I had a fabulous week last week of attending three (partial) days of the NVIC conference and then all day of "Perinatal: A Symposium on Birth and Reproductive Rights." But now, instead of volunteering at the Holistic Moms Network table at the Green Festival, I'm home with a slight fever. I don't feel that bad, but I'm taking the advice of the health gurus I saw at NVIC that when the body is responding to too much stimulus, you need to give it a rest. Plus it wouldn't be very nice if the germ theory is really true and I get other people sick while I'm talking to them about holistic health!
It's humbling to be side-lined, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised that my body went on strike after such little sleep (and some sugar). I ate pretty well, packing in all my food and not buying anything other than a decaf, and I've been good about immune-boosting supplements and tonics, but it still was a stressful week. Now I've got all day to roll a new batch of chicken stock (and catch up on laundry).
I might not have paid as much attention to my own health as I needed to if my son hadn't been having a really hard time this morning. He is only a little stuffy and doesn't seem feverish, but he was really weepy, which prompted me to go up and take my own temp. After one dose of pulsatilla, he seems to be doing better -- less weepy and less surprisingly changeable in his moods. I need to buy a homeopathic kit so we have everything on site.
For more on the birth symposium, see my other blogs Crunchy-Chewy Mama on a woman being threatened with a court-ordered c-section instead of what would be a second VBAC and Mama's Mouth on art as activism.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Vaccine conference: Dr. Lawrence Palevsky
Seeing Dr. Lawrence Palevsky made me appreciate my pediatrician even more than I already do. The basic message of both is that we want symptoms to be expressed because they are a way for us to understand what is going on in our bodies. It's crazy to expect kids to be well all the time. When they are ill, the immune system is working because it's getting something out of their bodies that doesn't belong there.
What I especially liked was how holistic Dr. Larry was in his description of what that stuff is we might want to get out. He pointed out that we receive info in the following ways:
-genetics
-in utero info from our mothers
-air - what we breathe
-nervous system including all of our senses and anything that affects the senses, including electro magnetic fields
-skin - what we put on it
-intestines - what we eat
and then, through what we insert into the body via injections, if we choose to do so.
Every day, we all eliminate toxins through breathing, through our skin (sweating), through our intestines (bowel movements) and through our senses showing up in things like sleep issues and mood changes.
What we don't know is how kids eliminate the information they get from vaccinations, which contain not only chemical compounds and adjuvants but viruses, which are protein-coated pieces of RNA or DNA from some other being.
Vaccines aside, Dr. Larry described chronic illness as the failure to allow the symptoms of acute illness to cleanse our bodies -- for yucky stuff to leave. When we give kids drugs to lower their fevers or in some way change their symptoms "for the better," we're overloading them with information. The stuff stays inside and on top of that they have to deal with more chemicals and more info that confuses their body. This leads to a loss of resilience.
Dr. Larry also noted that there are trillions of viruses around and that we have more microorganisms in our bodies than there are people on earth or cells in our bodies! We fear and so vaccinate against 15 bacteria and 20 viruses -- 35 out of trillions. Doctors are taught in medical school that vaccinations "teach" us to recognize these organisms before we encounter them, but Dr. Larry says we are more likely to encounter them naturally (and that 98% of polio is cleared out through gastroenteritis).
Kids get sick because there is inflammation that their bodies are working to release/resolve. Dr. Larry pointed out that kids often make a developmental breakthrough after a fever, including one 10.5-month old who had a fever for 5-7 days and then, when it broke, got up and walked. My son had a high fever and ear infection (which we did not treat) just after he turned one. He was exclusively breastfed and had, before the illness, almost zero interest in food except for amusing crunchy items like lettuce and celery. After the fever broke and he was back in good health, he was suddenly ready to eat solid food.
It's great to hear people present a paradigm of health that views illness as one piece of the picture and not as some fire to be extinguished.
Dr. Larry works with patients in a way that sounds a lot like our doctor -- talks to them, emails with them, looks at photos. He told the audience that we should demand this kind of attention from our doctors. He said he works with patients to help them decide what is right for their family with regard to vaccinations. In 2000, the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics acknowledged that reductions of most diseases went down before vaccines were introduced, and that contributed to Dr. Larry's understanding that diseases come and go on their own and in response to other factors (like what's in the water and in the air, etc.). In the debate with Dr. Bob Sears that followed, Dr. Larry called for a rethinking of the allopathic model of medicine.
So much to learn and think about!
What I especially liked was how holistic Dr. Larry was in his description of what that stuff is we might want to get out. He pointed out that we receive info in the following ways:
-genetics
-in utero info from our mothers
-air - what we breathe
-nervous system including all of our senses and anything that affects the senses, including electro magnetic fields
-skin - what we put on it
-intestines - what we eat
and then, through what we insert into the body via injections, if we choose to do so.
Every day, we all eliminate toxins through breathing, through our skin (sweating), through our intestines (bowel movements) and through our senses showing up in things like sleep issues and mood changes.
What we don't know is how kids eliminate the information they get from vaccinations, which contain not only chemical compounds and adjuvants but viruses, which are protein-coated pieces of RNA or DNA from some other being.
Vaccines aside, Dr. Larry described chronic illness as the failure to allow the symptoms of acute illness to cleanse our bodies -- for yucky stuff to leave. When we give kids drugs to lower their fevers or in some way change their symptoms "for the better," we're overloading them with information. The stuff stays inside and on top of that they have to deal with more chemicals and more info that confuses their body. This leads to a loss of resilience.
Dr. Larry also noted that there are trillions of viruses around and that we have more microorganisms in our bodies than there are people on earth or cells in our bodies! We fear and so vaccinate against 15 bacteria and 20 viruses -- 35 out of trillions. Doctors are taught in medical school that vaccinations "teach" us to recognize these organisms before we encounter them, but Dr. Larry says we are more likely to encounter them naturally (and that 98% of polio is cleared out through gastroenteritis).
Kids get sick because there is inflammation that their bodies are working to release/resolve. Dr. Larry pointed out that kids often make a developmental breakthrough after a fever, including one 10.5-month old who had a fever for 5-7 days and then, when it broke, got up and walked. My son had a high fever and ear infection (which we did not treat) just after he turned one. He was exclusively breastfed and had, before the illness, almost zero interest in food except for amusing crunchy items like lettuce and celery. After the fever broke and he was back in good health, he was suddenly ready to eat solid food.
It's great to hear people present a paradigm of health that views illness as one piece of the picture and not as some fire to be extinguished.
Dr. Larry works with patients in a way that sounds a lot like our doctor -- talks to them, emails with them, looks at photos. He told the audience that we should demand this kind of attention from our doctors. He said he works with patients to help them decide what is right for their family with regard to vaccinations. In 2000, the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics acknowledged that reductions of most diseases went down before vaccines were introduced, and that contributed to Dr. Larry's understanding that diseases come and go on their own and in response to other factors (like what's in the water and in the air, etc.). In the debate with Dr. Bob Sears that followed, Dr. Larry called for a rethinking of the allopathic model of medicine.
So much to learn and think about!
Friday, October 2, 2009
From the vaccine conference
Among the information I learned today at the National Vaccine Information Center's Fourth International Public Conference were the following:
-The majority of flu-like illnesses -- 86% -- are not caused by the influenza virus. The flu vaccine addresses only 14% of flu-like illnesses that are, in fact, caused by the influenza virus (as opposed to other viruses or bacteria) (from Peter Doshi's talk)
-There have been only a small number of trials of the new H1N1 vaccine on pregnant women and on children. There has been no formal study of potential for fetal harm. Trials all had adjuvants, but the H1N1 given to people en masse will not. Thimerosal will be in the vaccine unless patients specifically request a Thimerosal-free vaccine.
-Last year there were 171 child deaths from the flu in general. So far this year there have been 48 child deaths from H1N1 out of 600 total deaths in the U.S. (3,900 worldwide in 191 countries). Predictions in August expected 90,000 deaths from H1N1. (from Vicky Debold's talk)
-The Gardasil vaccine has an unknown duration of protection and only postpones the possibility of cervical cancer and does not prevent it (from Diane Harper's talk).
More from Doshi's talk at Crunchy-Chewy Mama.
-The majority of flu-like illnesses -- 86% -- are not caused by the influenza virus. The flu vaccine addresses only 14% of flu-like illnesses that are, in fact, caused by the influenza virus (as opposed to other viruses or bacteria) (from Peter Doshi's talk)
-There have been only a small number of trials of the new H1N1 vaccine on pregnant women and on children. There has been no formal study of potential for fetal harm. Trials all had adjuvants, but the H1N1 given to people en masse will not. Thimerosal will be in the vaccine unless patients specifically request a Thimerosal-free vaccine.
-Last year there were 171 child deaths from the flu in general. So far this year there have been 48 child deaths from H1N1 out of 600 total deaths in the U.S. (3,900 worldwide in 191 countries). Predictions in August expected 90,000 deaths from H1N1. (from Vicky Debold's talk)
-The Gardasil vaccine has an unknown duration of protection and only postpones the possibility of cervical cancer and does not prevent it (from Diane Harper's talk).
More from Doshi's talk at Crunchy-Chewy Mama.
Looking to learn: vaccine conference
It's too late to be up when you're planning to be at a conference at 8 a.m., but I just have to say how excited I am to be attending the 4th International Public Conference on Vaccination sponsored by the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC).
There is lots to learn!
One place to start: To say nothing of the whole immunity issue, I recently found an interesting list of the chemicals in vaccines at the blog of Beth Greer, Super Natural Home.
There is lots to learn!
One place to start: To say nothing of the whole immunity issue, I recently found an interesting list of the chemicals in vaccines at the blog of Beth Greer, Super Natural Home.
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