September 1, 2007

Contents:

1. EDITORIAL: Thanks for Your Thoughts
2. FEATURE: Vaccination Pros and Cons
3. NEW MEMBERSHIP BENEFIT: Reflexology
4. UPDATE: Biotech Canada SLAPP Scandal
5. UPDATE: Are Canadians Physically Active?

__________

EDITORIAL: Thanks for Your Thoughts

Dear HANS Members and Friends;

Thanks to all of you out there who took the time to send us comments on our new e-News look. Overall, we`re thrilled by the responses, which showed that we`ve come a long way and also gave us suggestions on where to go next.

But before I get into the specifics, I`m excited to report that outspoken talkshow host (and our guest at the HANS `Conversation on Health` last year) Rafe Mair is back, broadcasting on the web! I consider Rafe a good friend and he has been nothing but supportive of HANS over the years. Help us support him by listening online September 4 at 10 am Pacific Time via www.Rafelive.com.

Okay, back to e-News stuff. A couple of you had font size-related comments, and we`re already working to fix them for easier reading. Pam, a HANS member, calls the new format `crisp and concise` and has used the Calendar of Events section to sign up for one of Dr. Brian Martin`s health seminars. That`s great, Pam!

For those that don`t know, the Calendar of Events includes HANS-sponsored events (stay tuned!), events that we will be attending, such as the Granville Island Farmers Market on September 6, and also talks by HANS professional/business members. After a tiring summer of weddings and yard landscaping, I know I`m eyeing the free `Boost Your Energy Naturally` talk on September 12 by Drs. Radhakrishnan and Bentz. 

Another HANS member, David, said he would like to see original HANS interpretation of the media stories that we provide links to. Hey, that`s what we`d like too and we`re working towards that, so great thought, David. In keeping with this goal of independent journalism, our feature for this e-News issue is a thought-provoking article on childhood vaccinations written for HANS by Vancouver naturopathic physician David Bayley.

So again, thanks to everyone who took the time to reply, and if you haven`t had a chance yet but still want to, that door is always open.

Warm regards,
Lorna Hancock
HANS Executive Director and founding member

__________

FEATURE: Vaccination Pros and Cons

by David Bayley, ND

Vaccines have become a much-debated issue over the years and continue to be. The public are concerned about the side effects of vaccines. The medical community is concerned with preventing childhood illnesses. Even doctors are divided into two camps - those for and those against childhood vaccinations.

What`s a parent to do? Some have taken steps to keep their children from receiving standard childhood vaccinations. Others are seeking `natural` alternatives to vaccinations. In any case, it`s advisable to understand the issue as much as possible to help make an informed decision.

The general concerns about vaccines can perhaps be summarized as vaccine side effects, toxic preservatives (and their side effects), the unnatural route of entry, and the possible contamination of vaccines. Naturopathic physicians (NDs), such as myself, feel these are legitimate concerns. NDs in British Columbia support informed consent as a useful approach to dealing with vaccination protocols. I attempt to inform my patients about both the concerns as well as the merits of vaccinations.

Pros
The basic concept of a vaccine schedule is to artificially produce immunity to an infectious disease by introducing a small amount of the disease virus, bacteria antigen, or toxin into the body. The immune system develops specific antibodies or antitoxins for that disease and, in theory, provides lasting, effective protection against that disease in the environment.

The current vaccine schedule immunizes children against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, hepatitis B virus, measles, mumps, rubella, and haemophilus influenza type B. All of these diseases can cause injury or death in a less than robustly healthy infant or child, which is why many parents are afraid to not vaccinate their children. The risk of injury or death from vaccines is much, much less than the risk from the real disease.

The advantage of vaccines over naturally acquired immunity is in the timing and quantity of exposure to the disease agent. Parents can choose to vaccinate their infants and children with an attenuated disease agent at a time when their child is healthy. Parents can take measures before and after vaccination to enhance their child's immune system and remove stressors from their child's environment. Without vaccines, parents run the risk of their child encountering a virile disease agent at a time when their child's immune system may be compromised by stressors such as injury and poor nutrition.

Many parents and physicians have not seen cases of diphtheria, measles, paralytic polio and other once common childhood diseases - but they have seen or heard of cases of vaccine side effects. They assume that preventive medicine now means avoiding vaccines. In some cases that may be true. However, the truth is that vaccines are preventive medicine. The incidence of many childhood diseases has declined because of widespread use of vaccines. While the morbidity and mortality from childhood diseases had declined prior to the use of vaccines due to improved hygiene and nutrition, the total case numbers of illnesses have declined due to vaccines alone.

Nutrition and hygiene are still important primary components of preventive medicine. Severely ill, malnourished and immuno-compromised children have more side effects and less benefit from vaccines. For this reason, naturopathic physicians use the vaccine schedule as a basic guideline. They sometimes recommend delaying or altogether avoiding immunization depending upon the child`s health and health history. For example, vaccines are usually delayed in ill and malnourished children and avoided in children with prior severe vaccine reactions.

Cons
Many vaccinations contain potentially toxic preservatives such as thimerosal and formaldahyde. Most children in BC receive combination vaccines so their total exposure to preservatives is relatively low. However, in cases where infants receive individual vaccines, preserved in thimerosal, their total exposure to methyl mercury (thimerosal) can exceed safe limits. Also, animal studies have demonstrated that thimerosal can induce hypersensitivity reactions and may augment many vaccine side effects.

The natural route of entry for disease is either through the mucous membranes of the gut or via the respiratory tract. Vaccines have an unnatural route of entry since they are injected. As a result the disease bypasses secretory IgA, an important initiating component of the natural immune response. The long-term effects of skipping secretory IgA are unknown. Tetanus usually develops from a puncture wound so the tetanus vaccine is the one exception where injection makes sense.

Vaccines are often made from animal cell cultures, which are derived from cells extracted from the blood and organs of research animals. Vaccines derived from monkey kidneys, for example, have been contaminated with simian virus 40 (SV40) and vaccines from chick embryos have been contaminated with avian leukosis virus (ALV). Since cultures are now screened for these contaminants, The World Health Organization scientists state, `There is no evidence currently available that vaccines are contaminated with infectious agents that cause disease.` This statement is true now and was true prior to the discovery of SV40 and ALV. As science discovers previously unknown contaminants and screens for them, the statement becomes retrospectively false and then true again. The point is simply that animal cultures are a potential source of contaminants.

Informed consent
One of the philosophical tenets of naturopathic medicine is to treat each patient as an individual, not to standardize therapies or medical routines without due consideration of a patient`s health history and current health status. Vaccination regimes, however, are often administered without such consideration. Given this fundamental philosophical difference between naturopathic and allopathic medicine, there is neither uniform support nor acceptance amongst NDs in regard to vaccinations.

We are fortunate to live in BC where thousands of children are not dying every year from preventable childhood illnesses, thanks to good nutrition, hygiene and vaccines. We have time to push for the use of less toxic preservatives, orally or nasally administered vaccines, and vaccines derived from synthetic cultures.

Parents can and should consider altering the recommended vaccine schedule to cater to their child`s unique health and development issues. Informed consent requires a full understanding of the pros and cons of vaccination, including the repercussions of either proceeding with or abstaining from the schedule. As a naturopathic physician, I support informed consent.

Dr. Bayley, ND, is a naturopathic doctor with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology. He has a private practice in North Vancouver, BC. (604) 986-9191

__________

NEW MEMBERSHIP BENEFIT: Reflexology

A HANS membership offers rewards well beyond the financial... knowing you`re promoting the good work of a non-profit organization for one... but let`s face it, who doesn`t want to save money? A big thanks to new professional HANS member Moira Khouri, a certified reflexologist and holistic nutritionist who is now offering an ongoing 10 percent discount to HANS members and volunteers. If you live in Vancouver and want to discover the benefits of reflexology, you could also take advantage of Moira`s offer of half-price sessions until October 31, 2007.

For other discounts, go to the Discounts for Members page under `Membership` at www.hans.org. Thanks to these participating stores and companies, becoming a HANS member makes complete `cents`.

__________

UPDATE: Biotech Canada SLAPP Scandal

by Joseph Cummins, PhD

SLAPP is the acronym for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, a litigation used by large organizations, or sometimes even individuals to intimidate and silence less wealthy critics by so severely burdening them with the cost of a legal defence that they abandon their criticism. The acronym was coined in the 1980s by University of Denver professors Penelope Canan and George W. Pring. One marker of a SLAPP is whether the costs outweigh the damages claimed by a large amount; for example, damages of a few hundred dollars and costs in the tens of thousands. SLAPP can be attractive to lawyers because a marginal case can lead to high legal fees, and because clients actually encourage them to run up large costs.

Canada and the United States have had long experience with SLAPP litigation and several states have legislated against the practice. A Protection of Public Participation Act came into effect in British Columbia in April 2001. Unfortunately, the government that had passed the Act was later defeated and it was immediately repealed when the new pro-corporation government came to power. The threat of SLAPP litigation has been effective in suppressing criticism of corporate polluters across Canada.

Now it appears that the Canadian Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-Foods have resorted to SLAPP in Ireland and in Great Britain to try to silence the opponents of GM food in those countries (GM-Free Ireland Network and GM Watch). Canada has committed itself to GM crop production and is the biggest producer after the United States. The action by the Canadian Agriculture Ministry should serve as a warning to all organizations critical of GM crops, as the Ministry is promoting GM crops by intimidating the critics of the GM crops not only in Canada but also in other countries. More at http://www.i-sis.org.uk/BiotechCanadaSLAPPScandal.ph...

__________

UPDATE: Are Canadians Physically Active?

A rising percentage of Canadians have become at least moderately active in their leisure time during the past decade.

Even so, a new study shows that almost one-half (48 percent) of the population aged 12 or older, some 12.7 million people, were classified as "inactive" during their leisure time in 2005, meaning that they did the equivalent of less than half an hour of walking each day.

As well, 25 percent of Canadians, or 6.6 million, reported that they usually sat most of the day. And during a typical week, 41 percent of Canadians, or 10.8 million, spent less than one hour walking to get to school or work or to do errands. More at http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/070822/d070822b....

Calendar of Events

Media Watch