Dr. Mercola April 01 2008 64,487 views
By Russell L. Blaylock, M.D.
In 1976, children received 10 vaccines before attending school. Today they will receive over 36 injections. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Center for Disease Control assured parents that it was safe to not only give these vaccines, but that they could be given at one time with complete safety.
Is this true? Or are we being lied to on a grand scale?
The medical establishment has created a set of terms, which they use constantly to boost their egos and firm up their authority as the unique holders of medical wisdom -- the mantra is “evidence-based medicine”, as if everything outside their anointing touch is bogus and suspect.
A careful examination of many of the accepted treatments reveals that most have little or no scientific “evidence-based” data to support it. One often repeated study found that almost 80 percent of medical practice had no scientific backing.
I find it interesting that there exist an incredible double standard when it comes to our evidence versus theirs. The proponents of vaccination safety can just say they are safe, without any supporting evidence what-so-ever, and it is to be accepted without question.
Yet, let me, or anyone else, suggest that excessive vaccination can increase the risk of not only autism, but also schizophrenia and neurodegenerative diseases, and they will scream like banshees – Where is the evidence? Where is the evidence?
When we produce study after study, they always proclaim them to be insufficient evidence or unacceptable studies.
More often than not, they just completely ignore the evidence. This is despite the fact that we produce dozens or even hundreds of studies that not only demonstrate the link clinically and scientifically, but also clearly show the mechanism by which the damage is being done -- even on a molecular level. These include cell culture studies, mixed cell cultures, organotypic tissue studies, in vivo animal studies using multiple species and even human studies. To the defenders of vaccine safety -- our evidence is never sufficient and, if we face reality -- never will be.
The Autism Disaster: Is it Man Made?
In the early 1980s, the incidence of autism was 1 in 10,000 births. By 2005, the incidence had leaped to 1 in 250 births, and today it is 1 in 150 births and still climbing.
One of the strongest links to this terrible set of disorders was a drastic change in the vaccine programs of the United States and many other countries, which included a dramatic increase in the number of vaccines being given at a very early age. No other explanation has been forthcoming from the medical elite.
In this paper I shall present evidence, some of which has not been adequately discussed, that provides a connection between excessive vaccination and neurodevelopmental disorders.
I urge you to read Dr. Blaylock’s full-length article, The Danger of Excessive Vaccination During Brain Development: The Case for a Link to Autism Spectrum Disorders, a Mercola.com exclusive, for an in-depth understanding of how childhood vaccinations can damage your child’s brain, resulting in autism.
First, I’d like to thank Dr. Russell Blaylock for sharing his excellent writings on this vital issue. If you missed his last article How Vaccines Can Damage Your Brain, where he explains how vaccines exacerbate depression and more serious neurodegenerative diseases in people over 50, I highly recommend reading it now as well.
The issue of vaccination has been a controversial topic for many years. It remains one of the bedrocks of "prevention" in conventional medicine, despite the overwhelming evidence showing that vaccinations at best do not work, and at worst can cause serious health problems.
And yet, anyone who opposes them is viewed as a dangerous quack and a threat to public health. I understand this because that was precisely the view I had when I graduated medical school. However, after more than two decades of practice where I encountered hundreds of vaccine casualties -- which spurred me to review the evidence through a more critical lens -- I changed my mind-set entirely.
There may be a slight glimmer of hope that this dangerous tide will eventually change, however. The U.S. government recently came to the unprecedented conclusion that childhood vaccines did contribute to the onset of autism in 9-year-old Hannah Poling. According to U.S. Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation, the shots "significantly aggravated an underlying mitochondrial disorder" and resulted in a brain disorder "with features of autism spectrum disorder."
Poling was one of three test cases alleging the vaccine preservative thimerosal caused autism. So even though federal officials keep insisting there is no link between autism and vaccines, this concession says otherwise, and may influence the outcome of the remaining 4,900 cases pending review by the “Vaccine Court.”
The fact that the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has paid out more than $1.5 billion to families and children who have been injured or killed by vaccines also speaks volumes about the supposed “safety” record of vaccines…The Insanity of the Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule
I published Dr. Donald Miller's excellent article, A User-Friendly Vaccination Schedule in 2004. At that time, 12 different vaccines were given to children before they reached the age of two.
As of 2008, the Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that number has risen to 14 in the first 24 months, plus the meningococcal vaccine, which is to be administered between the age of two and six.
Infants and toddlers aged 0 to 6 years of age are now inoculated against the following:
By the time your child starts school he or she will have received more than 36 injections, including four doses each of vaccines for Hemophilus influenzae type b infections, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis -- all of them given during the first 12 months of life.
And now consider this: one vaccine injected into a 13-pound, two-month old infant is equivalent to 10 doses of the same in a 130-pound adult. Where is the common sense in these guidelines?
Would any adult concede to being injected with 360 doses of vaccines within a couple of years’ span; equal to one injection every other day for two years?
Public health officials have NEVER proven that it is indeed safe to inject this number and volume of vaccines into infants. What's more, they cannot explain why, concurrent with an increasing number of vaccinations, there has been an explosion of neurological and immune system disorders in American children.
Is There a More Sensible Vaccination Schedule?
Dr. Donald Miller is a cardiac surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle and a member of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness. His more sensible vaccination schedule, which I published back in 2004, is worthy of being revisited at this time.
Many are both scared and confused as they try to make healthier choices for their children, and his guidelines may help you devise a more appropriate vaccination plan for your child – a schedule that takes the best interests of your child into consideration rather than what biased government planners cite as being best for society. His is a far better approach than the "one-size-fits-all" dogma foisted on Americans by the CDC panel.
And, as Dr. Blaylock describes so vividly in this article, there’s plenty of information and knowledge in neuroimmunology (the study of how the brain’s immune system works) that raises serious questions about the wisdom of injecting vaccines in children less than 2 years of age.
A Child’s Best Time Table
Your brain has its own specialized immune system, separate from that of the rest of your body. When you are vaccinated, specialized immune cells in your brain, the microglia, become activated. Multiple vaccinations spaced close together over-stimulate the microglia, causing them to release a variety of toxic elements -- cytokines, chemokines, excitotoxins, proteases, complement, free radicals -- that damage brain cells and their synaptic connections.
The damage caused by these toxic substances is what both Dr. Miller and Dr. Blaylock refer to as "bystander injury."
In humans, the most rapid period of brain development begins in the third trimester and continues over the first two years. (By then, brain development is 80 percent complete.)
From a risk-benefit perspective, there is little doubt that the risk of neurological and autoimmune diseases from vaccinations at this stage far outweigh the benefits of avoiding the childhood infections that they (supposedly) prevent. (One exception is the hepatitis B vaccine, IF the mother tests positive for hepatitis B.)
As a more sensible, “user-friendly” vaccination schedule, Dr. Miller advises the following:
And that would be pretty much it as far as vaccinations. Your pediatrician will not like this schedule, but if you have reviewed the evidence and still feel your child should be inoculated to a certain degree, this is a far safer alternative to the standard vaccination schedule.
But please, please do review the research and don’t just vaccinate your child simply because your doctor says you “have to.”
Don’t Forget About VAERS
Another thing most people are unaware of is that YOU can report vaccine side effects to VAERS.
VAERS is a post-marketing safety surveillance program that collects information about adverse events that occur after the administration of vaccines. They accept reports from both concerned individuals and organizations.
Unfortunately, the system is completely voluntary, and most doctors will never report side effects, even if you point them out. A good case in point is the large discrepancy between American reports of side effects of Tamiflu, compared to Japan’s more stringent reporting rules.
scjen08Most child care centers follow the state mandates for the vaccine schedule. Be informed on what your state requires and how to file an exemption. I live in OH and I never had any problem enrolling my children in preschool (which follows daycare rules) or school. The state only requires the form on file, not the actual vaccines so I filled out an exemption for each year for each child. One school was adamant about me signing that if there was a chicken pox outbreak, my child would be banned from school for two weeks (it never happened so it was a moot point). I actually have the school "trained" to provide me with the exemption form each year! What the public doesn't understand, is that your child is in more "danger" from the vaccinated child than the other way around. Keep your baby eating healthy and avoid sugar especially HFCS. I have used herbal remedies with mine since they were newborns. Stay vigilant and continue to be an advocate for your child!.mamabear
Oh no...you are definitely the dangerous one. You are thinking and acting independently and requiring officials to convince you why you should do what they want instead of following orders thoughtlessly. Your bad!
Hellos scjen08!
Please do some research. My son is four and vaccine free. I was told that "it was the law, vaccines are mandatory!" Absolutely not true. I now have all of the exemption forms and his private church day care welcomes him. If I can help, marco@brewereducationalresources.com.
Stay healthy!
Marco.
Good article! Of course vaccines cause ill health - they also kill! This may sound a bit strange but the more I see all this controversial stuff of “vaccines or not” – “government health care or not” – “Big Pharma or not” – “MDs or not” etc. The more I am coming to the conclusion that compromise is just not the answer at all! It just legitimizes the bad and prolongs the truth! That truth is that nothing unnatural ever belongs in our bodies period! I say, “all us natural folks over here and all you Big Pharma folks over there. If we can restrain from resorting to physical blows, good, if not, Oh well, I am gonna sucker punch ya first!” I am sick and tired of being forced to “vote” on what the FDA can or can’t do when I don’t even believe in an FDA in the first place! Maybe Dr Mercola would know; does this make me a libertarian or a anarchist? I don’t really care what they call me, they darn sure better get there “forced health ideas” away from my body or I will come out with both guns blazing! It’s just the cowboy way! We have to make a stand sometime so suck up your guts and do it now
Feelin’ good today! Thanks for the chance to vent!
...All ths anger!..surely bad for the hormonal balance Doc?!
Is it Valerian you need to calm you down...Or would you prefer some nice tranqualisers from those lovely people, the legalised Drug pushers?!:0)
Thanks for the link, Doc! I had no idea - I'm actually impressed by McCain!
Dear Herb Doc - not that you're likely to read this now (I'm one of the lesser mortals getting the newsletters a couple of weeks later than 'insiders'). You say you don't believe in an FDA.
Just to play devil's advocate for a moment: do we not need some sort of body or bodies to ensure safety and/or standards in medicines, herbs and foods? If not the FDA, then what? Granted, they are not doing a great job but what's the alternative? Just rely on everyone who markets anything to be honest and dilligent? ... to be responsible and have the good of the customer / the public at heart? Anarchy is a wonderful ideal but sadly it doesn't actually work with human beings.
The next problem is with definitions: where does one draw the line between natural and unnatural? If you dry a herb and pour boiling water on it to make a 'tea', is that still natural? It's not the herb's natural state, that's for sure; you're drinking heat-extracted substances from the herb. So at what point does an extract stop being natural and start being called processed or unnatural? Ok, synthesised chemical substances (eg patented medicines) are generally A Bad Thing to put in one's body, but what about the vast area inbetween?
I'm not trying to be difficult, it's just something I struggle with - just as when food products claim to be 'made with fresh ingredients' - 'fresh' is meaningless in that context; it's not fresh NOW! Similarly, the phrase 'natural extract' seems to me an oxymoron. I know there are great differences between freezing, low-temperature drying, cooking, pressure-cooking, chemically treating (etc.) of foods/herbs, and each does it's own level of damage. It's just that we all have different ideas about what level of processing is ok and what's not. Don't get me wrong: I'm way more with you than with THEM! :)
I just checked back to see if there might be a response from C Gussa and find once again I've been 'dinged' for asking questions. So ok, I'll post a retraction:
I was wrong to ask questions - obviously we never should question anything.
All human nature is perfect and we can trust everybody completely; there is nobody taking/giving bribes, etc., anywhere.
Anything anybody or any company tries to sell labeled 'natural' is obviously perfect and they're obviously telling the truth. If a product or ingredient is labeled 'natural extract' we should NEVER wonder whether it's been boiled or fried with poisons - it's still completely natural.
The potency and efficacy of all vitamins, herbs and supplements are obviously all perfectly fine and we don't need to question that, nor spend a lot on high quality nor demand evidence; we can just buy the very cheapest we find.
There is NO grey area: everything marketed as 'natural' IS natural and therefore fantastic, no matter how processed it is.
And anarchy is not a great ideal; it would NOT be a better world if people could be trusted to do the right thing without the threat of punishments to keep them in line.
I hope this retraction pleases all the critics.
Alas, none of it is true, as we all know from this site.
My goodness....surely anyone who is a moderator of a site like this should be openminded.......there are extremists and folks who just follow what they are told on both sides of the spectrum. You can't assume that because one is a naturalist or homeopath or allopath that there is just one mindset. It seems to me that an assumption like that is in direct conflict with what is trying to be accomplished here - a search for the bare bones truth, whether it is supportive or not supportive of what you believe in. We all may be right or wrong, but I suspect that the answer lies somewhere in between.
As my kids would say...."Chill out dude!!!!"
Is it possible for my son to get sick with one of these diseases based on the following? My 15-yr-old son's friend's mom picked my son up yesterday after taking her son to the doctor for sports' physical before school starts. They went on from here to various activities all day and evening and then my son spent the night at their house before coming home this morning. Come to find out, my son's friend was injected yesterday at his sports physical with both the hepatitis B and menangitis vaccines. Plus, now this morning my son's friend was too sick to go to work. Could my son get sick with one of these very serious diseases now from being around his friend and his freshly injected viruses? My son is not vaccinated for either.
Maybe this is just the Aspergers coming out in me, but I wanted to point out there's no 'B' in the word!!
Good point though. Mine is genetic - rampant in my family - but I have often wondered about amalgam fillings, of which I have none I will add. I'm sure there are a number of triggers and causes, most of which are based in a genetic predisposition to certain 'allergens' that trigger the autistic condition.
Hi...I'm new here - I'm a family practice doc (please don't shoot me!!!). I have significant reservations about the plethora of new vaccines that are being "required", but also went along with the old routine fairly faithfully, and really without much thought. My first experience with this was with the introduction of the chickenpox vaccine....I ended up doing a huge research project and Grand Rounds on it back in 1997, and came to the conclusion that there was no good evidence of it's effectiveness. My attendings wanted to fail me. And now here we go with needing a "booster" because they found it wasn't as effective as they thought. Well, I have the same feelings about Prevnar, Hep A, etc. They cannot be doing anything good for our immune system, never mind the adjuvants and such in them. I routinely advise parents on what is recommended by the CDC, but don't advocate for all of it in healthy, low risk kids.
Two weeks ago one of my 10 month old patients had her first ear infection. Last week she was transported to a specialty center with meningitis. Today I received the call that life support was discontinued, and she had passed away. She died from Strep pneumo, the illness which Prevnar is supposed to prevent. Granted, I don't know if she had one of the 83 or so strains not covered by the vaccine. I still hold strong to my belief that the vaccines are dangerous. But I sure as hell don't know what to tell myself and this child's parents. How do you as parents out there feel about this?
What if it were your child?
Thanks for listening
Dr. H
As a parent I feel that there are more risks associated with getting vaccinations than not. What I want from a doctor is help in making an informed decision, not being forced to follow what everyone else is doing. THank you for doing what you do.
PardeMD, well I'm certainly not going to shoot you and thanks for joining in and giving us an 'insider's' perspective. I'm in the UK so we don't have the same vaccines forced upon us (but it's getting that way). My daughter had all her shots before I became interested in all this and I've often thought I'm glad I don't have to make the decision now. She did have an anti-meningitis vaccine a few years ago but then, too, I thought it was a good thing as meningitis was a growing public concern... or was that just what Big Pharma WANTED us all to think? Soon, she will be facing another vaccine round and I'm gearing myself up to refuse.
I don't know what you should tell yourself - but what choice do you realistically have as a general practitioner? I mean, can you actually start advising your patients against the norm? I'd be curious to know.
Here in the UK, official sources are adament that there is no danger, there has been another recent, official study proving that there is absolutely no connection between vaccinations and autism.
if it were my child I'd be devastated of course, but if you were his doctor and you weighed the risks to him against the benefits to him - if you were brave enough to think outside the box and not let any outside pressures influence your critical thought process - then I would always be appreciative of your honesty. you don't have a crystal ball, and even with your best efforts bad things can happen. you did not cause this child to die. if you did a true risk assessment for the real stakeholder here - the child - and you honestly felt that the risks of the shot outweighed the benefits - that's all we can ever ask for as parents.
I have talked to several of my peers today and have found that there are more than just a few of us concerned with the whole vaccination process. It's as though I am waiting for the ball to drop and be accused of being inept and why didn't I just do what "THEY" say is the right thing. So now I am making a very concerted effort to educate myself and evaluate the data, which will hopefully support my gut instincts from the Varicella project. And help with any guilt that this mom may have for not vaccinating. And, yes, my guilt as well.
SpartyOn - I appreciate that, I've heard several similar comments today and it soothes my heart.
Lady Pam - As a general practitioner I CAN give advice against the norm. Of course, this can be a bit on the risky side as far as liability goes, but I was educated to practice medicine and critically evaluate the information I pass on. I always to try to present things as they are and allow the patient to make the choice. I do offer my opinions for pro's and con's and the reasons which I feel validate them. For immunizations, I let people know that there are no "mandated" vaccines, and there are nice little forms they can fill out in order to refuse them and still have their kids be able to set foot on school grounds!
I had a very wise surgeon in medical school who told me that if I practice with the best interests of the patient in mind, using my judgement of what is the best medicine, and stay away from thinking about financial gain and fear of being sued, that I would never go wrong. I have spent my entire career thus far with that in mind.
Autism dad - I know that is how I would feel as well. I pray it is how this family feels. My stepdaughter is autistic and my husband has been telling me for a long time he thinks it was from the MMR. She has Down's syndrome also, but I believe she would have been very high functioning if not for the autism.
PardeMD, I am impressed you ventured onto this site. As a health professional I am constantly at battle with the pharmaceutical side of my working environment. Last year a nearly 2 year old girl died of complications from influenza A. After the initial greif, I investigated further, this child had had approximatley 10 courses of anti-biotics, NOT EVEN two years old!!! The child had no immune system left. We as parents need to keep our children healthy and to do this we need Doctors who are educated on how to stay well not bandaid the symptoms.