I want to share a letter I recently wrote to someone who has extended family who have decided not to vaccinate. This person wrote me in the hopes of attaining support for the position that their relatives were off-the-wall and that deciding not to vaccinate is a bad thing to do.
I am blocking out the authors name for their privacy.
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Hi ------------,
Thanks for writing. I've read your email and hopefully I can help.
I and my business partner have been researching health issues since 1997 by reading large amounts of medical literature. I believe good science and sound studies support a healthy lifestyle and there is plenty of health-related research that reveals the truth about these issues. I hope I can be of assistance to you in this venture.
I've inserted answers/responses to your questions/statements below...
My sister in law has gone on this everything strictly Organic, wheat, grain, soy, ground turkey type of life for their family and it's only getting worse.
Not only do organically grown foods contain much less pesticide, fungicide (many contain mercury) and other poisonous chemicals, but they usually contain 10 to 100 times (not percent) more mineral content than non-organically grown foods. Eating organic food is not just a good idea, it is necessary to maintain health, particularly for those with allergies or weak immune systems.
Organic and hormone-free meats are very important because most Americans receive so many estrogens that it is likely contributing to the high cancer rates and other estrogen-related diseases in this country. Antibiotics in conventional meats are harmful in that they upset the natural flora (beneficial bacteria) balances in the colon and can lead to yeast infections (candida) and eventually in the breakdown of the intestinal wall which can cause the onset of various diseases (allergies, MCS, CFS, IBS, etc.)
My husband came in from work telling me about how they've said that they're not going to vaccinate their children, how all vaccinations are bad/harmful to you, she thinks the allergist is crazy. Rather she refuses to believe the results (even though the scratch test proved what her youngest is allergic to.) and she wants a second "opinion". So now I'm stuck in the middle between my husband who now wants me to find research to show them proof that vaccinations are a necessity and my delusional brother and sister in law. I've gone to Webmd.com and found some information there as well as a few articles from the AOL search but I need something more concrete to show them.
You've probably been taught (as have most of us) that major health issues?like polio and smallpox?were erradicated by vaccines. When you look at the research and statistics, you will realize this is not the case.
You'll find that these diseases were nearly erradicated before the introduction of these vaccines and that vaccine manufacturers simply saw this as an opportunity to "take credit" by claiming that vaccines were the reason. They profit handsomely by convincing Americans and congress (by huge compaign contributions and other dispursements) to mandate vaccination programs based on this false premise.
Vaccines are in fact, one of the biggest cover-ups in history. There are numerous resources that explain this in great detail. I'll provide links to a few of these resources at the end of this message.
The bottom line is that the cost and mortality and morbidity risks of receiving modern vaccines is greater than the assumed benefits. Contrary to popular belief, this is what the statistics say.
WebMD is little more than a propaganda outlet for the pharmaceutical companies. It contains either misleading information or omissions designed to direct people away from common sense healthy lifestyles and toward a conventional medical view that, in the end, profits the pharmaceutical companies and hurts the common person seeking good health.
There are many outlets of misleading information so you have to read the research for yourself and make your own decisions carefully (don't trust WebMD's information, or mine for that matter). Fortunately, this information is readily available. You have to get the information directly from the source. Don't read the study summaries as many of them are completely misleading and contain distortions and omissions about the very study they supposedly summarize.
You also have to be aware of the mainstream media's role in this chirade. Since they receive hundreds of millions of advertising dollars from pharmaceutical companies, they will not broadcast information that is in conflict with the information inferred in the commercials, and they omit important information about (vaccine and other) alternatives which, in my research, are more safe and effective.
One of the more famous examples of this occured a few years ago when all major news outlets reported on St. Johns Wort. Many people use SJW for depression. The medical systems in some countries prescribe it. It's effectiveness and the mechanism by which it works are well-known.
A study was conducted and concluded that St Johns Wort was completelly ineffective against depression. All the major news outlets broadcasted this as the proof that alternatives don't work. Amazingly, all the major news outlets omitted the fact that the two major pharmaceutical anti-depressants which were tested in the same study were proven completely ineffective as well.
Either the conclusions of the study are true, or the study is fundamentally flawed. Conflicts between doctors concerned with maintaining integerity in medicine and those "owned" by the "big pharma" are commonplace today. "Flawed studies" and "ghostwriting" in medical journals are rampant and usually funded by pharmaceutical companies themselves.
I've come to the firm conclusion that the entire vaccine industry has been created as an extremely lucrative business venture by the pharmaceutical companies, wholly backed by powerful media and major "health" organizations and administrations, with whom they share the wealth.
My husband has challenged my brother in law to find information stating where Autism is caused without a doubt from getting vaccinated for Measles as they seem to think and he's told them to look to other sites/sources other than these hippy friends of theirs.
It is very possible that autism is caused by the MMR vaccine. This is a live vaccine which contains no mercury. However, there is a very specific mechanism which is believed to cause autism called molecular mimickry. I will provide you with a link where you can get more information at the end of this message (Risks, Benefits, Choices video).
Autism caused by other non-live vaccines is likely associated with mercury which can be introduced into the body via amalgam ("silver") dental fillings and vaccines which use it as a preservative (Thimerosol). According to some sources, mercury is even found in vaccines not containing Thimerosol because it is used in an earlier stage of processing.
So now my homework for the next day or so is to come up with our own factual information to debunk their insane theories. This is where you come in, I was hoping that you might be able to provide me with some fuel to this insane anti-vaccine kick these nuts are on. Any information would be extremely appreciated.
Instead of trying to debunk their theories, I would encourage you to listen to both viewpoints and use common sense to decipher which side is correct. In this venture it is important to follow some guidelines:
- Don't be swayed because you "cannot believe" that people (pharmaceutical companies) would be so deceitful as to spread misinformation. This kind of deceit is as old as humanity.
- Don't be swayed because you "cannot believe" that pharmaceutical companies might control the boards of medical schools and wield great power in the medical educational process and the political process. You can find the dollar amounts made by pharmaceutical contributions to congressmen online.These companies don't give away this money expecting nothing in return.
- Don't be swayed because of the size and volume of the misinformation campaigns. They have a lot of money and skill in this area and have been at it for a long time. No matter how big or popular a lie is, it's still just a lie.
- Use "common sense" when deciphering conflicting information. Ask if there is a conflict of interest in the person presenting the information. Who benefits. Who's funding the studies.
Pharmaceutical companies have tremendous amounts of money available to develop misinformation infrastructures. Many former FDA Chairpersons go to work for one of the pharmaceuticals upon leaving the FDA.
If you search carefully, you will find that they already have convinced the majority of Americans to believe things that medical research just doesn't show. I have worked in researching medical information long enough to know how things work. I have also learned that families are the last to believe when your claim flies in the face of commonly-held beliefs no matter how inaccurate the belief is. It takes courage to believe something different, even when you're right.
Having had the privilege to work inside the political scene in the 90's taught me what too few Americans realize: The misinformation infrastructure in this country is enormous, but most Americans don't see it. Despite the fact that its existence is so easy to prove, many who research it have difficulty accepting what they are actually seeing. The perpetrators of this deceit call this technique "Hiding in Plain Sight" (commonly abbreviated "HIPS").
Having grown up in a medical family, surrounded by doctors, I have gained a valuable perspective of modern medicine; The good and the bad. Through this experience and through this research, I have found organizations like the following to be participants in distributing misinformation usually because they are financially tied to the pharmaceutical industry: FDA, WHO, NIH, NCI, IOM, CDC, NAS, NCAHF, Quackwatch, and many others.
Although this message may be uncomfortable, I hope it is encouraging and helpful on your journey to find the truth about this tremendously important subject.
Following are resources you will find helpful.
This Vaccine Video explains this issue from the medical literature itself. This is outstanding information every parent should have.
http://herballure.com/Products/Vaccines_RisksBenefitsChoices/index.html Outstanding book about the widespread use of misinformation in medicine.
Racketeering in Medicine by Dr. James P. Carter
Autism Linked to Mercury in Vaccines
http://www.mercola.com/2001/jun/13/autism_mercury.htm National Vaccine Information Center
http://www.909shot.com/Default.htm Imus program about vaccines and Thimerosol
http://evidenceofharm.com/Imus-Kirby.wmv Dr. Mercola: Vaccine Update
http://www.mercola.com/2001/jun/9/vaccine_update.htm Molecular Mimicry
http://www.909shot.com/Diseases/autismsp.htm Detailed information about vaccination side-effects
http://www.909shot.com/Diseases/autismsp.htm Tim Bolen Newsletter
http://herballure.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB10 Vaccine Awareness Groups:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Vaccine-Awareness/ http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/vaccine_truth/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vaccine/ All the best to you.
Russ Tanner
russ@herballure.com 
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