LifeCare Chiropractic

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flu

Is this the end of the line for flu vaccine as we know it? – (03-26-01)

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Is this the end of the line for flu vaccine as we know it?

Could we be so lucky? Might we then begin to focus on boosting the immunity of all patients, especially those at greatest risk of detrimental outcomes from the flu? THe flu vaccine has always been a shot in the dark (evaluate this year’s strains, try to predict NEXT year’s strains, try to predict how they may mutate before next season, and turn this into a vaccine). The very, very disturbing part of this article is the fact that UK physicians are PAID to push flu vaccines on their elderly patients. This is abhorrable. Clinical decisions should be made on a case by case basis based on what will benefit the patient most. You want cost effectiveness in preventing the flu? Try educating the elderly population on how to stimulate immunity. Promote exercise. Preach the dangers of saturated fats, hydrogenated oils and processed sugars. Will we every learn?

bmj.com Higson and He 322 (7287): 677a

Read entire article here

Flu Vaccine 2012-13: Does it Work?

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It’s flu season Again. Time to run out and get your flu vaccine 2012-13 version before you too become infected. Everyone’s doing it, but does it work?

As a result of the near universal recommendation from your physician and the seemingly endless barrage of advertisements on the radio, TV and print media, you decide that the influenza vaccination must be effective.

As you reach for the car keys to run to your nearest drug store for your life saving vaccination, thoughts run through your head of smoking promotion for health (yes–for many years we denied the evidence that smoking was harmful), ineffective and even dangerous hormone replacement therapy for women and the marketing ploy that suggests that milk does a body good.

Is marketing and scare tactics running cover for an ineffective flu vaccine?

In case you haven’t been convinced by the evidence I have presented in previous blog posts that can be found here, you may want to pay attention here.

This particular report commissioned by the Federal Government at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy is described as one of the largest ever reviews of the influenza vaccination and the politics, recommendations and effectiveness surrounding it. I will not go into the specific details (they are available in the report), but just take my word for it that the undertaking was nothing short of massive.

The findings of the committee may be a little surprising to some. The committee looked at the evidence for both types of vaccines in use. The trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) uses a dead virus, while the live-attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV-aka Flumist) uses a weakened, but still alive, virus. The TIV is given via injection while the LAIV is given as an intra-nasal injection. Since the LAIV is still alive, it has the potential to cause the flu in those with weakened immune systems.

With this in mind, here is what the committee found for TIV:

  • Moderate protection (about 59%) for healthy adults 18 to 64 years of age.
  • Inconsistent evidence of protection in children age 2 to 17 years.
  • Almost no evidence for protection in adults 65 years of age and older

For LAIV, the results weren’t too much better:

  • High protection (about 83%) for young children 6 months to 7 years of age.
  • Inconsistent evidence of protection in adults 60 years of age and older.
  • No evidence for protection in individuals between 8 and 59 years of age.

The bottom line needs to be summed up in a short list:

  • The greatest risk of influenza complications occur in the elderly. That means that there is very little evidence that either vaccine works in the group we really need it to work in (Tweet this).
  • Healthy adults showed strong evidence ONLY for TIV, but, in general, this group is the least likely to suffer complications.
  • The only group that showed high protection was 6 months to 7 years, but LAIV is only licensed here in the US from 2 years on.

Despite the strong push to vaccinate our children despite the weak evidence, few pediatricians will share the evidence on probiotics, vitamin D or green tea on lowering the risk of upper respiratory tract infections in children, all of which I have reviewed in previous blog posts that can be read here. Overall, does this sound like the evidence is there to back up the massive push our country makes every single year for influence vaccination?

SELECTION OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE BACTERIA PREVENTS COLITIS – (01-05-04)

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Preventing colitis through alteration of the intestinal biota

This is a pretty nice overview of probiotics and their potential benefit to the GI tract. What does surprise me, however, is that with the whole issue of antibiotic overuse, all the concern is geared towards selection of antibiotic resistant bacteria (which, by the way, is a major contributing factor to the deaths of the children noted above with the flu). No concern is ever voiced about the destruction of normal, protective flora. Personally, I think this is the much, much more important concern affecting a much larger number of patients, especially children. How many infants are giving antibiotics for ear infections in their first 6 months without any thought to replacing the normal flora that were wiped out and are essential for proper development of that infant’s immune system? Gastroenterology Online –

Read entire article here

 

CHILDHOOD DEATHS DUE TO INFLUENZA – (01-05-04)

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Influenza-Associated Deaths Reported Among Children Aged <18 Years — United States, 2003–04 Influenza Season

With all the hype going around I thought I should include this one. 42 reported deaths. 40% had underlying chronic medical conditions and the main cause of death the the flu is a secondary bacterial infection. The media has really made it sound like the planet will be wiped out within 3 months. I’m still waiting for the global devastation predicted from the flesh eating bacteria a decade or so ago. Bottom line–unfortunately, a few die from the flu every year. These numbers can’t even be compared to the numbers who die from only one class of drugs (NSAIDs) in ONE DAY!!! And yet the media is hardly tripping over themselves to report that medication related deaths have been ranked close to the 3rd or 4th leading cause of death in the US. Keep your immune systems healthy and don’t even consider the vaccination. Ironically (and I don’t easily subscribed to conspiracy theories…), the Flumist vaccine majorly flopped this year, selling only a small percentage of what the manufacturer expected. However, with the hype of the flu and the “shortage” of the vaccine I have been hearing commercials for Flumist. This wouldn’t be the first time a pharmaceutical company created a market for itself (aka Celebrex…).

Update: Influenza-Associated Deaths Reported Among Children Aged <18 Years — United States, 2003–04 Influenza Season –

Read entire article here

TAMIFLU HELPS FIGHT OFF ANY EPIDEMIC – (12-12-05)

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Experts question wisdom of stockpiling oseltamivir

Tamiflu is the latest prescription medicine that is supposed to fight off the flu. The problem is that the effects are weak at best. But, with the fear-mongering we are exposed to every “flu season,” anything that might help with the flu can be a major money-maker. Many governments are looking to stockpile large amounts of Tamiflu to help fight off any “epidemic.”

Read entire article here

CAN $10 / YEAR PROTECT YOUR CHILD FROM THE FLU?

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CAN $10 / YEAR PROTECT YOUR CHILD FROM THE FLU? The answer might be yes. A small trial of Vitamin D supplementation (1200 IU / day would run less than $6 for a year through our office) showed a 58% reduction in the risk of getting the flu in schoolchildren. This is not the first trial to show positive results.

Overall, the results in these studies have far outstripped the benefits of vaccination at a mere fraction of the costs. So will we see the CDC switching to spending millions of dollars educating the public about the benefits of rational sun exposure for our kids?

ARE VACCCINES THE BEST WAY TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD FROM THE FLU?

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ARE VACCCINES THE BEST WAY TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD FROM THE FLU?  Of course we know the answer is an enthusastic NO.  I’ve always recommended probiotics and Vit D as a very strong way to protect against the flu.  This is another study that helps to confirm this approach.  Although not surprising that D had an effect, the effect on children with asthma was surprising…only 2 / 167 kids in the Vit D group as opposed to 12 / 167 in the control (83% reduction) had asthma attacks.

Such a simple and effective approach and yet it remains frustrating that many pediatricians will fire parents as patients if they will not vaccinate their children, and yet will still, after years of research, not recommend probiotics and Vit D.