Childhood Vaccines. All That Bad?

During the '80s, I got caught up in the low-fat, carbohydrate-rich diets.  Not only did I learn to think that there was nothing wrong with eating breads--lots of them--platefuls of pasta, pizzas, rice, and cereals, but I actually believed that breads and pastas were the by-product of a healthier lifestyle.  My mind, as if only by consensus and without any real thought, analysis, or garnering of a second opinion, was made up.  I ate like this for about 15 years.  I exercised all the time-basketball, running, tennis, hiking, you name it, I was active.  Oh, yes, I ate meat.  Lean meat.  Chicken breast.  Steak with the fat cut off.  Cottage cheese.  Pork?  Blegh!  Just too fatty.  Pastrami?  Is that allowed?  I internalized the U.S. food pyramid.    

Then one day I consumed two tablespoons of olive oil and wow did I feel immediate relief from general tension.  Later that year, I tried two tablespoons of Norwegian Cod Liver Oil and experienced remarkable mental clarity.  It was something.  

So for me, food and exercise have really been the most beneficial medicine.  But with this campaign at looking at food as the remedy for all ailments, I do understand the task of sifting through some dubious claims and campaigns. One of those is the anti-vaccine campaign.  I've heard and read a lot of the literature about the disgusting ingredients in some vaccines.  Also read the connection of childhood vaccines to autism and other cognitive and functional impairments.  It sounds bad.  But I wonder if the anti-vaccine campaign isn't just another campaign as, say, the high carb campaign of the '80s where people are taught that the vaccines--all vaccines--are poisonous with only destructive results.  

Just tonight I came across a story from Amy Parker, a British mother of two, who claims that her parents did everything right with regard to her diet growing up--grass-fed meats, home-grown vegetables, plenty of exercise, lots of water, no refined carbs, you name it--and yet she still contracted some life-threatening diseases that could have been prevented with vaccines.  I thought that her article was interesting, which is why I am re-posting it here.  Slate magazine posted it, and truth be told I am a little biased against Slate.  Still, her story is compelling.  She compares the health of her youth with that of the health of her two children who were vaccinated.  And the difference is astounding.  In a positive way.  Here is one excerpt from her essay:

My two vaccinated children, on the other hand, have rarely been ill, have had antibiotics maybe twice in their lives, if that. Not like their mum. I got many illnesses requiring treatment with antibiotics. I developed penicillin-resistant quinsy at age 21—you know, that old-fashioned disease that supposedly killed Queen Elizabeth I and that was almost wiped out through use of antibiotics.*  


UPDATE, Feb. 12, 2014: After having read this article, it is hard to believe Ms. Parker's story above. Give a look as to the ingredients of vaccines:  

Here are just a few of the facts that I learned from 

Catherine’s book:

• There are secret ingredients that don’t show up on labels, like the kidney cells of monkeys, cells from aborted human fetal tissue, and genetically engineered insect viruses.
• Adjuvants in vaccines actually weaken our immune systems, making us more susceptible to illnesses.
• Heavy metal ingredients pass through the blood-brain barrier and can cause life-long neurological damage.
• Undisclosed ingredients given in vaccines to very young children can be at the root of the rash of severe life-threatening allergies that so many people suffer from these days.
• The comparison of American vaccine schedules with the schedules of other countries is mind-boggling.
• Even though schools will try to tell you otherwise, there are exemptions available n every state for your child to attend school without receiving vaccinations.