Thoughts on Medicine

Essentially there are at least two basic thoughts on medicine: vitalistic and allopathic (kind of like economic thought: Hayek/Austrian vs. Keynesian).  Modern medicine, as we are most familiar with it, is allopathic which basically treats symptoms.  Vitalistic works with the body to eliminate the problem; it tries to go to the source of the problem.  Ones understanding on these two methods influences stance on vaccines, antibiotics, and basic illness treatment. It’s no surprise most of society leans toward allopathic reasoning.  Who wouldn’t rather “take a pill” to fix the problem (not to mention who “gets the word out” more)?  Unfortunately, as can be seen with any pharmaceutical commercial, there are side effects just as bad – if not worse than the problem.  Illness is part of life and makes us stronger with each bout.  Immunity through a shot does not last very long: flu shot immunity lasts around three months.  Here’s another example: immunity through natural events with pertussis (whooping cough) last about 30 years but through a man made injection is only about 7 years – hence the need for boosters even in adulthood.  Additionally, some research reveals that childhood mumps protects against ovarian cancer (the vaccine won’t).  My understanding of Godly principles leads me toward the vitalistic approach to health, which is not how I grew up so means a lot of big changes (esp. diet) for me and my family that are taking time but I know are worth it.

Here’s another interesting tidbit of health info.  Dr. Christopher (a well know vitalist herbalist) in speaking of detoxifying the body says, ”Cleansing Sicknesses come in cycles of seven days, seven weeks, seven months, and seven years in most cases…”. Additionally, Malcom Gladwell in his 2008 book Outliers cited a study about airline accidents among other industrial accidents that came to the conclusion that an “accumulation of minor difficulties and seemingly trivial malfunctions” lead up to the tragic event such that, “each of which, had it happened in isolation, would have caused no more than a hiccup in …ordinary operation" (I call this the 7 things theory).  I think that is true about our health too. Did you know that autism rates in the US is now 1 in 88 when in the 1980’s it was 1in 2,000 (some sources say 2 in 10,000)?  I believe that is in part due to the 7 things theory.  Many children are now the 3rd or 4th generation of increasingly heavily vaccinated children, throw in Standard American Diet (SAD), exposure to other toxins, lack of physical activity & electronic media exposure, and genetics and one can easily see how any one of these things can become the trigger to chronic or acute disease.

All this is not to say I don't find value in allopathic medicine.  Two years ago my daughter hurt her foot.  For several day's she limped around - we thought it was a mild strain.  After about a week of limping I grew concerned it was a hairline fracture as I had one myself that took about a week to manifest.  So I was grateful to be able to go get x-ray's and learn that treatment for a strain is totally different from a hairline fracture.  To me, allopathic medicine is meant to be the last line of defense, not the first.

If you want to learn more about these ideas check out the following:

- The China Study
- Eat to Live
- Herbal Home Health Care
- Simple Healthy Tasty
- LDS Scripture: D & C: 89 (especially verse 4)
- National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
- Vaccines: Are They Really Safe and Effective
- The Two Most Misleading Numbers in Medicine
- CDC and Merck | Collusion between Government and Drug Companies
- The Peanut Allergy Epidemic: What's Causing It and How to Stop It

Oh yeah, my ideas on these topics have made a 180 degree flip in a 10 year period.  In fact I am two courses short of a medical billing and coding certificate.  My sister is a nurse (who believes in them) and my mother is a medical assistant who teaches at the local University (who does not believe in them and is full of conflict about it).

P.S.  I think it’s important for parents to learn about what they allow to be injected into their children.  The info handouts doctors give the parents during well child visits is not all the info parents need to make a fully informed decision.  They really need the vaccine inserts, ingredient list, and VAERS reportable eventlist.   In my belated research I’ve learned that one child had reactions that I did not recognize them for what they were: sever eczema, throwing up daily for months for no apparent reason, peanut allergy, other allergies.  I’ve learned that I should have been asked in more detail about family history of allergies before shots were administered initially and about possible reactions before each subsequent administration.

Another Vaccine Insert source.  Another Vaccine Ingredient List (laymans version).