Uptick in Febrile Seizures Tied to Flu Vaccine
Todd Neale of Medpage reported:
Fluzone
“The FDA and CDC have detected an increase in reports of febrile seizures among children younger than 2 who received Fluzone, the trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine made by Sanofi Pasteur. Fluzone is the only vaccine recommended for use during the current flu season in infants and children from 6 to 23 months of age.”
Unfortunately, seizures are just one of many possible side effects of flu (influenza) vaccinations. Flu shots have also been associated with local reactions, systemic flu-like symptoms, allergic reactions (both mild and severe) and even severe neurologic conditions like Guillain-Barre Syndrome.
This potential tragedy could easily have been avoided by using a little common sense.
The first step would be to simply demand that the manufacturers and “experts” prove that the flu vaccine actually improves the health of young children. The next step is to require that manufacturers prove that the benefits, if identified, outweigh the harms and costs.
In the case of giving flu vaccines to young children, there appears to be no scientific basis for giving these shots.
According to the Cochrane Collaboration,
“In children under the age of two, the efficacy of inactivated vaccine was similar to placebo.”
“ It was not possible to analyze the safety of vaccines from the studies due to the lack of standardization in the information given but very little information was found on the safety of inactivated vaccines, the most commonly used vaccine, in young children”
Until someone can prove to me that flu vaccines offer more benefit than harm to young children, I cannot recommend them to my patients or allow them to be given to my children.
Related Links:
- Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy children (Cochrane Collaboration)
- Uptick in Febrile Seizures Tied to Flu Vaccine (Medpage Today)
Light Drinking in Pregnancy
Children born to mothers who drank up to 1–2 drinks per week or per occasion during pregnancy were not at increased risk of clinically relevant behavioural difficulties or cognitive deficits compared with children of abstinent mothers. Heavy drinking during pregnancy appears to be associated with behavioural problems and cognitive deficits in offspring at age 3 years whereas light drinking does not ~~ (Kelly,et.al. 2008, Light Drinking In Pregnancy)
A new study sheds some light on an interesting topic. In recent years, nearly all physicians have recommended that their patients completely abstain from drinking alcohol while they are pregnant. Heavy drinking during pregnancy has been clearly linked to a very serious problem called “fetal alcohol syndrome.” Babies affected by this suffer from decreased mental function as well as a variety of physical defects. In those studies these negative effects seem to occur only at high levels of alcohol consumption– such as greater than two standard size drinks per day.
On the other hand, in many parts of the world alcohol consumption has been a normal part of daily life for many generations. It seems that women in these societies have often consumed small amounts of alcohol when pregnant without causing obvious harm to their children. Interestingly, this study showed that women who drank small amounts of alcohol– less than two drinks per week– may have had healthier babies. Over the years, these children showed better behavioral and mental scores and babies whose mothers did not drink at all during pregnancy.
When I took a look at the scientific literature, I noticed that many studies have had similar findings. Unfortunately, none of these studies are perfect, so we have not proven that drinking during pregnancy is perfectly safe. But I am becoming more and more confident that small amounts of alcohol are probably safe for most pregnant women if they so choose.
Related Links:
Vicks VapoRub to the Rescue
A new study shows that Vicks VapoRub may actually cure toenail fungus.
Vicks VapoRub to the Rescue
Vicks VapoRub was applied daily to toenails that were infected with fungus. After 48 weeks of treatment 100% of the patients were satisfied with their improvement and more than 25% were considered cured.
I have recommended Vicks VapoRub occasionally to my patients for this problem, but I usually them that it doesn’t seem to work for for severe cases. The study may be making a liar out of me. Photos show that some of the cases that were “cured” were pretty bad. Apparently, longer treatment yields better results. And it sure beats the alternative. The standard treatment is a course of anti-fungal pills that needs to be taken for up to six months. This treatment can cause liver damage and rarely seems to provide a long term cure.
For people who are willing to stick with it, Vicks VapoRub appears to be a useful treatment for toenail fungus… at least until the FDA approves something safer and equally effective.
Relevant Link:
Hypothyroidism and Thyroid Hormone Therapy
DIAGNOSIS
Usually based on blood tests (TSH and others). I believe that the TSH can be misleading. I look for other evidence of low thyroid such as fatigue, hair loss, depression, dry skin, weight gain, cold hands, constipation, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. to help identify this problem. I use blood tests, body temperature testing + urine thyroid testing to confirm the diagnosis. This approach is not widely accepted.
TREATMENT & THYROID DOSING GUIDELINES
I routinely use a thyroid extract such as Armour Thyroid because: 1) it works the best for most people. 2) It contains both active thyroid hormones T3 and T4 (as well as T1 and T2). Synthetic treatments such as Synthroid contain only T4.
For maximum safety and effectiveness, the dose starts low and is gradually increased to maximum effectiveness. Dosage is adjusted to restore normal thyroid function — not simply to restore normal blood test results.
I do not usually rely on the TSH test to adjust doses. In theory, a thyroid dose that causes a “suppressed” (low) TSH automatically leads to heart rhythm problems and bone thinning. This theory is refuted by a century of medical experience as well as scientific analysis*. I am convinced by my research and clinical experience that the TSH test is generally not the best way to determine thyroid dosage.
*USPSTF Report on Hypothyroidism-Annals of Intern Med 2004; 140:125-7.
Low-fat Dairy Products
HISTORY: Milk and dairy products have been a staple food in many healthy cultures around the world for thousands of years. The use of whole dairy products was even a basic tenet of American medicine well into the 20th century. “The Father of Modern Medicine”, Sir William Osler, routinely prescribed fresh, whole cows milk to his patients. The combination of bedrest and (high-fat) milk was called “the milk cure.”
MODERN OPINIONS: Over the last 50+ years, experts have claimed that saturated fats such as those found in dairy products cause many problems including weight gain, heart disease and even early death. These experts have told us to eat low-fat dairy products such as skim milk and fat-free yoghurt.
SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE: There is still no proof for the basic theory that cutting dietary fat helps people live longer or healthier lives.1,2 And many recent studies suggest that low-fat dairy is not so healthy after all. Recent scientific studies show that:
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