Part 1
Vaccines: The Cause or the Straw for Increased Illnesses and Developmental Issues?
By: Tammy Notch
1.0 Introduction
We, as a society, have been led to believe that our diet and lifestyle have very little impact on our overall health. For instance, if we suffer with allergies, we should take an antihistamine like Zyrtec or, if we have acid reflux, we are told our stomach makes too much acid and are given an acid blocker such as Nexium. Even emotional issues like anxiety and depression are simply due to a drug deficiency. However, what is not expressed by modern medicine is that these ‘illnesses’ are merely symptoms of a dysfunctional body and our diet and lifestyle is the key to restoration. Throughout most of my life, I was also deceived by these beliefs. Fortunately, a few years ago, I was introduced to a naturopath who guided me back to a healthy life I haven’t experienced since I was a young child. I couldn’t believe how straightforward restoring health was and didn’t understand why the numerous doctors I saw never correlated diet to my symptoms, so I decided to better educate myself. I quickly began to realize just how much impact our current environment and lifestyle has on our health. During this same time period, I saw various statements and articles regarding vaccines: both pro and con. I realized that our society has also been conditioned to think that vaccines are a necessity and are safe for our children. Since the mainstream viewpoints on our health and wellness were so far off, I questioned whether the vaccine debate could also be much more complicated than conveyed through the media. So, I allowed my newfound knowledge and this curiosity to lead me through this position paper.
There is a lot of controversy regarding vaccines being the major contributor to the increase of childhood diseases such as autism, asthma, hyperactivity, allergies, diabetes, various autoimmune and neurological disorders and many others. However, what if vaccines were merely the straw that broke the camel’s back? This position paper will discuss the possibility that the true origin of the deteriorating health in children and young adults is the combination of environmental pollutants passed from mother to baby in-utero, plus the added metals and chemicals introduced by vaccine injection which bypasses the body’s normal detox, elimination and screening pathways. Introducing new toxins to an infant who has an immature immune system and is already overcome by inherited pollutants will definitely increase the probability for developing illness due to the disruption of normal body function. However, there are multiple natural health methods which can eliminate toxins and restore normal body function, thus decreasing the potential for illness. The focus of this position paper will include identifying the inherited toxic load and the vaccine ingredients while also describing how they impact normal body functions as well as identifying ways to decrease the impacts and ultimately restore innate body operations.
2.0 History & Overview
In order to determine how toxic substances inhibit the immune system’s ability to function, we must first understand its innate function. Basically, this system is responsible for keeping us healthy and fighting off foreign invaders whether that be living invaders like viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungus or toxins such as heavy metals and chemicals. The immune system is comprised of many different parts that work in concert together as well as having the capability to differentiate between its own cells and foreign invaders. This system contains many different types of cells found body-wide in the blood, organs and tissues. White blood cells (leukocytes) are strategically located throughout the body and are immediately ready to jump into action wherever needed. Many of these leukocytes are contained in the lymphatic organs and tissues such as in the bone marrow, thymus gland, lymph nodes, spleen, tonsils and in the lining of the digestive, respiratory, urinary and genital tracts.5 When the body identifies a foreign substance, it signals the immune system to come to the rescue. The body then naturally sends various substances to surround the impacted area, or invader, to protect the adjacent regions from further damage which causes inflammation. If the foreign particles are ingested, the liver (the first organ to receive blood from the intestines) processes and separates the products of digestion into usable and toxic constituents. It also alters the toxic constituents into less toxic forms making them safer for the body to eliminate.
We can experience many symptoms during this immune system activity such as inflammation, increased blood flow in the area, redness, pain, high temperature, rash, runny nose, cough, sore throat, body aches and tiredness. Regardless of the unpleasant symptoms, this process is essential because it sets up an environment to inactivate or remove dead/damaged cells and then replaces them with new, healthy cells (tissue repair). However, we have been conditioned to believe that these symptoms should be suppressed which then diminishes the ability of the immune system to fight off the invaders and restore the normal (innate) function. In addition, the means of suppression generally include toxic substances like drugs which further stifles the body’s ability to heal the stressed area.
It is important to understand that the immune system is not mature upon birth. Newborns must come into contact with microorganisms to slowly strengthen and build their immune system much like building their muscles to stand and walk. A fetus/newborn receives protection through the mother both while in-utero and through the breast-milk after birth. This inherited immunity lasts several months while the infant’s environment begins to naturally stimulate and strengthen the immune system with repeated exposure to foreign invaders. Therefore, the cycle of exposure, infection, inflammation and finally healing is beneficial throughout childhood and adulthood because it allows the immune system to evolve and strengthen according to the changing environments and conditions.
2.2 Mainstream medicine
According to Lauren Feder, M.D., “Louis Pasteur, the controversial 19th century scientist, taught us about the germ theory, which remains an integral component of mainstream medicine. His theory is founded on a warfare model of disease: like invading armies, germs attack us from outside the body, and if we succumb, the result is illness. Vaccines developed from this logic; they are meant to “fight” invading illnesses by first mimicking that illness in the body, causing temporary immunization.”1 Pasteur’s work suggests that viruses and bacteria actually attack the body. However, microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungus are really just opportunistic, meaning if the living conditions are good (i.e. plenty of food, warm, lack of predators, etc.), they will thrive. If these good living conditions happen to be inside our body, we will begin to show symptoms due to the stress they inflict on our organs and systems. Just like all of God’s creatures, microorganisms have a specific function: to break down damaged, dead or dying material and return it back into their primary elements allowing the life cycle to begin again. Therefore, in order for microorganisms to thrive inside our body, our health must already be diminished. Dr. Antoine Bechamp, a microbiologist who lived in Pasteur’s time, proved this through numerous experiments with microorganisms and found that they “never attack or destroy healthy, living substances.”5
Vaccines, as stated above, were developed due to the germ theory logic where “certain white blood cells and related cells can be ‘taught’ to recognize these germs and then to ‘remember’ them for future reference”5 so the person will “be protected in the future from attacks by these same germs.”5 In other words, a vaccine containing a weakened germ is injected into the body where the immune system then produces antibodies to eliminate the disease. The belief is that once these antibodies have been created, the body’s immune system can respond faster to the same disease germs in the future with less symptoms.
The first recorded vaccination was in 1796 by Dr. Edward Jenner, a British physician who “believed that dairymaids who had caught cowpox (a minor disease) could not catch smallpox (a fatal disease). Jenner took diseased matter from the hand of Sarah Nelmes, a local dairymaid who had become infected with cowpox, and inserted this matter into the cut arm of James Phipps, a healthy eight-year-old boy. The boy then caught cowpox. Forty-eight days later, Jenner inserted smallpox matter into the boy where it had no effect.”3 This initial vaccination, since it was 100% effective, is the basis for vaccine science.2 However, what isn’t well know is that the boy was re-vaccinated 20 times and died at the age of 20 of tuberculosis which has been linked to the smallpox vaccine.5
The words ‘vaccination’ and ‘immunization’ are typically used interchangeably, but there is a significant difference. Essentially, a vaccination is a formulation including microorganisms that is inserted into the body with the sole purpose of unnaturally increasing disease immunity whereas the term immunization refers to the immune response and protection from that particular disease. With this in mind, how do we determine if a vaccine really creates immunization, thus scientifically proving its effectiveness? One would think that comparing the health of vaccinated vs. un-vaccinated people would provide the answers. However, this is not how vaccine effectiveness is evaluated. According to Michael Gaeta, “vaccinated people are compared to other vaccinated people and only antibody titers are considered…and the titers are not predictive. For instance, in people who get measles, half of them have measles antibody titers that you can measure in the blood and half of them don’t. If they have antibodies, doesn’t that mean they’re protected? No. It absolutely does not. This is one of the biggest myths of vaccination – that by increasing antibody counts, it confers protection. If it did, then it would be an immunization.”2 Regrettably, the ability of vaccines to provide immunization continues to be unproven.
2.3 Naturopathy
Naturopathy upholds a very different approach where illness is primarily due to the body being in a stressed or weakened state. As explained above, microorganisms are drawn to sick, dying tissue and repelled by healthy tissue. Therefore, it is not the strength of the microorganism that creates dysfunction, thus illness; it is the fact that the body is already dysfunctional which attracts the microorganisms so they can complete their objective of breaking down tissue.
Judith DeCava said it perfectly “there are no specific diseases; there are specific disease conditions.”5 This viewpoint, very simply, identifies primarily two ways that the body becomes dysfunctional: 1) the presence of something that shouldn’t be there or 2) the absence of something that should. Our body was created to maintain homeostasis, so when a primary system or organ is stressed, other systems and organs try to help which ultimately exhausts the primary and secondary systems. Symptoms are the body’s way of telling us there is a problem and generally appear when the body can no longer maintain homeostasis. Consequently, naturopathic approaches to keeping us healthy focus on strengthening the body naturally using nutrition, cleansing, exercise, etc. For instance, if heavy metals are present in the body, it can cause stress on the nervous, immune and endocrine systems as well as other areas. Eventually, this toxicity will cause dysfunction due to the lack of homeostasis and the person will begin to have symptoms such as unexplained irritability and sudden anger, depression, numbness and tingling in the extremities, chronic fatigue, nighttime urination, cold hands and feet, bloated feeling, memory issues, constipation and/or diarrhea, muscular twitching, heartburn, skin rashes, metallic taste in the mouth, insomnia, painful joints, excessive itching, tachycardia, etc.7 As the body continues to increase in stress and dysfunction, microorganisms move in and begin to thrive. However, when we naturally detox the heavy metals, the body can heal and restore proper function ultimately making the environment uninhabitable for microorganisms. Conversely, when necessary nutrients are missing from the body, the response is much the same. However, in this instance, naturopathic methods such as whole foods & supplements are used to provide the missing nutrients allowing the body to strengthen.
2.4 Declining Health Trends
Over the past few decades, there is a significant overall trend of health deterioration which is substantiated by scientific reports. Neil Miller described that “allergic diseases such as asthma and eczema are rapidly increasing in both frequency and severity. Autoimmune diseases (afflictions in which antibodies or immune cells attack the tissues of one’s own body) have increased manifold in the past several generations. Perhaps the most ominous of all is the rise in childhood behavioral disorders, including hyperactivity and learning disorders, with approximately 15 percent of children now being classified as learning disabled. A substantial portion of today’s children are receiving frequent courses of antibiotics for treatment of recurrent ear infections and/or respiratory illness, a pattern which suggests an increasing prevalence of immune impairment when compared with earlier generations. Among young adults of today there are the newly emerging and poorly understood syndromes of chemical sensitivity and chronic fatigue, conditions which are disabling millions of our youth who should be entering the prime of their lives.”3 In addition, “preterm births have increased 23 percent over the past two decades, low-weight births have become more common…and the incidence of autism is increasing, and is now almost 10 times higher than in the mid-1980’s.”4 Unfortunately, this is just a small sample of the illnesses afflicting people, both young and old, at an alarming rate.
So, the question is why are the illnesses and frequencies skyrocketing? “Dr. Harold Buttram…concluded that the four fundamental causes of immune malfunctions and disorders are: 1) injected vaccines, 2) denatured and devitalized foods, 3) formula feeding of infants rather than breast feeding, 4) overuse of antibiotics. Stated another way, the cause of disease is chronic malnutrition and/or chronic poisoning – depleting, damaging, and impairing the body and its normal functions instead of building, caring, fueling and supporting its health.”5 I fully agree with this, but would also add environmental factors such as heavy metal and chemical pollutants, electromagnetic frequency pollution, higher incidence of scars (surgical, accidental, stretch marks, piercings, tattoos, etc.) and genetically modified foods. Our fresh fruits and vegetables are also grown with pesticides and fertilizers, so the chemicals are absorbed into the flesh making it next to impossible to remove them before consumption.
Stay Tuned for Part 2...
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