Every day I’m thankful that his autism is gone. Every. Single. Day.

A conversation with a friend the other day had me thinking… what if he had recovered overnight? Would we still appreciate the progress in the same way that we do? Sadly, probably not. The biomedical path was brutal. Progress came and for that I am grateful. But it was slow. And never ending. The supplement bill only increased as time went on. He would do great for a while, only to regress leading me to hours, no, days researching to figure out what happened and what I needed to do to get him back. We all do what we have to do for our kids, but I won’t lie – I was SICK OF IT. Sick of giving my son supplements several times a day. Sick of getting up every 3-4 hours all weekend long to chelate him. Sick of never having a dime to my name because our supplement bill was more than most people’s mortgages are. Sick of the never ending cycle. Something had to give.

For us, classical homeopathy was the answer. We’ve seen healing with homeopathy that just wasn’t happening with biomed. It has taken time, but when I look back on the past year and a half or so, it’s mind blowing. Years of biomed did not give us this progress. I can stop giving my son his remedy and I DON’T lose him, he doesn’t disappear before our eyes. Homeopathy surprised us in so many ways – we have seen gains we never knew we wanted, but once we saw them come, we were in awe. It’s hard to wait for a particular issue to resolve and it’s easy to get frustrated when you see that issue not changing over time as you would like – but what’s important is to look for things that have changed and know that the issue you’re focusing on is going to change… it’s just a matter of time. Patience is the key with homeopathy – and I’m glad I remained patient. In the beginning, I was frustrated – what I was seeing wasn’t what I wanted to see. But I kept the faith and the progress kept on coming. And even now, it’s still coming.

And as much as Nicholas needed homeopathy, we needed it too. It put our family back together. It gave us back our lives. I now realized that I was in fact in an ill state myself – autism had consumed me – every waking moment, it was about finding the next thing to help my son. And I don’t regret it – not at all. But I lost me somewhere along the way. And my husband lost me too. We were living in the same house, but we weren’t a family – there was no cohesiveness. We were just plugging away towards the goal of recovery – all while life was passing us by – time that you just cannot get back. The more we started to change, the more he started to change. The better my husband and I felt, mentally, physically, the more Nicholas progressed. There is a very big component in homeopathy to the energies that surround us, I truly believe that – and if anyone out there reading this is struggling, I highly suggest you see a homeopath for your own case as well as your child’s. If you’re not at your best, your child is picking up on this. If there is turmoil in your life, your home, your child knows this – they are in there – they are absorbing everything around them! You just can’t be a Debbie-downer and expect your child to thrive, you just can’t. If you live your life with constant negativity, your child is living that life with you. Do what you have to do to help yourself – then focus on your child – you’ll get farther faster – and I bet you’ll enjoy some precious moments of your life along the way. Energy doesn’t just come in the form of a little white pellet. Your energy can very much effect your child. Just think about how you feel after being around someone whose down and depressing – you feel drained, right? Just imagine how your child feels being around someone who is pulling them down every second of every day. Not so good, right?

I look back at the last 4-5 months and it seems like we’ve been living in a dream. We had a very active summer filled with all kinds of activities, many of which Nicholas had never done before. We visited places he had never been. He made friends everywhere we went. We reunited with family who never knew he was ever diagnosed with autism – and will never have to now.

A couple of days ago, I was backing up some files on my computer and I came across a video from around the time when I first started homeopathy. (I’m so bad with videos, I take them, but never watch them again.) I watched that video and wondered who that child was. I’ve watched it 10 times since. It’s astounding to me how different he is. If you had told me back then how different he would be today, I would have thought you were crazy.

I’m so thankful for every second that I get to spend with this little boy. He’s such an amazing human being and I am just so impressed by his strength to have gone through everything he has. And he’s happy – always. He’s always smiling and cheerful and positive. Just hanging with him on the couch watching a movie is an absolute privilege. And it’s gonna kill me the day he doesn’t want to hang with mom anymore. So I’m soaking up every minute I can while I can.

Keep the faith… recovery is possible. But don’t forget to enjoy your child along the way.

And to those of you who helped me along the way, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’ve made a few really great true friends along the way and I truly cherish you, your children and our relationships. Thank you. Love you.

I will love you always. I am so very proud of you.
Mommy

Open ears ASAP whether water, wax or acute congestion need clearing.

Three great single remedies, Hepar sulph, Pulsatilla and Silica, combine to make this the perfect remedy for relieving simple ear noises and pain caused by congestion, swimming or bathing. Whether the blocking agent is excess mucus, water, wax or other matter does not matter with this remedy. These single remedies are all available individually as well in potencies 6x, 12x, 30x, 30c or 200c.

Here’s how the individual remedies work:

Hepar sulph has a knack for loosening and opening up congestions – ear problems, sinus troubles, coughs and skin sores included. For ears, it specializes in painful, sensitive ears that may throb, roar or have whizzing sounds, especially if sensitive to wind and better for warm applications. In most of its applications the sufferer prefers to be wrapped from head to toe and may have a weakness toward infections, sores and congestions.

Pulsatilla offers ears that feel stuffed up, especially at night, a welcome release. These ears my be worse on the right side, and suffer with drawing pain and fluttering noises. It may be better known for turning off night coughs that force you to sit up, but Pulsatilla’s action on ears, colds, headaches, car sickness and a range of other ailments make it the very important remedy. When ailments bring out the weepier, moodier side of you, especially if fresh air is a must even if you are chilly and the wind is cold, you might want a closer look at this remedy.

Silica, the ‘grit’ cell salt, contributes the most fundamental support for expelling anything, be it water after a swim, splinters, acne, sores, sinus congestion… For blocked ears, it works best on those with roaring noises and sometimes popping sounds that feel better for yawning or swallowing. Silica can do the most for those who lack vital heat, can be easily wearied and are susceptible to skin problems, infections, and congestions especially if malnutrition or too much work was ever a factor.

Hyland’s Earache Drops

Gentle drops ease pain, itch, and congestion associated with swimmer’s ear.

Unlike conventional swimmer’s ear treatments that simply dry the ears, Hyland’s Earache Drops work directly to relieve the pain, itch, and congestion associated with swimmer’s ear or earaches due to colds and allergies. No alcohol, no sting, 100% natural, homeopathic and safe for all ages.

Homeopathic Ingredients:

Pulsatilla – for ear pain worse at night.

Chamomilla – for restlessness or irritability.

Sulphur – for ear pain with burning sensation.

Calcarea Carbonica – for throbbing, pulsing pain in ears.

Belladonna – for fever and inflammation.

Lycopodium – for pain and congestion in ears

http://www.homeopathyzone.com/blog/article/7-factors-forecasting-length-homeopathic-treatment-chronic-diseases

http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/memory.html

Willa Keizer, CCH, Certified Classical Homeopath
When the weather warms and plants start blooming in the spring, it’s usually good news– unless you have a problem with seasonal allergies or hay fever!

Luckily homeopaths have been treating hay fever successfully for decades using safe and time tested homeopathic remedies. Homeopathy is a holistic system of healing that involves bringing your body’s energy, or vital force, back into a natural state of balance.

The most effective way to deal with allergies homeopathically is to consult with an experienced practitioner who will choose a constitutional remedy for you to address the allergies and any other physical or emotional imbalances you may have.
The remedies listed below are some of the remedies that can be used on a symptomatic basis to relieve allergy symptoms. Homeopathic remedies are highly individualized, as you can see from the descriptions below. They can be tried at home for temporary relief, but for permanent relief, please visit a homeopath!

Allium cepa is the number one remedy for allergies and is useful if you have lots of sneezing and a clear watery nasal discharge. The discharge may burn the nostrils and upper lip, and the eyes may water a lot too. The symptoms get worse in a warm room, indoors, and in the evening, and are better in open air. The throat may tickle with a dry painful cough. It’s also helpful for colds that come on during wet weather with these symptoms.

Arsenicum may be indicated if you are suffering from violent sneezing along with a throbbing frontal headache. You may feel weak and chilly, with burning discharges, and feel better from heat. It can be useful for colds that come on from getting chilled when overheated if the symptoms fit.

Euphrasia can be brilliant for allergy symptoms that are centered around the eyes. This includes watery irritated eyes, with spasmodic bouts of sneezing. Symptoms are worse in the open air, in the morning, and when lying down.

Nux vomica is good for dry, tickling, scraping sensations in the nose or sinus, especially if the nose is stuffed at night and runs during the day. You may feel may feel chilly, sensitive to drafts, and irritable. This remedy is especially helpful if you have been touchy and reactive after working too hard before developing the allergy symptoms.

Natrum muriaticum helps when there is a heavy nasal discharge that looks like raw egg white. The discharge may be accompanied by a heavy bursting headache over the eyes. You may be thirsty, and suffer from loss of smell and taste from the allergies, and feel worse from heat and the sun.

Dulcamara symptoms include a nose that stuffs up with cold rain, as well as an earache from change of weather. You may be worse in cold wet weather or when there’s a sudden change from warm to cold or dry to moist. You may feel better from warmth. The associated mucus may be thick and yellow.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Killing household ants with Splenda – Chicago family health | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/family-health-in-chicago/killing-household-ants-with-splenda#ixzz1RqGlMh6W

Spring is in the air and the ants are marching right into your house. You may want to hold off on buying those ugly little ant traps, the little yellow packets just may do the trick.

I’ll never forget when I first read about Splenda. I jumped on the bandwagon as everyone else did. Then about four years ago, I read that you could use Splenda to kill household ants. So I dumped my bag of splenda in the dirt. Fascinated by my recent discovery, I began my research and here is what I found:

Splenda was “discovered” accidentally in a lab back in 1975 while trying to create a new insecticide (Ewww…who decided it was safe for human consumption? Oh yeah the FDA did back in 1998).
Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s will not sell Splenda or any product that contains “sucralose” because it does not fit within their code of ethics of selling “real food”. (Thank you Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s)
Sucralose, the made-up name by the manufacturer of Splenda, contains chlorinated compounds. (Ohhh…Splenda made up the name sucralose…because anything that ends on “ose” makes it sound like yummy sugar)
Chlorine is toxic and is not found in any food or table salt even though the manufacturer of Splenda will tell you it is fine. However there is chloride present in food and table salt, which is non-toxic. (Very sneaky Splenda makers)
Chlorine, (which we now know is in Splenda), has caused so much damage to human health that Greenpeace has launched a Chlorine-Free Campaign, calling for a worldwide ban on chlorine. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also maintains a strong anti-chlorine stance. (Did you know that cancer patients have high levels of chlorine in their bodies?)
If you really want some motivation for staying away from Splenda and anything that contains it (example: Weight Watchers, Atkins and South Beach, flavored waters, Crystal Light, diet drinks anything “diet” or labeled as “sugar-free”, “low in sugar” or no sugar” typically contains it. Yes, this includes your kids’ favorite “no-sugar” Hawaiian Punch) and if you are a future mother, read all about baby boys being born with shortened male anatomy due to chlorine passed to them in the womb. (and we want to do this to our unborn children, why?)
Studies show that people that consumed diet drinks were 41% more likely to be overweight than those who did not. (so diet drinks and foods are sabatoging our weight loss efforts? Seems like an oxymoron to me)
But honestly, any artificial sweetener will work. How do I know this? I have had both friends and family members try it with great success, even my sister-in-law who lives in a very rural part of Ohio. The nice thing about using up your little yellow (or blue or pink) packets is there are no harsh chemicals used. Your family does not breathe in all the chemicals, your baby doesn’t find an ant trap and put it in their mouths and if your pets lick it, you can save the call to poison control. Now is the time to try some other safer alternative sweeteners like stevia and agave nectar syrup. And don’t forget the old tried and trued, honey and real maple syrup (not Aunt Jemima).

Don’t get mad at me if your favorite drink contains sucralose. There are ways to give our families safer options if using a sweetener is a must. Here are some fun family cocktails that you can try (and it is cheaper than buying bottled juice):

Homemade Lemonade: 1 1/2c of real lemon juice (about 6 lemons squeezed), 6 cups of cold water, 1/3 cup of raw honey (more or less to your liking). Mix and enjoy!

Chocolate milk: 1 TB of cocoa powder, 1TB of agave nectar syrup and 1 cup of your favorite milk

Homemade Flavored Water: 1 cup of carbonated water, 1TB of agave nectar syrup and half of your favorite fruit squeezed such as an orange. Or puree your favorite berry such as frozen strawberries and a kiwi.

Homemade Orange Pop: 2 liter bottle of carbonated water, 1/2 can of orange juice concentrate, 3 lemons squeezed.

Get creative in the kitchen with the kids and leave the Splenda to the ants.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Killing household ants with Splenda – Chicago family health | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/family-health-in-chicago/killing-household-ants-with-splenda#ixzz1RqGisWwG

The best sunscreen is a hat and a shirt. No chemicals to absorb through the skin, no questions about whether they work. But when you can’t get away from exposing your skin to the sun, use EWG’s top-rated sunscreens to provide broad-spectrum (UVA and UVB-sunburn) protection with fewer hazardous chemicals that penetrate the skin. Sunscreen and sunblock makers are awaiting FDA approval for a wider selection of UVA-blocking chemicals. In the meantime, all top-rated products contain either zinc or titanium minerals to help cut UVA exposures for sunscreen users.

Choose from among our top-rated sunscreens for broad spectrum protection with fewer hazardous ingredients. And follow our sun safety tips to protect your skin for a lifetime.

Click for their listing… EWG’s Best Beach & Sport Sunscreens

I wish more people would get it. Hello sheeple – wake up please… before it is too late!!

The new Cars game looks really cool – Nicholas is really excited to check this out!! and see the new movie too!!
Check out their facebook page!!

Are you ready to take a crash course in saving the world? In Cars 2: The Video Game, train to become an agent of C.H.R.O.M.E. (Command Headquarters for Recon Operations & Motorized Espionage) and take on dangerous missions, compete to become the fastest racecar in the world, or just use your spy skills in exciting, action-packed combat racing! With so many new and exciting features what will friends be most excited to hear about?

Over 20 characters to choose from including past favorites such as Lightening McQueen and Mater the tow truck, as well as new spy personalities like Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell
Action packed missions that unfold in 6 exotic locales across the world
Adrenaline filled combat racing that keeps you on the edge of your seat
A robust multi-player functionality – perfect for high velocity fun for the whole family
Available on Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo DS, PC/Mac
ESRB Rating – Everyone to Everyone 10+
In stores June 21, 2011

PS – I’m a bzzagent – check it out!!

Thank you very much for helping him!!

By Julie Steenhuysen and Dan-bee Moon Julie Steenhuysen And Dan-bee Moon Mon May 9, 12:16 am ET

CHICAGO/SEOUL (Reuters) – One out of every 38 children in South Korea may have autism, a surprisingly high number based on a new research approach that suggests autism is a global problem that is significantly underdiagnosed, researchers said on Monday.

The estimate, which translates into 2.64 percent of children, is far higher than the estimated 1 percent rate seen in studies in the United States and Europe.

The study is the first to estimate autism in South Korea, and while the study needs to be confirmed, it suggests autism may be more common than previously thought.

“Are we surprised? Yes,” said Dr. Young-Shin Kim of Yale University, whose study was funded by the advocacy group Autism Speaks and published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Kim’s team used a painstaking research method that involved screening 55,000 children aged 7 to 12 in the South Korean city of Goyang. The team surveyed parents about their children’s behavior, then followed up with evaluations of at risk children to confirm their diagnosis.

This population-based approach was designed to capture cases that might not be detected with methods that use school or medical records to identify autistic children.

“The high prevalence comes from this new population we included in our study — the kids without any previous developmental delays or mental health issues,” Kim said.

The autism rate among children from special schools was 0.75 percent, compared with 1.89 percent in regular school classrooms.

Rates of autism have been climbing in the past decade, in part because of changes in how it is diagnosed.
Instead of a single diagnosis, autism is a spectrum of diseases ranging from a profound inability to communicate and mental retardation to relatively mild symptoms such as with Asperger’s syndrome.

GLOBAL CONCERN
In Asia, parents are largely ignorant about the disorder, which has no cure, and are reluctant to face it.
“A lot of parents in Korea do not recognize autism symptoms. We are not sure if the figure is correct, but if it is, then numbers of autistic children may be underdiagnosed,” said a spokeswoman working at a specialist clinic.
“One problem that seems to pop up frequently is that parents do not want to acknowledge that their child/children may be autistic,” said the woman, who asked not to be named.

“Many do not recognize the need for clinical care, which is essential,” said a doctor at another such clinic. “Korean culture may make it more difficult to (accept) autism.”

The highly structured nature of South Korean schools — in which the school day can exceed 12 hours — may also contribute to the high numbers of children with undetected autism.

“For quiet, high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorders, this environment may reduce the likelihood of referrals to special education programs,” the team wrote.

Geraldine Dawson of Autism Speaks said the study “confirms that autism is a significant global public health concern.”
But it also suggests current research methods are underestimating autism in the United States and elsewhere.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates autism affects nearly one in 110 children.
Dr. Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, an epidemiologist at CDC, said it is likely the agency’s method of estimating prevalence — focusing on probable cases — misses some children.

“We know that we are not capturing all of the cases,” she told Reuters in a telephone interview.
As for the South Korean study, she said, “We are concerned that this prevalence is so high, but we have to bear in mind they are using different methodology. Using different methodology gives you different estimates,” she said.
But Craig Newschaffer, an autism researcher at Drexel University in Philadelphia who has seen the study, said there may be other reasons the South Korean estimates are higher.

“Most of the cases came from the general population sample,” he said, in which only about 60 percent of parents participated. He said parents in regular schools who had concerns about their child’s development might have been more likely to participate than those who had no concerns.

But to Newschaffer, the numbers are less important than the finding that autism is so widespread. “Autism is a major public health problem in the United States, Europe and most likely worldwide. I don’t think this is a game changer, but I think we need to be paying more attention to figuring out why.”

Probe to Reveal Link Between Vaccine Settlements and Autism
May 9, 2011- 4:53 – Exclusive: Government paid multi-million dollar settlements to dozens of families whose kids suffered brain damage

http://www.homeopathyboard.com

You will need to register for a yuku message board account if you have not already done so. Then click on the link above again and request access.

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

I am asking for your help for a child close to my heart that needs your help to win his iPad Challenge. We need only 60 pieces to be sold in order for him to get a free iPad.

Alex is 8 years old, is non-verbal – or I should say pre-verbal . This family has had many struggles including almost losing their home. They have tried so many things and not much has helped this little boy begin to speak. They are losing hope in ever hearing their son speak. It is my hope that with an iPad, they can begin to communicate with their son on a level they have yet been able to. And maybe, just maybe, it’ll help break down that barrier that’s preventing him from being able to talk.

The iPad is a great way for pre-verbal children with Autism to learn to communicate and has many benefits. When children can communicate, tantrums and frustration are reduced, which for any child who is suffering from autism, this is a huge plus.
Please go to this link (http://thepuzzlingpiece.com/products.html) and scroll down, purchase either the $20 necklace or keychain and write “recovering nicholas” in the box which reads “Challenger’s Name”.

If you can share this post with your friends, post it on your facebook pages and even twitter the link, I would really appreciate it!!

Thank you very much for helping him!!

Michelle

Edited 4/7/11 to add: Just wanted to provide some background information about Alex for those who have asked me… They have done SCD, GFCF, etc, IV chelation, supplements and have worked with two of the biggest DAN doctors. Alex has made progress, but has not progressed to the point of being able to speak. We’re hoping that having an iPad will open some new windows for him.

NuLife Foods wants to show their support by offering 15% off all our NuLife products! (Offer excludes Murray’s Chicken Bacon and Udi’s Bread) Please enter BEAWARE into the promo box upon checkout to receive your discount. Offer valid through this Sunday, April 10th.

http://nulifefoods.com/

So, I had our 1st 6 week follow up with Pierre on March 30th. My son is 8.5, high functioning. He has very choppy expressive language and is in general ed class in school with an aide. School “diagnosed” him with expressive language disorder and they don’t suspect ASD at all. My son holds it together very good in school but at home, the autism signs come out.

Since starting the remedy, these are incredible and new things we see in him:
1. sleeps through the night without any melatonin or benadryl, very peaceful
2. Stopped having awfull meltdowns where he would loose it and lock himself in the room for hours
3. He wants to get married some day and have babies
4. Huge emotional break throughs (ex: wants to move all the homeless people from Japan and their animals to our house and give them all his clothes and toys. cried about earthquake victims for days).
?5 . Incredible phisical gains, does sommersaults forward and backward 1st time in his life. Used to be very week in his abdominal area.
6. Vision improving, takes his glasses off all the time.
7. Abstract thinking developing, builds odd things like human bicep out of many tinker toys
8. Started dancing and listening to music.
9. Was in his class school play and had 21 word part in it.
10. understands some jokes. Overall cognition improved a lot.

So I think Pierre performed a total miracle here. He was very happy with the results and told me to continue with the remedy.

On the down side, Alex developed 3 strep throats in the last 2 months and Pandas symptoms along with it. Pierre said to use his remedy to treat strep and didn’t give us an acute remedy. Since I know nothing of homeopathy so far, I just obey the master:) Have to say, he is an extraordinary man, we are so fortunate to be his patients ?

Are you aware that vaccines cause autism?
Are you aware that the research studies that show there is no link are flawed and if you read them you would see how?
Are you aware that thimerosal is STILL in vaccines even though it may not be listed as an ingredient?
Are you aware that thimerosal isn’t the only ingredient you SHOULD be worried about?
Are you aware that the odds of your child being compensated for a vaccine-injury is probably one in a million?
Are you aware that one of the biggest pediatric practices in the United States does not vaccinate and has no autism?
Are you aware that the rate of autism has grown exponentially and will continue to rise?
Are you aware that if you are not touched personally by autism now that you will be before you die? (Do you care?)
Are you aware that diseases were already on their way out before the vaccines were introduced?
Are you aware that in a high percentage of cases of measles, etc that we hear about on the news to scare us that those children WERE vaccinated?
Are you aware of all of the vaccines in line to be added to your child’s vaccination schedule? (did you think there were alot now – you ain’t seen nothing yet!)
Are you aware that many states offer vaccine exemptions?
Are you aware that you’ve been lied to, that your child DOES NOT need to be fully vaccinated in order to attend public school?

I could go on and on and on. But the main thing to be aware of today is this – you need to be AWARE of the things going on around you. We no longer live in the time where we can go to our doctor and implicitly trust everything he/she tells us. We cannot read research studies and assume that the scientists doing the research have their fellow man’s best interest at heart and not their own financial gain. We can no longer trust what we see on the news or tv.

Be you and your child/family’s own advocate. Educate yourself. Spread your awareness to others!

Lots of talk these days about the bullying of young boys and girls in school by more aggressive students. This brings to my mind the biggest bully of all: the biotech company, Monsanto Corporation.

Taken in context, Monsanto’s list of corporate crimes should have been enough to pull their corporate charter years ago. And yet we allow them to continue to destroy our food supply, our health and the planet. Monsanto or Monsatan?

Take a look at the company’s track record and decide for yourself.

Agent Orange: Monsanto was the major financial beneficiary of this herbicide used to defoliate the jungles of Vietnam and destroy the health of American troops and their offspring. It also allowed Monsanto and other chemical companies to appeal for and receive protection from veterans seeking damages for their exposure to Agent Orange and any future biotech creations.

Aspartame: As far back as 1994, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a report listing 94 health issues caused by aspartame. It has been shown to cause slow but serious damage to the human body and yet it is used extensively in many commercial products.

Saccharin: Studies have shown that saccharin caused cancer in test rats and mice; and in six human studies, including one done by the National Cancer Institute, that consuming artificial sweeteners, such as saccharin and cyclamate, resulted in bladder cancer.

Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH): A genetically modified hormone injected into dairy cows to produce more milk, despite the fact that more milk was needed. The cows suffer excruciating pain due to swollen udders and mastitis. The pus from the infection enters the milk supply requiring more antibiotics to be given to the cows. BST milk may also cause breast cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer in humans.

RoundUp: The world’s most commonly used herbicide and weed killer has been linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, in a study by eminent oncologists Dr. Lennart Hardell and Dr. Mikael Eriksson of Sweden. Used on genetically modified crops resistant to RoundUp’s active ingredient glyphosate, environmentalists and health professionals are concerned that far from reducing herbicide use, glyphosate-resistant crops may result in increased residues in food to which consumers will be exposed.

Genetically Modified Crops (GMO): Monsanto created Frankenfoods by gene-splicing corn, cotton, soy, and canola with DNA from a foreign source. Consequently these crops are resistant to massive doses of the herbicide, RoundUp, but in turn herbicide-resistant superweeds are taking over. After running into resistance in the west, Monsanto is pushing GMO crops in third-world countries.

According to physicist, ecologist, and activist Dr. Vandana Shiva, “Syugenta and Monsanto are rushing ahead with the mapping and patenting of the rice genome. If they could, they would own rice and its genes, even though the 200,000 rice varieties that give us diverse traits have been bred and evolved by rice farmers of Asia collectively over millennia. Their claim to inventing rice is a violence against the integrity of biodiversity and life forms; it is a violence against the knowledge of third-world farmers.”

Terminator Seeds: A technology that produces sterile grains unable to germinate, forcing farmers to buy seeds from Monsanto rather than save and reuse the seeds from their harvest. Terminators can cross-pollinate and contaminate local non-sterile crops putting in danger the future seed supply and eventually giving control of the world’s food supply to Monsanto and the GM industry.

Standard American Diet: According to the Organic Consumers Association, “There is a direct correlation between our genetically engineered food supply and the $2 trillion the U.S. spends annually on medical care, namely an epidemic of diet-related chronic diseases.

Instead of healthy fruits, vegetables, grains, and grass-fed animal products, U.S. factory farms and food processors produce a glut of genetically engineered junk foods that generate heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer. Low fruit and vegetable consumption is directly costing the United States $56 billion a year in diet-related chronic diseases.”

Over all good news!, we started our constitutional remedy on October 8th last year! wow more than 4 months!, and I can certainly say that my son never had so many gains in such a short time. Homeopathy ‘fixed’ and is still fixing a lot of things! no environmental allergies, no more asthma, no more rashes from food intolerance were the beginning for us, now we have a lot of new things!, his levels of concentration are increasing more and more, focusing!, understanding a lot more language, I see emotion on his face! we get all kind of faces , he gets thing he never did before! he kiss and hugs his classmates, not afraid of giving ‘hi5′ to his NT classmates, Eli started to use sign language and saying words at the same time like never did before!! [even I'm learning ASL because he speaks more if he uses sign language], his cognitive levels has increase too!, he plays different games on my iphone! and he never cared for this before, he can play table games with 8 typical kids waiting turns and really playing!, following directions wow!!!! and this is not something I only see it, everybody is telling me all these things too and the teachers, therapists all of them confirm this daily. We still have some obsessions over fixing his toys, some days less sensory that others but I only got 3 little ’2 min’ tantrums in almost 3 months!!!, I am crying while typing all these beautiful things my child does now, is just now that my feeling are coming out, it seems like I am dreaming, we started so far away! with a little 2 yrs old child who would cover his ears and cry all day long and now I see a different Eli, a son who kiss me like used to do it before he got his autism, hugs me and enjoys a little better family activities. We still have a long way to go but I see day by day he is doing new things, carrying on his new skills everywhere he goes. he seems stronger now, his immune system is ‘working’ he got the influenza virus and didn’t get asthma, I was in shock! anything triggers asthma and I’m sure you know this! but if he didn’t get it this time, I can truly say that it is gone forever. I found that doing 3 drops with a sip dose ‘formula’ with 6 succusion helps him, Pierre said to continue doing this way. Autism is not gone I know that but wow! what a different child!!!! wishing you all the best!!!! XOXO!!!!

We Are Anti-Vaccine Wackos. It’s Just What We Do.

There is a lot of arguing between autism groups. Those who align with the ND side (neuro-diversity) often accuse those on the biomedical side of “hating” our children and refusing to accept them for who they are. Those of us whose children got very sick (physically) after receiving vaccines can be off-putting and may be guilty of the kind of over-zealous fanaticism frequently associated with ex-smokers and “Bible-thumpers.” This post is my attempt to highlight some of the reasons why we do what we do.

There is a multitude of issues regarding vaccines. Probably the biggest issue, as it relates to autism and other neurodevelopmental, immunological, gastrointestinal disorders is the overwhelming number and concentration in the ever-growing childhood schedule.

Click here to read more…

Today’s supermarket is a fun house of hues. Its aisles feature riotously colored processed foods perfectly engineered to appeal to the part of your brain that says “yum”: Technicolor Starburst candy. Polychromatic Froot Loops. A rainbow of flavored juices.

Those hyper-saturated colors have come to seem normal, even natural, like the come-ons of tropical fruits. But they are increasingly produced through the magic of artificial food dyes, applied not just to candies and snack foods but to such seemingly all-natural products as pickles, salad dressing and some oranges.

Artificial dyes aren’t just making your Yoplait Light Red Raspberry yogurt blush and your Kraft Macaroni and Cheese glow in the dark. They are causing behavioral problems and disrupting children’s attention, according to a growing number of scientific studies. On Wednesday, following the lead of European regulators, a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee will begin a review of research on the behavioral effects of artificial dyes. In a significant turn from the agency’s previous denials that dyes have any influence on children’s behavior, an FDA staff report released last week concluded that synthetic food colorings do affect some children.

The agency should take action. Allowing the use of artificial dyes violates the FDA’s mandate to protect consumers from unsafe products. It also runs afoul of the agency’s mandate to crack down on food that has been made “to appear better or of greater value than it is.”

Concern about food dye is long-standing. In the 1800s, American food manufacturers began doctoring their wares with toxic pigments made from lead and copper. In the second half of that century, a revolution in organic chemistry brought artificial dyes made from coal tar — a relative advance over lead.

At the turn of the 20th century, margarine producers were making the most of the technology: They added new yellow dyes to their colorless product to better compete with butter. But the dairy industry lobbied for bans and taxes on colored margarine, and state legislatures and Congress obliged. Consumers who wanted their margarine yellow could open a separate packet of dye and mix it in themselves.

In 1906, Congress took up the question of whether artificial dyes were bad for consumers, with the first of several major acts. The most recent and stringent of them, passed in 1960, banned color additives that caused cancer in humans or animals. But the fate of one such additive, Red 3, illustrates how even strong legislation can be thwarted. Lab rats that were fed large amounts of the dye developed thyroid cancer, so in 1984 the acting FDA commissioner recommended banning it. However, fruit-cocktail producers, who relied on the dye to brighten maraschino cherries, pleaded with the Department of Agriculture to block the move. As a result, the FDA banned Red 3 only in cosmetics and topical drugs.

In the early 1990s, FDA and Canadian scientists found that Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6, the three most widely used dyes, were contaminated with likely human carcinogens. And while many foods, such as M&M’s and Kellogg’s Hot Fudge Sundae Pop Tarts, include as many as five different dyes, even today the carcinogenic potential of such combinations has not been tested.

Despite those concerns, parents continued to serve up meals and stuff their children’s lunchboxes with more and more processed foods colored with dyes, stoking a five-fold increase in the per-capita production of food dyes over the past 50 years.

Over the same period, psychiatrists and teachers were seeing more attention and behavioral problems, while allergists were raising concerns about Yellow 5. Physician Benjamin Feingold’s 1975 book, “Why Your Child Is Hyperactive,” along with the additive-free diet it promoted, spawned numerous studies on the effect of additives on attention-deficit disorders.

In 2004, one of us co-authored an analysis of the best studies of food dyes’ effects on behavior. That analysis found striking evidence that hyperactive children who consumed dyes became significantly more hyperactive than children who got a placebo.

At the same time, the British government funded two studies, each involving almost 300 children. Their results were even more startling: Artificial food dyes (in combination with a common preservative) could make even children with no known behavioral problems hyperactive and inattentive.

Health officials in the United Kingdom urged manufacturers to stop using the six dyes — including Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 — involved in those studies. Next, the European Parliament required that foods containing those chemicals bear a label warning that the dyes “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.” That is seen by some as the death knell for artificial dyes throughout Europe.

Beyond the behavioral problems and cancer risks, the greatest hazard that dyes pose for children may also be the most obvious: They draw kids away from nutritious foods and toward brightly colored processed products that are high in calories but low in nutrients, such as fruit-flavored drinks and snack foods. Those types of foods are a major force in America’s obesity epidemic, which, according to the Society of Actuaries, costs the nation $270 billion a year.

Artificial colorings are explicitly meant to manipulate consumers’ perceptions. Manufacturers tout research showing that redness enhances the impression of sweetness, and that in tests with beverages and sherbets, the color of the product did more to influence consumers’ perception of the flavor than the flavor itself. One dye marketer states that its colorings offer “a limitless palette, unmatched technology and the emotional connection between people and color.”

A world without harmful dyes does not mean a future of blandly beige snacks. A range of vivid natural colorings, made largely from plant extracts, is already in use in Europe and to a lesser extent in the United States. In Britain, for example, McDonald’s Strawberry Sundaes are made without artificial coloring; here, Red 40 adds to the strawberry color. Both the British and American formulations of Nutri-Grain Strawberry cereal bars contain strawberries, but in Britain plant-based colorings add extra color, while in the United States Red 40 does the job.

Fortunately, some U.S. companies are switching to colorings found in nature. The bountiful shelves of Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are devoid of dyes, Necco has dropped artificial dyes from its iconic wafers, and Starbucks has banned dyes from its baked goods and drinks. Most companies will resist, because artificial dyes are brighter, cheaper and more stable than natural colorings. It’s also a nuisance for them to reformulate their dyed products — and the government has given them no incentive to change.

Today, Britons enjoy all the colorful foods they have come to expect without many of the health risks they learned to avoid. Here, we get the same foods — but until the FDA bans synthetic dyes, we get them with a side order of dangerous and unnecessary chemicals.

aspand@cspinet.org

David W. Schab is a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University. Michael F. Jacobson is the executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Classical homeopathy has been used with some success to both alleviate mental and physical symptoms, and sometimes to cure individuals with autism. Many parents have reported significant improvement in their autistic children after the children received homeopathic care.
In classical homeopathy, remedy selection involves addressing the person in totality by looking at the following:
- Behaviors
- Physical Symptoms
- Emotional Symptoms
- Genetic weaknesses (also identified as miasms or constitutions)
- Environmental factors such as vaccinations, drugs or other environmental toxins

If the remedy is correctly selected on the totality of symptoms, then improvement may be seen in all areas. Homeopaths try to determine the individual’s susceptibility, ie. Individual weaknesses in the vital force, to both cure and prevent a re-occurrence of symptoms. The first effort should be to take a full case and give the remedy that most closely matches the individual’s expression of their disease. It is a widely held belief in many circles that the MMR vaccine has catapulted ASD to its current level of epidemic proportion. To the extent that vaccines have been involved in a particular case, the potentized vaccine may also help.

Though many ADD/HD individuals have been helped by homeopathy, it is still believed that a full recovery through homeopathy is not usual. However, many homeopaths see big improvements in the symptoms and behaviors of ASD individuals, even when there is not complete recovery. Starting treatment as early as possible improves the chance of a successful recovery from autism. Ideally treatment should begin before age 5. It has been observed that as children with ASD age, they seem to become more distant and it is harder to bring them back. Cases are also often complicated by other interventions such as allopathic drugs, vaccinations, behavioral therapies, etc.

Curing autism can be a long term project, taking months or even years, as the homeopath deals with various layers and tries to understand the individual well enough to select the true simillimum. When a remedy is found that resonates, the effect is usually quite evident and significant improvements can be seen. Homeopaths ask parents to not introduce other treatments or interventions in the earlier stages of homeopathy, so they can observe the direct effects of the homeopathic treatment.

Click to continue..

2. Artficial Symptoms are Introduced Not only can interventions remove symptoms from the case; they can also introduce new ones by way of their own side-effects. This can pose problems for the practitioner, who must then decide whether the new symptoms are: · an aggravation produced by the remedy, in which case the remedy should [read more here]

Analysis and Prescription: Repertorisation of Connor’s symptoms suggested that any one of seven remedies might have suited him. As always, reference to the material medica guided the final prescription. While many symptoms were common to all seven remedies, significant and individualising symptoms such as pebble-like stools, love of animals, and desire for apples predominated in [read more here]

Prior to making the appointment with Pierre, I was torn between heading down the Yasko route next or trying homeopathy. I plowed through Yasko’s latest book at the time, taking my facebook friends with me on that journey, posting every tidbit that I hadn’t already known sparking lots of discussions and revelations along the way.

At the time, we were getting close to the “100 round” mark of Andy Cutler chelation and all I could feel was despair. Sure, Nicholas made gains from the AC chelation protocol, but he still had so very far to go. Up until that point, I had been so hopeful, so positive, so damn sure that AC protocol was going to recover my son. But with 90 rounds done and no end in sight, I no longer shared the enthusiasm for the protocol that I used to. When I first heard about the protocol from the various yahoo groups I belonged to, 100 was the magic number to recovery. Some even claimed recovery after the 50 round mark. These days, I hear the magic number has been moved somewhere between 200 and 300 rounds. For more severe kids, it could be 400. In case you’re wondering, a round consists of a weekend that you chelate, so 400 rounds would take you approximately 8 years.

As I contemplated which direction I was going to, Yasko’s protocol wasn’t sitting well with me for some reason. Aside from the cost (which is huge), it just didn’t feel right to me. I had 2 friends who had seen Pierre and both of their children were recovered. (Recovered recovered – no diet, supplements, etc. Not “managed” recovery.) One of those friends, I used to speak to pretty regularly and she mentioned she was seeing good things with homeopathy, but I was too immersed into the AC protocol, that I just blew it off. Because after all, at the time, I felt that if you didn’t fully chelate your child, they would not fully recover. One afternoon when I was in the midst of debating which path we were going to go down, her facebook status popped up in my newsfeed and it blew me away. I emailed her because I just knew it was about her NT (neurotypical) son. When she replied that it was not about her NT, but her ASD child (well, formerly ASD), I picked up the phone and made an appointment with Pierre. I never asked anyone about him. I never even googled his name. Turns out, the least researched treatment was the best move I ever made. Go figure.

The appointment was odd, therapeutic and draining. I left his office wondering if I had made the right decision. But then started to think about when I had used homeopathic remedies in the past – and then remembered that THEY WORKED. A sudden flood of memories, like Nicholas teething and those little pellets that I used to say were worth far more than their weight in gold, hit me. The flu remedy, oscillococcinum always worked. Chestal, a homeopathic cough syrup, also worked. And then the feeling of hope returned to me leaving me somewhat confident that good things were around the corner.

I hoped that maybe he’d climb another rung towards recovery, that we’d hear some more language, that he’d gain another level of clarity, that maybe I wouldn’t have to give him diflucan anymore. A year ago, I could have never imagined my life, our lives, as they are today. It is beyond my wildest dreams. It’s like all of his issues just melted away. I have my son back. I have MY life back. I cherish every moment I spend with my son – remembering all too well that it wasn’t long ago when he used to tantrum out of control so bad that we couldn’t take him anywhere. I remember that it wasn’t long ago when I would cry for hours at a time wondering if he would ever look me in the eye or call me Mommy.

I am happy to report that Nicholas continues to do well. He has been doing great in his mainstream classroom (no aide!), has been making friends, continues with karate and is just such an absolute joy to be around, take places and just have fun with. I never thought we would be in this place – you know – the one where you just get to live life and not be reminded about autism every single second of your day – but here we are and I hope that all of you say the same thing very soon. I am so very, very thankful for every second I get to spend with this little boy who despite what he has been through, has not seemed to miss a beat or let it get him down in any way.

It has been almost a year that we are free from supplements, mb12 shots and I no longer worry about foods, food colorings, etc. I truly thought I would never see a day where I could make such a statement.

Autism was such a road block for our family – it seemed to drag everything down – and it did. With the massive expense of all of the supplements and the huge monthly payment we still have on our hbot (which we no longer use, haven’t for quite some time), we had to focus on what foods Nicholas was eating first before we could think of ourselves. We gained a ton of weight along this journey. (Who hasn’t, right?) We always put ourselves and our needs last. We put every ounce of hope, determination, every dollar we had, every spare (and not so spare) minute we had into our son. And I don’t regret giving so much of myself to my child, nor does my husband – but we have been able to turn our lives around, lose all of that weight (thanks to homeopathy!) and get back on the path we were meant to be on before autism.

The road that we are on has bumps, just like anyone else’s, but one thing that’s not on our route anymore is autism. And for that alone, I am grateful each and every day. It’s time to start saving for college!

Thank you, Pierre Fontaine, we cannot imagine where we would be had we not met you a year ago today.

First, a little background:
Eric has autism, ataxic cerebral palsy, apraxia of speech, scoliosis, severe central hypotonia, GI issues….you name it. When I first heard about Pierre, I had been doing biomedical treatment, with my son Eric, for 2 years, 9 months. I was getting frustrated with the supplement regime and we had hit a plateau. At that point, Eric had about 20 words he used with any regularity. He could only say one-syllable words and only one, maybe two, at a time. We had controlled his severe anxiety and outbursts/meltdowns with 5-HTP and l-theanine. He was on 23 different supplements, most of those given 2-3 times a day. We had removed gluten, dairy, soy, artificial additives/preservatives, eggs and peanuts from his diet. Still we battled chronic diarrhea, which his GI specialist said was “normal”. When we noticed the spinal curvature, we took him to a pediatric orthopedic specialist. He diagnosed a 23 degree curvature. He told us that he would normally prescribe a brace, but since Eric has autism, he wasn’t going to because there was no use. (There is nothing quite like listening to a doctor tell you, in so many words, your child isn’t worth helping.)
This kind of treatment was becoming the norm for us. Doctors weren’t sure what to do, so they just didn’t bother.
We stopped his physical and occupational therapies at the end of August, 2010. He hated it, and frankly, after 4 years it just wasn’t helping. We stopped speech therapy 2 months later because something at the school was making him very ill. The school wasn’t interested in finding and treating the cause, and I wasn’t willing to fight them when the therapy really wasn’t helping. I could get so much more out of him when I worked with him at home than they could and we had been having problems with him refusing to do anything they had him do in therapy at home. He seemed to feel that anything done in therapy was “work” and didn’t go home.,
Our son was turning 5 in one month. He could barely speak, couldn’t feed himself with utensils, was still in diapers, angry, frustrated and generally miserable. So, when I heard about Pierre, I thought it sounded too good to be true, but something told me to take a leap of faith and try it. Thank God I did.
We started his remedy on September 11, 2010. Within 15 minutes of the first dose, we saw a change. It was like his whole body breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. He slept for 12 hours that night and awoke a new child. He was calm, attentive, relaxed and engaged. It lasted for about 4 days, then started slipping. With Pierre’s guidance, we have seen remarkable progess over the last 5 months. Eric can now speak in sentences. Some of it is parrot speech, some is appropriate, spontaneous speech. Bottom line, it IS speech. Last week, he recited “Itsy, Bitsy Spider”. He now plays (and fights and competes) with his brother. Before there was little interest beyond screaming if his younger brother cried or fussed. But the biggest improvements have to do with his GI issues, scoliosis and ACP. Since starting homeopathy, he has only had a few bouts with diarrhea instead of daily, as before. He can now tolerate dairy, without spaciness or diarrhea, and eggs, without breaking out in hives. Gluten is still a bit of an issue in that it will cause diarrhea, but no behavioral symptoms. We have not challenged him with soy (it caused seizures) or peanuts (I just don’t want to take that chance).
While bathing him, I noticed his curvature didn’t seem as pronounced. I took him to my chiropractor (I wasn’t about to give that useless ortho doc another penny!). She x-rayed him and discovered that the curvature had improved to about 13 degrees! I say “about” because she only has a stand-up machine and he had to hold onto something to stand. She had also noticed over the prior two monthly visits that his muscle had improved considerably and was surprised to learn we were no longer going to a physical therapist. We have seen his fine and gross motor skills improve so that he is now able to consistently use a fork to feed himself, get on and off furniture without falling, manipulate small toys and sit cross-legged on the floor without help.
Behavior-wise, he is now better behaved than out NT 2 year old. No meltdowns in about 4 months, but he does get frustrated when we can’t understand what he is trying to tell us. The apraxia makes him very difficult to understand sometimes.
But the best, so far, took place on February 17, 2011. He managed to bring himself to a standing position from the floor, without pulling up. I looked up and he was just standing completely erect, albeit a bit shakily, in the middle of our living room! He stood there for a few seconds – a huge smile on his face, practically glowing with pride – then gently lowered himself back to the floor. It was the first time he had ever stood, unassisted, in his life! Although he has attempted this many times in the past, he has never risen above a crouch and always fell – never the controlled lowering back to the floor. I was thrilled beyond belief, but afraid it was a fluke, kinda of a one-time thing. But no, he did it again a couple of hours later.
In the days since then, he has been pulling up on furniture and letting go, practicing balancing. I have also caught him practicing standing in his bed, and he does it pretty well!
We are beyond thrilled with his progress, so far and look forward to even more improvements in the coming months.

Read the text of Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR 157) in html format or pdf format

NJ Stands to Lose Freedom of Religious Exemption Is Your State Next?

NJ, your right to a religious vaccine exemption is about to be denied. Which state is next?

It’s time to make our voices heard at our elected legislative offices with a MASSIVE call-in/ write-in campaign. Contact info and details are below.This must be done today (2/16) and tomorrow, Thursday (2/17)

#1 – Call your local ASSEMBLYPERSONS: Tell them you are a constituent and to vote NO on ACR 157 an “Assembly Concurrent Resolution,” which allows the state and our health department to define the criteria acceptable for a parent’s religious exemption. This bill was fast tracked in the last month without any public debate or hearing. It must be stopped. The legislators need to represent their constituents, not the special interest lobbyists.

Find Your District Number and Representative: Click Here

#2 – Call/Email SPEAKER SHEILA OLIVER: She has the power to pull this resolution. This is the message for the Assembly Speaker, Sheila Oliver, who technically decides whether the bill should be posted or not. Tell her this is an inappropriate resolution that threatens our constitutional rights. She needs calls and emails.

ASSEMBLY SPEAKER, SHEILA OLIVER
Suite 202/ 15-33 Halsted Street/ East Orange, NJ 07018
973-395-1166 (phone)
973.395.1724 (fax)
email: aswoliver@njleg.org

#3 – Call/Email GOVERNOR CHRISTIE: Ask him to put a stop to ACR157!

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR:
P.O. Box 001
Trenton NJ, 08625
609-292-6000 (phone)
609-292-5181 (fax)
Or you can submit an email.

The Hearing is Scheduled for 1pm in the Assembly Chambers, so if you are able to get to Trenton, please go. (Bring a small sign to hold). Not sure what we will be permitted to do, but they need to see us.

Assemblyman Dr. Herb Conaway (Assembly Health Committee Chair who stonewalled our bill for 6+ years) is forcing through an Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR 157) for tighter guidelines on what would constitute a “valid” religious exemption.

IN OTHER WORDS… the state will attempt to define criteria under which someone could claim a religious exemption. Sound unconstitutional? INDEED! Do you believe our legislators and health department are qualified to establish religious exemption criteria, and school administrators are appropriate to judge parents’ religious tenets as they relate to their children’s vaccinations?

It seems our elected officials have forgotten the 1st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America! “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment o f religion, or prohibiting the free exercise, thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

CALL, WRITE, E-MAIL, FAX – as many times a day as you can for as many days as you can. We deserve to the right to informed consent and demand to have our bill heard and no further resolutions passed to restrict our rights Visit www.NJVaccinationChoice.org Sign the Online Petition Supporting A2450!

Congratulations Benjamin! This is amazing – I am so happy for you – for all of you!!

Update on Benjamin!!
He has been doing amazingly well! We are totally not doing our diet anymore now…I introduced yogurt again these past two weeks after being dairy free for two years with no reactions, rashes, or tummy problems!!! I had fun this past weekend picking organic yogurt tubes and greek kids cups for him! Cant wait to give it to him for lunch tomorrow! We are always going to try to keep his diet clean as in no food coloring or preservatives which I think is good for anyone. But, it is nice to know that every now and then if we are out at a game or event that he can have that cookie the other soccer mom made and is trying to give to him!! he loves it! We had to homeschool this year due to behavior problems last year at our school. He finished kindergarten last year not being able to read, write, or do math. He was reading the first month of homeschooling. Sounding out the words and doing worksheets for me. Reading stories outloud to me from our readers.Doing math…alone by the way because “Mommy, I have to focus.” I was told by the school that he would never read or write or be successful without being in a public school with a special ed teacher. I am going to be honest and say that I was terrified to homeschool him. But, homeopathy brought out huge huge changes in my son. He has soared. We have cried with the happiness only a parent of a child who has been told they CANT can feel when they DO. I know without a doubt that this is why my son can focus and do the work…he is clear headed, sweet, funny, smart, and we are getting to know him more and more every day. I took a leap of faith when I called Pierre….I was not sure..worried it would be yet another thing we tried that may have helped a little but not getting us where we wanted which was RECOVERY!!! that is what we all want. I feel very very fortunate to know Pierre and all of the wonderful moms and dads I have met during this process. I would not change a single thing. Who know where we will be next year. Last year at this time…I was a broken person. Desparing over what was going to happen to my son…being told this was who he was and was always going to be…I almost believed them. I almost let go of that small voice telling me they were wrong…he could do it. There was a way. Listen to that voice. I did and I got my son back. So we keep moving forward. I spent many sleepless nights looking for hope during my deepest darkest times and that is all i am trying to do…Give hope to anyone out there wondering….

You can register here:
http://autismone.com/content/2011-autismone-conference

For those of you who have asked me, Pierre Fontaine will be speaking at this year’s conference!

Over all good news!, we started our constitutional remedy on October 8th last year! wow more than 4 months!, and I can certainly say that my son never had so many gains in such a short time. Homeopathy ‘fixed’ and is still fixing a lot of things! no environmental allergies, no more asthma, no more rashes from food intolerance were the beginning for us, now we have a lot of new things!, his levels of concentration are increasing more and more, focusing!, understanding a lot more language, I see emotion on his face! we get all kind of faces , he gets thing he never did before! he kiss and hugs his classmates, not afraid of giving ‘hi5′ to his NT classmates, Eli started to use sign language and saying words at the same time like never did before!! [even I'm learning ASL because he speaks more if he uses sign language], his cognitive levels has increase too!, he plays different games on my iphone! and he never cared for this before, he can play table games with 8 typical kids waiting turns and really playing!, following directions wow!!!! and this is not something I only see it, everybody is telling me all these things too and the teachers, therapists all of them confirm this daily. We still have some obsessions over fixing his toys, some days less sensory that others but I only got 3 little ’2 min’ tantrums in almost 3 months!!!, I am crying while typing all these beautiful things my child does now, is just now that my feeling are coming out, it seems like I am dreaming, we started so far away! with a little 2 yrs old child who would cover his ears and cry all day long and now I see a different Eli, a son who kiss me like used to do it before he got his autism, hugs me and enjoys a little better family activities. We still have a long way to go but I see day by day he is doing new things, carrying on his new skills everywhere he goes. he seems stronger now, his immune system is ‘working’ he got the influence virus and didn’t get asthma, I was in shock! anything triggers asthma and I’m sure you know this! but if he didn’t get it this time, I can truly say that it is gone forever. Autism is not gone I know that but wow! what a different child!!!! wishing you all the best!!!! XOXO!!!!

Homeopathy Books

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My almost 7 year old is DX’d with autism although he is more Asperger’s like. My 5 year old is almost NT. I have bad bad chronic fatigue.

Let’s talk AC chelation first. We started in May. We, all three, were very toxic. My two boys weigh 65 & 60 pounds respectively. I started them on 6mg ALA and DMSA. Even with this small dosage it was very very rough. Horrible regressions. Both were asked to leave summer day camp and my almost NT was also asked to leave his summer preschool enrichment program. Their behavior was wild, feral. Uncontrollable. It was also hard on me too. The fatigue and brain fog were debilitating. Thank God I have a couch in my kitchen. I get up. Make breakfast. Lay down. Refill their coconut milk. Lay down. You get the idea. We had a tough summer.

I stuck with the chelation, though, because I knew that their horrible behavior and my fatigue and brain fog meant that we were in great need of detoxification. It also validated what I already knew via our hair tests….that we were mercury and lead toxic.

At some point during this difficult time I read RecoveringNicholas’ story about her experience with Pierre. Just for grins I made an appointment and bought the Lansky book and Pierre’s book too. I thought it was all kind of nutty but harmless…and I was willing to try it. I was (and still am to some degree) of the typical logical biomed mindset. Biomed (and AC Chelation) makes sense to me. It is easy to understand. It is logical. So homeopathy in itself was a big stretch for me to grasp hold of and get on board with…. logically. I made the mistake of reading Pierre’s book first. Although now I think I get most of what he tries to communicate about homeopathy in his book……now after using homeopathy for 3 months….however, when I was reading it I was thinking….man this guy is really cuckoo. Then I read Lansky’s book. It helped a little. By that I mean it helps tie a logical thought pattern to the underlying ‘science’ behind homeopathy. But since I am not the kind of person that believes everything she reads….I was still skeptical. Nevertheless I had the appt with Pierre scheduled and so I was committed mentally to give it a try.

My first consult with Pierre was in mid July. I did the consult for my 7 year old autistic son. Pierre thankfully discovered that my son’s remedy would also be my remedy. It didn’t take more than a week before I was a homeopathy believer. The first thing I noticed was that the regression he was going through since starting AC chelation was gone. Overnight. And he no longer has side effects. We have been able to ramp him up quickly from the 6mg that was previously debilitating to him….to 25mg….all without any side effects whatsoever.

With homeopathy my son was instantly more aware of everything around him. Noticing things that had always been around…but he had never ‘seen’. Asking questions about things that weren’t his preferred topic. Attending to tasks much much better…he can actually sit down and do his homework. (Did I mention he is ADD too?) Less anger, arguing, irritability. Irrational fears gone. He is actually pretend playing with his brother. He took his backpack to the car without me asking him to (I had never ever asked him to do it before…so he was anticipating the need of it being done all by himself). Improved eye contact. He deals better with frustration….specifically his pesky little brother. He will now occasionally ask, “mom, what did you do today while I was at school.” Wow. We haven’t completely given up on ‘the diet’ yet…but when he eats gluten or casein….really nothing happens anymore. We still have a ways to go….but the progress is nothing short of amazing.

Don’t’ get me wrong. Homeopathy is not all smooth sailing. I have the privilege of talking to a few dozen other moms who are using homeopathy with Pierre to recover their children. There is a definite healing pattern…OK it’s more like a roller coaster ride that lasts for about 4 to 6 weeks in the beginning. The body is detoxing. It is going to happen. I have very informally concluded that those children who have gone through some sort of detoxification before going to homeopathy (IE Chelation or other)….that these children have a somewhat easier time during the rollercoaster ride. But it is still not smooth sailing. And there are exceptions to this rule, of course. For us the roller coaster ride was increased hyperactivity, irrationality, tantrums (our boy never tantrumed much before this), loud, excessive talking. Other moms have reported fevers, night wakings, diarehea, vomiting, etc. It is all part of the healing process. (See link…specifically the article “Understanding The Healing Crisis” by ?Ginger Chalford, Ph.D http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/p … lingcrisis)

But even during the rollercoaster ride…there was definitely more awareness and other subtle improvements. I’ve seen people ask “what are your big wow’s with homeopathy”. Well I don’t have any big wows. I just have a TON of small subtle changes that all add up to a big wow. We are not done, recovered yet. But there are days now where he is so “on” that I can see that someday he will get there.

I want to share my own experience with AC chelation and homeopathy. As I said earlier chelation was hard on my brain and body. Intense, intense brain fog and fatigue…while on very little doses of DMSA. (I followed the 3 month rule b/c I had an amalgam filling removed) The first few days after I took the remedy were tough for me. I was having my own healing crisis…and for me it was really bad irritability for 4 days. Then for 8 days after that I had the most intense brain fog ever. On the eighth day…the brain fog was impossibly intense…I remember sitting in church and I looked up at my husband and said something like “I don’t understand a word he’s saying (the preacher) and I couldn’t pay attention right now if you paid me a million dollars”. It was like I could ‘feel’ the brain matter (in 3D) within my skull. I was something I have never experienced before and have not since. I went to sleep that night and in the morning it was gone. No more brain fog. Haven’t had brain fog since. None. Zilch. Nada. I think I was taking 15mg DMSA at the time. I’ve since added ALA and have increased the dosages on both to 100 mg. (yes, every 3 hours). I have NO SIDE EFFECTS. You AC chelation people (those who are well-read on AC chelation) know what that means. YES I believe the mercury is GONE from my brain. I think it is also almost all gone from my other organs too. I have halved my thyroid meds since beginning homeopathy. (Actually in the first two weeks) I have reduced my cortisol supplementation by two-thirds since beginning homeopathy. (this took a bit longer to do.) I am by no means ‘healed’…but I am getting there. I have much more energy. There are actually days where I don’t lay down at all until bedtime. Anyone with bad CFS knows that is significant.

I’m glad I didn’t wait until I understood homeopathy before I tried it. I’m glad I didn’t wait for it to make sense to me. I’ve read the Lansky book…and I still don’t completely understand how it heals and YES removes metals. I really just DON’T CARE how it works. I just know that it is SAFE and I KNOW IT IS WORKING. Thank God I didn’t wait…or I’d still be laying down on my couch in the kitchen between servings of mashed potatoes.

And it’s not just working for my family. Like I said I have the privilege of talking to many other moms whose kids are less functional than my own. Other moms are saying that their kids only had one or two words…then within weeks have a dozen or more. It is not just the high functioning kids that benefit from it. It is not just those kids who have been doing chelation for years that see improvements. Kids of all backgrounds, ages, all levels of functioning are getting better. Homeopathy is not a magic pill. It doesn’t cure overnight. There are difficult times….but the improvements are totally worth it. And the improvements last….unlike so many biomed WOWs we experienced that faded away.

We are still doing AC chelation…but I am becoming more and more convinced that it is not necessary. I am planning on doing hair tests in March or April of next year. I believe that will tell me an interesting story.

For anyone who is still reading and is interested in my almost NT son. He is NT in almost every way. However, I’ve done enough research to know that he has gut issues. He is excessively strong willed, intensely uncooperative and has ADD. At the same time he is also incredibly charming and sweet. He has been on his own remedy for a month so he is still in the ‘roller coaster’ phase. In general he tolerates the chelation much better now. No more side effects. And I mean none. During his ‘up’ days on the roller coaster ride the remedy is helping him be more cooperative and less likely to antagonize his brother. His teacher has told me that he is finally sitting and doing the ‘work’ in his Montessori preschool class…and actually wanting to learn. Up until this point he had been resistant to doing really anything that was not ‘his idea’. On his good days he is peaceful and compliant. It is nothing short of amazing.

Original Post here: http://www.autismweb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=160538#p160538
Posted with permission from author

Nicholas continues to do well and has continued to make incredible gains despite us dropping all of his supplements. It has been so nice to be supplement-free and I’m sure Nicholas has appreciated not having to swallow them!

Every week that goes by, we see progress in many different areas. He still has some catching up to do, but we’re seeing him advance further and further. In many areas, he is age appropriate and beyond. Every day, he says things I have never heard him say. Every day, he’ll reference knowledge on a particular subject that we never thought he studied or knew about. He wants to participate in team sports and takes an interest if there are kids playing a sport while we’re at the park or driving past a ball field. He is inquisitive and is retaining the answers we are giving him and continues to build on this knowledge. If we are going somewhere, he asks if there will be kids there for him to play with.

We were recently able to take him on vacation to Disney and he did remarkably well. We ran him ragged from early in the morning to late at night just about every day and he did very well. On the last day of our trip, when we were getting ready to leave for the airport, he said, “I’m not going back to New Jersey, I am already home.” For a child who we could NEVER take to a restaurant not very long ago, we ate out in 3 different restaurants every day and never had a problem. He sat and watched stage shows. He went on rides without hesitation. We went from one ride to another and another and he was happy to do it. He loved watching the fireworks and didn’t complain about the music being too loud. While we were there, we were able to take him to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party and he had a blast! He loved being able to trick or treat in Disney World and even got some green vanilla ice cream colored especially for the event! (Food colorings are no longer an issue for him.)

In the past, when I used to think about wanting to go and just pushing through, all I could envision was a child who would have non-stop temper tantrums for one reason or another – because we had to wait to get on a ride, because he wanted to go one way when we needed to go another, because he had to focus on something mundane instead of what was happening around him, etc. In my mind, I could see him getting stuck and riding the same ride over and over and over and over. I could see me having to quickly eat 3 meals because he would be done in 5 minutes and ready to go to the next thing. I would just think about traveling all that way to ride the train and the train only (which we never even rode actually). I would also envision myself enjoying the rides and then looking at my son and seeing him staring at the floor which would only leave me to wonder what we spent all that money for.

But in reality, our trip was a dream come true for us. This is somewhere we never thought we would be able to take him.
We had a wonderful time and were able to live much of it through Nicholas’s eyes. There truly is nothing like seeing your child’s reaction the first time he steps foot into the Magic Kingdom and sees the castle for the first time.

And yes, he has already asked, “When are we going back to Disney?”

If you are using Homeopathy with Pierre Fontaine or Angelica Lemke and are looking for other parents to talk to who are doing the same or are just looking for a little support during the process, please join us: http://www.homeopathyboard.com

Good Luck on your journey to recovery!
Michelle

I told the story of my son’s dramatic “awakening” with a special diet at this year’s World Autism Awareness Day in NY City Hall.
(see: http://www.ageofautism.com/2010/04/on-autism-and-hope-nine-days-into-the-special-diet-i-heard-a-voice-behind-me-say-.html )
In the 5 minutes allotted to me I was not able to elaborate on how classical homeopathy brought rapid and incredible healing to my son far beyond what we saw from the diet. At age 9 he was in an autism program, and although he was verbal, his behaviors were growing worse and worse. We were seeing such tremendous aggression and wild running, hitting escapades that we could no longer take my son anywhere in public. We lived in fear that he would be taken away or institutionalized. A fear that was based in daily reality. I was constantly putting out fires. Everyone was telling me that at this age, as the hormones kick in, they have to be medicated or it will only get worse. I had tried so much with biomed that I felt I didn’t have too many other options.

I had tried classical homeopathy after reading Amy Lansky’s book, “The Impossible Cure” when Luis was 4. The homeopath I went to was not familiar with working with autism. She berated me for doing biomed and for putting my child on a special diet. She gave me remedies that did nothing. I left feeling that I had been “had.”

I put homeopathy on the back burner and pursued various forms of detoxification, supplements, etc. We saw positive results from many, but we also saw terrible regressions. And the expense was incredible.

I saw a post on a yahoo group in which Erica McPhee
(see: http://www.recoveredfromautism.com/ )
talked about how she recovered her son from autism through classical homeopathy, and it once again caught my interest. If I could only find the right homeopath who understands how to deal with autism, I thought. I, once again, looked for classical homeopaths in the NY area. This time, I found a recommendation on Amy Lansky’s site: www.impossiblecure.com
for Pierre Fontaine. He interviewed me for 2 and 1/2 hours and seemed to only want to focus on my pregnancy. He did not seem interested in all the work I had done with biomed. I didn’t expect much. He prescribed a remedy. With the first dose I saw nothing. I thought I had been “had” once more.

With the second dose, my son, who had begun wetting the bed EVERY night 3 mos. before and waking up EVERY morning screaming and kicking the wall over his bed and requiring 1/2 hour to calm him down… my son who came home from school in the afternoon and threw himself on the floor and kicked and screamed for 1/2 hour to 45 mins. every day… woke up with a dry bed, smiling, telling me “Good morning!” Every day for the next 6 mos. and beyond was one amazing shock after another. His speech teacher said he went from a minimum of 30 prompts per 1/2 hour to none needed between January and April. I was moving and looked for other schools for autism like the one he was in. By July, I knew he no longer fit in an autism program. I agreed to have him placed in a learning disabled class. By September he was so improved he did not fit there. I had him placed in a CTT class for the 4th grade (grade level, co-taught by special ed and gen ed teachers, with mixed gen ed and sp ed students). It seemed like a good way to transition into general ed.

He was like the boy who dropped from another planet. Imagine a child who has not been participating in competitive sports, regular gym classes, cafeteria lunch room, regular academic demands suddenly being thrust into that environment. It was all so new. Every day was a huge learning curve. The first time in gym, “Mom, those boys were all so mean in gym class. Every time I got the ball, they all would try to take it away from me.”

It brought me to tears the day I went in to see the Science Fair, and a little boy whose project I was looking at (who ended up winning the prize) asked me if I was Luis’s mom. He then told me that Luis was his best friend and why–because Luis is such a buddy who was always there for him. (All his previous “friends” were Mommy-arranged scenarios that did not involve much child interaction or engagement.)

In two years Luis went from needing PT and requiring a teen aide to guide him to first base at non-competitive Challenger Little League, to being on his school’s competitive basketball team and on the all-too competitive real Little League. He amazes me every day.

We have seen NO autistic regression since starting his constitutional remedy. We did have some bouts with PANDAS (which he had since he was 5), but those resolved with an acute remedy prescribed by Pierre. Again, amazing.

I am still so amazed at my son’s progress, that I want to share through this group and learn homeopathy myself.

G’s progress from August 26th….

My son started his remedy on June 13
Gains I saw after first dose: AWARENESS!! Then that one fade… but gave me HOPE!!!!!
After that he went to a movie for first time in his life and saw Toy Story 3 and Despicable me!!
I was trying to potty train him for a long time with not luck.. suddendly in a matter of one week.. DONE…

His BM became much better in consistency.
He learned to swim
He learned to drink from a straw
He weaned for a bottle for the milk
His eye contact is worse than before but now it’s coming back less quantity but more quality (more time conected)
He did this at his therapy… show his therapist that he knows the numbers and letters… Put in order several times the letters and the number CORRECTLY.

We are seeing alot of things that are new that we like. I have noticed that when you joke with him now he “gets it” before if we tried to joke around with him he would get mad at us thinking we were making fun of him so we stopped…until now. I also see that if he does something wrong and we are talking with him about it he will look at us, hear us, and then apologize without us having to tell him to. When someone talks to him in public now he responds to them istead of running away or me telling him say hi or tell them how old you are….makes conversation with them. The good behavior good color calm kid you get when you do the MB12 shots is pretty much there the whole time now. Not every 3 or 4 days then gone but there the whole time..the gains we got when we started have not gone away.

I know we have more work to do. We have alot more issues to work through but we just started. I fully expect to have him completely better by the time we are finished with this but dont expect it to be an overnight thing. It doesnt seem like the tug of war you get with biomed where you gain you lose you gain you lose..it seems slow and steady I guess for us.things were so hard for so long for all of us that even the smallest thing to us is big..He wants to be a part of life now…my older kids can be around him now and play with him without it ending badly, other moms dont understand how huge it is to see your kid play appropriately with another after so long…another thing is we arent as strict with his diet as we have been before..we are adding new foods all the time that he has not had in awhile with no effects at all. we are still careful but not carrying a foodlist with me everwhere I go now…

Last January my 3y/o daughter was pretty much nonverbal. we had PE tubes placed in her ears for HBOT and the day of her surgery she labeled an ‘apple’ and a ‘banana.’ She had a few words but they were very inconsistent. By the time we started with Pierre Fontaine at the very end of June she could spontaneously comment “all done” and she could say “b’bye” sometimes unprompted but usually prompted. There were some other very inconsistent words here and there and I think she really was trying to say things here and there but her articulation was so bad that you really couldn’t decipher what she was saying or trying to say. Three days after starting her remedy, I was playing frisbee with our dog. The dog came running back without the frisbee. So, I started asking “where is it? Where is it?” My daughter, who was playing in her kiddie pool at the time yelled “THERE IT IS!!” clear as a bell. It was so shocking our para lost her balance and fell in the inground pool and my mouth was haning open. An hour later our para was leaving and asked her for a hug. She gave the para a hug, looked at her said “thank you, bye bye” then looked at me and said “I’m all done!”

Two days later I picked her up from school and she gave me a hug and said ” Hi! I painted!” Sure enough she was covered in paint.

I wish I could tell you that this has been consistent. It hasn’t at all. But in the 8 weeks that we’ve been doing homeopathy, she is much more verbal, she has more words. Primarily, right now most of her language is prompted, echolalic or scripted. She is also singing whole entire songs and not just filling in a word here or there when we sing and stop to let her fill it in like we used to. She sings twinkle twinkle, row row row your boat, wheels on the bus, elmo’s song, Sing, pretty much start to finish and you can understand it. Going from “b’bye” and “all done” to what we have now seems amazing to me. Sure, she has a long way to go, but this was the fastest progress we’ve seen. Additionally, she has been happier, initiating play with the other kids at school daily, she started kicking a ball, alternating feet walking on the stairs (she now does that backwards, too), her eye contact is better and we have pretend play. Yesterday she caught a ball twice and now likes to hold your hands and dance with you. We had to take her to the ENT to get her tubes checked two days ago. This usually entails holding her down while she shrieks like a wild animal being tortured and killed. Well, this time she just sat on my lap and let him look in each ear and then clapped and said “yay” after he was done looking in each ear. On the way out she said, “Thank you, b’bye”–the doctor was pretty floored. Prior to the exam she had been playing very appropriately with a toy stethescope and a doll. I think I’m leaving some stuff out, but you get the idea. We have had a couple of blips, it’s not totally smooth sailing, but even during the blips, she has not lost any of her gains.

Prior to homeopathy we did 127 hours of mHBOT. We also do MB12, oxytocin, antifungals, probiotics, diet, vitamins, bethanechol and carnitine. We’ve been doing all of those for a long time. We never chelated. We clearly still have a long ways to go. She needs to learn to initiate using language, learn to converse etc… but we’ve come a long way, too, and I’m very optimistic.

My Asperger son is normally an inflexible, anxious, and generally unhappy child. Before starting his remedy, he had most recently talked about dying when he turned 7 years old. He has been on a gfcf diet for 3 years and has done about 40 rounds of Cutler chelation. But, since starting his remedy about 2 months ago, he has been a happier, less anxious, more connected, and more flexible child — more and more like a typical 6 year old. He actually said to my husband a few weeks ago, “Daddy, I feel happy.” He has never commented on his state of being like that before. We are starting to see him do playful, spontaneous things that a normal 6-year-old does, and we’re caught off guard by it when it happens. When I asked him recently to change into his pajamas, he came out of the bathroom with his underwear on his head while laughing to surprise me. Previously, he would have been in his own world and needed 4 prompts just to change into his pajamas. In the past, we felt like he was on a sure path to depression; we don’t feel like that anymore. Just like so many of us parents *knew* there was something amiss with our children — despite our doctors saying otherwise — I just know that homeopathy is doing something to heal my son right now.

The chicken nuggets were just about the best chicken nuggets I think I ever had. Juicy and delicious! I am so glad I kept one off of Nicholas’s plate because he ran and hid with them when I asked him if I could have one. (I guess the answer was no!)

The chocolate chip cookies were equally delicious. We ate them right out of the oven. I could not tell that these were GFCFSF at all. And I like my cookies and desert!

The meatballs were also delicious. I made these when Grandma came over, so the three of us split them. Moist and juicy – loved the taste of these. I didn’t pour sauce all over them so we could taste the actual taste of the meatball and we just loved them.

The french toast was tasty. I must admit, bread – good bread, is one of my favorite foods, so I’ve made french toast with some great bread. I have tried several GF breads and I have never been able to get myself past the thought of ever losing real my beloved bread. But if I was GF, these would be a welcome addition to my freezer.

The cheese pizza was also tasty. My oven did not crisp the crust – and I should have just thrown it back into the oven without a pan to make it crispy. The daiya cheese on it was really good – that was the first time I had it. My only thought is that the pizzas needed more cheese, but they were good. For a child that cannot have a quickie pizza because they’re all loaded with ingredients they cannot eat, this is a fantastic alternative.

I still have to sample the chicken burgers and will post an update to this thread when I do – but the food was great and I highly recommend you try NuLife’s products if you or your child is GFCFSF.

If you place an order, use code NICHOLASBLOG10 for 10% off your first order!

1. He is NOT on a diet. He eats whatever he wants with no adverse effects.
2. He is NOT on any supplements. He is NOT on any medication. None. Zip. Zero. Zilch. We’ve been so busy living life this summer that I have consistently fogotten to give him his Juice+ multi vitamin or his omega 369. (No special ASD multi with high doses either!)
3. We were 3+ months into homeopathy when I first posted about our gains. They did not happen overnight, nor did they happen with the first dose. But they did happen quicker than any other biomedical intervention we ever did and that includes Andy Cutler’s chelation protocol. My husband and myself are also being treated by the same homeopath who is treating our son. Health issues we used to have are either already gone or are fading away. I’ve never chelated myself, nor has my husband. We couldn’t afford to take supplements we knew could help us with our issues because the bill for Nicholas’s was so huge that we didn’t dare add anymore to it.

Classical Homeopathy does not address symptoms – that’s more of a sequential homeopathy approach. If you are interested in learning about homeopathy, I highly suggest Amy Lansky’s book, Impossible Cure. It will give you a better understanding of homeopathy in relation to autism. I also suggest listening to the interview that I did with Pierre Fontaine – you can find the link on this blog.

If you have any questions about my son, I’m happy to answer them. I am working on a more complete update and should have it posted soon. I am happy to report, his healing has continued to amaze us. We no longer see any autism. ASD parents who have met him do not see any autism and they’ve looked really hard to see it – as have we. We will be scheduling an evaluation to have his diagnosis removed when things slow down a bit around here. We are finally living the life we were always meant to… a life without autism. I wish nothing but the same for all of you! Keep the hope!

I have twin boys. J was always the most vocal of the 2. Even when he was less than 2 months old, he would take in everything in his environment, watching everyone. Everyone was amazed. He babbled a lot and laughed. I just knew he would be class clown and in constant trouble. As time went on, he wouldn’t feed himself, wouldn’t imitate me, the babbling was gone, etc. When Early Intervention came to do evaluations, he was totally in his own world and would tiptoe past someone like there was no one there. He was also pretty much mute at this point. Forget about going out as a family. J would try to run off the second he was let go and he was so not into holding hands. He would never sit for more than a couple of seconds.

The EI team worked very hard with J and we saw some improvements. They even started taking him for walks and trying to teach him to sit at places like McDonalds since that was one of the few places within walking distance. We then started seeing a DAN dr and started with MB12 shots, etc. We saw some hyperactivity which calmed down and he started babbling a couple of words. We took J to a pediatric neurologist who said he had verbal apraxia in addition to the autism. Someone once mentioned homeopathy and I knew I wanted to try that but had no direction, knew no one local to go to.

Then one day someone who has since become a good friend started posting on J’s school’s email group and mentioned homeopathy and Pierre Fontaine. She gave me guidance but I was hesitant to take that final step. After an appt with the DAN dr, my husband and I looked at each other and decided to contact Pierre. After a 3-1/2 hour consultation I hoped for the best.

Seconds after the 1st dose, J sang part of a song that was playing on TV. You should’ve seen the look on my face. Little by little, his language and vocabulary blossomed. He can hold a short conversation now. He had never really paid much attention to his twin brother. Now they are the best of friends and inseparable. He never played with toys (except puzzles) or other kids before. Now he enjoys toys and looks for his friend down the block. Halloween used to be so hard because we could never get him to wear the costume. Now he loves dress-up play and making believe he is a character. There are not many kids his age around here but if we go to the playground he loves running around with the other children.

He was evaluated by the school psychologist 15 months after starting his remedy and, while J still has some catching up to do, she found no signs of autism or pdd-nos. For kindergarten he will be attending a regular public school in an integrated 12:1:1 class. He is fully potty trained, enjoys his school, camp, swimming lessons, and horseback rides on those few occasions we can spring for that. The swimming lessons are at the Y in a group of typical children and he has held his own quite well. He’s just like one of the other kids. Just a few minutes ago I asked him to move over on the sofa and he said “stop telling me what to do, Mommy.” Ah the joys of typical childhood. Yes, he knew he had to apologize for that comment. And he is definitely that little class clown I knew he would be.

I am going to keep him on a basic multi vitamin, omega 369 and some Vitamin C – and these are things we all need anyway!
(and when I say basic multi vitamin, I don’t mean the mega dose ASD ones either.)

Without homeopathy, this could not have been possible. We could never possibly thank Pierre Fontaine enough!

(This is the last supplement update I will be posting. I would have never believed it, but recovery IS possible without the supplements – and special diets too for that matter!)

Over the past couple of months, we have taken a break from chelating to give classical homeopathy a try. The progress we have seen in this short time span has been like nothing I would have ever expected. I had hopes, of course, but like all things we’ve done I tend to try to keep my expectations to a minimum as it is so much easier to recover from disappointment that way. Anyway, Nicholas is doing very well and we could not be happier with his progress and the decision to try classical homeopathy.

Nicholas’s remedy was picked specifically for him by our classical homeopath. This is not like biomed, not at all. Homeopathic remedies are tiny little round sugar pellets which dissolve in water leaving the energy of a particular substance behind. With classical homeopathy, our homeopath interviewed me and during the process was able to pinpoint Nicholas’s constitutional remedy. The constitutional remedy (in contrast to the acute remedies you would buy to treat a particular symptom) has the ability to take care of all of the symptoms and bring the person back to their healthiest state. (Classical is very different from sequential homeopathy) Both Nicholas and I are using one constitutional remedy – and both of us have seen tremendous progress.

The very first thing we noticed was his (non-prompted) attempts at trying new foods. Several times during the first week, he ate foods he either did not like prior or would have never touched with a 10 foot pole. If anything had even a touch of chocolate, he would spit it out and tell me it was disgusting. One night while I was eating a little oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, he grabbed one to eat. I was fully expecting him to spit it out – but he ate several. He usually does not like anything chocolate – and I don’t have any recollection of him ever liking oatmeal cookies. On another occasion, instead of picking his usual – vanilla ice cream, he asked for Mommy’s chocolate ice cream and he enjoyed every single spoonful. And on another occasion, some family brought over knockwurst to make for lunch. There was just enough for everyone except Nicholas as this is something he would never eat anyway. Well, he left two of us without a lunch. He ate two of the fat knockwursts much to our shock. And if there had been more, he would have had a third. He has recently done the same with other foods as well, so I’m quite happy about this.

Now, that I’ve mentioned the food, let’s talk about the poop. To keep Nicholas going, it would involve Magnesium, Epsom Salt Baths, Occasional Oxypowder and George’s Always Active Aloe Juice. Well, I have had to eliminate ALL of it – and he is still pooping. It’s like his system is cleaning itself out. We have NEVER seen so much poop come out of this child at one time – it is unbelievable. His stomach has decreased dramatically as a result.
Let’s talk yeast. It’s GONE. Nicholas has been on diflucan for two years. Anytime I would stop it, I would lose him to the yeast. In addition to the diflucan, he was on several capsules of culturelle, 2 – 4 capsules of klaire’s probiotics, 3 gelcaps of coconut oil, 4 capsules of candidase, 4 capsules of interfase, etc. 120 mg of Diflucan – eliminated. Klaire’s detox probiotics – eliminated. This is what I give him now…. 1 gelpcap of coconut oil, 1 culturelle, 2 interfase and 2 candidase. (Next to be eliminated is interfase)

Let’s talk allergies. Seasonal allergies. They were brutal this year. Claritin quit. Quercetin didn’t help. Zyrtec didn’t work, etc etc. Nicholas’s eyes were awful. The white part of his eyeball was so swollen that it protruded past the color parts of his eyes. It looked like the white was a fluffy cloud – very distorted. This has happened in the past and benedryl would save the day. Benedryl worked. Then it stopped working and we were back to the crazy distorted eye. I contacted our homeopath and was told to try an acute remedy, Euphrasia for his eyes. In less than an hour, his eye was back to normal. (I don’t know how long it actually took, because my husband took him to karate and by the time he got back, he was back to normal.) He also suggested alium cepa for his allergies. Both given in combination have helped get him through when his allergies were at it’s worst. In a matter of time, he was his old, happy, chipper self again. Clear headed, amazing speech, amazing clarity.

Let’s talk about his supplements – this, perhaps, may be the most impressive. Nicholas’s supplement list is also greatly reduced. He is on a fraction of the dosages of many supplements that he was on. I have discontinued his Armour Thyroid. Digestive enzymes have also been dropped. Many have been completely discontinued with no change in his level of functioning or speech – which is huge!

His physical abilities continue to amaze us! He now LOVES to jump on his trampoline and does not need to be prompted to do so. He’s jumping higher and farther than he ever has. He loves to run around in circles in it and then fall down. He actually asks for friends to come over specifically to go in the trampoline and they take turns jumping over each other. He has asked to have friends over in the past – but this was specifically to do something with him – and that was different. Also, when the friend came over, Nicholas was annoyed that he was not playing “with” him. He’s having a blast jumping on his trampoline which is just wonderful – last year, it was like pulling teeth to get him on it. Between the karate, the PT at school and the homeopathy, he now can move much better than ever before.
He can now squat and jump like a frog and also do a backwards crab-like walk. He can kick over an object 2 feet high which is above his waist! All moves he could not do not long ago.

His gym teacher has commented about how far he has come since September. He immediately joins the class and watches the teacher and other kids and follows along well. He loves to participate and is not lazy at all.

His PT said that he was someone she dreaded working with and now he is her favorite!

School has reported that his social skills are coming along nicely. He wants to be a part of his class and join in with what they are doing. When he sees classmates sitting alone, he moves his chair to join them. When a classmate gets in trouble, he almost always intervenes to soothe the classmate and to help the situation. His drawing skills are improving nicely. He is now working on beginning subtraction in school and has received positive reports on his subtraction skills. He is anxious to answer questions and can often answer questions his classmates cannot. The number of words he can read has just about doubled. He is now sitting for longer periods of time with no prompting. He’s engaged to what’s going on in his classroom and what’s going on around him.
His speech – it’s like another explosion!! The length of his sentences has jumped tremendously. When we used to hear things like, “I’m Sorry” – now we hear, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. It was an accident/mistake”

When he asks to “go somewhere” now – it’s more than “I want to go somewhere” – it’s “I want to go to the park with the lake and bridge.” Or “I want to go to that restaurant with the….” And he describes the restaurant. He now asks if friends (by name) can come with us.
The questions…. OMG the detailed questions. I thought this day would never come. “Mommy, what’s that?” – “It’s a grill” – “What does it do?” “It cooks food” “but how?” “You put charcoal in there, light it on fire. Put the food on top and cook it?” “But what are the holes on the bottom for?” The line of questioning that goes on blows my mind. And if you quiz him on something you said later on, he knows and answers correctly.
He and I have had several deep bonding moments where we just laughed and laughed – on a much different level than ever before. He gets when things are funny like never before.

He’s been referencing days of the week and knows what day it is. He got it when I told him we were going somewhere on Thursday and Friday and that he had to wait a few days more since it was Sunday.

He is moving out of his special needs karate class and has blended quite well into the new class.

While getting his last hair cut, he allowed the girl to use the buzzer and did not flinch or anything (he HATED that.) He wore the cape. (also HATED that) and he sat the whole time and never got up once.

He points out any bad words that he hears. (Yeah, this has gotten old – quick!)

He gets mad at playdates if the kids go off and do their own thing. Aren’t they here to play “WITH ME”?

The eye contact from him is phenomenal. When I think it can’t possibly get any better, it does. It’s like now – there is a deeper connection and he is looking into our eyes to actually see us.

When he has gotten mad at his father, I hear him exclaim, “I’m going to get my mommy” and he comes running for me to back him up.

Shortly after starting homeopathy, we were at Nicholas’s grandparents’ house. Nicholas had just earned a new train by completing a sticker chart for getting himself fully dressed. On that box, he saw another train he wanted. Well, we’re at their house and he tells his grandmother that he wants her to come home with us so he can show her something on the computer. She takes him to her computer and has him show her there. He wanted to show her on HIS computer, so she came back home with us. He lured her to our house to show her the picture of the train that was on the box that was on the desk next to his computer. Clever. He came up with a plan and executed it beautifully under the guise of something else.

I know I am forgetting things, I hope they hit me because I would like to record them. But the past couple of months of doing homeopathy have been nothing short of a miracle. At this time, we are holding off with chelation. I am not saying we are completely finished doing so, but for right now, we’ve put it on the shelf and will revisit it at another time if need be. Chelation brought our son so far and I cannot advocate enough for trying it to see if it makes a difference in a child who is heavy metal toxic, like my son. However, we never saw gains like this so quickly with any protocol or supplement we have ever tried.

I have also been using homeopathy and have been seeing amazing results. – I am in a bit of shock over how I have started to feel. I feel like I no longer have a blockage in my mind which has been keeping me from finishing projects and doing things I want to do for me. I suddenly have my motivation to do things back. I am no longer procrastinating like I was – and boy did I ever procrastinate! I have not had a stress-type meltdown over an issue that would have easily pushed me over the edge a month ago. I don’t feel as stressed about anything – I feel like I am getting the go-with-the-flow type of attitude I used to have back – whereas, I’m not as rigid as I had become. I’m laughing a lot more than I was and not getting offended at people making fun of me. I realized this past weekend that my sense of humor was actually coming back. I suddenly feel motivated to exercise and drop this autism weight I’ve gained from all of the stress-eating I’ve done. All characteristics of the person I “used” to be, the good-hearted, fun to be with person that I used to be and thought was truly gone forever.
Also – and this is HUGE – After Nicholas was born, I had my gallbladder removed. After this time, I started experiencing stomach aches with a lot of different foods which would send me to the bathroom with a stomach ache, either during or right after the meal – which was always quickly relieved once I went to the bathroom. This is no longer happening.

Thank you, Pierre Fontaine!
http://www.homeopathicservices.com
Phone: 212.334.7360

You can listen to the archive here:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/biomed-for-autism/2010/06/04/classical-homeopathy-with-pierre-fontaine
Visit the Biomed for Autism Facebook page to keep up on future events!

Pierre Fontaine, RSHom (NA), CCH, has been a professional Homeopath in New York City since 1994 and is the author of “Homeopathy Sweet Homeopathy”. He is a registered member of the North American Society of Homeopaths “RSHom (NA)” and is certified by the Council on Homeopathy Certification “CCH.” Before studying Homeopathy he spend five years investigating the whole range of alternative health care such as: Acupuncture, Herbal and Vitamin therapy as well as Ayurvedic medicine to mention the most popular ones. He found little satisfaction in the principles of the diverse modalities he was researching. After briefly enrolling in the Gary Null School of Nutrition and while contemplating registration at the Tristate School of Acupuncture he discovered Homeopathy. It was “love at first sight”. Pierre graduated after following the four year program from the School of Homeopathy; Devon, England. Half of it was pursued in New York, the other half in England. “I wanted to have the best education I could get. This is why I did not hesitate to travel to England, one week every three weeks for a year and a half. It was an enormous effort but it was the right thing to do because England has a much more sophisticated educational system in the field.” Consequently, his dedication to homeopathy and to his patients is obvious. His leadership qualities were instrumental in the birth of the New York State Homeopathic Association of which he was the founding Vice President. Pierre Fontaine has lectured on Homeopathy at SUNY, St. John’s University, Queens College, Southampton College, Queensborough College, and many various different organizations. He is the author of many published articles and was the host of the TV show “Homeopathic Times”.

Please visit Pierre’s website for more information:
http://www.homeopathicservices.com/

His book, Homeopathy Sweet Homeopathy, is an excellent read for those looking to understand how homeopathy can bring a person back into a healthy state.

The Impossible Cure by Amy Lansky is also a great read if you are interested in homeopathy:

Pierre Fontaine, RSHom (NA), CCH, has been a professional Homeopath in New York City since 1994 and is the author of “Homeopathy Sweet Homeopathy”. He is a registered member of the North American Society of Homeopaths “RSHom (NA)” and is certified by the Council on Homeopathy Certification “CCH.” Before studying Homeopathy he spend five years investigating the whole range of alternative health care such as: Acupuncture, Herbal and Vitamin therapy as well as Ayurvedic medicine to mention the most popular ones. He found little satisfaction in the principles of the diverse modalities he was researching. After briefly enrolling in the Gary Null School of Nutrition and while contemplating registration at the Tristate School of Acupuncture he discovered Homeopathy. It was “love at first sight”. Pierre graduated after following the four year program from the School of Homeopathy; Devon, England. Half of it was pursued in New York, the other half in England. “I wanted to have the best education I could get. This is why I did not hesitate to travel to England, one week every three weeks for a year and a half. It was an enormous effort but it was the right thing to do because England has a much more sophisticated educational system in the field.” Consequently, his dedication to homeopathy and to his patients is obvious. His leadership qualities were instrumental in the birth of the New York State Homeopathic Association of which he was the founding Vice President. Pierre Fontaine has lectured on Homeopathy at SUNY, St. John’s University, Queens College, Southampton College, Queensborough College, and many various different organizations. He is the author of many published articles and was the host of the TV show “Homeopathic Times”.

Please visit Pierre’s website for more information:
http://www.homeopathicservices.com/

His book, Homeopathy Sweet Homeopathy, is an excellent read for those looking to understand how homeopathy can bring a person back into a healthy state.

The Impossible Cure by Amy Lansky is also a great read if you are interested in homeopathy:

(Dow Jones)–A Food and Drug Administration panel said Friday fragments of pig viruses found in vaccines used to protect infants against rotavirus didn’t appear to cause health risks.

While the panel didn’t take a vote on the products, several members of the agency’s vaccine panel said the vaccines — Merck & Co.’s (MRK) Rotateq and GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s (GSK, GSK.LN) Rotarix — should remain on the U.S. market while additional studies are conducted about the impact of pig viruses.

In the meantime, the panel said parents who are considering whether to vaccinate their infants need to be informed about the findings.

FDA panels are made up of non-FDA medical experts and are called upon to make nonbinding recommendations to the agency.

Karen Midthun, acting director of FDA’s Center for Biologics and Research, said the agency would be “very expeditious” in making recommendations about whether either vaccine should be used. n March, the FDA recommended that doctors stop using Glaxo’s vaccine after a team of researchers from the University of California in San Francisco found DNA of a porcine circovirus known as PCV1 in the vaccine. Those tests didn’t find the same pig virus in Merck’s Rotateq.

However, on Thursday the FDA said more sensitive tests subsequently conducted on Rotateq found a “low level” of the same PCV1 virus, as well as a related porcine circovirus known as PCV2. Both viruses are common in pigs — and neither is known to cause illness in humans — but PCV2 may cause illness in pigs.

The FDA said it wouldn’t decide whether it would recommend that use of Merck’s Rotateq be suspended or whether it would lift its suspension recommendation involving Glaxo’s Rotarix in advance of the meeting. The panel meeting had originally scheduled to discuss Rotarix but also included Rotateq in light of similar findings about pig virus fragments discovered in the product.

“PCV is not infectious in humans,” said Harry Greenberg, a panel member and medical professor at Stanford University. “The benefits far outweigh the risks.”

Both the Glaxo and Merck vaccines are designed to protect infants from a gastrointestinal illness caused by rotavirus and have been given to millions of babies. While rotavirus is rarely fatal in the U.S., it contributed to about 70,000 infant hospitalizations annually before Merck’s vaccine was approved in 2006 and Glaxo’s in 2008.

Umesh Parashar, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the most recent agency data looking at the impact of the vaccines in the U.S. show “almost…a complete wipeout of rotavirus activity.” Parashar deemed rotavirus “a major killer” of children in parts of the world that can’t adequately treat dehydration from severe diarrhea.

One theory about how pig virus fragments got into the vaccine offered by both the FDA and the companies is that PCV fragments might be in trypsin, an enzyme derived from pigs that is used in the manufacturing process of the vaccine. The enzyme is used to grow viruses used in the vaccines.

Barbara Howe, a GlaxoSmithKline vice president in the company’s vaccine division said, “all available data support PCV1 in Rotarix is a manufacturing quality issue, not a safety issue.” She said the company is working on ways to remove PCV from the vaccine but that developing a new manufacturing process “is complex and will take time.”

When the producers of PBS’s Frontline approached me to be interviewed for their new documentary “The Vaccine War,” I accepted with a simple condition: doctors and scientists on our side of the vaccine-autism debate needed to have a voice, too.

Prior to agreeing to the interview, Frontline sent us this email:

“Frontline will carry out a detailed and even-handed investigation including voices from all sides of the controversy including parents, activists, physicians, scientists, lawyers, politicians and vaccine manufacturers.”

I’ve learned to be wary of media who try to simplify the vaccine-autism debate into a “Parents vs. the Science” spin, so I went further and agreed to do the interview only if Dr. Jay Gordon, a well-known pediatrician here in Los Angeles, sat beside me. (Dr. Jay also sat for his own two hour interview.)

For those who’ve watched the show, you know that the Frontline producers broke their promise and presented our entire community’s position through my interview and just two other parents — Barbara Loe Fisher and J.B. Handley.

Where are the doctors and scientists who support our community and support the idea that vaccines may be a trigger for autism? In Frontline’s world, they don’t exist.

Imagine how much more credible the countless stories of children regressing into autism after vaccine appointments would be if a doctor were saying the same thing.

Luckily for all of us parents, Dr. Gordon has not stayed silent since the show aired. In a piece for HuffPost earlier this week, he wrote:

“Vaccines are neither all good — as this biased, miserable PBS treacle would have you believe…You had a point to prove and removed material from your show which made the narrative balanced. ‘Distraught, confused moms against important, well-spoken, calm doctors’ was your narrative with a deep sure voice to, literally, narrate the entire artifice.”
Also missing from Frontline were interviews from any of the dozens of scientists who have published studies in medical journals supporting the position of all the parents.

And, where was Autism Speaks, the largest autism organization in the world, and a group that hasn’t been a huge supporter of our community?

Maybe Frontline had seen a recent letter written by Dr. Geraldine Dawson, the chief science officer of Autism Speaks, where she wrote:

“Recent studies point to a key role of the immune system in the biology of ASD [autism], raising questions about the effects of the significant immune challenges associated with vaccinations, particularly when delivered in combination and early in life…We believe that the question of whether immunization is associated with an increased risk for ASD is of extremely high priority.”
Frontline’s trip to Denmark to interview a scientist was meant to convince parents that vaccines have been studied all over the world and so they must be safe.

What Frontline didn’t mention was that the Danish scientist interviewed works for a vaccine maker, that the paper discussed showed Denmark’s rate of autism at 1 in 2,500 (versus the U.S. rate of 1 in 100) or that Denmark’s vaccine schedule for kids is 12 shots versus 36 here in the U.S.

And, parents hear nothing about the Danish scientist’s colleague and co-author Poul Thorsen, who recently stole $2 million from the CDC and is reportedly on the run from authorities.

When Dr. Wakefield is profiled, there’s no recent interview with him to tell his story, just old media clips and one side’s take. What about Dr. Wakefield’s recent work finally comparing vaccinated monkeys with unvaccinated monkeys?

Frontline’s piece also lacked any sense of proportion. Yes, a wave of twelve children with measles in San Diego is a troubling thing. But, there are more than 20,000 children in San Diego with autism! 20,000 vs. 12? When you really look at the numbers, you realize how huge our autism problem really is.

I believe our bloated vaccine schedule has created a scenario where there is now too much of a good thing. All drugs have side-effects, particularly if many are given at one time. Why should vaccines be any different?

The Frontline viewer heard nothing about the more than 1,000 reported deaths from vaccination or the nearly $2 billion paid by the US government to vaccine injury victims.

If the risk of vaccinating is really a 1 in 100 chance of a child getting autism, what will happen to the vaccine program?

Cooler heads need to get involved with this problem, rather than multi-millionaire vaccine inventors. Dr. Bob Sears, another doctor interviewed by Frontline but cut out of the actual show, offered a possible solution:

“In my mind, the only way we’d really put this issue to rest is to do a very large scientific study that looks at hundreds of thousands of children who are vaccinated versus hundreds of thousands of children that are not vaccinated, and we compare the rates of autism in those two groups.”
I was encouraged at the end of the show when the health officials complained about the power and existence of the Internet, as if immediate information were somehow a threat to the vaccine program.

Parents, when people are blaming a problem on the availability of information — like China trying to keep their population in the dark — you know there’s a bigger problem, and another side to the story — a side that Frontline knowingly chose not to share.

Help children with autism by voting for Generation Rescue!

By J.B. Handley

The “hungry lie” on autism is both maddeningly simple and simply maddening and goes something like this: “It’s been asked and answered, vaccines don’t cause autism.”

As I’ve written about repeatedly, this is a huge lie, a critical lie, and a very “hungry” lie, because it constantly needs to be fed. Thanks to Frontline’s recent show, “the Vaccine War,” many more people will be confronted with this lie and have to sort through the rhetoric to figure out what is actually true.

Jon Palferman, who produced Frontline’s “The Vaccine War,” is different from many of the other feeders of the hungry lie in one important way: he spent nearly 2 hours sitting in my office debating and learning more about this very topic. I am certain that he fully and completely understands that only a single vaccine on the US vaccine schedule has actually been studied for its relationship to autism. I’m also certain he realizes many public health officials make bold and untrue statements all the time to reassure the public that “vaccines” have been studied and rendered “safe.”

To me, this makes Mr. Palferman’s recent public comment all the more unconscionable. On Frontline’s website, as a response to Dr. Jay Gordon’s searing critique of Frontline’s decision to not air any of Dr. Gordon’s taped interview, Mr. Palferman issued the following statement:

“Many thanks for your feedback on the program. FRONTLINE went to considerable lengths to include a wide range of viewpoints, even in the face of very strong scientific evidence against the hypothesized autism link to MMR and thimerosal. Despite the consistent negative epidemiology and the definitive verdict of the federal vaccine court, we included views from people who wanted more and different studies. The program also gave a great deal of time to the arguments of vaccine hesitant parents who think the CDC schedule is bloated. The companion FRONTLINE website contains full interviews with different stakeholders, including Dr Robert Sears, who promotes an alternative spread out vaccine schedule. The website also hosts a robust public conversation where a full range of viewpoints are being aired and engaged.”

Let me repeat for you the part of Mr. Palferman’s statement that shows he did spend 2 hours with me, but wanted to defend his position anyway:

“the hypothesized autism link to MMR and thimerosal”

You see, Mr. Palferman fully gets that no one has shown “vaccines don’t cause autism,” because I personally hammered home the point to him until he finally got it. So, he’s smart enough not to fully repeat the simple hungry lie that “vaccines” have been studied and at least tells the truth that ONLY thimerosal and the MMR have been looked at.

But, Mr. Palferman is still feeding the hungry lie through his statement, because he’s implying that somehow the meager amount of science on 2 of 36 shots our kids are given somehow implies that the position of our community is resting on shaky ground. And, he’s well aware that mainstream voices will support his statement, because they are all heavily invested in the same hungry lie. It’s a simple way for him to get out of the middle of the firing line.

* *

The hungry lie is so obvious to me, I struggle sometimes to see why it’s constantly repeated without anyone getting called out for saying it. Am I not communicating this clearly enough? Is there a better way to explain it?

In Jenny McCarthy’s recent HuffPo editorial criticizing Frontline, there is a trail of comments that approaches the hungry lie in a different way that makes the point with even more detail–perhaps reviewing it will highlight the issue.

SingaporeAutismDad writes:

Here’s first 12 months of vaccines for American children:
Birth: Hep B
2 months: Hep B, Rotavirus, DTaP, Hib, PCV, IPV
4 months: Rotavirus, DTaP, Hib, PCV, IPV
6 months: Hep B, Rotavirus, DTaP, Hib, PCV, IPV, Flu
12 months: MMR, Hib, PCV, Varicella, Hep A, Hep B

For all you scientists out there, how many of these shots have been studied for relationship to autism? One. So, here’s the schedule in first 12 months of shots kids get that HAVE NOT been studied. Are you still a scientist?

Birth: Hep B
2 months: Hep B, Rotavirus, DTaP, Hib, PCV, IPV
4 months: Rotavirus, DTaP, Hib, PCV, IPV
6 months: Hep B, Rotavirus, DTaP, Hib, PCV, IPV, Flu
12 months: Hib, PCV, Varicella, Hep A, Hep B

I thought this was great. As you can see, MMR was pulled from the second list, leaving 24 vaccines by 12 months of age that have NOT been looked at for their relationship to autism. How does an honest scientist argue with this point?

Well, the appropriately named “Mikerattlesnake” gave it his best shot:

“yes, the ONE that anti-vaxers were clammoring for to be tested ad nauseum, by the way. When a link failed to emerge, when none of the data pointed to a link beyond a simple correlation, when the proponents of the link were shown to be frauds, etc, etc, etc, it probably lost a bit of priority. Money should be spent on studies that show some promise. This link shows no promise.”

This “link” shows no promise? We have tens of thousands of case reports of declines after vaccine appointments, absolutely no science that remotely reflects the experience of our kids, but the link shows no promise? So far, that’s about the only argument I’ve heard that tries to defend studying only one of the first 25 vaccines our kids get. Most just try to avoid the question, because it’s so indefensible.

SinaporeAutismDad then asks a more clear-headed commentor named Schwartzz the following:

“Schwartzz: You make a lot of sense. Perhaps comment on why so few shots have been studied? Why do they give 20 shots in the first year of life, only study one, and say “case closed”? Is this American science, or Big Pharma science? I don’t understand it.”

Schwartzz responds:

“It’s quite simple: Because they don’t need to study them. Why would any corporation spend money on something that in the best case maintains the status quo and in the worst case costs them a fortune?

What you have is purely a product of the system that is setup to regulate medicine. It isn’t a conspiracy at all. It is the natural outcome of a flawed system.”

I couldn’t have said it any better myself.

A division of Johnson & Johnson is recalling 43 over-the-counter medicines made for infants and children — including liquid versions of Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl — after federal regulators identified what they called deficiencies at the company’s manufacturing facility.

The voluntary recall, which was announced late Friday by McNeil Consumer Healthcare, affects hundreds of thousands of bottles of medicine in homes and on store shelves throughout the United States and its territories and in nine other countries — a vast portion of the children’s medicine market.

The Food and Drug Administration is advising parents and caregivers to stop using the affected products, although Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg called the potential for serious health problems resulting from the medications “remote.”

FDA inspectors had begun a routine inspection April 19 in the company’s Fort Washington, Pa., plant when they noticed “manufacturing deficiencies” that triggered the recall, said Douglas Stearn, a senior FDA official.

Stearn said the plant’s manufacturing process was “not in control,” a term regulators use to describe flawed procedures that affect the composition of medicine. Federal investigators do not know when the problems at McNeil began, but Stearn said that “this does go back in time” and that “we have to try to figure that out.”

While the FDA investigates, McNeil has suspended operations at the facility. In a statement, the company said: “Some of the products included in the recall may contain a higher concentration of active ingredient than is specified; others contain inactive ingredients that may not meet internal testing requirements; and others may contain tiny particles.” It said the problems may affect “purity, potency or quality.”

Marc Boston, a McNeil spokesman, would not discuss the deficiencies cited by the FDA or say when the manufacturing facility was shut down. The company also declined to disclose the amount of products affected by the recall. In addition to the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam, the medicines were sold in Canada; the Dominican Republic; Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates; Fiji; Guatemala; Jamaica; Panama; Trinidad and Tobago; and Kuwait.

A complete list of recalled products is on the company’s Web site.

McNeil received consumer complaints associated with some of the recalled medicines, but the company’s decision to pull them was not made on “the basis of adverse medical events,” said Boston, who declined to elaborate.

If a child who has taken any of the recalled medications exhibits any unexpected symptoms, parents or caregivers should contact a doctor, federal officials said. Consumers or health-care providers who experience problems connected to the recalled medicines are asked to contact the FDA.

As of Saturday, the FDA was not aware of any health problems related to the recalled products, said spokeswoman Elaine Gansz Bobo.

Parents and caregivers can use generic versions of the affected medicines; they are not affected by the recall. The FDA cautioned against giving adult versions to infants and children, noting the potential for serious problems.

This is at least the third major recall of Tylenol products by McNeil since 2008.

In January, McNeil recalled 49 types of Tylenol products made for adults and two Tylenol products made for children after consumers complained of a mold-like odor and of temporary and minor nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea. The company determined that some of the medicines had been contaminated by trace amounts of a chemical that is sometimes present on shipping and storage material.

In 2008, McNeil recalled 21 types of children’s and infants’ Tylenol liquid products, saying that although the products met internal standards, an unused portion of one inactive ingredient did not meet all quality standards.

Agency officials said Tuesday none of the company’s finished products tested positive for the contaminants, though such testing is not definitive.

Click the link above to continue reading…

Are vaccines harming us? — The truth that doctors and the pharmaceutical industry don’t want you to know. Acclaimed physician challenges news media about vaccinations and toxicity.

April 30, 2010 05:52 PM Eastern Daylight Time
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C.–(EON: Enhanced Online News)–What price journalistic integrity? That may well be the question that PBS needs to answer after this week’s airing of its top rated show Frontline. Entitled “Vaccine Wars,” the episode offered a decidedly one-sided viewpoint on the issue of vaccine safety. Dr. Rashid Buttar, a renowned physician who has received worldwide attention for his innovative and groundbreaking work in ridding the human body of toxicities that cause illness and disease, gave the program’s producers access to his clinic, his patients, and himself.

“because it showcased the opinions of a group of”
.As Buttar recollects, “Frontline’s film crew spent over seven hours in my offices, extensively interviewed three of my patients, and then spent almost three hours interviewing me one-on-one.” Not one single second of this was shown on-air. Instead, Frontline recycled dated video footage previously released on the internet. Frontline violated Buttar’s trust and wasted his valuable time; producing a slanted report designed to intimidate and scare the public.

While disappointed at their lack of ethics, Dr. Buttar is not really surprised. He and his colleagues continue to crusade against a medical profession that hides behind antiquated theories and ineffective, costly treatments; and media outlets such as Frontline who further the agenda of the lucrative vaccine industry.

Buttar also questions what role lobbying by the U.S. Department of Heath & Human Services played in Frontline’s decision to air such a skewed report. In a recent Readers’ Digest interview, HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, admitted to meeting with media in an effort to undermine vaccine detractors saying, “We have reached out to media outlets to try to get them to not give the views of these people equal weight in their reporting to what science has shown and continues to show about the safety of vaccines.”

Concerns about vaccines are legitimate and growing. Once proclaimed as one of greatest achievements of modern medicine, vaccines, their frequency and the combinations, have become the subject of increasing unrest within the medical and scientific community since 1989. Parents questioning the need and the prudence of their child receiving so many shots, and the administration of previously singularly administrated vaccines combined into “super shots” (such as the MMR Triple Shot) are often met with scorn, derision, and admonishment from doctors.

The fact is that vaccines do contain dangerous toxic substances. One of the most dangerous of these is mercury, which is present as a preservative in most vaccines, including the flu shot. While many believe mercury was removed from vaccines in 2002, Thimerosal — or ethyl mercury — is still used in the manufacturing process of almost all vaccines, but that fact is no longer disclosed on the vaccine labels.

Dr. Buttar is not alone in his Frontline experience; fellow vaccine critics Dr. Jay Gordon and Dr. Robert Sears were also interviewed extensively but then edited out of the piece. “The show made a mockery of journalism,” says Buttar, “because it showcased the opinions of a group of “experts,” some of whom benefit financially from vaccine developments, while at the same time it minimized the real concerns in question as nothing more than unsubstantiated hysteria.” Why didn’t they show a single physician who agreed with the parents who were against vaccinations?

Frontline purposely pitted pro-vaccine doctors, painted as tireless advocates for children, against anti-vaccine parents who were portrayed as selfish, irrational and paranoid individuals lacking medical knowledge and common sense. The end result was a biased piece of tabloid journalism that only serves to further confuse, frighten and divide those who question vaccines from those who blindly follow medical rhetoric; creating needless controversy rather than an intelligent forum for discussion.

Dr. Buttar remains steadfast in the challenge he made during his unaired interview with Frontline. ”Tell the NIH, CDC, FDA or any vaccine manufacturer that I publicly challenge them to select any 20 cases of autism, send them all to an independent university and have that university’s independent pediatric neurologists evaluate all 20 children. Let those neurologists identify the 10 most severe cases and I will take them on as patients and treat them using my methods. Let the other 10 cases be treated with whatever conventional “standard of care” treatment they see fit. But it all must be filmed and followed so that the world can determine the truth for itself,” says Buttar. ”After having treated over a thousand patients in my own clinic, and having tens of thousands of children treated using our methodologies all over the world, I already know what the results will be. The problem is – so do they!”

The Top 5 to Avoid
to go from SAD toward GLAD

If your child is eating the SAD (Standard American Diet), the negative impact on his or her performance in school and life can have lifelong consequences. For children with learning disabilities, we have to be particularly careful to screen out the neurotoxins that seem to be all too common in prepared food nowadays.

What is a Neurotoxin?

Neurotoxins are poisonous to our nerve cells or neurons. Since neurons conduct the electricity required to transmit signals within the brain and between the brain and other parts of our body, their proper function is critical to our ability to think, learn and have motor control and coordination. Yet every day, kids consume processed foods loaded with chemical additives that can cause or contribute to a wide variety of neurological and behavioral problems from inability to concentrate to hyperactivity, irritability, seizures, fatigue, anxiety, aggression and depression.

In 1979 New York City public schools’ tests ratings leaped from 11% below the national average to 5% above after the Board of Education ordered a change in school diets to cut down sugar, food dyes, and additives. Improvements were not across the board, but impacted the “learning disabled” children the most – reducing their numbers from 12.4% to 4.9% of one million N.Y. City school children. 1

Could your child benefit from a decrease in neurotoxins? Where do you begin?

Cut these 5 toxins out of your child’s diet as a first step on the road from SAD to GLAD (Good Learning Ability Diet).

The Top 5 SAD Neurotoxins

1. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS): In the last 30 years, HFCS has replaced sugar in processed foods from bread to ketchup because it’s cheap to make and acts as a preservative. Its greatest consumption is in soft drinks. Made from genetically modified corn processed with enzymes, caustic soda and hydrochloric acid, HFCS has been shown to contain mercury — a very potent neurotoxin that, even in minute concentrations, can cause neurological damage in children. According to a 2009 study in Environmental Health, 9 of 20 samples of HFCS contained detectable levels of mercury.2

In another study in 2008, 55 products off the grocery shelves were tested by Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.3 Nearly one in three brand-name foods (including Quaker, Hunt’s, Manwich, Hershey’s, Smucker’s, Kraft, Nutri-Grain and Yoplait) were found to contain detectable quantities of mercury. Dairy products, dressings and condiments were most notably affected. HFCS also provokes biochemical reactions that correlate to type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, altered lipid profiles, and obesity and food cravings (by turning off the body’s natural signals that tell us when we’re full).

Alternatives: If your child is a soda addict, substitute seltzer mixed with fruit juice, and gradually cut back on the amount of juice you add. Buy dairy products, condiments, snack foods, bread, and syrups that are organic or made without HFCS and transition to more homemade products made with organic ingredients.

Keep reading here…
http://hopemagazineonline.com/foodforliving.htm

BY JENNIFER CORBETT DOOREN
WASHINGTON—The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that fragments of two types of pig viruses were found in Merck & Co.’s Rotateq vaccine, but the agency didn’t immediately say whether the vaccine should be avoided.

An FDA vaccine-advisory panel had already scheduled a meeting for Friday to discuss GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s Rotarix vaccine. Both the Glaxo and Merck vaccines are designed to protect infants from a gastrointestinal illness caused by rotavirus and have been given to millions of babies. While rotavirus is rarely fatal in the U.S., it contributed to about 70,000 infant hospitalizations annually before Merck’s vaccine was approved in …

To Continue reading, click the link above….

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Data presented this weekend at the 2010 Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting add to the poorly understood relationship between gastrointestinal symptoms and autism spectrum disorders — suggesting that GI symptoms are, in fact, common and may increase as children get older.

The study, conducted by the Autism Speaks Autism Treatment Network, involved data from 15 treatment and research centers in the United States and Canada and included information from 1,185 children aged 2 to18 years with a diagnosis of autism, Asperger’s syndrome or pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified.

The researchers determined that 45% of these children had GI symptoms at the time of enrollment, with abdominal pain (59%), constipation (51%) and diarrhea (43%) most commonly reported. Older children were more likely than younger children to experience GI symptoms (39% of children younger than 5 years vs. 51% of children aged 7 and older), data indicated, and sleep problems (70% vs. 30%) were more prevalent in this group as well.

Results from parent-completed Child Behavior Checklists indicated that younger children with reported GI symptoms had higher t-scores for total problem; emotionally reactive; anxious/depressed; somatic complaints; sleep problems; internalizing problems; affective problems; and anxiety problems subscales (P< .05). Children with reported GI problems in the 6-to-18 age group had higher t-scores for total problems and for all subscales (P<.01). Overall reported health-related quality of life was lower among children who experienced GI symptoms (P<.01).

"These findings suggest that better evaluation of GI symptoms and subsequent treatment may have benefits for these patients," said Daniel Coury, MD, medical director of the Autism Treatment Network, and professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at Ohio State University in Columbus. "Primary care physicians and specialists should ask families about these symptoms and address these as part of the overall management plan for the child or adolescent with ASD." – by Nicole Blazek

For more information:

•Williams K. #2320.7. Presented at: 2010 Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting; May 1-4, 2010; Vancouver, British Columbia.

Today’s USA Today story on the increasing trend of vaccine refusal shared some interesting information, but fell short of actually providing useful or workable answers. The article cites a new CDC study that showed in 2003 only 22 percent of parents refused or delayed a vaccine for their child, whereas in 2008 this number soared to 39 percent.

For many years I believe the CDC has been trying to hide the fact that more and more parents are refusing or delaying vaccines. Why? Because if compliant parents hear that their neighbors or friends are questioning vaccines, they might start to think, “Hmm … maybe I should begin to question vaccines as well. I think I’ll start doing some research and educating myself about vaccines instead of just taking my doctor’s word for it.”

And this story tries to sugar-coat the issue as well, stating that “parents in 2008 had more opportunities to delay shots than they had five years earlier” because three new vaccines have been introduced. I don’t by it. This implies that some children aren’t receiving all their vaccines because some vaccines are new. I would look at it differently: More and more parents are beginning to question the vaccine schedule — not just the new vaccines, but the manner in which so many are being given at a time. This trend has nothing to do with the new shots. Compliant parents wouldn’t even question new shots anyway. And they wouldn’t even be aware that their baby is getting a new shot because they wouldn’t even ask. Again, the CDC doesn’t want those parents who are being good little patients and getting all their shots, no questions asked, to start wondering why more and other parents are refusing.

Then the story turns to the measles epidemic that has “ravaged” the country. While measles can occasionally be severe and cause a fatality, the fact is that measles has remained the same in our country over the last decade — about 100 to 150 cases each year, with NO increase and NO fatalities! If the CDC is going to convince parents to stop questioning vaccines, they’ll need to come up with some better arguments than that.

Hey, I know! How about some new and expanded safety research! The only way non-compliant parents are going to stop worrying about vaccines is if we can give them the type of safety research they want: large-scale, prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled, long-term research. So, 20 years from now we’ll have that research. But what do we do in the meantime?

Here’s what the AAP says to do in their official policy (found on page eight of the Red Book, sitting in every single pediatrician’s office in the country):

• Treat these parents with respect
• Listen to their concerns
• Clearly discuss the importance of vaccines and the risks of the diseases
• If the parents remain non-compliant, the doctor can serve these patient’s needs by (and I quote) “developing a schedule of immunizations that does not require multiple injections at a single visit.”
• “Continued refusal after adequate discussion (I continue to quote) SHOULD BE RESPECTED.”

The number of physicians who actually follow the AAP’s advice is dismally small. I’ve been creating a growing list of Vaccine Friendly Doctor’s on my website who WILL listen and respect these patient’s wishes and who will provide an alternative vaccine schedule for patients who want to vaccinate differently. But it’s slow going. I just don’t understand why the AAP would even bother making such a policy if they won’t try to get their members to follow it.

Dr. Offit and many other physicians like him who believe we should NOT provide alternative schedules are actually MAKING THE PROBLEM WORSE. By kicking these patients out of their office and refusing to vaccinate these patients in a manner they will comply with, these doctors are leaving such babies unvaccinated. On the other hand, sometimes these doctors DO manage to talk (bully) their patients into starting their little two-month-old babies on the regular schedule. Most of these parents end up leaving such a doctor and going somewhere else.

In my humble (but outspoken) opinion, the ONLY way to increase vaccination rates in our country at this time is to provide alternative approaches that worried parents will feel more comfortable with. The PR campaign that the AAP and CDC are launching probably won’t do a thing. That’s because the campaign doesn’t include new safety research. It isn’t saying, “Hey, look America — we’ve proven vaccines, and the schedule by which we give them, are perfectly safe!” Instead, it’s saying “The diseases can be bad (which they can), so everybody get in line!” I just don’t think that’s going to work. That’s using scare tactics, not education. By adopting the AAP policy of providing alternative schedules, more and more doctors can serve their patients and keep the vaccine-preventable diseases at bay.

Dr. Bob Sears
www.TheVaccineBook.com

I have also discontinued his armour thyroid and diflucan.

Morning
2 capsules of Klaire’s Interfase
2 Candidase
mb-12 shot
Claritin (allergies are brutal for him right now)

Afternoon
2 Culturelle

Evening
2 capsules of Klaire’s Interfase
2 Candidase

He is still taking enzymes with his meals, but I am looking to discontinue that as well (if possible) – but that’s a trial for another time.

During weekends when we chelate, I will be giving him his multi and the other supplements necessary to support him while chelating.

In a very short time, he has lost a considerable amount of weight from his belly.

PBS Frontline on Autism Resorts to Pseudo-Documentary, Tabloid Journalism
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-gordon/pbs-frontline-show-about_b_554691.html?view=screen
Dr. Jay Gordon
April 28, 2010

Tonight PBS aired a show called “The Vaccine War.” I was interviewed at great length and in great depth about vaccines and my point of view and expressed my ambivalence about the polarization of this issue and the need for more calm reasoned discussion about the number one question that new parents have. I told Kate McMahon, the co-producer of the show, that there was a large group of doctors and others who cannot be dismissed with the facile label “anti-vaccine” because we still give vaccines and see a place for them in the practice of medicine but we do not agree with the current vaccine schedule nor the number of vaccines children receive all at one time.

A few days ago, Ms.McMahon emailed me to tell me that the decision had been made to omit my interview from the show. There would not be one word from me. She didn’t tell me that she had also omitted 100% of Dr. Robert Sears interview. And that any other comments from physicians supporting the parents on the show in their ambivalence about vaccines or their decision to refuse all vaccines would also be omitted.

She left this as a show with many doctors commenting very negatively, very frighteningly and often disdainfully and dismissively about vaccine “hesitation” as they called it.

Below is my email response to Kate McMahon.

Dear Kate,

The “Frontline” show was disgraceful. You didn’t even have the courtesy to put my interview or any part of the two hours we spent taping on your web site.

You created a pseudo-documentary with a preconceived set of conclusions: “Irresponsible moms against science” was an easy takeaway from the show.

Did you happen to notice that Vanessa, the child critically ill with pertussis, was not intubated nor on a respirator in the ER? She had nasal “prongs” delivering oxygen. I’m sorry for her parents anxiety and very happy that she was cured of pertussis. But to use anecdotal reports like this as science is irresponsible and merely served the needs of the doctor you wanted to feature.

No one pursued Dr. Offit’s response about becoming rich from the vaccine he invented. He was allowed to slide right by that question without any follow up. Dr. Paul Offit did not go into vaccine research to get rich. He is a scientist motivated by his desire to help children. But his profiting tens of millions of dollars from the creation of this vaccine and the pursuit of sales of this and other vaccines is definitely not what he says it is. His many millions “don’t matter” he says. And you let it go.

Jenny McCarthy resumed being a “former Playboy” person and was not acknowledged as a successful author, actress and mother exploring every possible avenue to treating her own son and the children of tens of thousands of other families.

I trusted you by giving you two or three hours of my time for an interview and multiple background discussions. I expressed my heartfelt reservations about both vaccines and the polarizing of this issue into “pro-vaccine” and “anti-vaccine” camps. I told you that there was at least a third “camp.” There are many doctors and even more parents who would like a more judicious approach to immunization. Give vaccines later, slower and with an individualized approach as we do in every other area of medicine.

What did you create instead?

“The Vaccine War.”

A war. Not a discussion or a disagreement over facts and opinions, but a war. This show was unintelligent, dangerous and completely lacking in the balance that you promised me–and your viewers–when you produced and advertised this piece of biased unscientific journalism. “Tabloid journalism” I believe is the epithet often used. Even a good tabloid journalist could see through the screed you’ve presented.

You interviewed me, you spent hours with Dr. Robert Sears of the deservedly-illustrious Sears family and you spoke to other doctors who support parents in their desire to find out what went wrong and why it’s going wrong and what we might do to prevent this true epidemic.

Not a measles epidemic, not whooping cough. Autism. An epidemic caused by environmental triggers acting on genetic predisposition. The science is there and the evidence of harm is there. Proof will come over the next decade. The National Children’s Study will, perhaps by accident, become a prospective look at many children with and without vaccines. But we don’t have time to wait for the results of this twenty-one year research study: We know that certain pesticides cause cancer and we know that flame retardants in children’s pajamas are dangerous. We are cleaning up our air and water slowly and parents know which paint to buy and which to leave on the shelves when they paint their babies’ bedrooms.

The information parents and doctors don’t have is contained in the huge question mark about the number of vaccines, the way we vaccinate and the dramatic increase in autism, ADD/ADHD, childhood depression and more. We pretend to have proof of harm or proof of no harm when what we really have is a large series of very important unanswered questions.

In cased you were wondering, as I practice pediatrics every day of my career, I base nothing I do on Dr. Wakefield’s research or on Jenny McCarthy’s opinions. I respect what they both have done and respectfully disagree with them at times. I don’t think that Dr. Wakefield’s study proved anything except that we need to look harder at his hypothesis. I don’t think that Jenny McCarthy has all the answers to treating or preventing autism but there are tens of thousands of parents who have long needed her strong high-profile voice to draw attention to their families’ needs: Most families with autism get inadequate reimbursement for their huge annual expenses and very little respect from the insurance industry, the government or the medical community. Jenny has demanded that a brighter light be shone on their circumstances, their frustration and their needs.

I base everything I do on my reading of CDC and World Health Organization statistics about disease incidence in the United States and elsewhere. I base everything I do on having spent the past thirty years in pediatric practice watching tens of thousands of children get vaccines, not get vaccines and the differences I see.

Vaccines change children.

Most experts would argue that the changes are unequivocally good. My experience and three decades of observation and study tell me otherwise. Vaccines are neither all good–as this biased, miserable PBS treacle would have you believe–nor all bad as the strident anti-vaccine camp argues.

You say the decisions to edit 100% of my interview from your show (and omit my comments from your website) “were purely based on what’s best for the show, not personal or political, and the others who didn’t make it came from both sides of the vaccine debate.” You are not telling the truth. You had a point to prove and removed material from your show which made the narrative balanced. “Distraught, confused moms against important, well-spoken calm doctors” was your narrative with a deep sure voice to, literally, narrate the entire artifice.

You should be ashamed of yourself, Kate. You knew what you put on the air was slanted and you cheated the viewers out of an opportunity for education and information. You cheated me out of hours of time, betrayed my trust and then you wasted an hour of PBS airtime. Shame on you.

The way vaccines are manufactured and administered right now in 2010 makes vaccines and their ingredients part of the group of toxins which have led to a huge increase in childhood diseases including autism. Your show made parents’ decisions harder and did nothing except regurgitate old news.

Parents and children deserve far better from PBS.

–
Jay N. Gordon, MD, FAAP
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, UCLA Medical School
Former Senior Fellow in Pediatric Nutrition, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute

Signature Links

http://www.drjaygordon.com
http://twitter.com/JayGordonMDFAAP
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http://simonegordon.netboots.net/

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new study conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency shows a correlation between the use of cells from babies in abortions in vaccines to an increase in autism rates. The study provides another problem from pro-life advocates who are already concerned about the abortion-vaccine tie.

The study, published in February in the publication Environmental Science & Technology, confirms 1988 as a “change point” in the rise of Autism Disorder rate.

“Although the debate about the nature of increasing autism continues, the potential for this increase to be real and involve exogenous environmental stressors exists,” the study says.

The 1988 date is significant because, as pro-life blogger Jill Stanek notes, the Sound Choice Pharmaceutical Institute indicates that’s when the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices added a second dose of the MMR vaccine, containing fetal cells from aborted babies, to its recommendations.

The study found two other change point dates: 1981, two years after MMRII was approved in the United States with fetal cells, and 1995, when SCPI says the chickenpox vaccine using aborted cells was approved.

Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League, said today that his group is joining SCPI in calling for a Fair Labeling and Informed Consent Act to let people know of this link and the use of cells from babies victimized by abortion.

“For years the evidence has pointed toward the link between vaccines using DNA from aborted babies and the rise of Autism Disorder rates,” he said. “Parents need and deserve to know the risks associated with vaccinations made from lines derived from the bodies of aborted children.”

“While the pharmaceutical industry ignores the evidence and continues to put our children at risk,” Sound Choice is conducting studies on the impact of residual human fetal DNA in vaccines on the brain development and autism in children, Sedlak continued.

Stanek also commented on the new developments.

“I’ve always read it was mercury in vaccines that was implicated in autism, although many studies state this isn’t true,” she said, noted SCPI debunks the idea.

“The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if the same sort of ideological culprits we see covering up the abortion-breast cancer link are also involved here. This would be a huge, huge blow to embryonic stem cell experimentation, for instance. That, and/or big pharma sees huge class action lawsuits on the horizon if this is proven,” Stanek added.

“That virus-laden DNA of aborted babies could be wreaking havoc on the DNA of healthy children is completely plausible,” she said.

SCPI will present their studies at the International Society for Autism Research in May 2010.

Related web sites:

Sound Choice Pharmaceutical Institute: http://www.soundchoice.org and http://www.soundchoice.org/Images/SCPINewsletter_April_2010.pdf

Environmental Protection Agency: Timing of Increased Autistic Disorder Cumulative Incidence (10 July 2009) http://www.all.org/pdf/McDonaldPaul2010.pdf

A total of 44 pupils became sick and was taken to the hospital after receiving the hepatitis B vaccine at school on Thursday in Huilai county, in Jieyang of Guangdong province, the Guangzhou Daily reported Friday.

On Thursday morning, 84 pupils got the injection, and some felt ill half an hour later, and 44 had been taken to the hospital as of 5:00 pm, the newspaper said.

The disease control center of Huilai county said they have used more than 90,000 doses of the same batch of hepatitis B vaccine but did not have any abnormal reactions. The rest of the vaccine has been sealed up.

“The vaccine was transported here by the special refrigerated truck of Jieyang’s disease control center,” said Wu Junqiu, head of the disease control center of Huilai county. He said it was impossible that there were any problems in the storage and transportation process of the vaccine, he said.

The newspaper said the vaccine was produced by a Shenzhen-based biological product company and was valid until Sept 1, 2012. And the syringes, which are valid until October 2012, were produced by a Shanghai-based company.

As of 5:00 pm Thursday, 39 of the pupils didn’t have any obvious symptoms and five suffered from throat congestion, Wu said, adding that experts had checked them one by one.

The cause of the reactions is still being investigated.

THE REAL REASON SO MANY YOUNG CHILDREN ARE BEING ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY AUSTRALIA’S 2010 FLU SHOT COCKTAIL (WHICH INCLUDES THE PANVAX VACCINE)?

CONTENTS: A STAGGERING 50 MICROGRAMS OF MERCURY IN THE SHOT (MOST CURRENT MULTI-DOSE VACCINES AVG 2.5), H1N1 SUBUNITS (LIVE VIRUS SLIGHTLY MODIFIED WITH DETERGENT), NEOMYCIN (HAZARDOUS TO PREGNANT WOMEN) & POLYMYXIN (ANTIBIOTICS ASSOCIATED WITH KIDNEY FAILURE), BETA-PROPLOLACTONE (CARCINOGEN).

Most multi-dose vaccines currently average 2.5 micrograms of Thimerosal Mercury. Based on EPA standards this is considered a safe level of exposure for a 250 pound adult. Australia’s 2010 Flu vaccine Panvax contains 50 micrograms of Thimerosal; technically a safe level of exposure for a 5000 pound adult. Unless you were born a Mack Truck this is tantamount to attempted murder. Time for the Australian community to rise up against this tyranny with a massive Class Action law suit.

‘Included in the ingredients are two antibiotics, Neomycin and Polymyxin B Sulphate. Both are noted for serious side effects, predominantly kidney failure. It is warned both these antibiotics not be used by pregnant women. Neomycin is in the FDA pregnancy category D. This means that it is known to be harmful to an unborn baby. In the “first tier” of candidates to receive this unregistered, unapproved vaccine, pregnant women are on top of the list. Beta-Propiolactone is another listed ingredient. Ranked as one of the most hazardous compounds (worst 10%) to humans and “reasonably expected to be a human carcinogen” (International Agency for Research on Cancer – IARC, 1999). ?eta-Propiolactone is a disinfectant. Panvax is formulated using chick embryos (Ovalbumin). People who suffer allergy to eggs or anaphylactic reactions may experience problems.’

http://contribute.abc.net.au/_Panvax/blog/718273/32422.html

‘The Australian is reporting that clinical tests were never carried out on this particular vaccine, which was a first-time combination of seasonal flu with Panvax, a vaccine against the H1N1 strain. Australia was the first country to use this type of vaccine, the report said. Panvax was tested on 400 children before its release last year, but the combined shot was not subjected to any clinical trials.’

http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/19877

EARLY VACCINE TRAUMA REPORT (HIGH TEMPERATURES & FEBRILE CONVULSIONS) – The Australian Health Minister, Kim Hames, says 45 children have been taken to hospital suffering high temperatures and febrile convulsions after receiving the vaccination. Dr Hames says the program will be suspended until the department finishes its investigation. He says parents who have had their children vaccinated should take precautions.”If it’s longer than 12 hours ago then there is no risk. But if it’s in the last 12 hours they should make sure that they give their child paracetamol and then take every effort to make sure that the temperature of their child is settled.”

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/22/2880521.htm?site=news

Febrile convulsions occur in young children when there is a rapid increase in their body temperature. It affects up to 1 in 20 children between the ages of one and four but can affect children between six months and about five years old.

•The attack often begins with the child losing consciousness, and shortly afterwards the body, legs and arms go stiff.
•The head is thrown backwards and the legs and arms begins to jerk.
•The skin goes pale and may even turn blue briefly.
•The attack ends after a few minutes and the shaking stops. The child goes limp, and then normal colour and consciousness slowly return.
•Some children regain consciousness faster than others.
AUSTRALIAN FLU VACCINE DEATH TOLL BEGINS –

‘A family is in mourning after their toddler unexpectedly died less than 12 hours after receiving a seasonal flu vaccination. Two-year-old twin Ashley Jade Epapara had been “perfectly fine” before dying at her home, on Brisbane’s southside, on April 9. Parents David & Nicole are shattered by the mysterious death of their baby girl. “It’s dreadful, it’s a very hard time,” Mr Epapara said. Ashley’s twin sister, Jaime, also received the flu jab at the same time and is believed to have been vomiting the night before her sister died.’

http://www.news.com.au/national/flu-shot-fatality-toddler-dies-12-hours-after-having-vaccination/story-e6frfkvr-1225857872979

‘Queensland police are preparing a report for the coroner into the death of a Brisbane child who had earlier received the seasonal flu vaccine. The two-year-old girl from Upper Mount Gravatt on the city’s southside died earlier this month, the day after she was immunized.’

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/local/7106652/police-investigate-girls-death-after-flu-vaccine/

‘Drug regulators are urgently investigating whether the seasonal flu vaccine is safe for children, after the nation’s top doctor said they shouldn’t receive it. Australia’s chief medical officer Jim Bishop today said health professionals should stop immunizing children under five years old with the vaccine immediately. Professor Bishop is concerned about a spike in the number of West Australian youngsters experiencing fever and convulsions after getting the shot.’

“This is a precautionary measure while the matter is being urgently investigated by health experts and the Therapeutic Goods Administration,” Jim Bishop

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/dont-give-children-flu-jab-chief-medical-officer-20100423-tig6.html

Look how the Vaccine Manufacturer & Australian Government have insulated itself from prosecution:

‘The Australian Government has granted an exemption allowing the dispensing of this vaccine, without it being approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). That means that client consent must be obtained and recorded in detail on special Commonwealth consent forms prior to injection.’

PANVAX: PACKAGE INSERT

http://secure.healthlinks.net.au/content/csl/pi.cfm?product=csppanva11209

http://preventdisease.com/news/pdf/CSL_PANVAX_H1N1_SEPT2009.pdf

MERCURY CHART

http://www.prisonplanet.com/mercury-in-australian-approved-h1n1-vaccine.html

CSL LABORATORIES: VACCINE PROPAGANDA

http://www.h1n1vax.com.au/s1/cs/auvx/1255922570499/content/1255922570467/content.htm

http://www.h1n1vax.com.au/s1/cs/auvx/1249870357676/content/1249870357436/content.htm

http://www.csl.com.au/s1/cs/auhq/1217017237558/Web_Product_C/1253567277997/ProductDetail.htm

Veterinarians and pediatricians have a great deal in common. Both are highly qualified medical professionals with similar years of education. Both often struggle to determine what is wrong with their patients since pets, like little people, cannot communicate what hurts. Their jobs are not easy, but the premise of their work is simple: Support the health of those in their care and abide by the oath: “First, do no harm.”

Wellness checkups for babies and pets are often synchronized with routine vaccination schedules. Before a shot is given, the consent of the caretaker is required. For human patients, this is where discussions with the doctor can turn dark. Parents are aware of others who have been discharged from a medical practice for questioning vaccines and are wary of bringing up their concerns. Their fears are not unfounded. According to a 2005 survey of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), when faced with parents who refuse immunization, pediatricians reported that they always (4.8 percent) or at least sometimes (18.1 percent) tell parents that they will no longer serve as the child’s physician. Pet owners, on the other hand, have latitude to discuss their vaccination concerns. In many cases, refusing a vaccination has the full support of their vet.

When it comes to dogs, veterinarian professionals can tailor the vaccination schedule to the pet. The Canine Vaccine Guidelines and Recommendations offer suggestions about shots for puppies and adult dogs. Vaccines are categorized as core (recommended for all dogs); non-core (those that are optional); and not recommended (due to poor efficacy and unacceptable risk of side effects). The guidelines recognize vaccination as a medical procedure that needs to be individualized based on the animal’s geographic and lifestyle exposure. Veterinarian professional organizations allow flexibility and encourage doctors to extend vaccination intervals whenever necessary for the safety of the pet.

Most veterinarians agree house pets should be assessed yearly and vaccines – if given at all – should be tailored to an animal’s age, health, and lifestyle. For example, Dr. Matthew J. Toia, Chief Veterinarian Officer for PetLabsMD.com (“Pet-Labs”), a national direct to consumer animal health wellness testing laboratory staffed by licensed veterinarians and veterinary technicians, concurs. “An indoor cat with limited exposure to some diseases may never need some of the common vaccinations. For instance, Lyme’s disease, a regional illness for outside pets in endemic areas, is not necessary for unexposed animals in low risk regions of the country. Cats can forgo this vaccine without an issue.”

His comments are supported by two veterinary associations, the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) and the Academy of Feline Medicine (AFM). The Advisory Panel on Feline Vaccines (APFV) has guidelines for the selection and administration of vaccinations for cats. Feline shots fall into two basic categories: core vaccines (those recommended for most cats), and ancillary vaccines (those recommended for only a small percentage of cats.) Both of these organizations encourage cat owners to develop a good relationship with their veterinarian so their cat’s vaccination schedule can be openly discussed.

Veterinarians limit the number of vaccines given to puppies on a single visit. A study of more than 1,200 dogs found evidence that the risk of a vaccine-associated adverse event was significantly increased as the number of vaccine doses administered per office visit increased; each additional vaccine significantly increased risk of an adverse event by 27 percent in dogs under10 kg (22 lb) and 12 percent in dogs over 10 kg. Vets are cautious about giving multiple vaccines on one office visit.

Unlike their animal doctor counterparts, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), endorses universal immunization and follows a one-size-fits-all vaccination schedule. The AAP not only assumes that all vaccines are necessary, pediatricians assume that children can all equally tolerate all vaccines given in the standard schedule. As many as six doses – and 18 vaccine antigens – can be given at the same time. The Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends that if a dose is not administered “on time” at the routine two, four and six month checkups, the shot should be given at the next visit. Every dose is considered to be so essential that the ACIP has created a ‘catch up’ schedule for children who have missed even one shot.

Parents have become alarmed by the large number of injections given at one time. To by-pass their psychological concerns, manufacturers have created combination vaccines, such as Pediarix and Comvax, to trick parents into believing that their baby is “only” getting one shot at a time. Pediarix is actually three vaccines in one shot (DTaP, hepatitis B and polio) and Comvax combines the hepatitis B and HiB vaccine into one shot. The ACIP states that, “The use of combination vaccines is preferred over separate injections of its equivalent vaccine components”. The AAP backs up this recommendation, urging combination vaccines to “improve timely vaccination coverage.” Both ACIP and AAP overlook a potentially serious problem with combination shots: If a reaction occurs, it is impossible to determine which vaccine caused the side effect. Animal doctors have figured this out. The Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) recommends using single dose vaccines because “increasing the number of antigens in a vaccine also increases the probability associated adverse events.”

Most pediatricians seem to have a “vaccinate no matter what” approach to childhood immunizations rather than ensuring the safety and appropriateness of the individual child. The AAP encourages pediatricians to “work individually and collectively at local and national levels to ensure that all children receive all childhood immunizations on time.” This includes giving vaccines to children, even when they are sick. According to the most recent “General Recommendations for Vaccination”, published in 2006 by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there are few reasons for delaying vaccination. In fact, the guidelines state, “Among the most common conditions often inappropriately considered contraindications are diarrhea, minor upper-respiratory tract illnesses (including otitis media) with or without fever, mild-to-moderate local reactions to a previous dose of vaccine, current antimicrobial therapy, and the convalescent phase of an acute illness.” Pediatricians, at the behest of the CDC and the AAP, follow the CDC’s instructions to use of every encounter as an opportunity to vaccinate.

When animals are sick, most vets choose to err on the side of safety. Vaccines are delayed until the pet is healthy to minimize the risk of a reaction. According to PetEducation.com, the decision to vaccinate a sick animal should be made on an individual basis. The vet determines if a shot is appropriate by performing a physical examination and possibly obtaining laboratory tests to aid in the decision. Not so with children. According to the CDC, a routine physical exam and taking a temperature is no longer a prerequisite before vaccinating. If a child appears in the doctor’s office, vaccination should proceed.

Avoiding over-vaccination: Vaccine Titers
Many vets are concerned about the potential for side effects and complications from unnecessary shots and boosters. They order a blood test, called a titer, to determine the need for additional vaccinations. A vaccine titer is test that measures the level of an antibody in the blood, a component usually induced by vaccination. A titer is reported as a ratio of one to a number. The higher that number, the better. For example, a titer of 1:5 is a low titer, and generally implies a susceptibility to disease. A titer of 1:1,000,000 is a very high titer, and implies immunity. It is generally accept that a high titer indicates further vaccination is unnecessary.

While useful as a guide, titer levels have limitations. They only measure one component of the immune system so the level of full protection is unknown. Antibodies cannot be distinguished between those generated by vaccination from those developed after recovery from a disease. Except where vaccination is required by law, all animals can have serum antibody titers measured to determine the need for booster shots. Testing is especially important for pets that have previously experienced an adverse reaction. While not all vets agree with checking antibody titers, the test is available for pet owners who prefer not to follow the conventional practice of annual boosters.

While veterinary medical associations are advocates of vaccination, they insist that immunization is only one component of an individualized, health-care plan for pets. One organization that wants to assist owners in their quest for healthy pets is PetLabsMD.com, the first and only national company to offer consumer-direct laboratory testing. Pet owners can actively participate in the health and wellness for their pets. Tests can be ordered directly through the internet by owners at substantial savings. PetLabsMD.com offers hundreds of screening tests, from preventive profiles for cancer, to tests for infectious diseases, diabetes, nutritional deficiencies, and vaccination titers.

Most importantly, owners will have the added convenience of having their pets’ blood tests done in the privacy of their own homes, avoiding the added stress of taking a pet to the vet. PetLabsMD.com is expanding their nationwide network of veterinarians and veterinary technicians who will come directly to your home to draw the necessary samples. Pet owners without access to a holistic veterinarian can order important health tests directly from Pet-Labs.

Vets vs Peds: A Interesting Comparison
Unlike the AAP that routinely denies any connection between vaccines, adverse events and side effects, the Council on Biologic and Therapeutic Agents (COBTA) at the American Veterinary Medical Association concludes that vaccines can cause problems and should be individualized. The following is an excerpt of their policy:

“There are insufficient data available to scientifically determine a single best vaccination protocol regimen for application to all animals globally. Despite significant advances in our knowledge of antigens and antigen presentation, gaps still remain in our under-standing of the immune system’s acute and chronic reaction to multiple vaccinations. The body of knowledge surrounding the genetic variability within individual breeds or species and the resulting idiopathic responses to vaccination (including vaccine-associated adverse reactions), is increasing but remains too inconclusive to make specific recommendations appropriate for all patients. Consequently, COBTA believes that a customized approach to recommended vaccination protocols is the safest and most effective method to medically address the increasing diversity in patients presented for immunization.”
It appears that veterinarians are more prudent about vaccination than their pediatrician counterparts. A comparison of Vets to Peds can be summarized as follows:

•Veterinarians consider pets as individuals. Vaccines are customized to their needs and lifestyles. For example, dogs that have allergies are often vaccinated less, given smaller doses or not vaccinated at all. If any adverse reaction was experienced from a vaccine, vets are cautious about future vaccines. Unfortunately, the same level of individual tailoring and caution is not found in the pediatric community.
•To avoid over vaccinating, vets often request vaccine titers. Pediatricians do not offer vaccine titers for children; in fact, all vaccines are mandated for all kids, at the risk of expulsion from the medical practice for refusing.
•Veterinarians acknowledge that vaccines can cause serious adverse reactions, including well-documented cancers in cats: feline leukemia and feline sarcomas. Pediatricians rarely, if ever, acknowledge an association between vaccines and asthma, eczema, seizures, gastric reflux, strokes, cancer and autism. Parents are told a side effect is not caused by a recent vaccine; tens of thousands of dollars of medical tests and procedures are ordered to prove it.
•Most veterinarians seem to understand that a one-size-fits-all vaccine policy is not appropriate. Not so for people doctors.

It’s time for pediatricians, the AAP, the CDC, the ACIP and all others involved with human vaccination programs to acknowledge that vaccines have risks and can cause serious harm, including death. If animal doctors can work with owners to individualize vaccination schedules, to avoid over-vaccinating though vaccine titers, and to encourage participatory care, human doctors need to start doing the same. Parents need to demand care that is as good for their children as it is for their pets.

CLINICAL tests were never carried out on the latest seasonal flu vaccine – a first-time combination of seasonal flu with the feared swine flu H1N1 – that has left a baby girl fighting for her life in a Perth hospital and sparked fits, fevers and vomiting in up to 60 toddlers across the country.
Health officials were last night trying to determine what had caused the reactions in the children, mostly in Western Australia.

The country’s chief medical officer, Jim Bishop, yesterday ordered doctors in all states to stop giving the flu vaccine to children under five.

Professor Bishop said non-swine flu strains in the vaccine may have caused the reactions.

For the first time in the world, the flu shot rolled out in Australia last month combined two strains of seasonal flu, as well as H1N1.

Professor Bishop said the Panvax vaccine – the swine flu jab – was “safe”, but said the combined flu shot had been suspended for young children as a “precautionary measure” pending investigation by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, which approved its use last month.

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Related CoverageLittle girl died in cot after flu jab
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Panvax was tested on 400 children before its release last year, but the combined shot was not subjected to any clinical trials.

CSL, which manufactures both vaccines, has stopped distributing children’s doses nationally “to reduce the risk of inadvertent administration in this age group”.

One angry West Australian mother, who only wanted to be identified as Sharon, said if officials had acted earlier, the one-year-old girl in critical condition in hospital may never have become sick.

Sharon had three of her four children vaccinated two weeks ago and all three needed hospitalisation after suffering from fevers, vomiting and fits. She said it was a frightening experience after her three-year-old, Alivia, turned purple and began shaking. One of her one-year-old twins, Lateesha, later started convulsing.

Peter Richmond, associate professor at the University of Western Australia’s school of pediatrics and child health, said the vaccine was not subjected to trials.

“As with each year’s seasonal influenza vaccine, this year’s seasonal influenza vaccine isn’t subject to specific trials in children before it’s used,” he said.

He added that three trials of different combinations of seasonal flu vaccines had been conducted in children and no concerns had been raised.

Professor Robert Booy, the director of clinical research at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance – who helped supervise the swine flu trials – said the combination of flu strains could not be the cause of the problems.

Gardner, RM, JF Nyland, IA Silva, AM Ventura, JM deSouza and EK Silbergeld. 2010. Mercury exposure, serum antinuclear/antinucleolar antibodies, and serum cytokine levels in mining populations in Amazonian Brazil: A cross-sectional study. Environmental Research http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2010.02.001.

Synopsis by Jennifer F. Nyland

Mercury increases the risk of developing autoimmune symptoms – similar to those seen with arthritis – in miners from Amazonian Brazil who work with the metal.

A study in people adds to the growing evidence and concern that mercury can alter the immune system in ways that may promote autoimmune diseases such as arthritis and lupus. The researchers report that mercury increased levels of key signaling and antibody markers measured in the blood of Brazilian gold miners who use the metal to extract the gold from river sediments.

This is the first time mercury has been shown to affect in people the immune signaling proteins that are responsible for inducing inflammation. The results support recent animal studies that find similar changes to rodent immune systems after mercury exposure. The study adds to the few other human studies on the subject, which are less consistent in their conclusions.

Mercury is a well known toxicant. Exposure to even small amounts can damage the brain and nervous system in ways that reduce motor, verbal and attention abilities. This is especially true for developing fetuses and children.

Its effects on the immune system are still being teased apart.

In the United States, most people are exposed to mercury – by eating certain species of fish – most notably large predators such as tuna, swordfish and tilefish. Federal fish advisories warn against eating too much of certain species or too much fish caught from contaminated waterways so as to limit exposure to the metal.

The researchers studied five separate populations: a gold mining camp where mercury is used to extract the gold and two diamond and two emerald mining camps where mercury is not used. Mercury exposure was determined through questionnaires, urine samples and hair samples. Overall, mercury levels and the ranges were higher than what is reported for people who live in the United States.

When blood from gold miners was compared to diamond and emerald miners, changes were found. Levels of certain antibodies and proteins called cytokines were increased only in the gold miners. These increased protein levels are often used to help diagnose some autoimmune diseases like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.

Even though the miners were exposed through their work to periodic and relatively high levels of mercury, the findings apply to others since mercury exposure from multiple sources is a global problem. Importantly, these changes were not related to whether the miners had malaria, giving the findings a broader application worldwide. Malaria is a common parasitic infection in many parts of the world, but not in the United States or Europe, and it too can cause changes in the immune system. Since the immune changes observed in this study were unrelated to whether or not the miners were infected, the authors can conclude that the effects are most likely from mercury exposure.

April 6, 2010

Human beings cannot live without vitamin B-6. It is also important for the prevention of cancer and the prevention and treatment of seizures, anemia, mental disorders including schizophrenia, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other conditions. Its effect on carpal tunnel can seem almost miraculous.

A natural form of the vitamin, Pyridoxamine, was recently yanked off the market by the FDA. Why? Because a pharmaceutical company, BioStratum, wanted sole use of pyridoxamine in a drug, a drug which may or may not ever appear. The company filed a so-called citizens petition and the FDA agreed, notwithstanding protests from ANH-USA, other organizations, and thousands of citizens. You might ask: how can Pharma take a supplement off the market and claim exclusive use of it as a prescription drug? The FDA does not presently feel obligated to answer this question.

Unfortunately, this isn’t all the bad news about vitamin B6. All forms of B-6, natural or synthetic, must be converted to P5P, another natural form, for the body to use it. Another drug company, Medicure Pharma, wants sole use of P5P and so has petitioned the FDA to ban its use as a supplement as well.

Medicure has yet to market a drug made from P5P, but wants the ban to take place now. And never mind that any individual unable to convert synthetic B6 to P5P would have to rely solely on Medicure’s product to stay alive.

How does Medicure think it can get away with this? Its petition states rather candidly: “Pharmaceutical companies developing new drugs must be protected from companies that may seek to market the ingredients in those drugs as dietary supplements. The marketing of such products has the potential to undermine the incentive for the development of new drugs because many people may choose to purchase the supplements rather than the drugs.”

This is not of course a case of supplement producers creating a product to compete with an existing prescription drug. It is just the reverse. P5P, the natural and bioactive form of B6, has existed in food for as long as there have been humans and has been available as a supplement for years. Medicure seems to be saying: If it seems profitable, let’s just turn a critical vitamin, one essential for human life, into a drug, make it available only by prescription, and mark up the price. This is truly outrageous.

The FDA has not yet responded to Medicure’s petition. We have asked you in the past to send a message to the FDA and Congress protesting Medicure’s P5P grab, and the time has come to send some more messages. So if you haven’t sent in a message to the FDA and Congress yet, or even if you have, please send one today.

While we are discussing Vitamin B6, here is the latest scientific report. An analysis of 13 U.S., European and Asian studies of vitamin B6 and colon cancer, conducted from 2002-2009, has been published in a special edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Studies of the range of B6 doses found that vitamin B6 taken in higher doses reduced the risk of colon cancer by 21 percent. In one study, Dr. Susanna Larsson and her colleagues at Sweden’s National Institute of Environmental Medicine reported an inverse relationship between the intake of vitamin B6 or pyridoxine and the risk of colon cancer. Dr. Larsson linked the effect to bloodstream levels of pyridoxal-phosphate (PLP), the main active coenzyme form of vitamin B6. Pyridoxal-phosphate is also known as pyridoxal 5-phosphate or (as we referred to it above) P5P.

Don’t let the FDA take away our access to the natural and most bioavailable form of B6, P5P. Please take action now.

Last Wednesday I was invited by Representative Laura Brod to a conference call meeting with Theresa A. Deisher, Ph.D. The purpose of the call was to discuss the vaccine-autism controversy and her recent studies.

Dr. Deisher has an impressive background and credentials. She is an internationally renowned expert in the field of adult stem cell therapies and regenerative medicine, brings 17 years of experience in scientific and corporate leadership positions involving research, discovery, production and commercialization of human therapeutics. Dr. Deisher’s penchant for groundbreaking scientific discovery and her distinguished scientific research has resulted in 23 patents issued. She has published numerous scientific manuscripts and is a frequent invited lecturer and guest speaker in the area of stem cell technology and regenerative medicine.

Throughout her career, Dr. Deisher has been recruited by some of the country’s top biotechnology companies, including Genentech, Repligen, ZymoGenetics, Immunex and Amgen. She has managed and mentored undergraduate honors students, post-doctoral fellows, scientific executives and over 20 research assistants/scientists at all levels of responsibility.

Dr. Deisher graduated with honors and distinction from Stanford University, and obtained her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Physiology from Stanford University.

Subsequent to obtaining her Ph.D from Stanford, Dr. Deisher was recruited by Repligen Corporation (Cambridge, MA) and accepted a position as Research Scientist where she managed a staff of associates and scientists and directed the development of research and clinical assays in support of Phase I and Phase II clinical trials for various Repligen developmental efforts. Additionally, Dr. Deisher was selected by Sr. Management to participate in strategic alliance initiatives, including serving on the Repligen / Eily Lilly joint development committee.
Following Repligen, Dr. Deisher accepted a position at ZymoGenetics, Inc (Seattle, WA) as Sr. Scientist, Cardiovascular Biology. While at ZymoGenetics, Dr. Deisher’s research and discovery in the area of cardiovascular biology led to the filing of dozens of patents. Dr. Deisher was the first person world-wide to identify and patent stem cells from the adult heart, including what are now called ‘very small embryonic-like stem cells’. Her discovery remains one of the most significant discoveries in the area of stem cell research. Within the field of regenerative medicine, Dr. Deisher is also a patented inventor of the most potent mesenchymal growth factor ever identified (licensed to Serono for clinical development), and of the use of cytokines to mobilize adult embryonic-like cells.

Following ZymoGenetics, Dr. Deisher was named Sr. Staff Scientist, Vascular Biology at Immunex (Seattle, WA) where she was the project leader for both the Antithrombotic division and the Inflammation and Myocardial Repair division.

Dr. Deisher was named Principal Scientist at Amgen, Inc. (Seattle, WA) following Amgen’s acquisition of Immunex. She led multi-disciplinary teams working on the biology and commercial development of novel co-stimulatory pathways involved in the initiation and progression of cardiac failure. Her research interests encompassed stem cell therapies for myocardial regeneration. Additionally, Dr Deisher introduced revolutionary non-invasive imaging technologies for pre-clinical research to the company, including ultrasound (echocardiography) and near-infrared imaging. As a result, the company was honored as an official ‘Site of Excellence’ by Philips Medical for her department’s pioneering work.

Most recently, Dr. Deisher served as Vice President of Research and Development for Cellcyte Genetics Corporation, a post she held until October 2007 prior to founding AVM Biotechnology.

Dr. Deisher spoke with us for nearly an hour and the first thing that struck me, was that most people had never heard that aborted fetal DNA was used in the manufacturing of vaccines. This is morally reprehensible to me and appeared to be to the other legislators in the room as well. Because there has been a concern with the increase in autism, recent literature suggests that l out of 100 children are now impacted by autism spectrum disorder. Dr. Deisher has been studying the link and wants to alert the public about the possible dangers, as well as the wrenching moral dilemmas for parents and consumers.

How could the contaminating aborted fetal DNA create problems? According to Dr. Deisher, “It created the potential for autoimmune responses and/or inappropriate insertion into our own genomes through a process called recombination. There are groups researching the potential link between this DNA and autoimmune diseases such as juvenile(type I) diabetes, multiple sclerosis and lupus.” Her organization, Sound Choice Pharmaceutical Institute is focused on studying the quantity, characteristics and genomic recombination of the aborted fetal DNA found in many of our vaccines.

Dr. Deisher also asks the following questions: “Could genomic insertion of the aborted fetal DNA, found in some of our childhood vaccines since 1979 be an environmental trigger for autism? Could the fact that genes critical for nerve synapse formation and nervous system development found on the X chromosome provide some explanation of why autism is predominantly a disease found in boys? Could the “hot spots” identified in these autism associated genes be sites for insertion of contamination aborted fetal DNA?”

These are important questions and I am glad that this issue has been brought to the attention of the legislature. I will inform you in the future of further developments.

by Heidi Stevenson
19 April 2010

Have you ever heard of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)? In all likelihood, you haven’t, though you’e probably had it. You or your parents most likely called it a cold. Now though, there’s an RSV vaccine on the horizon, so the fear mongering is starting. Of course, to back up the fear, a study was done to give the impression that the disease is terrible. It was funded by vaccine promoters.

The Lancet has just published the study, which was financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO is now being examined for its handling of the swine flu so-called pandemic. They stand accused of being in bed with pharmaceutical corporations to promote the use of vaccines. One of the Gates Foundation’s primary goals is to promote vaccines.

So, it should come as no surprise that the study’s results refer to RSV in terms that imply a severe problem. The article refers to its “global burden”. Because it’s a mild disease in normally healthy people, it focuses on developing nations. The study’s result was, of course, a foregone conclusion:

“The development of novel prevention and treatment strategies should be accelerated as a priority.”

Hint: That means focus on vaccinations, not on poverty, the real issue behind most deaths from minor illness.

The fear mongering has already started. BBC News has reported on HSV, describing it as “the single largest cause of lung infection in children”. That sounds so very terrible, but the reality isn’t necessarily so bad. After all, if you have a chesty cough, you have a lung infection. Do you automatically panic over it? Usually, such infections are referred to as the common cold.

RSV is a common disease at all ages. Unlike most viruses, which provide lifetime immunity after infection, only limited immunity occurs. It’s usually a mild disease, generally called a cold. In those with weakened immune systems, such as premature babies, it can be a serious disease, even leading to death. However, that happens in only a minuscule percentage of cases.

The Lancet focused on a single year, 2005. The authors reported that, worldwide, 66,000-199,000 children under age 5 died from RSV that year. This was misreported by BBC as simply 200,000 deaths in children under 5 worldwide, with the claim that it’s an annual figure, though the study was clear in pointing out that it referred only to a single year. Only 1% of these deaths occur in industrialized modern nations. The rest happen in the developing world, where malnutrition, lack of water, and poor sanitation are rampant. In other words, health is already compromised.

Rather than focusing on the most obvious issue relating to deaths from RSV, poor health from lack of the basic needs, the goal is to trot out a new vaccine. To have it accepted requires that people in the wealthier nations see it as a good thing—and that requires developing a hefty fear of the disease.

Big Pharma is brilliant at manipulating the media and creating false impressions through the use of phony grassroots groups and bribing researchers and doctors. They’ve already started to create an atmosphere of fear around the respiratory syncytial virus and its cold-like symptoms.

Once the vaccine is routinely administered to small children in industrialized nations—at enormous profits, of course—it can be pushed on impoverished people elsewhere. Of course, one must question who will bear the cost—but there can be little doubt. The WHO’s budget ultimately comes from the wealthier countries, and that means you and me.

Through all of this, consideration for safety will be nonexistent among the producers of the vaccine or the mainstream media or government agencies pushing it or mainstream medicine administering it. Those who express safety concerns will be marginalized, as always. Bit by painful bit, the truth will come out. But how long will it take? The experience of the last hundred years suggests that no amount of ill health or lives damaged will curtail Big Pharma from making its profits.

New American research shows that there could be a link between the controversial MMR triple vaccine and autism and bowel disease in children.

The study appears to confirm the findings of British doctor Andrew Wakefield, who caused a storm in 1998 by suggesting a possible link.

Now a team from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina are examining 275 children with regressive autism and bowel disease – and of the 82 tested so far, 70 prove positive for the measles virus.

Last night the team’s leader, Dr Stephen Walker, said: ‘Of the handful of results we have in so far, all are vaccine strain and none are wild measles.

‘This research proves that in the gastrointestinal tract of a number of children who have been diagnosed with regressive autism, there is evidence of measles virus.

‘What it means is that the study done earlier by Dr Wakefield and published in 1998 is correct. That study didn’t draw any conclusions about specifically what it means to find measles virus in the gut, but the implication is it may be coming from the MMR vaccine. If that’s the case, and this live virus is residing in the gastrointestinal tract of some children, and then they have GI inflammation and other problems, it may be related to the MMR.’

The 1998 study by Dr Wakefield, then a reader in gastroenterology at the Royal Free Hospital in North London, and 12 other doctors claimed to have found a new bowel disease, autism enterocolitis.

At the time, Dr Wakefield said that although they had not proved a link between MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) and autism, there was cause for concern and the Government should offer the option single vaccines – instead of only MMRs – until more research had been done.

The paper – and the confused interpretation of its findings – caused uproar and led to many parents withdrawing their co-operation for the triple jab. Ten of the paper’s authors also signed retractions on the interpretation but stood by the science.

This is the second independent study to back up Dr Wakefield. In 2001 John O’Leary, Professor of Pathology at St James’s Hospital and Trinity College, Dublin, replicated his findings.

Last night Dr Wakefield said: ‘This new study confirms what we found in British children and again with Professor O’Leary. The only exposure these children have had to measles is through the MMR vaccine.

‘They were developing normally until they regressed. They now suffer autism and bowel disease.

‘The Department of Health and some of the media wanted to dismiss our research as insignificant. The excuse was that no one else had the same findings as us. What they didn’t say is that no one else had looked.’

A spokesman for the Department of Health said they had not read the American report, but added: ‘MMR remains the best form of protection against measles, mumps and rubella.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-388051/Scientists-fear-MMR-link-autism.html

A homeopath recommended Euphrasia Officinalis 30C and it worked like a charm and in less than one hour. Boiron makes it and I found it at my local Whole Foods and Vitamin Shoppe for less than $7.00.

Just sharing in case it helps someone else.

http://goldenhawkprojects.blogspot.com/

Michael Wagnitz | local columnist | Posted: Sunday, April 18, 2010 4:45 am

Since the March 12 decision by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which concluded that thimerosal in vaccines is not linked to autism or any other childhood neurological injury, I’ve been asked by many people: What exactly is thimerosal?

Thimerosal is a fungicide/bactericide used as a preservative in medical products. It is prepared by combining the fungicide ethylmercuric chloride with thiosalicylic acid. The reason for this is to increase the solubility of ethylmercuric chloride in water so it can be added at higher concentrations to products such as vaccines. Thimerosal is 10,000 times more soluble in water than ethylmercuric chloride.

Due to multiple accidental poisonings from ingestion of treated seed, ethylmercuric chloride was banned for use as a fungicide and all other purposes in the 1970s.

The symptoms of ethylmercuric chloride poisoning occurred months after the ingestion of treated seed. The first symptom noticed was paresthesia (nerve damage to fingers and toes) followed by ataxia (loss of coordination of the muscles), dysarthia (difficulty in articulating words) and loss of vision. While some functionality did return in some victims, the underlying damage was mostly irreversible. Tens of thousands of parents feel they saw the same symptoms in their children following vaccination with vaccines that contained thimerosal. Most of these children were eventually diagnosed as autistic.

Nobody knows what the safe amount of ethylmercuric chloride is for children. Thimerosal is added to multi-dose vaccine vials at a concentration of 50,000 micrograms per liter (mcg/l) mercury. In Wisconsin, any liquid waste solution which contains more than 200 mcg/l mercury is classified as hazardous waste.

There are four vaccines currently used in Wisconsin that contain this amount of mercury. They are vaccines administered from multi-dose flu, H1N1, meningococcal and tetanus/diphtheria booster vials. The flu and H1N1 vaccine are administered to pregnant women and children 6 months of age. The tetanus is approved for children 7 years and older. The meningococcal is approved for children 12 years and older. This year’s flu and H1N1 vaccines will expire soon and have to be treated as hazardous waste.

The next time your physician or nurse tells you that mercury is no longer used in vaccines (or that the quantity is small), feel free to share this information with them.

Michael Wagnitz of Madison is a chemist specializing in heavy metal poisoning.

(NaturalNews) Curcumin’s anti-inflammatory properties have been known in Chinese and Ayurvedic Medicines for thousands of years. It is the active ingredient of turmeric, which is a component of the curry preparations used daily in Indian and other South Asian cuisines. Since those cuisines have infiltrated the west, modern science has also been investigating the health benefits of turmeric and curcumin.

Curcumin/Turmeric Health Benefits

Don’t confuse curry powder with turmeric. Turmeric is the substance that gives curry its yellowish color, while curcumin is the active ingredient of turmeric that offers the health benefits known in earlier medical traditions and that is being discovered now in western nutritional medicine. Curcumin comprises five percent of turmeric.

Curcumin is both an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant. Epidemiological studies of people who have a high dietary intake of turmeric show a lower incidence of cancer among them. as curcumin also helps create the master anti-oxidant glutathione.

Dr. Russell Blaylock included curcumin extract supplements in his post vaccination first aid kit to minimize the possibility of inflammation and cytokine storm from a vaccination. Curcumin has proven even better for relieving arthritis pains and stiffness than expensive pharmaceuticals, without side effects. It has also been proven to protect the liver and gallbladder.

Many other tests with curcumin extracts have been documented with in vitro (petri dish/test tube) and in vivo (living organisms) trials that show how amyloid plaque, considered a cause of Alzheimer’s, is suppressed by curcumin. There have also been many trials, mostly in vitro, that indicate curcumin helps impede cancer cells’ growth.

Curcumin extracts have been used as an adjunct with orthodox cancer treatments to reduce dosages of toxic cancer drugs.

Curcumin is considered non-toxic. Up to six grams of curcumin daily for extreme cases, such as cancer, has shown no toxic side effects. Since only five percent of turmeric is curcumin, this allows for consuming a good deal of turmeric.

How to Take Curcumin

Curcumin as part of turmeric powder is very beneficial as a daily regimen if taken properly. The problem with curcumin is similar to that of resveratrol: The stomach won’t let it pass through to the small intestines enough to appear significantly in blood serum, where it has to be for cellular nourishment.

That’s easily resolved with turmeric by combining it with fats. Cold pressed oils, coconut oil, organic butter, ghee, raw milk, and organic cottage cheese are optimum choices. It has also been discovered that heat helps absorption without decomposing the curcumin in turmeric. Some users mix turmeric in warm milk. After all, curry involves cooking with some sort of fat.

The curcumin extract capsules, used for extreme conditions or by those who can afford the convenience, pose the same absorption problems with a different set of solutions. This extract is usually in capsules. Enteric coating needs to be used to keep the capsule intact in the stomach yet to allow it to break down in the small intestines, allowing for immediate absorption into the blood.

Enteric coatings are used commonly by Big Pharma, but not by natural supplement providers. So you need to look for that on the label or you’re wasting your money and time.

Some curcumin extract providers insert piperine, an extract of black pepper, to help absorb the curcumin. But curcumin supplements using piperine can cause problems with pharmaceutical medications. So if you are on pharmaceuticals, avoid curcumin extracts with piperine.

Unless your situation warrants higher supplementation, consuming turmeric at one to three teaspoons full per day with fats to get the curcumin into your bloodstream provides an inexpensive, safe,* and efficacious anti-inflammatory, anti-aging boost to your health.

*Those afflicted with hepatitis or gallbladder stones need to use caution.

Sources for more information include:

Ray Sahelian, M.D. Curcumin’s Role in cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and inflammation
http://www.raysahelian.com/curcumin…

The Benefits of Taking Curcumin Daily
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicin…

The World’s Healthiest Foods – Tumeric
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?…

Byron Richards – Curcumin Protects Against Liver and Gallbladder Damage
http://www.wellnessresources.com/he…

Healthy Source – Consumers Guide to Turmeric – Curcumin
http://curcumin-turmeric.net/#compo…

Margaret’s Personal Blog RE Curcumin for Multiple Myeloma (Bone Marrow Cancer)
http://margaret.healthblogs.org/life-with-myeloma/discovery-of-curcumin/

About the author
Paul Fassa has managed to survive the Standard American Diet (SAD) and his youthful folly by deprogramming gradually from mainstream health ideology and studying holistic health matters informally with his wife while incorporating them into his lifestyle as a vegetarian.
He also practices Chi-Lel Chi Gong, and he is trained as a polarity therapy practitioner. He is dedicated to warning others of the corruption of food and medicine in our time, and guiding others toward a better direction for health. You can visit his blog at http://healthmaven.blogspot.com

(NaturalNews) Earlier this year, research linked bisphenol A (BPA), a common component of plastics and a powerful hormone disrupter, to heart disease (http://www.naturalnews.com/027974_b…). Now, in the March issue of the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, researchers have reported yet another newly discovered danger posed by BPA. Hugh S. Taylor, M.D., professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at Yale University, and his research team have found for the first time that BPA exposure during pregnancy can cause abnormalities in the uterus of offspring and permanent alterations in DNA.

But at least you can avoid plastics and therefore avoid exposure to the BPA, right? Unfortunately, another group of scientists has just announced that’s getting harder and harder to do. Bottom line: there is now solid evidence that Earth’s oceans have been contaminated on a global scale with BPA.

Katsuhiko Saido, Ph.D., of Nihon University in Chiba, Japan, and his colleagues announced their startling and worrisome findings at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society held in San Francisco recently. He stated that the massive BPA contamination of oceans resulted from hard plastic trash thrown in the seas as well as from another surprising source — the epoxy plastic paints used to seal the hulls of ships.

“This new finding clearly demonstrates the instability of epoxy, and shows that BPA emissions from epoxy do reach the ocean. Recent studies have shown that mollusks, crustaceans and amphibians could be affected by BPA, even in low concentrations,” Dr. Saido said in a statement to the media.

The scientists noted that light, white-foamed plastic decomposed rapidly at temperatures commonly found in the oceans, releasing the endocrine disruptor BPA. It isn’t just soft plastics that leach BPA, either.

“We were quite surprised to find that polycarbonate plastic biodegrades in the environment,” Dr. Saido explained. “Polycarbonates are very hard plastics, so hard they are used to make screwdriver handles, shatter-proof eyeglass lenses, and other very durable products. This finding challenges the wide public belief that hard plastics remain unchanged in the environment for decades or centuries. Biodegradation, of course, releases BPA to the environment.”

Dr. Saido’s research team analyzed sand and seawater from over 200 sites in 20 countries, including areas in Southeast Asia and North America. Every site tested contained what Dr. Saido labeled as “significant” amounts of BPA, ranging from 0.01 parts per million (ppm) to 50 ppm.

Dr. Saido pointed out that littering currently results in about 150,000 tons of plastic debris washing up on the shores of Japan alone each year. In addition, a huge area of plastic waste known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is about two times the size of Texas, now contaminates the area between California and Hawaii. “Marine debris plastic in the ocean will certainly constitute a new global ocean contamination for long into the future,” Dr. Saido predicted in the press statement.

In yet more BPA news, Rolf Halden, associate professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering at Arizona State University and assistant director of Environmental Biotechnology at the Biodesign Institute, has just published a sobering research article on the hazards of chemical-loaded plastics. His findings, which are included in the latest issue of the Annual Review of Public Health, provide more evidence that plastics in garbage dumps, landfills and the world’s oceans are an ever-increasing toxic problem.

In fact, Dr. Halden concluded in his paper that plastics and their additives such as BPA aren’t only around us; they are inside virtually every human. The chemicals show up in blood and urine tests because they are ingested with the food we eat, the water we drink and from other environmental exposures.

“We’re doomed to live with yesterday’s plastic pollution and we are exacerbating the situation with each day of unchanged behavior,” Dr. Harden said in a press statement. “We are at a critical juncture and cannot continue under the modus that has been established. If we’re smart, we’ll look for replacement materials, so that we don’t have this mismatch — good for a minute and contaminating for 10,000 years.”

by Vincent Racaniello on 29 March 2010

Use of the rotavirus vaccine Rotarix in the US has been temporarily suspended because the vaccine was found to be contaminated with porcine circovirus 1 DNA. The discovery was made in the laboratory of Dr. Eric Delwart, who has provided insight into what was found in Rotarix, and why he was analyzing the vaccine.

Delwart and his colleagues examined the purity of a number of human vaccines:

A little historical perspective about why we decided to analyze these vaccines even though there was absolutely no indications whatsoever that they are at all unsafe. Our intent was to use the latest technologies to show that live attenuated vaccine only contained the expected viral genomes and no other.

The Delwart laboratory obtained samples of eight infectious attenuated viral vaccines from the manufacturers: oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV, Bharat Biotech), rubella (Meruvax-II, Merck), measles (Attenuvax, Merck), yellow fever (YF-Vax, Sanofi Pasteur), human herpes 3 (Varivax, Merck), rotavirus (Rotarix, GlaxoSmithKline; and Rotateq, Merck) and multivalent measles-mumps-rubella (MMR-II, Merck). The vaccines were treated with DNAse and RNAse to remove nucleic acids that are not protected by viral capsids. Nucleic acid was then extracted from the vaccine, amplified by polymerase chain reaction, and subjected to DNA sequencing. A total of 501,753 sequence ‘reads’ were done.

The sequence analysis revealed the expected vaccine strains in each preparation, and in three cases, other unexpected viral sequences. The retrovirus avian leukosis virus was found in the measles vaccine….

Keep reading here: http://www.virology.ws/2010/03/29/deep-sequencing-reveals-viral-vaccine-contaminants/

http://kindergarten.com/

During the UK General Medical Council’s Fitness to Practice Hearing,
Dr Andrew Wakefield was interviewed at length by Alan Golding who asked Dr Wakefield a series of questions about the background to the hearing. The film has not been available to the public until today.
Released for World Autism Awareness Day 2010 the film will be made available over the internet in a series of short sections.
The release is expected to continue throughout the next few weeks.

The full interview and more can be found here: http://goldenhawkprojects.blogspot.com/

Changes since the last update are:

stopped Cytoflora (did not lose gains, would revisit in the future to see if we got another language boost if necessary)

dropped Swanson’s Magnesium Complex

dropped AMLA

dropped Wild Oregano Oil

dropped UBQH as I ran out of it and forgot to reorder, so I decided to see if I saw any decline in any area, which I have not.

Vitamins & Minerals
Lee Silsby ASD Pure Vitamin/Mineral formula – 6 Capsules per day
MB-12 Injections
BioTech Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) – 5000 IU
Swanson Vitamin E Mixed Tocopherols – 800 IU
Klaire’s Micellized vitamin A – 5 drops per day
Swanson Vitamin C – 3-4 caps per day
Swanson Biotin – 5mg caps 3 caps per day
Kirkman Zinc – 20mg – 2 caps at night

Omega Fish Oil / Cod Liver Oil / Essential Oils & Fatty Acids
Nordic Naturals Complete Omega 3-6-9 – 3 gelcaps
Organic Coconut Oil softgels – 1 soft gel per day

Probiotics & Prebiotics
Culturelle – 2 capsules per day
Klaire Detox Probiotic – 2 capsules per day

Anti-fungals & Anti-bacterials, Anti-Virals, yeast-fighting, etc.
Enhansa from Lee Silsby – 1800mg per day — give No-Fenol with Enhansa if child has phenol issues (red cheeks/ears)

Enzymes
Houston Nutraceuticals No Phenol – given with Enhansa only now
Houston Nutraceuticals Tri-Enza – with meals

For the liver
Liver life (2 dropperfuls per day)

For constipation
Oxypowder – (to keep his bowels moving) – only as needed (this stuff is fantastic!)

Other
4Life Transfer Factor Tri-Factor Formula – 200mg – 2 capsules 3x per day
Georges Always Active 100% Aloe Vera – about 2-4 ounces per day

Since Nicholas is on Spring Break this week, I’ve extended Round 75. In order to keep the number of rounds straight, I’m splitting them into the number of hours his usual rounds last.
He’s been great so far on the longer round. We tried this in the past and had to end the round, but this time, things are different.

Nicholas was awesome this weekend!!

Merck KGaA halts cancer vaccine trial
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Merck KGaA on Tuesday said it’s halting trials of a cancer vaccine after a patient contracted a brain disease.

Darmsteadt, Germany-based Merck /quotes/comstock/11e!fmrk (DE:MRK 59.21, -0.09, -0.15%) said it’s temporarily suspending its clinical program for Stimuvax after a patient in Phase II trials taking the vaccine in combination with a low-dose chemotherapy drug called cyclophosphamide contracted encephalitis, which is a form of rare brain inflammation.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has also put a clinical hold on Stimuvax, which is licensed from Seattle-based Oncothyreon /quotes/comstock/15*!onty/quotes/nls/onty (ONTY 3.42, -0.07, -2.01%) .

“We understand that Merck Serono is working closely with the FDA, other regulatory agencies and the patient’s physicians to evaluate the implications of this adverse reaction and to determine an appropriate course of action,” said Oncothyreon CEO Robert Kirkman.

Merck, unrelated to the American drug maker of the same name, noted that other Stimuvax studies are not used with the same intensity of cyclophosphamide.

It said the move was a “precautionary” one while it studies the “adverse event.”

Though the affected patient was using the vaccine due to multiple myeloma, Merck said late-stage trials for non-small cell lung cancer and breast cancer also are impacted.

Shares of Merck dropped 0.8% in afternoon Frankfurt trade, and the company’s stock has lost about 6% of its value over the last year.

“We have never included a [net present value] for the product in our valuation and would expect the market to have been cautious as well. Nevertheless, expect some pressure on the stock today as a result of this news,” said analysts at WestLB of Merck.

For Oncothyreon, the reaction was more severe — shares plummeted 28% in early trade.

Steve Goldstein is MarketWatch’s London bureau chief.

and

Merck KGaA halts cancer trial after brain inflammation case
23 March 2010
Shares in Merck KGaA have slipped this morning after the German firm suspended a mid-stage trial of its cancer vaccine Stimuvax after a patient suffered an “unexpected serious adverse reaction”, ie encephalitis.

The Darmstadt-based company noted that one of 30 patients participating in a Phase II trial of the vaccine in patients with multiple myeloma developed encephalitis, or acute inflammation of the brain. The patient received the vaccine (licensed from the USA’s Oncothyreon) in combination with “an intensified schedule of low-dose cyclophosphamide, which is not used in the other Stimuvax studies”. Merck noted that it has now stopped recruitment and treatment of patients in all studies of the vaccine, including the Phase III non-small-cell lung cancer trials called START and INSPIRE, as well as the late-stage STRIDE study in patients with breast cancer.

The company says it will work closely with the regulatory authorities, particularly with the US Food and Drug Administration (which has placed a clinical hold on the Investigational New Drug application for Stimuvax) “to evaluate the implications of the adverse reaction on the clinical development programme” for the vaccine “and determine the most suitable course of action”. Merck added that the move is a precautionary measure as it finds out what caused the patient to contract encephalitis – indeed some patients have been taking Stimuvax for eight years without any serious problems.

Some analysts are fearing the worst, however. Andrew Baum at Morgan Stanley issued a research note saying that the suspension of the clinical programme for Stimuvax “constitutes another blow to the company’s pipeline”, coming as it does on the back of regulatory rejections for Erbitux (cetuximab) as a treatment for advanced lung cancer. Merck also received a ‘refuse to file’ letter from the FDA for its oral multiple sclerosis drug cladribine in November last year, though it should be noted that regulators on this side of the Atlantic were satisfied with the submission and are reviewing the pill.

Richard Parkes at Piper Jaffray wrote that “we are surprised at such a swift decision to halt recruitment based on a single case of encephalitis, and it remains possible that other less severe signals of neurological adverse events may have contributed to the decision”.

By Kevin Grogan

http://truthaboutgardasil.org/wp-content/themes/city-thunder/ppt/030610FDApresentation.pdf

If you’re thinking of giving these to your daughter, please reconsider. Your daughter’s life is worth more than the risk here.

(CNN) — Federal health authorities recommended Monday that doctors suspend using Rotarix, one of two vaccines licensed in the United States against rotavirus, saying the vaccine is contaminated with material from a pig virus.

“There is no evidence at this time that this material poses a safety risk,” Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg told reporters in a conference call.

Rotarix, made by GlaxoSmithKline, was approved by the FDA in 2008. The contaminant material is DNA from porcine circovirus 1, a virus from pigs that is not known to cause disease in humans or animals, Hamburg said.

About 1 million children in the United States and about 30 million worldwide have gotten Rotarix vaccine, she said.

Rotavirus disease kills more than 500,000 infants around the world each year, primarily in low- and middle-income countries, she said. Before rotavirus vaccine became available, the disease was blamed for more than 50,000 hospitalizations and several dozen deaths per year in the United States, she said.

The FDA learned about the contamination after an academic research team using a novel technique to look for viruses in a range of vaccines found the material in GlaxoSmithKline’s product and told the company, Hamburg said. The drug maker confirmed its presence in both the cell bank and the seed from which the vaccine is derived, suggesting its presence from the early stages of vaccine development, she said. The FDA then confirmed the drug maker’s findings.

GlaxoSmithKline emphasized Monday that the pig virus is not known to cause illness in humans, saying “it is found in everyday meat products and is frequently eaten with no resulting disease or illness.”

“No safety issue has been identified by external agencies or GSK,” Thomas Breuer, the drug maker’s chief medical officer, said in a written statement. “GSK is committed to patient safety and to the highest manufacturing standards for all our vaccines and medicines. We are already working closely and discussing this finding with regulatory agencies around the world.”

Another vaccine, RotaTeq, is made by Merck and was approved in 2006. There is no evidence that the Merck product is affected, Hamburg said. Both vaccines are given by mouth to infants to prevent rotavirus disease, which is marked by severe diarrhea and dehydration.

Asked whether Merck would be able to meet the nation’s demand, Merck spokeswoman Pam Eisele said, “Obviously, we will work with the … FDA to evaluate supply needs.”

In the next four to six weeks, the drug agency will convene an advisory committee to make recommendations and seek input on the use of new techniques for identifying viruses in vaccine, Hamburg said.

“We’re not pulling it from the market, we’re just suspending its use during this period while we’re collecting more information,” she said. “It should not be in this vaccine product and we want to understand how it got there. It’s not an easy call and we spent many long hours debating the pros and cons but, because we have an alternative product and because the background rates of this disease are not so severe in this country, we felt that the judicious thing to do was to take a pause, to really ask the critical questions about what this material was doing in the vaccine, how it got there.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, said “a substantial amount” of the DNA was found in the vaccine. But, he stressed, “there is no evidence that it causes any disease. … There is no evidence that it ever does anything.”

The research group that discovered the contamination has asked not to be identified pending its paper’s publication in a scientific journal, Hamburg said.

Anyone who has already received a dose of Rotarix should switch to the Merck product for the next two doses, Hamburg said. Preliminary testing of the Merck product has found no evidence of the porcine circovirus 1 DNA, she said. Doctors should be able to tell parents which of the two products their children received, she said.

Hamburg stressed that the suspension applies only to the United States. Public health officials in countries where the incidence of rotavirus is more severe may decide that the benefits of continuing to use the vaccine outweigh any concerns raised by the contamination, she said. “Such a decision would be very understandable,” she added.

A similar virus, porcine circovirus 2, also does not cause disease in humans, but it does cause disease in its pig host, Hamburg said.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/03/20/david-ayoub-interview-february-2010.aspx

“Diabetics who drink large amounts of aspartame-sweetened drinks are more likely to go blind. Aspartame is composed of the excitotoxin aspartic acid, methanol (also a known eye toxin) and the amino acid phenylalanine. Given this evidence, then, why do the American Diabetes Association and thousands of doctors encourage their diabetic patients to use aspartame? At least where the American Diabetes Association is concerned, it may have something to do with the fact that the organization has received large monetary contributions from Monsanto, the manufacturer of NutraSweet®!”

http://dearthyroid.org/

I was so inspired by a live-streaming speech given by Sally Fallon Morrell, the president of the Weston A. Price foundation, this week at the Wise Traditions Conference on how and what to eat (that is, real, whole, traditionally-prepared foods). This woman is truly a food science and food history genius and her lecture really drives home the point: do not trust industrial/processed food to sustain us or nourish us. If anything, trust processed food to send us into a diseased state. This is because we are expecting for-profit companies to sell us high quality and high-nutrition goods. Quite frankly, it ain’t gonna happen. Instead, giant food manufacturers sell chemical concoctions and processing byproduct waste as foods safe to consume. Or, as Sally Fallon brilliantly put it, “The goal is to make fake foods out of the products of commodity agriculture.” The food is highly manipulated, sterile, and artificially constructed — nothing as naturally occurs in nature. Why wouldn’t it be destructive to our bodies?

In an article on the fake foods and chemicals invading our diets, Fallon touches on one of the staples of any typical American breakfast — orange juice. How terrible could that be? Well, she says, “Have you ever wondered why processed orange juice stays cloudy, why the solids do not settle? This is because soy protein combined with soluble pectin is added, and this keeps the juice permanently cloudy. It might be interesting to know, for those of you who are allergic to soy.”

Keep reading here…
http://dearthyroid.org/how-to-kick-your-thyroids-ass-two-hidden-sources-of-soy-at-your-breakfast-table/

Decades ago, when chemists were churning out new discoveries and industry was making “better living through chemistry,” the belief was widely held that chemicals do not cross the placenta. We now know that mother’s chemical exposure can affect her baby’s chances for a normal, healthy life, especially in early pregnancy when a fetus’ growth is being carefully regulated by a host of natural chemical messengers in the womb.

Should you worry? Well, first of all, women have been giving birth joyfully for decades after the advent of industrialization. It is a thrilling, suspense-ridden process with no certain answers — with a high probability that you will have created the greatest treasure of your life. Don’t let fears overwhelm your enjoyment of nine months of miracles. But do use common sense, and a little dose of facts, to help protect your little bundle of joy as much as you can.

Continue reading here….
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/beauty-products-you-must-ditch-during-pregnancy.php?campaign=daily_nl

Cutler’s protocol is not just simply dosing dmsa & ala every 3-4 hours. If you change any of the variables, you are not necessarily following Andy’s protocol. I’m getting more and more feedback lately from parents that concern me, so I just want to clarify a few things in hopes that it helps…

1. Night dosing IS required. Skipping the night doses or deciding to dose at midnight, then 8am – is NOT this protocol. Eliminating the dose in the middle defeats the purpose of doing the protocol as you are now creating several opportunities for the redistribution of metals versus the one per round stated on Andy’s protocol.

2. Cutler protocol consists of LOW, not high doses. If you start with high doses, versus the 1/8th -1/4 mg per pound, you are not increasing the amount of metals that are going to be pulled as much as you might think. The whole point of the protocol is to dose low so as few side effects are experienced as necessary, not to make yourself or your child miserable. You DO NOT start a 40 pound child on a 25mg dose. We saw results with 8mg! Have a little faith before you go overboard with the dose.

3. The point is not to make yourself or your child miserable thinking you are pulling more. The top dose is 1/2mg per pound. Again, you are not increasing the amount of metals that are going to be pulled as much as you might think. The whole point of the protocol is to dose low so as few side effects are experienced as necessary, not to make yourself or your child miserable.

4. “sprinkles” of dmsa and/or ala is not Cutler’s protocol Capsules should be divided into the doses you intend to give. I hear of parents opening capsules and just giving a sprinkle of each not knowing how much they are or aren’t giving. If you cannot eyeball the contents of the capsule to divide into the appropriate dose, ask your dr for a script and get them compounded to the correct dose.

5. Starting multiple protocols at one time is a bad idea. This should be common sense, I would hope. Starting an aggressive anti-viral protocol at the same time you start chelating is not recommended. Most find that waiting to start addressing viruses until after round 50 makes life so much easier for all involved.
.
6. Ignoring yeast Do not assume that your child does not have yeast issues. If you are chelating and not seeing gains, it could be that any gains you would see are hidden by yeast. Have a test run and see before you assume otherwise. Then get on a good anti-fungal, whether it’s natural or rx and see if that clears it up.

7. Adding products like NDF, NDF+, chorella, cilantro, etc.Adding any of these to Cutler’s protocol is not a good idea. You can search Autism-Mercury’s archives for Andy’s explanation if you so choose and I would actually recommend you doing just that. For me, there is not enough research about any of these being a true chelator doing more than just moving metals around. Using dmsa and ala have worked very well here.

If you are a parent of a newly-diagnosed child, this book is one of the first you should read. There is hope. There is recovery. You are not alone.

The New York Times bestseller that is an inspiring “story of hope” (People) for parents of autistic children

One morning Jenny McCarthy was having a cup of coffee when she sensed something was wrong. She ran into her two-year-old son Evan’s room and found him having a seizure. Doctor after doctor misdiagnosed Evan until—after many harrowing, life-threatening episodes—one good doctor discovered that Evan is autistic.

With a foreword from Dr. David Feinberg, medical director of the Resnick Neuro-psychiatric Hospital at UCLA, and an introduction by Jerry J. Kartzinel, a top pediatric autism specialist, Louder Than Words follows Jenny as she discovered an intense combination of behavioral therapy, diet, and supplements that became the key to saving Evan from autism. Her story sheds much-needed light on autism through her own heartbreak, struggle, and ultimately hopeful example of how a parent can shape a child’s life and happiness.

“Mercury Induces Inflammatory Mediator Release from Human Mast Cells,”

Conclusion: HgCl2 stimulates VEGF and IL-6 release from human mast cells. This phenomenon could disrupt the blood-brain-barrier and permit brain inflammation. As a result, the findings of the pres…ent study provide a biological mechanism for how low levels of mercury may contribute to ASD pathogenesis.

Article: http://www.jneuroinflammation.com/content/7/1/20

Link to Study: http://www.jneuroinflammation.com/content/pdf/1742-2094-7-20.pdf

Changes since the last update are:

reduced Cytoflora to maintenance dose of 5 dropperfuls per day (so far so good)

added Wild Oil of Oregano (to keep bacteria and yeast in check)

added Organic Coconut Oil

Vitamins & Minerals
Lee Silsby ASD Pure Vitamin/Mineral formula – 6 Capsules per day
MB-12 Injections
BioTech Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) – 5000 IU
Swanson Vitamin E Mixed Tocopherols – 800 IU
Klaire’s Micellized vitamin A – 5 drops per day
Swanson’s Triple Magnesium Complex – 1 cap per day
AMLA – 3-4 caps per day
Swanson Vitamin C – 3-4 caps per day
Swanson Biotin – 5mg caps 3 caps per day
Kirkman Zinc – 20mg – 2 caps at night

Omega Fish Oil / Cod Liver Oil / Essential Oils & Fatty Acids
Nordic Naturals Complete Omega 3-6-9 – 3 gelcaps
Organic Coconut Oil softgels – 1 soft gel per day

Probiotics & Prebiotics
Culturelle – 2 capsules per day
Klaire Detox Probiotic – 2 capsules per day
Bioray Cytoflora – 5 dropperfuls per day

Amino Acids
none given at this time

Anti-fungals & Anti-bacterials, Anti-Virals, yeast-fighting, etc.
Enhansa from Lee Silsby – 1800mg per day — give No-Fenol with Enhansa if child has phenol issues (red cheeks/ears)
Oreganol Wild Oil of Oregano P73 – 2 gelcaps per day

Enzymes
Houston Nutraceuticals No Phenol – given with Enhansa only now
Houston Nutraceuticals Tri-Enza – with meals

For the liver
Liver life (2 dropperfuls per day)

For constipation
Oxypowder – (to keep his bowels moving) – only as needed (this stuff is fantastic!)

Other
4Life Transfer Factor Tri-Factor Formula – 200mg – 2 capsules 3x per day
Georges Always Active 100% Aloe Vera – about 2-4 ounces per day
Integrative Therapeudics Inc UBQH Patented Stabilized Reduced Ubiquinol – 100mg 1 cap per day

His language continues to grow in leaps and bounds. He still has some trouble with certain sounds, but from what I understand, the cluster of sounds he is having trouble with is not un-common and pretty much typical for all kids as their language is developing. As described by his teachers and speech therapist, his vocabulary is “tremendous”. They have found that there is nothing that he cannot correctly label – and they’ve tried to trip him up apparently. The things he says continue to amaze us all.

Nicholas has continued going to karate twice a week and is loving it. He quickly and easily integrated to be a part of the class, gets along with everyone, has friends there – and really looks forward to going. We don’t have any issue getting him to wear the uniform. When he comes out of the classroom, he’s excited and energized and just has the biggest smile on his face. He loves showing us what he’s learned when we get home.

He is doing so well in school!!! He’s reading lots of words, is writing letters and numbers and has actually started drawing pictures. Real pictures – from his imagination! About a month or so ago, he came home with two pictures – similar, but not the same. They are pictures of buildings. Each one has several floors with windows on each floor. In one picture, there is a student and a teacher in each window. In the other, just students. It is raining in both pictures. I recently had a parent teacher conference where I was able to ask if this came from a story they did in class and they had no idea where those pictures came from. They were blown away by them. Last week, he brought home a picture that he had drawn of several people. He actually drew body shapes – not just lines for the body and legs.

His coloring skills have improved greatly. For the most part, he is coloring in the lines and is using appropriate colors. No random scribbling. He also told a fellow student that she needed to color between the lines.

I was able to see part of an assembly they did for Presidents day where each child had a line to recite. I had no idea about this until I saw it on the teacher’s computer during our conference. Nicholas said his line – standing in line with the other kids – it was amazing to see!!

He’s doing really well socializing and chatting with the other kids in class and during snack and lunch. He comes home and tells me what he did in school and if any of his friends got punished and what they did that got them in trouble.

He goes to assemblies in school and doesn’t have to be held onto like he used to be. Now, he goes and watches the presentations and actually enjoys himself.

Nicholas is doing so well on the computer that we had to buy him his own laptop – a real one, not a kiddie one. He’s learned so much from different learning sites like starfall.com and a whole bunch of others, that it seemed like a logical Christmas gift – after all, how many more toys does he need? It ended up being a great idea – his skills have blossomed and many seemed shocked at how much he can do by himself on it.

He loves going to the library at school and getting a new book to read. He loves show and tell too.

We can now take Nicholas pretty much anywhere and he behaves better than the NT kids. A couple of weekends ago, we went out for dinner – the first time in a long time (we’ve been cooking alot since having our kitchen redone). When we first walked in, the restaurant was SO loud that it hurt my ears – Nicholas covered his ears for a second, said it was loud – we agreed. Here’s where I thought we were goners… but nope, he sat at the table and was a perfectly behaved kid the entire meal. We brought along his nintendo ds and he played a couple of games, but was also interacting with us as well. He didn’t just sit there with his head down the whole time. When our meals came out, he ate with us like the perfect little gentleman. (There was a table right next to us with kids on one end, adults on the other. The kids were loud and roudy as can be (with not one word from their parents) – all while Nicholas behaved. On the way home, Daddy, Grandpa and Grandma stopped at Dairy Queen to pick up some ice cream. Usually, Daddy and Grandpa will go get the ice cream and Nicholas hangs out in the car – not this time. He wanted to go with them and order ice cream. He gets up to the window and the girl asks him what he wants and he says, “I want a white one please” then added that he wanted vanilla. She asked him if he wanted sprinkles to which he said yes and then chose rainbow sprinkles. (He does not like eating sprinkles, but loves looking at them) I was so sorry I missed this, but just hearing about it blew me away. (Yes, he can now have casein without any reaction. No enzymes either.)

He understood who Santa Claus is and was so excited about him coming from early November. He made a list for Santa and marked days off the calendar mid-November until Christmas. He understood what valentines day was and was excited to give his classmates valentines. He’s now looking forwad to Easter so he can find and color easter eggs.

He recently realized just how many DVDs are in his collection. They’ve always been in his armoire, but he suddenly noticed all of them. He had to take them all out, check each one out and is watching one at a time. He’ll either tell me, “I really like this, are there any more like this?” or “I don’t like this, can I watch this instead?”

He seems to want to do really physical boy things lately. Last weekend, he tried to flip his grandfather over the back of the couch. He quickly realized that he wasn’t gonna budge grandpa. He leaned up against the back of the couch and went and got a chair. None of us knew what he was doing, but didn’t stop him. He positioned the chair in front of grandpa – then he lifted one of his legs up and put it on the chair (throwing off his center of balance) and then lifted the other leg to help hoist him up and over the couch. NO one showed him how to do this.

He loves to race from one end of the house to the other. He will not leave his competitor behind and always takes turns when it comes to who wins. He wants to hang finish lines up across the doorway between rooms.

He asks to go places and to do things. He thanks us for taking him places and for buying him things.

More of his sense of humor comes through every day. If one of us says one thing, he jumps into the conversation to deliberately disagree with us and then runs away laughing.

He wants friends to come over and play – all the time.

He asks to see people he has not seen in a while – even if they’re never mentioned in front of him. So, he’s remembering people on his own and wants to see them!

He wants to help do everything – especially cooking. I cannot believe how well he can crack an egg!

He asks for specific things he wants.

I can count the number of tantrums he has in the past 12 months on one hand – and those were provoked to see how he would handle himself. Just this difference in him is astounding.

He’s very into arts and crafts, drawing and painting, making stuff out of play-dough (not just squeezing it and rolling it) – and is very into reading books and trying to read by himself.

He is very eager for spring to arrive – he wants to plant flowers and food. And yet, he loves to go outside and help shovel the snow. He made his first snowman recently – and was just thrilled he helped put him together. He ran to the window to check on him several times and thought we should bring him inside for the night.

He went sledding yesterday for the first time – and he had the time of his life – we never heard him laugh like that – ever! We could never take him before, he just never “got it” and he would never sit in the tube. He has been begging to go sledding again all day.

On things that we’ve done for him or are trying to do for him – we now get told, “I want to do it by myself”

One thing I thought we would never be able to do with him that truly broke my heart was to be able to see him enjoy Disney World. After getting off the phone with Disney reservations the other day, I cried. Not many people would understand why. Not many would truly understand the accomplishment that this is – none of us ever thought we’d be here. Nicholas is bubbling over with excitement and wants to get on the plane to see Mickey every day. (and he also wants to bring all of his friends.)

I almost forgot a few of the biggies…. we’re getting WHY questions and HOW questions. And now he’s very interested in science things like how does water become ice? And he wants to know if things are real and how we know if they’re real?

I don’t remember if I ever made reference to this on here, but a couple of months ago – Nicholas showed Grandma a picture of daddy, grandpa and great grandpa. Nicholas was 9 months old when great grandpa died. He said, there’s daddy and grandpa and great-grandpa, he’s in heaven and has to come back to earth. (We never TOLD him great grandpa died, he was too young, we didn’t have to.)

We just got back from Toys R Us. He’s downstairs happily playing a new game. He asked me earlier today if he could go buy a particular game for our Nintendo Wii. This was our conversation verbatim….
Nicholas: “Mommy, I really like the Dora Saves the Snow Princess game, can I go buy the Dora & The Crystal Kingdom Game?”
Mommy: “I think so, we need to get dressed first though”
Nicholas: “Ok, you go take a shower and I’ll get my clothes.”
Mommy: “Ok. Do you want to watch a DVD while I get ready?”
Nicholas: “Yes, can put Little Einsteins on for me?”
Mommy: “Yes”
Nicholas: “Thank you, Mommy”

Woah – I’m so used to conversations like this anymore that it doesn’t blow me away until I write it down.

So, I get dressed and I’m downstairs waiting for him…

Mommy: “Nicholas, Mommy’s ready to go – do you want to go or watch your DVD?”
Nicholas: “I’m coming…” as he runs down the hall
Nicholas: “Is there still snow? Should I wear my boots? Mommy, where are my boots?”
Mommy: “Yes, the snow is still there. Do you want to wear your boots or sneakers?”
Nicholas: “Boots” he grabs them, ‘Mommy, can you help me put these on, I have trouble with them?”
Mommy: “Sure, Nicholas”
Nicholas: “thank you Mommy. Can you get my jacket off the hook? I can’t reach it.”
Mommy: “Here it is.”
Nicholas: “can you help me get it on?”
Mommy: “Sure.” I helped him get his coat on. “Wait for me, I need to put mine on.”
Nicholas: “Do you need me to help you with your coat?”
Mommy: “No, thank you, I’ve got it – ready to go?”
Nicholas: “Hooray!”

So, we’re on our way to Toys R Us. Nicholas comments about the snow, the huge puddles we’re driving through. He says, “Mommy, the snow is melting, that’s why there are so many big puddles, right?”

We walk through the parking lot and go into Toys R Us with Nicholas standing BESIDE me. No shopping cart. No death hand-holding grip. He’s commenting on the people shopping and going into the other stores to buy different stuff, but not toys.

We go into the store and he asks if he can look at the trains. So, I said sure – we headed over to the Thomas stuff and he hands me something and says, “Can I buy this?” I told him we were there for a Wii game (or two) and we’d see. In less than 5 minutes he was done looking at the train stuff and we walked over to the games. We found Dora (locked up behind glass) and I said we have to go find someone to get it for us. So we went looking for an associate – and I asked them to open the case for us. We follow him back there and he asks which game. Nicholas says (and points) to Dora and the Crystal Cave – and says, “wow, look Mommy – can I get Toy Story too?”

We go to the register, he hands the games (yes games, I am a pushover) to the associate and says, “I’d like to pay for these please” and then hands him his TRU gift card he got for Christmas. After mommy paid the rest of the balance, we left with no incident.

This is what shopping is like with Nicholas now. There is no more screaming, tantruming, demanding child that there once was. There is no child that has to have EVERYTHING that he sees. I gave him a choice – the Thomas thing he picked out or the games. He picked the games – and said, “maybe I’ll get that another day” referring to the Thomas thing.

If we do a really great job on new vaccines, healthcare, reproductive health services, we could lower that (the population) by perhaps 10 or 15 percent.

About 4 minutes and 30 seconds into this video:
http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates.html

By Dr Sherri Tenpenny
February 14, 2010

I’ve been asked many times over the last few weeks to share my opinion on the verdict of the U.K’s General Medical Council (GMC) about Dr. Andrew Wakefield and the retraction of his 1998 article, “Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children” by the medical journal, Lancet. The many inquiries fall into four basic questions.

Question #1: What do you know about Dr. Wakefield’s 1998 paper? Do you feel the response of the GMC was appropriate?
Question #2: Do you have concerns over Dr. Wakefield’s failure to disclose financial links to a malpractice attorney and to patents he was working on to develop a single vaccine solution?
Question #3: Do you think the Lancet was justified in pulling the paper for pure scientific reasons?
Question #4: Are you simply a blinded, “Dr. Andy Groupie”?

Read Dr. Tenpenny’s answers here: http://drtenpenny.com/Wakefield_Inquisitioners_Have_their_day.aspx

Nicholas has been healing, recovering for quite some time now. We’re almost to the three year mark in his recovery and I am thankful for the tremendous progress he has made. None of this has been a “quick fix”; none of this has come without a price in one way or another. And not one of his accomplishments to date has been overlooked – we are thrilled with each step forward. Actually thrilled is not a strong enough word.

I’d like to share some things that I feel should be part of “Biomed for Autism Recovery 101″ – I hope this list is helpful….. I have picked up from experience along the way and I hope these spare you with having to figure this out for yourself. This post is not aimed at anyone – it’s just my way of trying to be helpful to anyone who is in the beginning of this journey.

In no particular order….

“This is a marathon, not a sprint…”
I know I used to get tired of hearing, “this is a marathon, not a sprint” – because let’s face it, we want our kids back NOW. But, it’s true. This is not a sprint. We are repairing our children’s bodies, their brains and many of us are cleaning up our lives with our new found knowledge. I wish recovery could happen overnight, but it takes time. It is important to pace yourself and not rush into anything. It is also important to research one area and understand it to the best of your ability before moving on to the next and the next and the next and the next.

For many children, recovering from autism is not a one-year deal. We’ve been doing biomedical intervention for three years and while my son, who has come a tremendous distance in that time – we still have a distance left to travel.

Recovery means different things to different people
Understand that different people view “recovered” differently and do not make assumptions based on your definition without taking their definition and circumstances (cause and severity of their child’s injury) into account. What do I mean by this? Recovery means different things to different people. There is wide range of opinions out there on the definition of recovered. Here are a few:

These are just a few definitions of recovery I have heard – but until you are immersed into this world, it’s hard to understand the differences – but when researching treatments and supplements and talking to parents who have gone through this before you – this is one thing that having an understanding of will help you in the long run. Do not make any assumptions just because they use the word, “recovered.”

Pace yourself when adding supplements
Go slow… Adding supplements one after another and another and another is not a wise choice. Starting a new supplement on Monday and then adding a new supplement on Wednesday is not a good idea. Why? Well, for one, supplements are expensive and the cost adds up quickly. So why spend money on something that is not working when there are other things that you could spend it on that might work? Two, why give your child a supplement he/she clearly does not need? It’s just more for their bodies to process and if it’s unnecessary, then why put your child through this?? Three – sometimes bad reactions to a supplement could take more than a day or two to be evident. Four – if you start a new supplement too soon and then start seeing good gains, which supplement did it? The new one you just started today? or the one you started 2 days ago? Knowing which supplements that don’t work for your child is as important as knowing which ones that do/did. (There are going to be supplements that your child may need regardless if you see any improvement or not – and these supplements should also be given an adequate amount of trial time before moving onto the next one.)

Here’s an example…. you start supplement X and after 3 days, the child is doing some new stuff. So you start supplement Y and you see even more great things. Which supplement caused the 2nd boost? X or Y? Problem is, you don’t know until you remove Y and see if you lose gains or keep gaining. So, after a week or two of removing Y and watching – then adding it back and watching it again, you figure out it was Y, but then, X might have done all it can and you don’t need it, but because you added Y so quickly, you keep giving X because you think it’s still needed when if you had just done x for 2 weeks in the first place, you might have seen that it was a fluke that he/she was doing great stuff for those three days because by the end of the 2 weeks, it had fizzled out.

Don’t buy tons of new supplements at one time
When placing supplement orders, do NOT buy more than ONE (or two) NEW supplements at a time. You will save yourself $$ – because more times than not, if you buy a bunch of new ones to try – you will probably end up changing your mind or seeing something else that you want to try FIRST. Buy a new one and try it. Decide whether or not it’s a keeper and move on….

Do not RUN OUT of current supplements when starting new ones
Do not let yourself run out of current supplements when you are starting new supplements. If you run out of x and then start Y and see your child regress, why did he/she regress? Was it because he/she is missing X? or was it because Y isn’t right for him/her?

Supplement Breaks & Restarting After a Break
Take a supplement break every once in a while. If you have the opportunity to stop all or most of your child’s supplements for a little while, do it. Sometimes their bodies just need a break – and sometimes you will find that a supplement that was once needed is no longer needed or that a lower dose would work just fine.

When you decide to restart, you want to add one back at a time just like you originally did – but SLOWLY and at smaller doses than what you were at before. Don’t take 2 weeks off and then put back everything at 100% of the doses the next day. If you start seeing regression, then add them back more quickly than if you do not see regression, but don’t just put everything back in place in an instant.

Don’t write off supplements forever
If your child reacts poorly to a supplement, don’t write it off forever. It might be that at this point in time, he/she cannot tolerate it or it might mean that he/she needs another supplement with it. Or maybe they don’t need it now, but might need it in the future.

Find out why they reacted poorly to a supplement
If you child reacts poorly to a supplement, try to find out why – He/she not doing well on something could provide you with some insight or a hypothesis as to what’s going on with your child’s body.

Never assume supplement formulas don’t change
Do not assume supplement formulas do not change from bottle to bottle. It is always best to compare the ingredients on bottle you just bought with the one you are throwing away.

Changing supplement brands
Changing supplement brands should be treated in the same way as adding a new supplement. And only change one at a time.

Work on swallowing capsules
For the longest time, Nicholas was drinking his disgusting supplement cocktail. Even though every day was a challenge to get him to drink it all, I would eventually prevail. Well, at some point, he flat out refused and who could really blame him? Having him not take his vitamins was not acceptable and me being stressed out constantly trying to get him to drink it was also unacceptable, so I started working on getting him to swallow capsules. And it was one of the best things I did. I started him on the tiny Oil of Oregano capsules – one per day – they are smaller than a raisin, but bigger than a tic tac. After a week or so of him being comfortable with him swallowing one of these, I moved up to the smallest regular capsule size and did this until we hit the large fish oil gelcaps. Right now, he swallows 2 of the big ones at a time with no problem whatsoever. This was one of the biggest life changing, freeing moments we had. And there was a visible difference in him going from drinking supplements to swallowing the capsules. So, all that time – how much money were we wasting on supplements that had either no effect or a lesser effect because they were mixed in liquid? Free yourself from the nasty smoothies, shooting syringes down their throats and teach them how to take their supplements. After all, it is something they are going to need to do along with putting on their clothes and shoes.

MLM Schemes
Watch out for MLM (multi-level marketing) schemes and bias from parents involved with them. I have come across warrior parents who are just looking to sell me something, telling me that it “pushed their child into recovery”, that it is the “magic bullet”, etc. And maybe for their child it was what pushed them into recovery – or maybe they would have gotten there without it and it was merely a coincidence. Or maybe it’s just a flat out lie.

I have friends who are representatives/distributors for various supplement companies and I trust them when they tell me that they became a distributor for a product because of how it helped their children/themselves because I know details about their children, their on-going recoveries, etc.

So don’t interpret this as me saying MLM supplements are bad, because that’s not what I am saying. There are a lot of good companies out there. Do your research is all that I am saying – don’t take someone’s word for something just because they are a fellow warrior parent.

Parents getting kick-backs for treatment referals
Don’t let one child’s progress or recovery lead you into spending mega-bucks on a therapy or treatment for your child. I have heard of parents getting kick-backs for referrals, which I am sure were not disclosed to those paying for their child to receive the treatment/therapy.

Do your own research! Don’t blindly follow one parent’s advice
Do your own research. I cannot stress this one enough. Each group, message board, etc. has a parent or parents who seem to be the ones answering all the questions. This does not mean that they 1) have all the answers and 2) have recovered a child anything like yours. So, make note of what they’re telling you – then use that as a direction to start your own research and make your own decisions.

Do not compare biomed progress
Try not to compare your child’s progress (biomedically) to another child. Some children are easier to recover than others. What caused autism for one child may not be the same reason as to why your child has autism. They all have different issues and may recover in different areas at a different pace. What may bring language in one child might bring increased cognitive awareness in another. Also, the level of injury of each child varies, so this needs to be taken into account as well.

Spinning in Circles
Don’t let other parents, who you think are more knowledgeable than you spin you in circles. Your child is your child and you are the only one that knows everything about them. So if you mention you want to research A and they suggest B – make sure you research both A & B – don’t just drop A to run after B because of what they said.

Massive Healing Regressions are Unnecessary
Pushing your child through massive healing regressions constantly is unnecessary in most cases. It’s one thing for them to regress a little when starting anti-fungals, anti-virals, chelation, etc. but it’s completely another story to push them through something that makes you lose a year’s worth of gains in a matter of days. Starting low and going slow is always a good idea. I had pushed Nicholas through a “healing regression” over a year ago and while we saw good things, it was unnecessary to put him (and us) through that and I would never do it again. At the time, I was blinded by all of the progress and new language that came along with the massive regression, so I pushed through, but it was stupid and almost cost me my marriage. Don’t misunderstand what I am saying – sometimes you have to deal with some negatives to get to the positives and sometimes moving forward and getting to the next step means pushing through some regression – which especially happens when starting anti-fungals for the first time. Sometimes you have to deal with a moody, cranky, tantruming, etc. kid for a few days – this is not what I am talking about. What I am referring to is a major, major regression.

Research Tips
As you are researching, make a list of other research you want to do so you can go back to the new subject later. This is helpful in keeping you on task so that you can thoroughly research the area you are on before moving to another. It’s very easy to jump from one thing to another and another and miss a crucial detail that could mean all the difference to your child.

Journal Everything
I cannot stress this enough…. Keep a journal of all things about your child. Include what food they eat, poop, mood, new things they say/do, behaviors, etc. Also be sure to keep a supplement journal noting what supplements were missed, new supplements, changed dosages, etc. You would be surprised how helpful this will be.

The right doctor for your child isn’t necessarily the most expensive DAN doctor
Just because the DAN charges the highest rate doesn’t mean they have the most knowledge – or even the appropriate knowledge to help your particular child. Talk to parents in your area about who the local doctors are that can help – and ask as many parents in your area as possible because everyone has a different experience. And ask the parents questions such as what their child was like before they started with that dr and what they’re like now. Ask how much the doctor contributed to the brainstorming process or if it was mostly the parents. Ask how much knowledge the dr has on supplements and if he/she often made recommendations for their child. Ask if that doctor keeps on top of the current treatments. Ask if the doctor writes prescriptions in between appointments or requires a pricey office/phone visit just to get a refill. Ask the parent what they think that doctors strongest areas are. Ask if the doctor is accessible in case of emergency.

Co-Pilot your child’s recovery with his/her Doctor/DAN
We learned our lesson the hard way with putting our children’s health in the hands of our pediatricians. DAN’s want to help our kids, but that does not mean that they are all knowing. Let’s not forget that all of our children’s issues are unique, so the best way to get the most out of your DAN is to be co-pilots in your child’s treatment. Work WITH your child’s doctor(s) towards recovery. And yes, that includes doing your own research.

And finally….

Don’t wait for recovery for life to start.

Pediatricians call for a choke-proof hot dog
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-02-22-1Achoke22_ST_N.htm
By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY

Nutritionists have long warned of the perils of hot dogs: fat, sodium and preservatives to name a few.
Now, the American Academy of Pediatrics wants foods like hot dogs to come with a warning label — not because of their nutritional risks but because they pose a choking hazard to babies and children.

Better yet, the academy would like to see foods such as hot dogs “redesigned” so their size, shape and texture make them less likely to lodge in a youngster’s throat. More than 10,000 children under 14 go to the emergency room each year after choking on food, and up to 77 die, says the new policy statement, published online today in Pediatrics. About 17% of food-related asphyxiations are caused by hot dogs.

“If you were to take the best engineers in the world and try to design the perfect plug for a child’s airway, it would be a hot dog,” says statement author Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “I’m a pediatric emergency doctor, and to try to get them out once they’re wedged in, it’s almost impossible.”

The Consumer Product Safety Commission requires labels on toys with small parts alerting people not to give them to kids under 3. Yet there are no required warnings on food, though more than half of non-fatal choking episodes involve food, Smith says.

“No parents can watch all of their kids 100% of the time,” Smith says. “The best way to protect kids is to design these risks out of existence.”

Though Smith says he doesn’t know exactly how someone would redesign a hot dog, he’s certain that some savvy inventor will find a way.

Janet Riley, president of the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council, supports the academy’s call to better educate parents and caregivers about choking prevention. “Ensuring the safety of the foods we service to children is critically important for us,” Riley says.

But Riley questions whether warning labels are needed. She notes that more than half of hot dogs sold in stores already have choking-prevention tips on their packages, advising parents to cut them into small pieces. “As a mother who has fed toddlers cylindrical foods like grapes, bananas, hot dogs and carrots, I ‘redesigned’ them in my kitchen by cutting them with a paring knife until my children were old enough to manage on their own,” Riley says.

The Food and Drug Administration, which has authority to recall products it considers “unfit for food,” plans to review the new statement, spokeswoman Rita Chappelle says.

Given the health risks of obesity, pediatrician Alan Greene, author of Feeding Baby Green, says, “The last thing we need is to redesign candy and junk food with cool shapes, so we can give them to kids even younger.”

Dr. Steven Novella Makes The Case for Vaccine Autism Link… By Mistake
By J.B. Handley

“Many children are diagnosed between the age of 2 and 3, during the height of the childhood vaccine schedule… The true onset of autism in most ASD children likely began a year or two prior to the vaccines that are blamed as the cause.” WRONG.

Read the rest here:
Dr. Steven Novella Makes The Case for Vaccine Autism Link… By Mistake