Posted: October 4, 2009 06:05 PM on The Huffington Post
Washington loves to dump its bad news on a Friday afternoon, and on October 2 it confirmed that 1 percent of American children (and by extension, perhaps 1-in-58 boys) has an autism spectrum disorder.
On a hastily arranged telephone “visit” with US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the autism community, the health chief announced that “the prevalence of autism might be even higher than previously thought.” But, she added, “We don’t know if it has gone up, and we are hoping to unlock these mysteries.”
The Secretary then declared autism “An urgent public health challenge,” proclaimed that President Obama was “right to make it one of our top health priorities,” including research into “treatments and a cure” for the disorder, and then promptly ended her visit.
Helping to fill in some of the details was Dr. Thomas R. Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and Chair of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, who confirmed that CDC data to be published later this year will estimate the current childhood ASD rate at 100-per-10,000 children. Keep reading →
This year it is more important that you protect your children and loved ones from the flu vaccines than influenza itself. Here are the reasons:
1. This flu is simply another flu. It is not unusually deadly. In fact, the H1N1 swine flu in circulation is less deadly than many other influenza outbreaks. The first 1000 confirmed swine flu cases in Japan and China produced zero deaths. The Centers for Disease Control alleges 36,000 Americans succumb to the flu each year, but so far, since March through August of 2009 (6 months), the swine flu has been attributed to ~500–600 deaths in the US. The swine flu of 2009 has already swept through the Southern Hemisphere’s flu season without alarm. Only exaggerated reports have been issued by the World Health Organization regarding hospitalizations required during the flu season in South American countries. Getting exposed to influenza and developing natural antibodies confers resistance for future flu outbreaks. Artificially boosting antibodies by exposure to flu viruses in vaccines is more problematic than natural exposure. Americans have been exposed to the H1N1 swine flu throughout the summer of 2009 with far fewer deaths and hospitalizations than commonly attributed to the seasonal flu.
2. Health authorities tacitly admit prior flu vaccination programs were of worthless value. This is the first time both season and pandemic flu vaccines will be administered. Both seasonal flu and swine flu vaccines will require two inoculations. This is because single inoculations have failed to produce sufficient antibodies. Very young children and older frail adults, the high-risk groups in the population, may not produce sufficient antibodies in response to the flu vaccine. This is an admission that prior flu vaccines were virtually useless. The same people who brought you the ineffective vaccines in past years are bringing you this year’s new vaccines. Can you trust them this time?
3. In addition to failure to produce sufficient antibodies, this swine flu vaccine is brought to you by the same people who haven’t been able to adequately produce a seasonal flu vaccine that matches the flu strain in circulation. In recent years flu vaccination has been totally worthless because the strains of the flu in circulation did not match the strain of the virus in the vaccines. Authorities claim the prevalent flu strain in circulation in mid-September ’09 is the H1N1 swine flu, which appears to be milder than past seasonal influenza in circulation. If this data is correct, why receive the season flu shot this year? Keep reading →
The following cultural beliefs, or myths, are often used as reasons for circumcision.After each myth, some relevant facts are provided to present a more accurate picture of this procedure.Parents should understand the full implications of circumcision before making this irreversible decision for their child.
Restraint board for Routine Infant Circumcision
Myth #1: Circumcision is recommended by doctors and medical organizations
Fact: Circumcision is not recommended by any national medical association in the world.Fifteen national and international medical associations have extensively studied infant circumcision and its effects and found no significant evidence to support this practice.In March 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) concluded that infant circumcision is not recommended as a routine procedure.1The circumcision policy statements of the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Academy of Family Physicians have concurred with this position.2-3The AMA calls infant circumcision “non-therapeutic.”
Myth #2:It’s just a little piece of skin, he won’t miss it.
Fact: The prepuce (foreskin) makes up as much as half of the skin system of the penis.4It is an extension of the shaft skin that folds over onto itself, completely covering and protecting the glans (an internal organ) and provides the mobility of the shaft skin necessary for frictionless intercourse and masturbation.The foreskin has three known functions: protective, immunological, and sexual.It contains about 10,000 highly specialized nerve endings and several feet of blood vessels.An adult male foreskin, if unfolded and spread out, would be about the size of index card (3 x 5 inches), much more than a “little piece of skin.”Many sexually active men circumcised in adulthood report a significant decrease in sexual pleasure and comfort because of the loss of sensitive nerve endings, skin mobility and natural lubrication.
Myth #3: The care of a circumcised penis is easier than an intact penis.
Fact: For the care of an intact penis, the AAP recommends, “Leave it alone.” 5No special care is required – an intact child should have the external surface of his penis (and the rest of his body) washed regularly to keep clean.When a male is older and can retract his foreskin (which typically occurs by puberty), a simple rinsing is all that is necessary. 6Other cultural myths about special cleaning procedures are just that – myth.
Deputizes dentists, others to help with vaccinations
Massachusetts health authorities took the unprecedented step yesterday of deputizing dentists, paramedics, and pharmacists to help administer vaccines against both the seasonal flu and the novel swine strain expected to make a return visit in the fall.
In another emergency measure, regulators directed hospitals and clinics to provide vaccineto all their workers and some volunteers, a move designed to keep the medical workforce robust and prevent doctors and nurses from making their patients sick. Keep reading →
