Sunday, September 18, 2011

Perpetuating the Bullcrap

One of my favourite radio stations is a local faith-based station that has an insane amount of good programming. On Sundays though, when driving home from church, I find that the station is always broadcasting shows that are spreading propaganda and talking about controversial issues that usually have no basis for reasoning. This afternoon was no different.

They brought on an "expert" in Autism, a non-medically trained woman who proceeded to spout off about how sure she is that vaccinations play a huge role in Autism Spectrum Disorder and how vaccinations for children should be stopped immediately. Thanks Jenny McCarthy.

ASD is a neurological disorder and in most children, is recognizable from a very young age although parents and doctors usually don't see it until they look in hindsight. Childhood vaccinations are not the cause of Autism, they never have been and they never will and the fact that once again, someone is advising parents not to vaccinate their children angers me to no end. You know what happens when you choose to not vaccinate your children? You place the ENTIRE population at risk for diseases that have been effectively eradicated from our society. The reason you've never had mumps? Because since everyone is vaccinated against it, we have won the war against the disease taking over our bodies. When one person, then another and another choose not to vaccinate, they have invited that disease back into our lives, putting us all at risk because of their misguided opinions and advice from non-medically trained professionals.

Stop the insanity. Stop perpetuating the bullcrap. If you have a question, talk to your doctor. Call up a pediatrician that specializes in working with ASD children. They have the answers AND the research to back it up. Don't listen to self-proclaimed "experts" for advice on issues which they have no training and no research to back up.


4 comments:

  1. Imagine if she was held legally responsible for 'impersonating' a qualified medical professional? A disregard for evidenced-based science is proliferating. I am struggling to have tolerance for those I know who have bought in to quackery.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know. There comes a time where you have to stand up and take responsibility for your own decisions and not base your opinions on those given to you by celebrities and fake doctors.

    ReplyDelete
  3. About the only thing true in that post was the title, but the author is the one perpetuating the bullcrap...a very cursory look into history will show that it is sanitation, not vaccinations, that have contributed the most to the eradication of disease. As for asking your doctor about the side effects of vaccines, that is like asking the corner drug dealer about the side effects of the drugs they are dealing you. Any honest doctor will tell you that their information/"training" re: drugs (including their continuing education) comes from the very companies that produce the products & who stand to have the most to gain if the doctor pushes those products. In fact, I know a doctor with integrity who quit a thriving family practice because of her disgust over doctors' paid vacations sponsored by drug companies to exotic locations & bonuses (we're talking $10,000 & up) for prescribing a particular drug company's product...think I'm being melodramatic? Saskatoon epidemiologist, Mark Lemstra went on air to say that doctors are getting their knowledge of drugs from drug companies & worse....his credentials? "Academically, Mark has eight university degrees including a Bachelor of Science degree, a Master of Science in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, a Master of Science in Epidemiology, a Master of Public Health, a Doctor of Science in Epidemiology, a Doctor of Science in Public Health, a PhD in Psychiatry and a PhD in Epidemiology. Mark is currently taking a Bachelors degree in Economics.

    For employment, Mark currently works as an Epidemiologist at the University of Saskatchewan. Mark works in the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, teaches in the School of Public Health and the School of Public Policy and is an Adjunct Professor in Pediatrics as well as an Adjunct Professor in Psychiatry. Previously, Mark has work experience as the owner of multidisciplinary rehabilitation clinics and has also worked at the Saskatoon Health Region, the Saskatoon Tribal Council and the Canadian Armed Forces." (from the SK CBC Morning Edition website...)

    If you really care to know the truth, it is out there- read your history & the truth will make itself known- in the meantime, "question everything" particularly those whose bottom line will be affected if certain myths are perpetuated.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Call me naive, but I trust my team of medical professionals. If you can't trust your doctor, then who the heck can you trust? Sure, some docs are only in it for the money same as some lawyers are and some bankers are and some judges are! Where is your faith in humanity if you can put so little trust into a person who has dedicated their life to saving people's lives, making them healthy and happy?

    My son started showing signs of Autism at birth (although we didn't know that's what it was). From days and weeks old he would not make eye contact with anyone, he never coo-ed or gurgled or made any of the other baby sounds and he not only completely disregarded his peers, he looked right through them as though they weren't even there. This was all happening long before he ever had his first vaccination. I wrote daily about how odd my baby was, that he had never looked into my eyes or smiled at me and that's when the depression set in, thinking that I was somehow such an instinctively bad mother that my brand new baby didn't even like me. I never told anyone my concerns because what mother can admit that her own baby won't even smile for her.

    Are there things wrong with our vaccination system? Absolutely! I think that vaccs should be given in oral form to allow our bodies a chance to fight before it enters our bloodstream, I certainly think that there are a lot of unnecessary ingredients that need to be removed and I believe we can and must find a way to identify children who may be more vulnerable and vaccinate them in a different way.

    Maybe, just maybe, all the doctors and specialists and REAL experts I've spoken to are wrong. Maybe the vaccinations do cause Autism. And if they do, I DON'T CARE. My Autistic son has changed me in ways unimaginable. He has taught me how to smile through the dark clouds, how to cheer for the smallest of victories and he has taught me how to stand up for both him and myself and fight for what's important. Even if they had a cure I wouldn't take it, I love him just the way he is.

    ReplyDelete