April 14, 2008

Kevin Trudeau and Vaccinations

A few weeks back Holly ordered a book, unbeknown to me, written by Kevin Trudeau entitled "Natural cures They Don't Want You to Know". It all sounds well and fine, until you read the title, or the name of the author, or watch an infomercial this guy has produced. He is a new version of the old school con artists. Only now instead of putting up his tent on the side of the road and curing everything w/ one bottle of magic juice, he is able to record a 30 minute spot and anyone who is up past 12:00am is able to hear all about his magical cures and testimonials- of which 0% have been substantiated.

(side note: While in high school my brother and I could name and quote from many infomercials. They are so great, we would always get a kick out of them. We would make huge mugs of either grape drink or hot chocolate and stay up till 2-3 mocking and quoting the best testimonials and the surprise and wonderment the hosts would express. Those were good times. Not to long ago Holly couldn't sleep being heavy w/ child and I had nothing better to do so I introduced her to the wonderful world of infomercials...ah, I digress.)

So I think to myself, maybe Mr. Trudeau is on to something. Maybe I should give it a chance. I crack the book open and find no citations. Not a good start. Then I start reading about government lobbyists and how they are "hidden" and "secretive", when in fact we (anyone who has taken a course in American government) have known about these "hidden and secret" lobbyists since we were in middle school. In chapter 2 Trudeau goes on to say that "modern medicine has absolutely and 100% failed" he also says they haven't cured anything. Sorry to burst a little bubble w/ my vast knowledge of of medical history, but when was the last black plague outbreak? Or polio? On top of this, he is a convicted felon for credit card fraud and larceny. I wonder, could this book also be a fraud?

In Kevin Trudeau's defense I have only read a little more than a chapter of his book. I fully plan on reading the rest of it w/ a lot of towels so that when the blood shoots out of my eyes it doesn't get the pages too moist (say moist 3 times really slow) and duct tape so my head doesn't explode.

As for natural cures and eating health I think it is fantastic. Yay for natural cures, yay for homeopathic alternatives. Yay for real research.

Now to a bigger beast. Vaccinations. I can not for the life of me find a non biased article/study/review/comment that is not fueled by emotion and misinformation. My kid is now 7 weeks old and hasn't been vaccinated. And right now most likely won't be. So if anyone comes across an article that isn't s cued please let me know.

7 comments:

Becky said...

I didn't know Trudeau was a convicted felon. Does mom know that? Well, I enjoy your rambling.

Becky said...

I forgot, you're right about the vaccinations. Everyone has an opinion, so it's always going to be biased. We were against them at first, but Lainee has received all her vaccinnations, and she is still health. I have personally decided that the autism is connected with vaccinations is bunk. But that might not be your reason on holding off. Do what you guys feel is right for Tally!

Chris said...

As it turns out, he spent 2 years in jail. for credit card fraud and larceny. i don't think mom new this and it was in 1990-1992. so after he got out he and his cell mate joined nutrition for life and rose to the top as best sellers and blah blah blah

on another note, I also don't believe autism and vaccinations are linked.
/chris

Zach 'n' Amy said...

As a nurse, I only have seen and researched the good that vaccinations have done. In the beginning of vaccinations, they used live viruses to invoke an immune response, which is why you could actually catch polio at first! But now they use attenuated viruses, which means they only use bits and pieces of viral dna to trigger your immune system to develop antibodies against the bugs. I know another argument against vaccinations was that they contained mercury, which I believe was true in the 80's and possibly even the 90's, but if I am remembering from school correctly, mercury is no longer used in vaccines. Now for my opinion... I think that a lot of people who want to be "natural" and "organic" (which we all agree is a good thing) fall too easily into traps that ANY form of modern medicine is a bad thing. With vaccines (and all forms of modern medicine), you have to weigh the benefits against the risks. And in my opinion, the benefits far outweigh the risks in the instance of vaccines.

Chris said...

I agree with Amy when she says that people can fall into a trap where they think ANY western medicine is bad- we are doing our research and and believe that there is definitely a place for modern medicine. But I (Holly) still believe that not ALL the vaccines recommended by M.D.'s are necessary. I just dont want to inject her with a "poison" that she most likely would not come into contact with anyway. Still learning, researching and deciding. Definitely against a "Super Shot" that contains like 9 different vaccines in one. If we do it, it will be one at a time.

Thanks for the input guys!

Chris said...

PS- I DO believe there is a connection with vaccines and autism...

-holly

Alicia said...

As a parent their is nothing more important you can do than be your childs advocate, especially when they cannot! I am all for vaccines as you know, BUT I am learning to follow my "mothers intuition." Do what is best for your family.