The preservative the headline is referring to is mercury. Wow, now that would be news if mercury was found to pose no health risk. However, there is not a government entity in the world that would claim that mercury is not a toxic element. If you go on to websites for the U.S. EPA, the Canadian Government, the European Union, the World Health Organization, and others there are pages filled with the dangers of mercury, lead and other heavy metals. The hazards of these elements have been known for centuries.
Sources of Mercury include atmospheric from coal-fired power-plants, municipal and medical waste incinerators, and crematoriums. Consumer products containing mercury can be found in certain drugs (see link to FDA list), batteries, dental fillings (dental amalgam is made up of approximately 40-50% mercury, 25% silver and 25-35% a mixture of copper, zinc and tin), fluorescent bulbs (including energy efficient), jewelry, paint, thermometers, thermostats; and is present in certain fish.
Notice the warning posters and information campaigns about not eating fish because of mercury content. Hazardous waste collection days have special events for collecting old mercury-filled thermometers because they are toxic. Mercury used as a preservative in house paints has been banned for almost twenty years – because it is hazardous to your health.
So, we are supposed to believe that it is safe to inject a child with a vaccine that uses a mercury-based preservative, but not safe to paint our houses with paint that has mercury-based preservatives in it? Explain the logic in that – not the studies – the logic. There is none.
The industry rebuttals about the different types of mercury – ethyl, methyl, organic, inorganic, elemental – do the trick – they make most people’s eyes glaze over. The fact is mercury is toxic – maybe in degrees, maybe in how it’s metabolized, but that skirts the real issue. The real issue is that the governments of Canada, the United States and the European Union (last count 27 countries) all classify Mercury (not specified by ethyl, methyl, inorganic, organic, or elemental) as “Very Toxic”, “Hazardous” and has “Danger of cumulative effects.”
The study that was supposed to exonerate thimerosal, the ethyl-mercury –based preservative, only illustrates the weak and flawed aspects of such research. The study did not address links to autism, even though other studies have shown that children receiving vaccines containing thimerosal had 27 times (2700%) greater chance to develop Autism Spectrum Diseases than those receiving vaccines without thimerosal.
The media coverage of the study left out rebutting information including the article, “Vaccine Study In New England Journal Of Medicine Wrong In Concluding Mercury Exposures Are Harmless,” written by Sallie Bernard, Executive Director of SafeMinds (www.safeminds.org), one of the study’s external consultants, and the only consumer representative. Bernard writes, “A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study on the relationship between mercury (thimerosal) in vaccines and children's brain functioning draws a misleading conclusion.” (see full article at: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/83770.php ). An earlier article by the National Autism Association says, “CDC's Vaccine Committee Whitewashed Toxic Vaccine Component” (see full article at: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/63777.php)
A common-sense, far-sighted, as well as hind-sighted, person is not going to be fooled by misleading research. Mercury is hazardous. If you shouldn't breathe it, eat it or touch it, you certainly shouldn't be injecting it into a body, especially a young body. Finding new uses for mercury each time it is banned from a product, or trying to futilely prove its safety, should not be a priority. Safeguarding the world’s children from toxins should be.
Links - The websites with the most comprehensive information include:
www.chem.unep.ch/mercury - United Nations Environmental Programme with useful inks and the Global Mercury Assessment report key findings
www.atsdr.cdc.gov/cabs/mercury - Dept for Health and Human Services Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
www.fda.gov/cder/fdama/mercury300.htm - drugs containing mercury - fda list
www.epa.gov/mercury - US EPA site on mercury
A word on testing mercury body burdens for consumers and future researchers: It makes a difference whether you are testing blood, urine or hair. Using blood tests as the only marker is faulty and provides inaccurate information. As the Department for Health and Human Services Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) explains on their website appropriate testing is critical for uncovering accurate mercury loads in the body.
The particular test depends on type of mercury to which a person believes he or she has been exposed. Urine tests are good for determining exposure to elemental or inorganic mercury, NOT methylmercury. Hair analysis is considered a reliable marker for exposure to methyl and ethyl mercury. Blood tests are a good indicator of only methylmercury. Acute elemental exposures can be detected in the blood only for a few days, after 2 days, urine is a better indicator of past or cumulative elemental mercury exposure.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Health Headlines This Week
“The Appendix Has a Purpose After All”
Well I had to chuckle at this one. I love what tax dollars and grant money get spent on. The Duke University Medical School findings feel like a kid that runs into the house exclaiming with excitement about the epiphany they have had – and the parents and grandparents are looking at him “Well yes, that’s true Jimmy (duh!)”. The article reports, “The appendix, long thought a useless organ, actually grows and protects good germs for your gut, according to a new theory.”
The study shows general human arrogance by assuming that just because we haven’t figured out the significance or purpose of a body part means that it has no value or import.
It further illustrates the arrogance of western, allopathic medicine to presume that no other medical theory or system in the world has any relevance except theirs until they prove something. I have news for them – this study and finding is NOT news to thousands of western trained Naturopathic doctors. It is NOT news to practitioners trained in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. It is NOT news to practitioners trained in Indian Ayurvedic medicine for 5000-plus years. It is NOT news to millions of people who live around the globe and practice what the World Health Organization (WHO) calls “Traditional Medicine” – medical practices based on ancient knowledge of the body, earth and plants.
The article says that CDC figures show that between 300-400 Americans die of appendicitis each year, and that the rate in other countries is lower. While these people did ultimately die from a ruptured appendix, our medical system should be looking at the greater causes. In this modern, industrialized and “developed” era, we have thousands of environmental toxins – chemicals, heavy metals and nutrient-poor food. We don’t spend time outdoors, we shun manual labor – in short we lead lives that our bodies were not designed for. Why don’t we shift our medical screening tests to include toxin-screens, heavy metals testing, as well as education and support about healthy nutrition and food choices. Why doesn’t the money spent on studies like these get directed instead to making truly fresh, wholesome food more readily available to more people.
This may come as a surprise, but in Europe, where Naturopathic and Biological medicine have been practiced without interruption and persecution, the importance of a healthy digestive system is seen foundational to the health of the whole body. The medical orientation of both Naturopathic and Biological medicine is to work with the body’s resources not against them, using diet, plant-based remedies, and treatments to stimulate healthy bacteria and proper assimilation to treat both minor and major illnesses.
The article concludes with the quote, “I’ll bet eventually we’ll find the same sort of thing with the tonsils.” I don’t want to burst their bubble, or make them feel left out, but let me whisper in your ear, “The others already have.”
Well I had to chuckle at this one. I love what tax dollars and grant money get spent on. The Duke University Medical School findings feel like a kid that runs into the house exclaiming with excitement about the epiphany they have had – and the parents and grandparents are looking at him “Well yes, that’s true Jimmy (duh!)”. The article reports, “The appendix, long thought a useless organ, actually grows and protects good germs for your gut, according to a new theory.”
The study shows general human arrogance by assuming that just because we haven’t figured out the significance or purpose of a body part means that it has no value or import.
It further illustrates the arrogance of western, allopathic medicine to presume that no other medical theory or system in the world has any relevance except theirs until they prove something. I have news for them – this study and finding is NOT news to thousands of western trained Naturopathic doctors. It is NOT news to practitioners trained in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. It is NOT news to practitioners trained in Indian Ayurvedic medicine for 5000-plus years. It is NOT news to millions of people who live around the globe and practice what the World Health Organization (WHO) calls “Traditional Medicine” – medical practices based on ancient knowledge of the body, earth and plants.
The article says that CDC figures show that between 300-400 Americans die of appendicitis each year, and that the rate in other countries is lower. While these people did ultimately die from a ruptured appendix, our medical system should be looking at the greater causes. In this modern, industrialized and “developed” era, we have thousands of environmental toxins – chemicals, heavy metals and nutrient-poor food. We don’t spend time outdoors, we shun manual labor – in short we lead lives that our bodies were not designed for. Why don’t we shift our medical screening tests to include toxin-screens, heavy metals testing, as well as education and support about healthy nutrition and food choices. Why doesn’t the money spent on studies like these get directed instead to making truly fresh, wholesome food more readily available to more people.
This may come as a surprise, but in Europe, where Naturopathic and Biological medicine have been practiced without interruption and persecution, the importance of a healthy digestive system is seen foundational to the health of the whole body. The medical orientation of both Naturopathic and Biological medicine is to work with the body’s resources not against them, using diet, plant-based remedies, and treatments to stimulate healthy bacteria and proper assimilation to treat both minor and major illnesses.
The article concludes with the quote, “I’ll bet eventually we’ll find the same sort of thing with the tonsils.” I don’t want to burst their bubble, or make them feel left out, but let me whisper in your ear, “The others already have.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
