Vaccines and One Other Thing

I haven't posted in a long time, even though there is stuff I want to write about. Although, some of the stuff I want to write about I can't really make public for a variety of reasons. How's that for vague? Anyway, I just wrote this on Facebook and figured I'd share it here as well. The post is referring to this article: http://www.vaccinestoday.eu/vaccines/how-measles-can-change-a-life/


I'm sharing this article for two reasons. The first is the overt idea of herd immunity. Herd immunity occurs when everyone that can get vaccinated does, which then protects all those who cannot get vaccinated because of allergies or age. This is extremely important. The parents in the article say it best, "But what drives us crazy is the fact that all of this could have been avoided, had obligatory vaccination protected more children from getting infected by measles and that other dangerous “childhood” diseases." Their son could have lived and  been healthy. "If only" is a terrible thing to live with.

The other reason is secondary. When the parents were told that their son would not live, there was no cure and no hope, they turned to quackery. Everyone can understand this and nobody can blame them.

In their own words, "We were numb, desperate... the doctors were telling us that we would lose our child – no matter what. We spent nights on the internet seeking for rescue, for some sort of treatment that would stop us from going down the path of the inevitable. We established contacts with medical scientists in India, Turkey and the US. We imported homeopathic medicine from India; we applied ß-interferon, vitamins, fish oil, minerals..."

This is something that makes me so angry I want to cry. There are people out there who will try to sell you anything, and say it will cure everything. I know this, because my parents went through this. They were desperate and spent hundreds of dollars on remedies that did nothing, because they desperately wanted to cure their little girl. Guess what? NONE OF IT DID ANYTHING. It's all bullshit.

A lot of people say, well it can't hurt to try. That is also bullshit. It deprives people of money they often don't have (and think about how that money could have been spent to make the life of a loved one better in a meaningful way). The money that people spend in their desperation gives the illusion of legitimacy to the remedy and the person selling it (if other people spent money on it, there must be something to it), and it gives the person selling this crap the resources to continue selling it. Worst of all, it gives false hope. There is nothing wrong with hope, but false hope is extremely hurtful. If someone tells you that they can save your loved one, how would you feel? Elated, joyful, thankful, grateful? How do you feel when you realize that not only did the treatment not work, but it had no chance of working, and that someone decided that they wanted to make money from your desperate bid to save the  life of someone you love by selling you nothing? I know how I feel about all those people who took my parent's money. Angry, extremely angry. How dare they?! What kind of person does that? What kind of person tells a parent that they can save their child, no problem, just buy this bottle of pills or vial of fluid? I'd like to say knowing full well that it won't, but I know some of these people, somehow, honestly think that they can help, even with the flimsiest of evidence. It's wrong, and I wish there were stricter laws about what you can claim something will do for someone's health, because consumer discernment cannot be counted on when the life of a loved one is a stake. The false hope that these people sell just adds insult to injury.

I feel the need to point out that I am not against naturopathy necessarily. There are a lot of "natural" remedies that work. I put natural in quotes because everything on earth is by definition natural. Anyway, there are proven medicines outside of the medical system (I'm not sure what to call it, western traditional medicine?). Notice I say proven. There must be evidence from science and this most often comes from legitimate peer reviewed scientific research. Of course, there isn't always that kind of research out there for everything, so sometimes you do what works for you. However, steering away from fads and what the current incarnation of Dr. Oz recommends is a good idea, because usually that is bullshit too. If I'm not sure about something I consider the source, and ask someone more knowledgeable and reputable than myself.

There is so much information out there now, it's hard to know what's real and what isn't. If it's too good to be true it most likely is not true. Chinese medicine cannot cure your cancer, etc.

Sorry for the rant, but this is something I feel very strongly about. People still offer cures and treatments for me that are outside the scope of what could possibly improve my condition and frankly, it pisses me off.