinate their child is endangering everyone else. Jenny McCarthy simply did some Googling, found some fabricated data linking vaccines to autism and ran with it. Due to her fame, she was given a forum large enough to reach uneducated, fearful mothers.

Now I'm certainly not siding with my GI doctor as you and I know, medication is not always the best treatment. When we discussed Enterolab, who probably does have a decent amount of revenue, he talked about the lack of publication and peer review. This is a common step in ALL medical treatment and until it is done, Dr. Fine and Enterolab will NEVER be taken seriously by the medical community. Science requires reproducible results. I'm still confused as to why his methods have not been published and reviewed at this point in the game.

[crervin]

Thank you all so with this discussion as I've always struggled with this. My husband is a clear no with shingles, pnemonia, and flu vaccines. I'm now to that point, but my 12 year old was up for meningitis shot last year. Needless to say I prayed for 2 months prior to the Dr visit and had him get it. It's so hard to know the right decision, especially for your children. Life is definitely a gamble!