Tuesday 26 January 2010

Day 400 - Vaccines & Thimerosal



“Vaccines are medications that are designed to stimulate the body's immune system to generate a response that will protect the individual from disease by the pathogen in question. The first vaccination was performed in 1796 by the British physician Edward Jenner who had noticed that dairy maids who had had cowpox infection (Vacca = cow in Latin) did not succumb to the deadly smallpox infection that was claiming many lives at the time. To test his theory, Jenner infected his gardener's son, James Phipps, with cowpox and then weeks later attempted to infect him with the deadly smallpox. Happily, James survived the experience and was protected from infection and thus the practice of vaccination was born.

The body's immune system is comprised of two arms - antibody-mediated immunity and cell-mediated immunity. All vaccines developed in the last 50 years probably protect by stimulating a potent antibody response. However, for pathogens that live within cells of the body, where antibodies can't reach, it is likely that cell-mediated immunity is required for protection. Examples of such pathogens include malaria, TB and HIV. Each of these is a huge global health problem claiming millions of lives each year for which there is no effective vaccine.

Thimerosal, a preservative used in vaccines, contains 49.6 percent mercury by weight and is metabolized or degraded into ethylmercury and thiosalicylate. Mercury, or more precisely, ethylmercury, is the principle agent that kills contaminants. Studies indicate that mercury tends to accumulate in the brains of primates and other animals after they are injected with vaccines.

Mercury poisoning has been linked to cardiovascular disease, autism, seizures, mental retardation, hyperactivity, dyslexia and many other nervous system conditions. That's why the FDA rigorously limits exposure to mercury in foods and drugs. Some common sources of mercury include dental amalgam fillings, various vaccines and certain fish contaminated by polluted ocean waters.”*

*http://www.malaria-vaccines.org.uk/2.shtml
http://www.naturalnews.com/011764_mercury_thimerosal_vaccines.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4472485.stm

Having written a post about heavy metal toxicity and having read more about the relation between mercury and vaccines, I thought I’d share some thoughts with you.

I remember talking to some friends a few months ago when swine flu seemed to be the next epidemic that would wipe out half the world’s population (ah, the media!). I remember saying that I would never dream of taking a swine flu vaccine not only because of the amount of poisonous metals (namely thimerosal) contained in the vaccine itself, but also because the vaccine had never been tested before, and thus the long term effects are unknown.

A few weeks before having that conversation, I had watched a video (you can click on it above) on the 1976 swine flu propaganda. The outbreak was a strain of H1N1 influenza virus and prompted vast mass immunization in the United States, mainly due to the advertising campaigns broadcast on television which propelled most Americans to immediately get a vaccine. As you will be able to see in the video above, the consequences were disastrous.

I find this whole topic fascinating, in particular as no one is ever warned of the possible side effects of having a vaccine. How many of you are ever warned of any possible dangers following your vaccinations? The only thing I have ever been in told is that I may feel a bit dizzy and weak afterwards, but that’s about it. We’re not warned of the possible long term effects these injections may have on us.

As I was doing some research online, I came across a site which explained that a study conducted in 1999 revealed that some infants, due to a genetic or developmental factor, lack the ability to eliminate mercury. Trace amounts of mercury in these infants, when accumulated over several vaccines, could pose a severe health risk.

Because of this some countries (including the UK) have banned the use of thimerosal in some - but not all - vaccines. According to an article I stumbled across on the BBC webpage, only hepatitis B and influenza in the UK programme now contain thimerosal.*

More and more scientists have found links between thimerosal and neurological damage, including higher incidence of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) antibodies in autistic children. Surely the link between those developing autism post vaccines is no coincidence? Needless to say, there are plenty of doctors, including the spokeswoman for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, who believe that “There is strong evidence to show that thimerosal in vaccines does not cause neurodevelopmental problems." There seems to be plenty of evidence that points to the contrary...

Could my headache be linked to metals that my body is finding hard to eliminate? Possibly.

Tuesday 12 January 2010

Day 386 - Heavy Metal Toxicity

"Heavy metal toxicity is an excessive build-up of metals in the body. Oftentimes, the vague symptoms produced by heavy metal toxicity are mistakenly misdiagnosed as incurable chronic conditions. The most common heavy metals that humans are exposed to are aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury.

Heavy metals are found in everyday existence and are frequently hard to avoid entirely. Most people can excrete toxic heavy metals from the body successfully. However, some people—especially those who suffer from chronic conditions—cannot excrete them efficiently enough and a build-up occurs. Recent research also reveals that those who cannot excrete heavy metals efficiently appear to be genetically predisposed to this condition.

When numerous metals are present in the body, they have a “synergistic toxicity.” Dr. Boyd Haley, professor and chair of the chemistry department at the University of Kentucky, performed a study on rats and found that the mortality rate of rats exposed to a small dose of mercury or aluminum killed only 1 rat in 100. However, when the rats were exposed to both mercury and aluminum at the same time, all 100 rats died—a 100% mortality rate.

Heavy metal toxicity can result from either acute or chronic exposure to heavy metals.

Acute exposure can occur as a result of:

- Receiving vaccinations that contain thimerosal (mercury preservative)
- Mishandled metals at a job site
- Chemical and heavy metal spills–even from a broken mercury thermometer

Chronic exposure happens over a period of time, and includes:

- Having mercury amalgams (“silver fillings”) in teeth
- Living in a home built prior to 1978 that has lead-based paint
- Smoking and/or inhaling second-hand smoke
- Eating foods (such as contaminated fish) that contain high levels of heavy metals
- Living near a landfill
- Working in an environment where exposure is prevalent, such as at a dentist’s office where amalgam is used to fill cavities"*

*http://www.jigsawhealth.com/resources/heavy-metal-toxicity

I had a bit of a flare up last week but nothing major (probably about 6/10) but other than that I have been doing well at about 2/10. No complaints. I am also back in the cold dry Russian weather which so far has kept the headache down to a 2/10.

When I returned to Europe in December for a few weeks the headache seemed to fluctuate a bit more and oscillate (randomly, of course) between 2/10 and 5/10 but after a few days it seemed to stabilize at about 2/10.

I went to see the kinesiologist again a few days ago. I appeared to ‘weaken’ to a homeopathic remedy of metals which implies a possible metal toxicity. Incidentally, the nutritionist I saw a few months ago had mentioned the possibility of taking a herbal remedy for metal toxicity as she had told me this could be the cause of my headache.

I ‘tested’ well for Cilantro (Coriandrum Sativum), a plant used in cases of metal toxicity, and I am now taking 20 drops of it three times a day.

The most common form of metal toxicity is via tooth fillings, of which I have none (luckily). But there are, of course, many other causes of metal toxicity such as those mentioned above, the most common of which is by far receiving vaccinations that contain thimerosal, a mercury preservative.

Given that we have all received vaccinations, it is not surprising that there are so many undetected illnesses out there that could originate precisely from injections that most people deem beneficial to their long term health.