amish health

[magayle]

some interesting facts about the amish lifestyle and their health....

Why the Amish are healthier than most Americans
by Paul Fassa
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(NaturalNews) The Amish communities offer a model for truly healthy stress free living from which we can learn. Most Americans mock their outward lifestyle while ignoring the essence of their traditions. Yet, they are much healthier as a group than the rest of modern American society.

Vaccination Controversy

If you do a Google search, you will find a lot of contradictory articles on whether or not the Amish submit to vaccinations. Vaccinating infants would be difficult since Amish newborns are usually delivered in their homes, usually assisted by midwives. Multiple Hepatitis B vaccinations are started with newborns in the hospitals soon after they're delivered.

Multiple Hep-B vaccinations are pushed ostensibly to protect newborns from a liver disease that is transmitted sexually or by needles among drug users. Even if Hep-B vaccinations worked, they would be totally useless for infants unless their mothers are in this risk population. This vaccine and others in the onslaught of toxic vaccinations among infants are associated with the surging rise in autism and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Around 1995, Dan Olmstead, editor of the website Age of Autism, investigated the heavily Amish populated area of Pennsylvania and found just three cases of autism. One was with a Chinese child who had received several vaccinations prior to being adopted by an Amish family. The other was a rare case of an Amish family succumbing to mainstream propaganda and medical pressure for vaccinating their child. That child became autistic soon after. Olmstead could not find any background on the third case.

But if the ratio of national autism statistics were duplicated in these Amish communities, there should have been around 200 cases of autism, not just three. Mainstream medicine claims this is due to genetics. Despite contrary rumors, many agree that hardly any vaccinations are administered in Amish regions.

The Polio Incident

In 2005, a bogus polio outbreak among the Amish was heavily reported by the mainstream media (MSM). Dr. Sherri Tenpenny and others thoroughly debunked this so-called outbreak. There were four children whose stools had a trace of polio virus. They were not suffering from any paralysis. The polio virus strain was not wild. It actually came from an oral polio vaccine (OPV).

So it was not even a polio breakout. The extremely young children, one was seven months old, had no serious polio symptoms. But how did they ingest OPVs? Though OPVs continued to be administered in developing countries and caused polio, they were dropped out of use in the USA around 2000. The 2005 incident did get enough MSM coverage to create a scare. Was this part of an agenda to scare the Amish into rushing for vaccinations?

Other Amish Health Factors

The Amish tradition of no cars or TVs is too difficult for most of us now. Even growing our own food is not practical - yet! But this is the essential Amish model. They don't eat junk food. They don't drink alcohol or smoke. Pharmaceuticals and vaccinations are almost non-existent. They produce their own raw milk and dairy and grow their own organic produce.

They also engage in physical labor and walk a lot. As a result, they barely have any cases of heart problems or diabetes, and practically no obesity issues. Their cancer rate is an amazing 72% lower than the national norm.

The Amish sense of egalitarian community and cooperation precludes competition and economic status. Everyone pitches in when needed, even for building homes and barns. As things get worse, we may need to gradually shift into the basic Amish model for a stress free healthy existence.

Sources for more information include:

The bogus Amish polio outbreak http://www.newswithviews.com/Tenpen...

The Bovine Repost of Health Wyze article RE Amish and Vaccinations http://thebovine.wordpress.com/2011...

Amish
health http://healthmad.com/nutrition/what...

Mercola Amish commentary http://editor.nourishedmagazine.com...




About the author
Paul Fassa is dedicated to warning others about the current corruption of food and medicine and guiding others toward a direction for better health with no restrictions on health freedom. You can visit his blog at http://healthmaven.blogspot.com

[WashingtonBay]

Huh - disappointing. I thought it might be about an active farming lifestyle, healthy food, not smoking and drinking... Instead it's an article on vaccines. I think very little of what might be good about the Amish lifestyle has to do with whether or not they do infant vaccines.

[magayle]

Huh - disappointing. I thought it might be about an active farming lifestyle, healthy food, not smoking and drinking... Instead it's an article on vaccines. I think very little of what might be good about the Amish lifestyle has to do with whether or not they do infant vaccines.

it does mention all that too....along with lower cases of cancer and heart disease...:confused:

[Kaitlyn]

I have a friend who has horrible immune problems amongst other health issues due to being over vaccinated..she later in life found out it was due to the vaccines after her first born started suffering the same things after her vaccinations so she's a big advocate on the no vaccine bandwagon. It's very controversial just like everything else..but there's also a correlation between vaccines and Alzheimer's (the aluminum and other toxins in the vaccines). My heart goes out to Alzheimer's since I worked in a nursing home and saw it first hand, and it's so depressing..so I don't drink, I refuse to get any more vaccines, I don't cook with aluminum, and try to limit how many things I buy that are stored in it..etc etc..If we all were self sufficient we'd have a lot less problems, IMHO. lmbo.

[natisha]

Maybe the Amish are physically healthy but I question their mental health. Subservient females, overlooked child abuse-that kind of stuff.

[WashingtonBay]

OK yeah you're right... the more direct causes of their good health are briefly mentioned... and then they spend the rest of the article talking about vaccines. :)

Natisha... Not sure there's either more female subservience or more child abuse inherent in Amish culture.


I respect and admire the Amish... if only they had internet, I think I'd love to live there :).

[magayle]

Maybe the Amish are physically healthy but I question their mental health. Subservient females, overlooked child abuse-that kind of stuff.

Subservient females:confused: they simply have traditional family roles that gives everyone their purpose within the family and community....i don't agree with 'overlooked child abuse' either....babies are cared for by their mothers and sisters from birth 'till starting school at age 5, with much attention, compassion and love....all through their childhood they are taught how valuable they are and grow into loving, compassionate and appreciated members of society....i'v been close friends with amish familes in different areas for many years and have a passion for learning all that i can about their lifestyle.....i've read hundreds of books - both fiction and non fiction - and in my opinion they are way more healthy physically and mentally....

think about all the problems that our society is facing today....if women were homemakers do you think there would be a job shortage and unemployment? do you think we would need all this fast junk food that is causing illness and disease? do you think we would have transportation problems with all the added vehicles on the road causing environmental and economical disaster? do you think we wouldn't have kids drugged up on psychotic meds causing all this bizarre behavior? do you think we would have 'burned out' women and men trying to do it all?....it just seems to me that our society could use a wake up call and it appears to be getting it, ready or not:(

[Kara]

Subservient females:confused: they simply have traditional family roles that gives everyone their purpose within the family and community....i don't agree with 'overlooked child abuse' either....babies are cared for by their mothers and sisters from birth 'till starting school at age 5, with much attention, compassion and love....all through their childhood they are taught how valuable they are and grow into loving, compassionate and appreciated members of society....i'v been close friends with amish familes in different areas for many years and have a passion for learning all that i can about their lifestyle.....i've read hundreds of books - both fiction and non fiction - and in my opinion they are way more healthy physically and mentally....

think about all the problems that our society is facing today....if women were homemakers do you think there would be a job shortage and unemployment? do you think we would need all this fast junk food that is causing illness and disease? do you think we would have transportation problems with all the added vehicles on the road causing environmental and economical disaster? do you think we wouldn't have kids drugged up on psychotic meds causing all this bizarre behavior? do you think we would have 'burned out' women and men trying to do it all?....it just seems to me that our society could use a wake up call and it appears to be getting it, ready or not:(


Yes and men would completely support their women. Not cheat and not do the hobbies they enjoy. :rolleyes:

The women wouldn't have their horses (or hobbies) because they would be popping out kids, and taking care of them and the home.

Lifestyle is too independant now to support off of one income. Unless you're rich.:rolleyes:

[magayle]

I have a friend who has horrible immune problems amongst other health issues due to being over vaccinated..she later in life found out it was due to the vaccines after her first born started suffering the same things after her vaccinations so she's a big advocate on the no vaccine bandwagon. It's very controversial just like everything else..but there's also a correlation between vaccines and Alzheimer's (the aluminum and other toxins in the vaccines). My heart goes out to Alzheimer's since I worked in a nursing home and saw it first hand, and it's so depressing..so I don't drink, I refuse to get any more vaccines, I don't cook with aluminum, and try to limit how many things I buy that are stored in it..etc etc..If we all were self sufficient we'd have a lot less problems, IMHO. lmbo.

smart girl!
i learned that the shingles i suffered from, is caused from the chicken pox vaccine that i got in the 50's....'they' are predicting a huge increase in shingles cases of baby boomers as they become seniors.....i'm on the no vaccine bandwagon too

[Remali]

Interesting article. They really do have a more healthy lifestyle, no doubt about that. And we do tend to over-vaccinate for everything (even our pets). Magayle, I have had many bouts of shingles too, it's awful isn't it, I got it in my eye about three times and that was horrendous, I was off work for about a week, couldn't see out of my eye at all, and the pain was unreal.

I disagree about the subservient thing. There is a very large Amish community near where my dad grew up, I still go down there a lot, friends of mine know some Amish and had them help build their new house and barn. The Amish women are more like the traditional families we had back in the 1950's and early 1960's, the woman didn't go outside of the home to work and the men were the breadwinners and they supported the family. Actually, in this day and age there are a lot of subservient women in the non-Amish, look at the number of women who are controlled and abused by their husbands/boyfriends these days. And we sure do have more than our fair share of child abuse in our society. At least the Amish children are brought up by their families and not rushed off to some daycare center to be taken care of by some stranger.

[natisha]

OK yeah you're right... the more direct causes of their good health are briefly mentioned... and then they spend the rest of the article talking about vaccines. :)

Natisha... Not sure there's either more female subservience or more child abuse inherent in Amish culture.


I respect and admire the Amish... if only they had internet, I think I'd love to live there :).If you're ever bored google 'child abuse in Amish'. Sure there is abuse everywhere but that culture seems to protect their own & stay quiet.
They are certainly free to do as they wish but personally that lifestyle would be hell on Earth for me. Cook, clean, wear dresses, tend to children & a husband!!
I'd hang myself at the first barn raising.

[WashingtonBay]

I'm not bored. ;) But thanks.

I don't think there is anything about the Amish that leads to child abuse or any kind of unhappiness, really. They're all subservient, yes... The women, and the men, to a lifestyle and a culture and a community.... That's not a bad thing. We all end up answering to someone, no matter how independent we think we are. Better, IMHO, a husband and a community than just some guy I don't even like as a boss. :)


We have a large Mennonite community here. Almost as cool as the Amish... they're like the Amish but with internet and power tools. My lawnmower guy who mows the trails down below is one, the whole family helps with the business. And one of the sisters has a horse, she came riding here one day. I haven't joined yet, methinks I'm too old to become a new me, but it has a lot of appeal, imho.

[WashingtonBay]

that lifestyle would be hell on Earth for me. Cook, clean, wear dresses, tend to children & a husband!!
I'd hang myself at the first barn raising.

Don't you cook and clean now? I understand about the husband and the kids... But I'm sure even the Amish have an occasional old spinster ;)

[HeavensEast]

Don't you cook and clean now? I understand about the husband and the kids... But I'm sure even the Amish have an occasional old spinster ;)
She cleans the barn.
Natisha and I once waited till like 10:30 pm for someone to come home and cook for us. They didn't, so we just went to sleep. That should give you an idea. ;)

[magayle]

Interesting article. They really do have a more healthy lifestyle, no doubt about that. And we do tend to over-vaccinate for everything (even our pets). Magayle, I have had many bouts of shingles too, it's awful isn't it, I got it in my eye about three times and that was horrendous, I was off work for about a week, couldn't see out of my eye at all, and the pain was unreal.

I disagree about the subservient thing. There is a very large Amish community near where my dad grew up, I still go down there a lot, friends of mine know some Amish and had them help build their new house and barn. The Amish women are more like the traditional families we had back in the 1950's and early 1960's, the woman didn't go outside of the home to work and the men were the breadwinners and they supported the family. Actually, in this day and age there are a lot of subservient women in the non-Amish, look at the number of women who are controlled and abused by their husbands/boyfriends these days. And we sure do have more than our fair share of child abuse in our society. At least the Amish children are brought up by their families and not rushed off to some daycare center to be taken care of by some stranger.

my one episode with shingles, 2009, presented in the nerve below my eye brows and affecting both eyes with edema but it didn't spread to my eyes...by the 2nd day i used activated charcoal poultices for the pain and it stopped the spreading....dr, to this day, can't believe how effective the AC was! i researched everything i could find about shingles and the AC treatment was the solution for me....my first aid kit will never be without the AC powder! shingles isn't pretty:eek: and the pain is unreal:( i only have 3 scars that thankfully my bangs now cover up....you're lucky you still have your sight....i'v heard that some people never fully recover and live with nerve pain for the rest of their lives:(

good points, remali:)

[natisha]

my one episode with shingles, 2009, presented in the nerve below my eye brows and affecting both eyes with edema but it didn't spread to my eyes...by the 2nd day i used activated charcoal poultices for the pain and it stopped the spreading....dr, to this day, can't believe how effective the AC was! i researched everything i could find about shingles and the AC treatment was the solution for me....my first aid kit will never be without the AC powder! shingles isn't pretty:eek: and the pain is unreal:( i only have 3 scars that thankfully my bangs now cover up....you're lucky you still have your sight....i'v heard that some people never fully recover and live with nerve pain for the rest of their lives:(

good points, remali:)Holy cow!! Those pictures!! Were you on a morphine drip?

[Remali]

OMG that looks painful magayle! I know it IS awfully painful, my eye felt like it had sand in it at first, but then I got the stabbing sharp pains, then the blurry vision. I found a very good doctor at the Midelfort Mayo Clinic in Eau Claire fortunately, and he did say that left untreated or if it got out of hand that I could lose vision in that eye. It was like looking thru a soupy fish bowl for about a week, but my vision cleared up once I got on the meds. Oddly tho I never got the redness or the red streaking around my eye on my skin (at least not when it was involved with my eye, I did get the red streaking and red blotches, for lack of a better word, when I had it along my waistline), so I don't know if I had some different version of it with my eye.... but when the doctor looked at my eye with all his fancy eyecare equipment he could see the lesions on my eye, and dendrites on my eye, as he called them. My last flare-up was about 3 years ago, so my memory about exactly what he said to me is kind of foggy. But it knocked me out of commission for quite some time.

[WashingtonBay]

Looks bad to get it in the eyes... I haven't had shingles but my dad did... his was an outbreak on his body and it hurt. he was miserable.

Isn't shingles from having had the chicken pox virus though? Not the vaccine? That's what my understanding is... (Shingles-Cause (http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/shingles-cause)) although I'm sure you've got links that say otherwise. :)

[natisha]

Looks bad to get it in the eyes... I haven't had shingles but my dad did... his was an outbreak on his body and it hurt. he was miserable.

Isn't shingles from having had the chicken pox virus though? Not the vaccine? That's what my understanding is... (Shingles-Cause (http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/shingles-cause)) although I'm sure you've got links that say otherwise. :)It's a form of the herpes virus, if I remember my schoolin'.

[WashingtonBay]

The same form as Chicken pox. You get it from having had chicken pox. Right?

[natisha]

The same form as Chicken pox. You get it from having had chicken pox. Right?No one really knows. So maybe yes, maybe no. Many more people have had chicken pox than get shingles.

[natisha]

Once again I bow to WB's vaste knowledge.






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Shingles - Cause




Shingles (http://www.webmd.com/hw-popup/shingles-def) is a reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus, a type of herpes (http://www.webmd.com/genital-herpes/default.htm) virus that causes chickenpox (http://www.webmd.com/hw-popup/chickenpox-8250). After you have had chickenpox, the virus lies inactive in your nerve roots (http://www.webmd.com/hw-popup/spinal-nerve-roots) and remains inactive until, in some people, it flares up again. When the virus becomes active again, you get shingles (http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/default.htm) instead of chickenpox.
Anyone who has had even a mild case of chickenpox can get shingles. People who have a weak immune system (http://www.webmd.com/hw-popup/immune-system-7922) are vulnerable to reactivation of the virus that causes shingles. Many factors can weaken your immune system, including aging, injury, and illness. Some medicines slow down the immune system. For example, medicines that destroy cancer (http://www.webmd.com/cancer/) cells (chemotherapy (http://www.webmd.com/hw-popup/chemotherapy)) can interfere with the immune system.

Recommended Related to Shingles



Understanding Shingles -- the Basics (http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/understanding-shingles-basics)
Shingles (herpes zoster) results from a reactivation of the virus that also causes chickenpox. With shingles, the first thing you may notice is a tingling sensation or pain on one side of your body or face. Painful skin blisters then erupt on only one side of your face or body along the distribution of nerves on the skin. Typically, this occurs along your chest, abdomen, back, or face, but it may also affect your neck, limbs, or lower back. The area can be very painful, itchy, and tender. After...


Read the Understanding Shingles -- the Basics article > > (http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/understanding-shingles-basics)




Transmission

Exposure to shingles will not cause you to get shingles. But if you have not had chickenpox and have not gotten the chickenpox vaccine (http://children.webmd.com/vaccines/chickenpox-varicella-vaccine), you can get chickenpox if you are exposed to shingles. Someone with shingles can expose you to chickenpox if you come into contact with the fluid in the shingles blisters (http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/blisters-topic-overview). If you cover the shingles sores with a type of dressing that absorbs fluid and protects the sores, you can help prevent the spread of the virus to other people.

[WashingtonBay]

Humm... I didn't know it was a mystery.

Dad's doctor, and the link I posted up there, says it's a recurrence of chicken pox, and they may not know exactly why it happens, it can happen to anyone who's had it, particularly if the immune system is challenged in some way.

Wow... there's an ad on TV right now for some kind of medication study for shingles. What are the odds? :)

Natisha ... we cross posted :D :o

[magayle]

OMG that looks painful magayle! I know it IS awfully painful, my eye felt like it had sand in it at first, but then I got the stabbing sharp pains, then the blurry vision. I found a very good doctor at the Midelfort Mayo Clinic in Eau Claire fortunately, and he did say that left untreated or if it got out of hand that I could lose vision in that eye. It was like looking thru a soupy fish bowl for about a week, but my vision cleared up once I got on the meds. Oddly tho I never got the redness or the red streaking around my eye on my skin (at least not when it was involved with my eye, I did get the red streaking and red blotches, for lack of a better word, when I had it along my waistline), so I don't know if I had some different version of it with my eye.... but when the doctor looked at my eye with all his fancy eyecare equipment he could see the lesions on my eye, and dendrites on my eye, as he called them. My last flare-up was about 3 years ago, so my memory about exactly what he said to me is kind of foggy. But it knocked me out of commission for quite some time.

i had to go to eye doctor too, and rule out eye involvement....thank God it wasn't:)....the lesions traveled down the nerve and once i put the AC on, i didn't get anymore:clap: the AC paste immediately stopped the pain - sucked it right out - relief for a few hours and then had to put paste back on....only had to do that for a 2-4 days...then the mess was more painful lol! the stuff does wash off with a bit of hydrogen peroxide....i took activated charcoal caps too - couldn't bring myself to drink the stuff....

[Remali]

It's caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox.

http://www.aafp.org/afp/2002/1101/p1723.html

[magayle]

Looks bad to get it in the eyes... I haven't had shingles but my dad did... his was an outbreak on his body and it hurt. he was miserable.

Isn't shingles from having had the chicken pox virus though? Not the vaccine? That's what my understanding is... (Shingles-Cause (http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/shingles-cause)) although I'm sure you've got links that say otherwise. :)

found it....but YOU won't like it...:nono::)

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/02/chicken-pox-vaccine-creates-shingles-epidemic.aspx

[WashingtonBay]

as for the vaccine causing it....i'll have to look up what i read but it mainly said that our bodies could have killed the virus if we just would have gone thru the initial chicken pox illness...if that makes sense....i know i don't but the report did....i think it was in the 60's or 70's that they stopped giving kids the vaccine....guinea pigs again....just sayin

Shingles (Herpes Zoster) - WebMD | Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, and Vaccine (http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/shingles-topic-overview)

^ Says it occurs in people who have had Chickenpox... much more commonly than in those who only had the vaccine.

[magayle]

Humm... I didn't know it was a mystery.

Dad's doctor, and the link I posted up there, says it's a recurrence of chicken pox, and they may not know exactly why it happens, it can happen to anyone who's had it, particularly if the immune system is challenged in some way.

Wow... there's an ad on TV right now for some kind of medication study for shingles. What are the odds? :)

Natisha ... we cross posted :D :o

of course now we need a shingles vaccine.....the drug pushers aren't gonna pass this up....add another prescription to the elderly before they drop dead:(

[magayle]

Shingles (Herpes Zoster) - WebMD | Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, and Vaccine (http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/shingles/shingles-topic-overview)

^ Says it occurs in people who have had Chickenpox... much more commonly than in those who only had the vaccine.

i know i'm an idiot...tried to edit it as fast as my mad cow brain could do it lol!:rant::)

[natisha]

of course now we need a shingles vaccine.....the drug pushers aren't gonna pass this up....add another prescription to the elderly before they drop dead:(Wouldn't you have rather had a vaccine than the disease?

[WashingtonBay]

Good question! I'm still a little fuzzy on what this has to do with the Amish in particular :D

[magayle]

Wouldn't you have rather had a vaccine than the disease?

NO WAY http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/02/chicken-pox-vaccine-creates-shingles-epidemic.aspx

it's a snow day so i'm gettin' out of control again :hysterical: don't worry, i'v learned my lesson and gonna' play nice on the forum....i'd be lost without all ya guys:cry::whiteflag:

[natisha]

Good question! I'm still a little fuzzy on what this has to do with the Amish in particular :DThey wear hats & bonnets

[magayle]

Good question! I'm still a little fuzzy on what this has to do with the Amish in particular :D

they don't get vaccines :whack::grouphug::innocent:

[WashingtonBay]

NO WAY http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/02/chicken-pox-vaccine-creates-shingles-epidemic.aspx

it's a snow day so i'm gettin' out of control again :hysterical: don't worry, i'v learned my lesson and gonna' play nice on the forum....i'd be lost without all ya guys:cry::whiteflag:

I know my dad would have much rather had a vaccine than what he went through.

BTW - the mercola site... a big popup comes up that won't let us read it without registering...

[WashingtonBay]

they don't get vaccines :whack::grouphug::innocent:

No - they might not get vaccines... even your OP isn't sure. "If you do a Google search, you will find a lot of contradictory articles on whether or not the Amish submit to vaccinations." I find the use of the word submit there to be just a little bit overdramatic ;).

I might have suggested asking them. :) Maybe a few of them in different places. Maybe they're not all the same.

No word on whether they ever get shingles...

[magayle]

Why a Shingles Epidemic is Bolting Straight at the U.S. Posted By Dr. Mercola | November 02 2010 | 214,115 views Share11K
Email to a friend : 3675
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Diane Murphy, MD, is the Director of the FDA's Office of Pediatric Therapeutics (OPT). The mission of OPT is to enforce a Congressional mandate that assures access for children to innovative, safe and effective medical products.

Historically, many medical products have not been tested for use in children, leading to an increase in adverse events and the use of ineffective products.

Murphy notes that young children and neonates require the development of a new directional endpoint that can better help us to not treat children with our best guess, but with knowledge.
Sources:
National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC)

Chickenpox: The Disease & The Vaccine Fact Sheet

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)



Dr. Mercola's Comments:


It's now been fifteen years since Merck's chickenpox vaccine was approved for market.

What had always been regarded as a relatively benign childhood illness was suddenly reinvented in the 1990s as a life-threatening disease for which children must get vaccinated or face dire health consequences.

But wait—Merck to the rescue!

As is true with many new and potentially unnecessary medical interventions used on a widespread basis, there are often unintended consequences. The chickenpox (varicella) vaccine is a perfect example.

By trying to prevent all children from experiencing chickenpox naturally, this policy may have actually created a NEW epidemic—not in children but in adults, especially elderly adults.

Vaccinating children for chickenpox may very well be causing a shingles epidemic.

Chickenpox—Another False Epidemic
Before the live virus chickenpox vaccine was licensed in the United States in 1995, most children acquired a natural, long-lasting immunity to chickenpox by age six. For 99.9 percent of healthy children, chickenpox is a mild disease without complications.

It is estimated there were about 3.7 million cases of chickenpox annually in the U.S. before 1995, resulting in an average of 100 deaths (50 children and 50 adults, most of whom were immunocompromised). This hardly represents a dire, life-threatening epidemic that requires mass vaccination of all children!

Chickenpox is caused by the varicella zoster virus, which is a member of the herpesvirus family and is associated with herpes zoster (shingles). Chickenpox is highly contagious but typically produces a mild disease characterized by small round lesions on your skin that cause intense itching. Chickenpox lasts for two to three weeks, and recovery leaves a child with long lasting immunity.

Half of all cases of chickenpox occur in children ages five to nine. Before the vaccine was licensed in 1995 and states started passing laws mandating that children get it to attend school, it was estimated that only 10 percent of Americans over the age of 15 had not had chickenpox.

Up to 20 percent of adults who get chickenpox develop severe complications such as pneumonia, secondary bacterial infections, and brain inflammation (which is reported in less than one percent of children who get chickenpox). Most children and adults who develop these serious complications have compromised immune systems or other health problems.

Although chickenpox is typically not dangerous, there is a related disease that is more of a cause for concern: shingles.

Chickenpox's Evil Cousin: Shingles
Chickenpox and shingles are related. They are caused by similar viruses, both in the herpesvirus family. After you recover from chickenpox, the virus can remain dormant ("asleep") in your nerve roots for many years, unless it is awakened by some triggering factor such as physical or emotional stress. When awakened, it presents itself as shingles rather than chickenpox.

Shingles is marked by pain and often a blister-like rash on one side of your body, left or right. Other symptoms can include headache and flu-like symptoms. Shingles typically runs its course in three to five weeks.

Although very painful, most people who get shingles will recover without serious complications and will not get it a second time. However, in people with weakened immune systems, shingles complications can be severe or life threatening. The most common complication is postherpetic neuralgia, or PHN, where the pain may last for months or even years after the rash has healed. The pain is caused by damaged nerve fibers, which then persist in sending pain messages to your brain.

Other less frequent complications include bacterial skin infections, Hutchinson's sign, Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, motor neuropathy, meningitis, hearing loss, blindness, and bladder impairment.

A person with shingles can infect someone who hasn't had chickenpox, who may then develop chickenpox rather than shingles.

If you do develop shingles, as I mentioned earlier this summer, you can use topical honey to treat shingles symptoms and it appears to work better than the drugs.

Chickenpox is Nature's Way of Protecting You from Shingles
Nature has devised an elegant plan for protecting you from the shingles virus.

After contracting and recovering from chickenpox (usually as a child), as you age, your natural immunity gets asymptomatically "boosted" by coming into contact with infected children, who are recovering from chickenpox. This natural "boosting" of natural immunity to the varicella (chickenpox) virus helps protect you from getting shingles later in life.

This is true whether you are a child, adolescent, young adult, or elderly—every time you come into contact with someone infected with chickenpox, you get a natural "booster shot" that protects you from a painful—and expensive—bout with shingles.

In other words, shingles can be prevented by ordinary contact, such as receiving a hug from a grandchild who is getting or recovering from the chickenpox. But with the advent of the chickenpox vaccine, there is less chickenpox around to provide that natural immune boost for children AND adults.

So as chickenpox rates have declined, shingles rates have begun to rise, and there is mounting evidence that an epidemic of shingles is developing in America from the mass, mandatory use of the chickenpox vaccine by all children.

As hard as scientists try to come up with ways to "improve" human biology, they just can't outsmart Mother Nature.. In trying to tinker with the natural order of things, we tend to destroy processes that nature has masterfully orchestrated to keep us healthy.

This dance between chickenpox and shingles is a perfect example.

Vaccine Protection is Only Temporary
The chickenpox vaccine is made from live, attenuated (weakened) varicella virus. But chickenpox vaccine provides only TEMPORARY immunity, and even that immunity is not the same kind of superior, longer lasting immunity that you get when you recover naturally from chickenpox.

It's important to realize that naturally acquiring a case of chickenpox is the ONLY way you can establish longer lasting immunity that will protect you until you come in contact with younger children with chickenpox and are asymptomatically boosted, which will not only reinforce your chickenpox immunity but will also help protect you against getting a painful case of shingles later in life.

When the chickenpox vaccine was licensed for public use in 1995, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimated it was 70 to 90 percent effective in preventing disease. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) later reported, "The effectiveness of the vaccine is 44 percent against disease of any severity and 86 percent against moderate or severe disease."

But the vaccine may be LESS effective than that—around 40 percent—according to an investigation of a chickenpox outbreak among 23 children at a New Hampshire daycare center. The outbreak began with a child who had already been vaccinated.

And a Washington Post article reported that, in another outbreak, 75 percent of the children who came down with chickenpox had previously been vaccinated for it!

It is also interesting to note that most 10 year-old children with no known history of chickenpox are actually immune.

A study in Quebec, Canada, involving 2,000 fourth graders was done to determine the proportion of children who would need to be vaccinated in a "catch-up" program.

Of the youngsters with negative or unknown chickenpox histories, 63 percent had antibodies against the virus, presumably from having had such a mild case that they didn't even realize they had it. This isn't terribly surprising given that healthy children occasionally have minimal symptoms (such as a low fever and headache), without manifestation of blisters, indistinguishable from a mild case of the flu.

Bottom line is, the vast majority of children who do NOT get the chickenpox vaccine wind up immune to chickenpox anyway.

The Chickenpox Vaccine Itself Can Cause Injury or Death
As is true with most vaccines, mass use of the chickenpox vaccine has been followed by many reports of serious reactions, injuries and deaths.

Before consenting to your child's receiving this vaccine, consider the following:

•Between March 1995 and July 1998, the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) received 6,574 reports of health problems after chickenpox vaccination. This translates to: one in 1,481 chickenpox vaccinations is followed by an adverse health event.
•Four percent of reported adverse events (about 1 in 33,000 doses) involves serious health problems such as shock, encephalitis (brain inflammation), and thrombocytopenia (a blood disorder)
•14 of the 6,574 chickenpox vaccine adverse event reports ended in death
•As a result of the reported vaccine reactions, 17 warnings for adverse events were added to the manufacturer's product label AFTER the vaccine was licensed and being used on a mass basis (including cellulitis, transverse myelitis, Guillain Barre syndrome, and shingles)
•There have been documented cases of accidental transmission of varicella vaccine strain virus from a vaccinated child to household contacts, including transmission to a pregnant woman
•Adverse vaccine events are notoriously underreported—by as much as 90 percent, according to some experts—making the safety profile potentially even worse than the above statistics would suggest
The chickenpox vaccine may be even more risky when combined with other vaccines, like MMR.

According to Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC):

"We have been getting reports from parents that their children are suffering high fevers, chickenpox lesions, shingles, brain damage and dying after chicken pox vaccination, especially when the vaccine is given at the same time with MMR and other vaccines."

Many questions remain unanswered.

For example, will a young pregnant woman, who got varicella vaccine as a child instead of recovering from natural chickenpox, pass on vaccine induced antibodies to her newborn baby like mothers used to pass on natural maternal antibodies to chickenpox to their newborns?

This is one of many questions about mass use of chickenpox vaccine that is being debated today.

The Birth of an Epidemic
Now, 15 years into the mass use of chickenpox vaccine, there are signs a shingles epidemic is underway.

This is not surprising when you consider that the mechanism keeping shingles largely at bay has been drastically reduced, if not eliminated because older children and adults are no longer coming into contact with younger children experiencing chickenpox and there is less and less natural "boosting" of immunity occurring in our population.

The natural "herd" immunity to chickenpox among Americans is being lost and we are becoming vaccine dependent. PLUS a shingles epidemic is taking shape.

Research done by Gary S. Goldman, Ph.D. who served for eight years as a Research Analyst with the Varicella Active Surveillance Project in Los Angeles County with funding from the CDC, revealed higher rates of shingles in Americans since the government's 1995 recommendation that all children receive chickenpox vaccine.

According to an article describing his work:

"Dr. Goldman's findings have corroborated other independent researchers who estimate that if chickenpox were to be nearly eradicated by vaccination, the higher number of shingles cases could continue in the U.S. for up to 50 years; and that while death rates from chickenpox are already very low, any deaths prevented by vaccination will be offset by deaths from increasing shingles disease. (Emphasis mine)

Goldman was so concerned about an epidemic of shingles that he has co-written a book on the matter, entitled The Chickenpox Vaccine: A New Epidemic of Disease and Corruption.

Dr. Goldman isn't the only one who is concerned about a potential shingles epidemic.

A team at Britain's Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) found that adults living with children enjoy higher levels of protection from shingles. They stated that, although chickenpox can be life threatening for the immune compromised, thousands of elderly people could also die from the complications of shingles. PHLS called for a re-evaluation of the policy of mass chickenpox vaccination in the U.S., as well as other countries implementing this practice.

For decades, shingles was thought to increase with age as older individuals' immune systems weakened. However, research suggests this phenomenon is more a result of the fact that older people receive fewer natural boosts to immunity as their contacts with young children decline.

In fact, the effectiveness of the chickenpox vaccine itself depends on natural boosting, so as chickenpox disease rates decline, so will the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Are These Predictions Coming True?
Absolutely.

The incidence of adult shingles has increased by 90 percent from 1998 to 2003, following the release of the chickenpox vaccine for mass use. Shingles results in three times as many deaths and five times as many hospitalizations as chickenpox, and accounts for 75 percent of all medical costs associated with the varicella zoster virus.

Even children are beginning to come down with shingles, as evidenced by school nurse reports since 2000, which was one of the concerns prompting Dr. Goldman to warn the CDC that it may be bringing about a shingles epidemic.

[magayle]

Why a Shingles Epidemic is Bolting Straight at the U.S. Posted By Dr. Mercola | November 02 2010 | 214,115 views Share11K
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Diane Murphy, MD, is the Director of the FDA's Office of Pediatric Therapeutics (OPT). The mission of OPT is to enforce a Congressional mandate that assures access for children to innovative, safe and effective medical products.

Historically, many medical products have not been tested for use in children, leading to an increase in adverse events and the use of ineffective products.

Murphy notes that young children and neonates require the development of a new directional endpoint that can better help us to not treat children with our best guess, but with knowledge.
Sources:
National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC)

Chickenpox: The Disease & The Vaccine Fact Sheet

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)



Dr. Mercola's Comments:


It's now been fifteen years since Merck's chickenpox vaccine was approved for market.

What had always been regarded as a relatively benign childhood illness was suddenly reinvented in the 1990s as a life-threatening disease for which children must get vaccinated or face dire health consequences.

But wait—Merck to the rescue!

As is true with many new and potentially unnecessary medical interventions used on a widespread basis, there are often unintended consequences. The chickenpox (varicella) vaccine is a perfect example.

By trying to prevent all children from experiencing chickenpox naturally, this policy may have actually created a NEW epidemic—not in children but in adults, especially elderly adults.

Vaccinating children for chickenpox may very well be causing a shingles epidemic.

Chickenpox—Another False Epidemic
Before the live virus chickenpox vaccine was licensed in the United States in 1995, most children acquired a natural, long-lasting immunity to chickenpox by age six. For 99.9 percent of healthy children, chickenpox is a mild disease without complications.

It is estimated there were about 3.7 million cases of chickenpox annually in the U.S. before 1995, resulting in an average of 100 deaths (50 children and 50 adults, most of whom were immunocompromised). This hardly represents a dire, life-threatening epidemic that requires mass vaccination of all children!

Chickenpox is caused by the varicella zoster virus, which is a member of the herpesvirus family and is associated with herpes zoster (shingles). Chickenpox is highly contagious but typically produces a mild disease characterized by small round lesions on your skin that cause intense itching. Chickenpox lasts for two to three weeks, and recovery leaves a child with long lasting immunity.

Half of all cases of chickenpox occur in children ages five to nine. Before the vaccine was licensed in 1995 and states started passing laws mandating that children get it to attend school, it was estimated that only 10 percent of Americans over the age of 15 had not had chickenpox.

Up to 20 percent of adults who get chickenpox develop severe complications such as pneumonia, secondary bacterial infections, and brain inflammation (which is reported in less than one percent of children who get chickenpox). Most children and adults who develop these serious complications have compromised immune systems or other health problems.

Although chickenpox is typically not dangerous, there is a related disease that is more of a cause for concern: shingles.

Chickenpox's Evil Cousin: Shingles
Chickenpox and shingles are related. They are caused by similar viruses, both in the herpesvirus family. After you recover from chickenpox, the virus can remain dormant ("asleep") in your nerve roots for many years, unless it is awakened by some triggering factor such as physical or emotional stress. When awakened, it presents itself as shingles rather than chickenpox.

Shingles is marked by pain and often a blister-like rash on one side of your body, left or right. Other symptoms can include headache and flu-like symptoms. Shingles typically runs its course in three to five weeks.

Although very painful, most people who get shingles will recover without serious complications and will not get it a second time. However, in people with weakened immune systems, shingles complications can be severe or life threatening. The most common complication is postherpetic neuralgia, or PHN, where the pain may last for months or even years after the rash has healed. The pain is caused by damaged nerve fibers, which then persist in sending pain messages to your brain.

Other less frequent complications include bacterial skin infections, Hutchinson's sign, Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, motor neuropathy, meningitis, hearing loss, blindness, and bladder impairment.

A person with shingles can infect someone who hasn't had chickenpox, who may then develop chickenpox rather than shingles.

If you do develop shingles, as I mentioned earlier this summer, you can use topical honey to treat shingles symptoms and it appears to work better than the drugs.

Chickenpox is Nature's Way of Protecting You from Shingles
Nature has devised an elegant plan for protecting you from the shingles virus.

After contracting and recovering from chickenpox (usually as a child), as you age, your natural immunity gets asymptomatically "boosted" by coming into contact with infected children, who are recovering from chickenpox. This natural "boosting" of natural immunity to the varicella (chickenpox) virus helps protect you from getting shingles later in life.

This is true whether you are a child, adolescent, young adult, or elderly—every time you come into contact with someone infected with chickenpox, you get a natural "booster shot" that protects you from a painful—and expensive—bout with shingles.

In other words, shingles can be prevented by ordinary contact, such as receiving a hug from a grandchild who is getting or recovering from the chickenpox. But with the advent of the chickenpox vaccine, there is less chickenpox around to provide that natural immune boost for children AND adults.

So as chickenpox rates have declined, shingles rates have begun to rise, and there is mounting evidence that an epidemic of shingles is developing in America from the mass, mandatory use of the chickenpox vaccine by all children.

As hard as scientists try to come up with ways to "improve" human biology, they just can't outsmart Mother Nature.. In trying to tinker with the natural order of things, we tend to destroy processes that nature has masterfully orchestrated to keep us healthy.

This dance between chickenpox and shingles is a perfect example.

Vaccine Protection is Only Temporary
The chickenpox vaccine is made from live, attenuated (weakened) varicella virus. But chickenpox vaccine provides only TEMPORARY immunity, and even that immunity is not the same kind of superior, longer lasting immunity that you get when you recover naturally from chickenpox.

It's important to realize that naturally acquiring a case of chickenpox is the ONLY way you can establish longer lasting immunity that will protect you until you come in contact with younger children with chickenpox and are asymptomatically boosted, which will not only reinforce your chickenpox immunity but will also help protect you against getting a painful case of shingles later in life.

When the chickenpox vaccine was licensed for public use in 1995, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimated it was 70 to 90 percent effective in preventing disease. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) later reported, "The effectiveness of the vaccine is 44 percent against disease of any severity and 86 percent against moderate or severe disease."

But the vaccine may be LESS effective than that—around 40 percent—according to an investigation of a chickenpox outbreak among 23 children at a New Hampshire daycare center. The outbreak began with a child who had already been vaccinated.

And a Washington Post article reported that, in another outbreak, 75 percent of the children who came down with chickenpox had previously been vaccinated for it!

It is also interesting to note that most 10 year-old children with no known history of chickenpox are actually immune.

A study in Quebec, Canada, involving 2,000 fourth graders was done to determine the proportion of children who would need to be vaccinated in a "catch-up" program.

Of the youngsters with negative or unknown chickenpox histories, 63 percent had antibodies against the virus, presumably from having had such a mild case that they didn't even realize they had it. This isn't terribly surprising given that healthy children occasionally have minimal symptoms (such as a low fever and headache), without manifestation of blisters, indistinguishable from a mild case of the flu.

Bottom line is, the vast majority of children who do NOT get the chickenpox vaccine wind up immune to chickenpox anyway.

The Chickenpox Vaccine Itself Can Cause Injury or Death
As is true with most vaccines, mass use of the chickenpox vaccine has been followed by many reports of serious reactions, injuries and deaths.

Before consenting to your child's receiving this vaccine, consider the following:

•Between March 1995 and July 1998, the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) received 6,574 reports of health problems after chickenpox vaccination. This translates to: one in 1,481 chickenpox vaccinations is followed by an adverse health event.
•Four percent of reported adverse events (about 1 in 33,000 doses) involves serious health problems such as shock, encephalitis (brain inflammation), and thrombocytopenia (a blood disorder)
•14 of the 6,574 chickenpox vaccine adverse event reports ended in death
•As a result of the reported vaccine reactions, 17 warnings for adverse events were added to the manufacturer's product label AFTER the vaccine was licensed and being used on a mass basis (including cellulitis, transverse myelitis, Guillain Barre syndrome, and shingles)
•There have been documented cases of accidental transmission of varicella vaccine strain virus from a vaccinated child to household contacts, including transmission to a pregnant woman
•Adverse vaccine events are notoriously underreported—by as much as 90 percent, according to some experts—making the safety profile potentially even worse than the above statistics would suggest
The chickenpox vaccine may be even more risky when combined with other vaccines, like MMR.

According to Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC):

"We have been getting reports from parents that their children are suffering high fevers, chickenpox lesions, shingles, brain damage and dying after chicken pox vaccination, especially when the vaccine is given at the same time with MMR and other vaccines."

Many questions remain unanswered.

For example, will a young pregnant woman, who got varicella vaccine as a child instead of recovering from natural chickenpox, pass on vaccine induced antibodies to her newborn baby like mothers used to pass on natural maternal antibodies to chickenpox to their newborns?

This is one of many questions about mass use of chickenpox vaccine that is being debated today.

The Birth of an Epidemic
Now, 15 years into the mass use of chickenpox vaccine, there are signs a shingles epidemic is underway.

This is not surprising when you consider that the mechanism keeping shingles largely at bay has been drastically reduced, if not eliminated because older children and adults are no longer coming into contact with younger children experiencing chickenpox and there is less and less natural "boosting" of immunity occurring in our population.

The natural "herd" immunity to chickenpox among Americans is being lost and we are becoming vaccine dependent. PLUS a shingles epidemic is taking shape.

Research done by Gary S. Goldman, Ph.D. who served for eight years as a Research Analyst with the Varicella Active Surveillance Project in Los Angeles County with funding from the CDC, revealed higher rates of shingles in Americans since the government's 1995 recommendation that all children receive chickenpox vaccine.

According to an article describing his work:

"Dr. Goldman's findings have corroborated other independent researchers who estimate that if chickenpox were to be nearly eradicated by vaccination, the higher number of shingles cases could continue in the U.S. for up to 50 years; and that while death rates from chickenpox are already very low, any deaths prevented by vaccination will be offset by deaths from increasing shingles disease. (Emphasis mine)

Goldman was so concerned about an epidemic of shingles that he has co-written a book on the matter, entitled The Chickenpox Vaccine: A New Epidemic of Disease and Corruption.

Dr. Goldman isn't the only one who is concerned about a potential shingles epidemic.

A team at Britain's Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) found that adults living with children enjoy higher levels of protection from shingles. They stated that, although chickenpox can be life threatening for the immune compromised, thousands of elderly people could also die from the complications of shingles. PHLS called for a re-evaluation of the policy of mass chickenpox vaccination in the U.S., as well as other countries implementing this practice.

For decades, shingles was thought to increase with age as older individuals' immune systems weakened. However, research suggests this phenomenon is more a result of the fact that older people receive fewer natural boosts to immunity as their contacts with young children decline.

In fact, the effectiveness of the chickenpox vaccine itself depends on natural boosting, so as chickenpox disease rates decline, so will the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Are These Predictions Coming True?
Absolutely.

The incidence of adult shingles has increased by 90 percent from 1998 to 2003, following the release of the chickenpox vaccine for mass use. Shingles results in three times as many deaths and five times as many hospitalizations as chickenpox, and accounts for 75 percent of all medical costs associated with the varicella zoster virus.

Even children are beginning to come down with shingles, as evidenced by school nurse reports since 2000, which was one of the concerns prompting Dr. Goldman to warn the CDC that it may be bringing about a shingles epidemic.

[magayle]

Prior to chickenpox vaccination, shingles was seen only in adults.

All evidence points to the fact that we have traded a relatively mild illness (chickenpox), which does NOT involve complications for 99.9 percent of healthy children, for a more serious illness in our elderly (shingles) that has the potential for compromising the health of an entire population.

Another peer-reviewed article by Dr. Goldman presents a cost-benefit analysis of the chickenpox vaccination program, with disturbing findings. Chickenpox vaccine would have to be universally used for at least 50 years to demonstrate a cost benefit, due to the substantial additional medical cost of a shingles epidemic. This is CLEARLY not worth it, when chickenpox disease presented such minimal risk to society in the first place!

What do you think was the CDC's answer to a potential shingles epidemic, when presented with Goldman's findings?

Another vaccine—of course.

Merck – the pharmaceutical giant that makes the chickenpox vaccine - rides in on their white horse with the very answer the CDC was hoping for: A shingles vaccine! Yes, shingles vaccine was developed by the same manufacturer who markets and is the sole source of chickenpox vaccine in America.

What an incredible profit-making scheme – the same drug company that profits from mass, mandatory use of the chicken pox vaccine also profits from sales of a shingles vaccine in a market created by the chickenpox vaccine!

Sound the Horns! Merck "to the Rescue"—Again!
The FDA approved Merck's shingles vaccine (Zostavax) for use in people age 60 and older in May of 2006. So they have come out with a vaccine (shingles) to reverse the damages to your health caused by their earlier vaccine (chickenpox).

Sound familiar?

It is very much like the polypharmacy used to "treat" chronic disease. You get a drug to supposedly make you better, but it causes adverse side effects, so you are given another drug to treat those side effects. Then, THAT drug creates more problems, and pretty soon, no one can tell what's causing what, and down the drain of poor health you go.

Meanwhile, you are taking a long list of drugs, and the only people truly benefiting are the pharmaceutical companies who make money each step of the way.

In the case of varicella vaccines, they are profiting from the cause of an epidemic, as well as the supposed cure...

But is it REALLY a cure? Will a shingles vaccine prevent a shingles epidemic?

Vaccines: Public Health or Profit Center
Adult vaccination programs have rarely proved successful.

The cost of the shingles vaccine itself ($200) is prohibitive, especially for many older Americans struggling to meet monthly expenses on fixed incomes. Research shows that few adults are making use of it.

And what unanticipated health effects might the shingles vaccine have on the elderly—particularly those who are immunosuppressed or already challenged with chronic illness or cancer?

The conflicts of interest between vaccine manufacturers and vaccine researchers, and government bodies entangled with both, represent another layer of trouble.

How reliable and unbiased is the vaccine information you get if it's provided by researchers with financial ties to both vaccine manufacturers and government health agencies promoting mass, mandatory use of vaccines?

In the words of Dr. Goldman:

"When research is sponsored by agencies that promote vaccination, and reimbursed by the pharmaceutical company itself, and receive enrichment by immunizing children, my experience is that they demonstrate certain biases which allow them to continue operating as profit centers and unfortunately, at least sometimes promoting vaccination to the detriment of public health."

Hundreds of Vaccines on the Way
U.S. public health doctors say your child should receive 69 doses of 16 different vaccines before age 18. And 145 more are on the way! Yes, believe it or not, Big Pharma has 145 more vaccines in the pipeline and most are in their final stages of approval, in clinical trials or under FDA review.

Vaccine Awareness Week: November 1 -- November 6, 2010
Mercola.com & the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) have dedicated the first week of November as Vaccine Awareness Week!

In a collaborative effort to raise public awareness about important vaccination issues, Dr. Joseph Mercola and NVIC have been publishing a series of articles and interviews on vaccine topics of interest to Mercola.com newsletter subscribers and NVIC Vaccine E-newsletter readers. The article you've just finished reading is one of those.

Vaccine Awareness Week arose from the following shared goals:

1.Raising public awareness about the need to take an active role in preventing vaccine injuries and deaths
2.Protecting and expanding legal exemptions to vaccination by securing broad medical, religious and conscientious belief exemptions in all state vaccine laws
3.Promoting the human right to voluntary, informed consent to medical risk-taking, including vaccination
4.Raising funds for NVIC, a non-profit charity that has been working since 1982 to educate the public about vaccination and defend the ethical principle of informed consent.
My Appeal to You
Don't sit this one out! We've got them "on the run."

Tell everyone. Tell your friends, your family. With a little bit of effort, you can make significant strides toward preserving your freedom to make VOLUNTARY health care choices – including vaccination choices – that affect you and your children's health and future.

This week, NVIC has launched the NVIC Advocacy Portal , an online interactive database and communications network, that gives you the tools you need to take action to protect legal, medical, religious and conscientious belief exemptions to vaccination in YOUR state.

Go there now and register! And while you're at it, please make a donation to NVIC so they can continue fighting to preserve our freedom of make voluntary health choices.

Your Donations to the NVIC help fund efforts that raise vaccine awareness, including the following excellent vaccine resources:

•State Vaccine Requirements
•Influenza Mini Guide Ebook
•Special Report: Influenza Vaccine Mandates Ineffective & Unwise
•Are You Over Vaccinating Your Child?
•Vaccine Ingredients Calculator
•How to Legally Avoid Immunizations
For information about legally avoiding immunizations in Canada, please see the Canadian Vaccination Liberation website
www.vaclib.org.

For more vaccine related news and information, visit the Mercola vaccine information site.



Stay tuned to this newsletter for more updates, or follow the National Vaccine Information Center on Facebook. Together we CAN make a difference!

[magayle]

i gotta say you were right about some of these fear mongers....and i just pass over much of their hype.....all that needing to register isn't right either.....and i don't fall for all the stuff they try to get ya to buy....you're a smart woman, WB and i'm a better woman 'cause of my forum friends:) and you're a great mini mule lover so i know you're safe:cheers:

[WashingtonBay]

Chickenpox is Nature's Way of Protecting You from Shingles
Nature has devised an elegant plan for protecting you from the shingles virus.

After contracting and recovering from chickenpox (usually as a child), as you age, your natural immunity gets asymptomatically "boosted" by coming into contact with infected children, who are recovering from chickenpox. This natural "boosting" of natural immunity to the varicella (chickenpox) virus helps protect you from getting shingles later in life.

This is true whether you are a child, adolescent, young adult, or elderly—every time you come into contact with someone infected with chickenpox, you get a natural "booster shot" that protects you from a painful—and expensive—bout with shingles.

In other words, shingles can be prevented by ordinary contact, such as receiving a hug from a grandchild who is getting or recovering from the chickenpox. But with the advent of the chickenpox vaccine, there is less chickenpox around to provide that natural immune boost for children AND adults.


OK - So it seems this whole theory relies on adults and grandparents hugging kids that have chickenpox once in awhile (do people really go out of their way to do that? -Hug kids that have chickenpox?) giving them a 'booster' of immunity from re-exposure to the virus.

That's what the shingles vaccine does. Re-exposes them to the virus. All that's missing is the itchy scabby unhappy kid. Sounds better all the way around, to me. :D

[WashingtonBay]

i gotta say you were right about some of these fear mongers....and i just pass over much of their hype.....all that needing to register isn't right either.....and i don't fall for all the stuff they try to get ya to buy....you're a smart woman, WB and i'm a better woman 'cause of my forum friends:) and you're a great mini mule lover so i know you're safe:cheers:

:) Aw.... Garsh :o Thanks! :)

[magayle]

No - they might not get vaccines... even your OP isn't sure. "If you do a Google search, you will find a lot of contradictory articles on whether or not the Amish submit to vaccinations." I find the use of the word submit there to be just a little bit overdramatic ;).

I might have suggested asking them. :) Maybe a few of them in different places. Maybe they're not all the same.

No word on whether they ever get shingles...

you're right....we can always find what we want to hear....IMHO absolute truth doesn't exsist....just sayin' and passin' on some food for thought....now i'm hungry!

[WashingtonBay]

Food for thought isn't very filling is it? :D

Have you got anything else to eat? I'd ask Natisha, but apparently she doesn't cook.

[Remali]

Good articles magayle. I remember when people used to say that shingles was something only "old folks" got.... so imagine my surprise when I got my first case of shingles when I was 34!

[mare]

Good articles magayle. I remember when people used to say that shingles was something only "old folks" got.... so imagine my surprise when I got my first case of shingles when I was 34!

Not to one-up you, but one of my kids got shingles at age 13. At the time that was the youngest, but the next year some poor kid got them at 12. I haven't kept track since then. My daughter that got them also had a mild form of juvenile RA. Wacked immune system with an obvious emotional component. (Whole 'nother debatable condition related to causation)

Regarding the Amish, I think to point to walking/outdoor lifestyle and work OR lack of immunization OR living relatively seperate OR any one aspect is simplistic. I was surprised that the article that was initially posted stated there was a low level of obesity in "the Amish." Not my observation with several colonies in three states.

[Remali]

Wow Mare, 13 years old.... that's rough. I've had a few flare-ups since then, and then I had about 3 bouts of it in my eye..... that was total misery. And so your daughter who had the shingles so young also has RA too, it sure does make you wonder doesn't it, must all be tied-in somehow. My immune system has always been rather poor, when I was in my teens and early 20's I used to go in to the doc's for an injection of B-12 to help with the fatigue (I wasn't deficient, but the injections did help me). I always was an active outdoorsy kid, was in track in school, rode horses every day, etc. But I still had a lot of wacky health issues even at a young age. I often wonder that it isn't all directly related, at least in my case..... I got Rheumatic Fever when I was 17, and almost a year to the very day I got a very bad case of mono. After that I never seemed to really bounce back very well.....altho I managed to bumble onward in life, lol. At least until recently when more flare-ups and etc. got the best of me again.

Haven't seen any over-weight Amish around here, we have a lot of them just southeast of Eau Claire in the Augusta area, but they're all pencil-thin. And another community down near the Tomah area..... there are more in WI too but I haven't seen any of those personally.

[mare]

Wow Mare, 13 years old.... ...there are more in WI too but I haven't seen any of those personally.

I have clients with RA and am interested in the psychological component of the disease, the hardest part to quantify. I am positive about the research tying emotional stress to decreased immunity. I think that's pretty well accepted.

My kids were rather isolated growing up, and they only received the vaccinations required for school. That is the same as the Amish kids I knew in IN, SD, and MT. Now with homeschooling being more widespread and accepted, maybe the Amish don't vaccinate per schedule.

The weight variance: I wonder if it's genetic along certain family lines or economic or cultural in different colonies.

[Remali]

I think increased stress (i.e. emotional stress) really is a huge factor. When I got my flare-ups it was usually during a time of unusually high stress for me. I can cope pretty well with stress, but I think it just adds up and eventually your immune system goes down. After my mother's illness and pancreatic cancer, and her passing, I found that I had more flare-ups and I just caught a lot more viruses too. I try to keep my activity level up as much as I can, it helps me if I stay active, when I wasn't able to ride my horses any more I bought a bike, and I started biking all over the place on the bike trails. I still had the flare-ups, but at least I felt better emotionally, and even physically more strong as long as I could get outside and stay active. Altho there are times when it all just kicks your butt and then you're down and out for the count for awhile. How we cope with stress can also have an effect, at least it seems to work that way for me.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

you're right....we can always find what we want to hear....IMHO absolute truth doesn't exsist....just sayin' and passin' on some food for thought....now i'm hungry!

Truth exists, quite apart from anyone's willingness to accept it. You can demand that the sky is green all you want, and in the end it just doesn't matter what you think. What matters is what ~is~. The real world isn't about feelings.

Magayle... all I have to say about that screed about vaccines... well... I'm trying to find a way to be nice about it and I'm not having a lot of success. So... I'm going to self-moderate my comments and merely say: Nonsense. This business of vaccines causing everything from autism to spina bifida is just that. It's nonsense.

Vaccines have saved countless millions of lives. What we, as a civilization, do NOT need is to return to a 14th century state of medical science. Smallpox killed millions of people before the age of vaccines. And polio. And measles. And rubella... and... and...

It's just not worthy of debate. Honest.

[Kaitlyn]

Truth exists, quite apart from anyone's willingness to accept it. You can demand that the sky is green all you want, and in the end it just doesn't matter what you think. What matters is what ~is~. The real world isn't about feelings.

Magayle... all I have to say about that screed about vaccines... well... I'm trying to find a way to be nice about it and I'm not having a lot of success. So... I'm going to self-moderate my comments and merely say: Nonsense. This business of vaccines causing everything from autism to spina bifida is just that. It's nonsense.

Vaccines have saved countless millions of lives. What we, as a civilization, do NOT need is to return to a 14th century state of medical science. Smallpox killed millions of people before the age of vaccines. And polio. And measles. And rubella... and... and...

It's just not worthy of debate. Honest.

That is a good point, and I agree but I believe we're over vaccinated..but I think some vaccines are necessary. I fear the medical industry is pushed by drug companies to poke patients and have them swallow some unnecessary pills. I'm in between, in all honesty with the vaccine and no vaccine bandwagon. I just know I want to die a ripe old age and painlessly. lmbo.

[magayle]

I think increased stress (i.e. emotional stress) really is a huge factor. When I got my flare-ups it was usually during a time of unusually high stress for me. I can cope pretty well with stress, but I think it just adds up and eventually your immune system goes down. After my mother's illness and pancreatic cancer, and her passing, I found that I had more flare-ups and I just caught a lot more viruses too. I try to keep my activity level up as much as I can, it helps me if I stay active, when I wasn't able to ride my horses any more I bought a bike, and I started biking all over the place on the bike trails. I still had the flare-ups, but at least I felt better emotionally, and even physically more strong as long as I could get outside and stay active. Altho there are times when it all just kicks your butt and then you're down and out for the count for awhile. How we cope with stress can also have an effect, at least it seems to work that way for me.

i was just thinking the same thing...emotional stress was unusually high when i came down with shingles too...when you're down, you begin to lack the desire to take care of your physical needs....healthy diet, taking supplements, doing stuff you enjoy, interacting with others, spending time outdoors, physical activity - a depression that starts taking a toll on your physical condition....a healthy body needs a healthy mind...the amish lifestyle doesn't allow you to check out when the going gets tough....their activities are required for basic survival....tending to all the critters that provide food and transportation, preparing meals without modern conveniences, sewing all their clothes, harvesting firewood for cooking and heat, being needed to help others survive.....they don't have time to 'get down'....our society depends so much more on the $ to provide our basic needs that when the $'s decrease our stress level soars and we're stuck with nothing to do but worry:confused: and then we get sick....and once again look outside of ourselves for cures and relief...yep, i think the amish have a much healthier life style then we do and the more i practice their way of life the happier and healthier i become:)

[Remali]

And then the effects that high levels of cortisol has from excessive stress...

http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm

[magayle]

The deep psychology behind your health
by Mike Bundrant
Email this author


(NaturalNews) The relationship between psychological health and physical health has long been established. Even most medical doctors today warn against the dangers of mental stress that flows from overwork, chronic family conflict, unhealthy compensating or general maladjustment to the demands of life. This is old news.

The intriguing question now is how does this relationship between mental health and physical health function? When you are stressed out, depressed or confused, how does your body react to create a state of less-than-optimal health or even disease? The answer to this question leads us down a slippery slope full of speculation and metaphor. If you're open minded, however, the ride is not only exhilarating, but enlightening.

In a recent conversation with Mike Adams of NaturalNews.com, Mike shocked me with the following:

"Cancer is a natural process that gets out of control. When you cut your skin and it begins to heal, those cells are involved in a cancer-like process. They know how to divide, grow and heal. But, they also know when to stop growing. Otherwise, you would end up with a giant growth out of your arm or wherever you cut yourself. The same is true when a woman is pregnant. The cells of the fetus are involved in a cancer-like process, a very rapid division and growth in an organized way."

Here is the fascinating piece: Cancerous tumors, when removed from the body, sometimes contain hair, teeth and organs.

They don't tell people that a cancer cell in the body tries to become a whole person. Think about that for a minute. After conception, you have a single, fertilized egg. If the conditions are right, it develops into a person. That is the way it is supposed to work. But, when you have a cancer tumor in the body, it "decides" it wants to be a whole person, too. It doesn't want to be a specialized cell, playing a small role in a larger body. It wants to be a whole body and it does not have any plans to stop dividing and spreading.

What to do with this information? Consider your life. Do you know who you are and what you stand for? Do you meander through life, confused and afraid to make strong decisions? Do you live in a house divided, with internal conflict eating at you day and night? When you lie down to sleep, are you at peace or are you harangued by stray thoughts that clutter your mind?

Good psychological health implies clear values, the ability to access a state of inner calm, healthy personal boundaries (knowing your limits, when to say yes vs. no) and a general, pervasive feeling of well-being and certainty in this uncertain world. These and other essential mental health resources are fundamental. Life requires them at a minimum. Those who do not naturally possess or consciously dev elop these essentials of healthy character are at a distinct disadvantage in the social realm. Are they also exposed to greater health risks? The most compelling logic suggests that, yes, they are.

Imagine for a moment that your mind and body, craving the clarity, calm and certainty that comes with solid mental health and a low-stress way of being, is just not getting what it needs. Lacking direction, it lives in a state of chronic confusion, conflict and anxiety. Doesn't it make sense that some part of you at some point takes matters into its own hands? Might that entail an attempt to develop new parts of you, given the current lack of resources?

Witnessing the hair, teeth and partial organs contained in a cancerous tumor validates this logic in a very unsettling way. The moral of the story: Put real effort into your mental health! Learn to be clear, honest and certain. Know who you are and what you stand for. Develop effective communication skills and the capacity for inner peace. Give your mind and body what it needs and it won't have a reason to rebel.

About the author:
Mike Bundrant is a retired mental health counselor, NLP trainer and publisher of Healthy Times Newspaper.

You can find Mike at inlpcenter.com

[natisha]

^ the only thing that really bothers me about that article is that it somehow implies that avoiding disease can be related to a state of mind, kind of like wishing it away.

[magayle]

^ the only thing that really bothers me about that article is that it somehow implies that avoiding disease can be related to a state of mind, kind of like wishing it away.

yep, i 'hear' that too but it's not 'wishing' it's more of a 'believing' state of mind....ya know how when you have no doubts, fears or uncertainty that something is gonna happen and it does?.....your success with training has that - you 'know' it and the horse 'knows you know' so it works;)....our thoughts do have energy - positive and negative....not to imply that we create all illness and disease but rather a helpful way we can help our bodies protect and repair itself....:)

[GrungeEquestrian]

....our thoughts do have energy - positive and negative....not to imply that we create all illness and disease but rather a helpful way we can help our bodies protect and repair itself....:)

I think I may be misinterpreting you (and if I am please correct me), but I really don't see how that works. Yes, being depressed all the time can have negative affects on our body, but I don't see how staying positive helps repair your body. When my friend Sammy was diagnosed with cancer she always kept a positive attitude throughout it. Even after remission when it came back and after she was supposedly "cured" last summer and it came back. Positive thinking helped her mentally but it did not do anything physically helpful to her body.

[magayle]

I think I may be misinterpreting you (and if I am please correct me), but I really don't see how that works. Yes, being depressed all the time can have negative affects on our body, but I don't see how staying positive helps repair your body. When my friend Sammy was diagnosed with cancer she always kept a positive attitude throughout it. Even after remission when it came back and after she was supposedly "cured" last summer and it came back. Positive thinking helped her mentally but it did not do anything physically helpful to her body.

'helps' repair our bodies....maybe it gave her much more time then she would have had....ultimately, life and death is out of our control, as is our purpose during life....
i tend to believe that much of the disease and illness we are experiencing today is the natural consequence of an un natural life style......for me, the disease that my mother died from - CJD - taught us more about the deadly affects of factory farming - totally un natural feeding practices of feeding dead cows to cows....my mother and my older sister both suffered with MS, teaching us that numerous causes maybe from environment, drugs or diet....my father developed bile duct cancer and died of lung cancer, once again teaching us how chemicals and toxins are killing us.....

it breaks our hearts to loose our loved ones way before old age but maybe that's what it takes for us to question and respond to all that we're messing up and help to stop it...

i'm so sorry that you lost your dear friend sammy, GE....yesterday i lost a dear friend to bladder cancer that i believed to have had much more time to tell her so many things....losing her is teaching me to spend more time connecting with everyone i care about and love....i hope i'm doing that today:)