Category Archives: Children

Bush Vetoes Bill for Child Health Care and Goes Back on Campaign Promise – Again!

In a not too surprising action today, President Bush, decided to once again break a campaign promise he made in 2004 in order to continue to fatten the wallets of his supporters in big business.  His veto of an expansion of the Child Health Insurance Bill wasn’t just about “fiscal responsibility” he and his fellow Republicans who supported his veto claim. It was also about removing mercury from vacines. He claimed it would cost too much. To whom?  The pharmaceutical industry with it multi-billion dollar profits?  Of course. Who pays for this? The poor and lower middle class.

In 2004, President Bush said:

“I support the removal of Thimerosal from vaccines on the childhood national vaccine schedule. During a second term as President, I will continue to support increased funding to support a wide variety of research initiatives aimed at seeking definitive causes and/or triggers of autism. It is important to note that while there are many possible theories about causes or triggers of autism, no one material has been definitely included or excluded.”

He went back on that campaign promise which will allow the further poisoning of children. You might say that there was a paper published that said that thimerasol used in vaccines was safe wasn’t there?  Look down a few articles back and see my comments on that horrendous “study” (they called it a study, I call it drivel).

I am a firm believer in cutting back on a bloated government, but not when it comes to health care for children. It is my hope that Congress overturns this veto and shows that they care about our children. This trend of subsidizing big business on the backs of the poor and middle class needs to stop now.

EDIT: I want to add something here about Bush’s reasoning behind his veto. He claims that it would allow people who make over $83,000 to get coverage for their kids. According to this blog, that’s just a lie.

Fluoride in Your Water – Poisoning Babies?

Thanks to Pat Sullivan, I saw this video and was appalled by the information I saw on the toxic effects of fluoride on babies. In my opinion, we get way too much fluoride, especially for children who get it at their dentist, in their toothpaste and water supply. Enough is enough. Too much fluoride is toxic. 

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Pesticides and Autism – More Data Supporting My View on the Effect of Toxins

At the AutismOne conference back in 2005, I was in room #2 talking about the link of multiple toxins and autism. In room #1 was Dr. Rasheed Buttar who was all about mercury. I told my audience that one day, the multiple toxin theory was going to be in room #1 eventually, maybe not with me in it, but eventually the day would come.  One more study, published by the journal Environmental Health Persepectives, has led credence to my theory.

In the October 2007 issue, researchers led by Eric Roberts et al, published a paper called Maternal Residence Near Agricultural Pesticide Applications and Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children in the California Central Valley (click on the link and you get to read the entire paper free of charge). In this paper the authors find that there was an increase in the incidence of autism the closer the pregnant mothers were to certain organophosphate pesticide applications. For years I have said that toxic exposures to the mother can cause fetal developmental disorders depending on the time of the exposure. This is just more data to back up my claims.

My theory has always been than somehow my daughter Tasya was exposed, while in fetal development, to some form of toxin to cause the brain dysfunction that caused her unusual epileptic disorder. I feel that many people with children have had the same issue whether it be autism, epilepsy or even other neurological or health related disorders. Fetuses are very suceptible to the dangers of toxins, more so than anyone else.

One other issue I want to bring up is the preposterous article that gave a clean bill of health to thimerasol by authors publishing in the New England Journal of Medicine. You would be hard pressed find a more poorly done study, misreported by the media, than this. Instead of listing my thoughts on all of the poor study parameters, follow this link to the Adventures in Autism blogsite, run by Ginger Taylor. The one really striking part of her eight part rebutal to this paper is that no autistic children were included in the study. Now that is a convenient way of avoiding finding a link between autism and thimerasol.

Two other very disturbing issues come up as well. First, that around 70% of the participants in the study dropped out. When I worked in the pharmaceutical clinical trial business, it was pretty well known that when you have a drop out rate any where near that level, the study is pretty much worthless. The data cannot be used to make any kind of a judgement. Second real major issue is the huge conflicts of interest among the authors of the study as each one has significant ties to the vaccine manufacturers!  Poor judgement on the part of the NEJM to publish this paper, worse than that, for the media to so misrepresent the data.

As you can see from the first part of my post, I do not believe that mercury is the sole cause of autism. It isn’t. Having said that, I believe it is one of the factors in the epidemic of autism.

Update on Tasya – Seizures, Health, Behavior and Mood

It’s about time I updated everyone on my now 11 year old daughter, Tasya. As many of my readers know, she has a rare and as of yet, uncatergorized form of epilepsy that was so severe at one time, we thought that either she would die of it or become retarded by the age of 11 or 12. I am very happy to report that despite the doom and gloom that seemed to follow her 3 years ago, she is now doing better now than she has at anytime since her seizures began 8 years ago.

So what have we been doing to help her so much? Well, aside for the diet and avoiding crappy foods, aspartame, MSG and the foods on her LEAP test that cause inflammatory responses, we added two key nutrients from our previous regimen. The first was Glycerophosphocholine also known as GPC. GPC is a great phospholipid that has been shown in numerous clinical trials to be beneficial to people who have suffered strokes as well as restoring memory and concentration in both young and older individuals. Concentration issues were a major problem for Tasya so we asked Dr. Kidd what the dosage should be and his suggestion was 300 mg per day, always in the morning. I can honestly report that her concentration has markedly since starting on a regular regimen of GPC.

The second nutrient PS Omega Synergy which is a combination of Phosphatidylserine and two Omega 3 fatty acids, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), has made a truly profound change in her mood, social skills and helped to lower the number of seizures she has to almost nothing. This is the best seizure control that she has had ever since they started in October of 1999. Her classmates have noticed a difference, her teachers have and we have. She is less likely to lose her temper, she has exhibited a wider range of emotions than ever before and has started to get excited about things that normally wouldn’t have moved her off the couch. PS Omega Synergy was the right nutrient at the right time for Tasya.

Is this the answer for others?  I can’t say that honestly. Did it make that much of a difference with Tasya?  That and more. We have a happy and predominantly seizure free child for the first time in years. Even her neurologist had a smile on his face yesterday when Tasya and my wife Hillary visited him. He decided that instead of the every four month visit, we could extend it to every six months.

My big thanks today is for two people, Robert Crayhon and Dr. Parris Kidd. Robert, thanks for being who you are and focusing on brain nutrition. The second is to Dr. Parris Kidd for bringing these two marvelous products to the market and doing the research to get them done right. Both of you should be proud that you helped save a little girls life as well as give her a future. I am also proud to call you both, friend.

Breast Feeding For Babies – Lobbyists Fall to New Lows in Ethics

Just when you thought things couldn’t get much more unethical, the baby formula lobby, forced the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to “tone-down” their advertising campaign targeted towards improving the percentage of mothers who breast feed their babies. Political appointees changed the ads so that they were kinder and gentler and not hard hitting like they were initially designed and needed to be. This is just another example of the present Administration injecting politics and money into science.

There is little doubt in the medical and scientific community that breast feeding a baby markedly lowers the risk of developing asthma, becoming obese, becoming diabetic and scads more childhood diseases. American’s, according to this article on MSNBC.com are far behind other countries when it comes to breast feeding their babies. Maybe this is another reason our health care system is stressed. Still, to think that lobbyists have such an influence on scientific and medical issues like this makes me more than ill, it truly disgusts me.

The advertising agency that originally created the ads that would have startled mothers into understanding that by not breastfeading their babies, they could potentially harm them, said that by just emphasizing the positives of breastfeeding, the message would not work. Despite that, this is what the HHS did. So how did it work? Exactly like the ad agency said it would, by bombing. During the time the ads were on the air, 2003-2005, the percentage of mothers breastfeeding their babies went DOWN, from 33.2% to 30%. To increase the disgust factor it turns out that the lobbyists even convinced the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics Carden Johnston to help them convince then director of HHS Tommy Thompson to tone down the pro-breastfeeding ads.

This Administration has shown no compunction to make their friends richer regardless of the effects on the citizens of this country. How many children could have led healthier lives had their parents received hard hitting messages that breast feeding is the right thing to do? How many hundreds of millions of dollars have we wasted in treatment of asthma, diabetes, and heart disease that could have been prevented? To allow lobbyists from the baby formula industry to do what they did and to have buckled under the pressure they used is one step up from depravity. Shame on the lobbyists who have no compunction to do what they did. Shame on the political hacks at the Department of Health and Human Services for changing the ads. Shame on Dr. Carden Johnston for betraying his profession and his Hippocratic Oath. Most of all, shame on this Administration for allowing this pervasive assault on the American people to continue. A sad day in our country’s history.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids and Premature Babies – Saving Eyesight

In a study about to start soon led by Dr. Lois Smith, an ophthalmologist at Children’s Hospital in Boston, omega 3 fatty acids will be used to try and prevent a serious retinal disease that affects many premature babies.  The impetus to do this study came from research done on premature mice and the results were quite promising. This type of treatment shows how very valuable omega 3 fatty acids can be.

Usually, infants get most of their supply of omega 3s from their mothers in the third trimester of pregnancy which is why those who are born prematurely may not get the full benefit of these important nutrients. What is nice abou this research is that is shows that you don’t necessarily need expensive pharmaceutical drugs to treat certain diseases. Still, I would bet my last dollar that they would be working on it if the market were bigger.

Read the full article here, posted on MSNBCs website

Bipolar Disorders and Children – Growing Epidemic or Drug Company Bonanza?

Nothing is as painful as having a child with emotional issues. I should know, I have one. My daughter Tasya has had emotional problems ever since she started having epileptic seizures 7 years ago. She has had mood swings and temper tantrums which by themselves is not unusual (most kids go through that) but the number and severity has been a problem. Most every doctor we see wants to put her on one medication after another without regard to the potential for long term damage.

In a report coming from the British magazine, New Scientist, they question whether doctors in the United States are too quick to treat children with what they are diagnosing as bipolar disorder. Since 1996 the number of children being diagnosed with this behavioral problem went from 13 out of every 100,000 to 73 out of every 100,000 in 2004, a five-fold jump in the number of diagnoses in a scant 8 years. Children as young as 3 are being diagnosed with the disease despite the absolute ridiculousness of even attempting to diagnoses this in children that young.

The use of psychotropic drugs on young children should be viewed as a crime unless there is overwhelming evidence. The fact that we have absolutely no evidence that in the long-term, these drugs are anywhere near safe should be a red-flag. Add to that the fact that a child who was 4 years old has died when given not one, not two, but three drugs for supposedly having a bipolar disorder. The child, Rebecca Riley, was given clonidine, Depakote (anti-convulsant also known as valproic acid) and the anti-psychotic Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate). Her parents are on trial to see if they deliberately overdose her or it was an accident. My finger is pointing straight at the physicians who prescribed the drugs to this unfortunate little girl with the hopes of stabilizing her mood.

No other country is seeing this increase in the incidence of bipolar disorder despite following the same guidelines from the DSM-IV (the official psychiatric manual).  Instead of seeking natural and much, much safer means, drug companies are throwing parties for doctors who would prescribe their money making drugs for children. My daughter had enormous success and improvement in mood and seizure activity following her eliminating foods that were causing an inflammatory response (LEAP MRT Test). Amino acid therapy, nutrition and even psychotherapy should be our first line of attack on neuropsychiatric disorders and NOT harsh and life threatening drugs.

Thankfully the editors at the New Scientist call into question whether the diagnoses and treatments are real, or as I suspect, profit driven by an increasingly money hungry pharmaceutical industry.

Science in the News

Here are some recent tidbits and factoids that might be of interest.

  • Women who live in polluted areas with poor air quality have babies with lower birthweights. This finding, according to researchers at Yale University should make it clear that air quality improvements are critical in protecting new born babies. Low birthweight equals poor health so it would behove us to work to make our cities healthier.
  • According to a study done in the U.K., researchers found that women who had an early start to puberty were more likely to have obese children. While it is obvious to some of us that hormone disrupting chemicals in the environment are partly to blame, we also have to ensure that these high risk women are educated in the field of proper nutrition so that their children don’t become obese,
  • When it comes to air quality, ethanol and gasoline are pretty much the same.  To this date, I can’t seem to wrap my brain around the whole ethanol is good for America mantra. It isn’t that efficient, takes a lot of fuel to make, and will cause food prices to go up as ethanol producing corn gets planted over a greater area. Bad politics following bad science is a sure fire way to a big mistake.
  • In 2005, industrial and federal facilities in the United States released 4 billion pounds of chemicals into the environment, up 3 percent from the previous year or 117 million pounds more. This number explains why the present administration is so hell bent on not making some companies report their toxic releases. Not for business sake, but to hide the frightening numbers. Lead, a known neurotoxin, was added to our environment to the tune of 469 million pounds. Mercury, one of the deadliest poisons known, had 4.4 million pounds injected into our world by industry. Just think that only a few milligrams can spell disaster for a person and we are talking in the millions of pounds.
  • Polyphenols found in green tea, may have negative side effects when taken in large quantities. Taking 10 cups or the equivalent as a supplement form of green tea is the limit. Too much of a good thing can be bad for you in this case.
  • Every mother knows them and dreads them, the infamous baby growth chart. Ub a review published by the New Scientist, those charts may have been flawed, causing mothers to overfeed their children thereby leading to an increased risk of obesity.  Oops. According to Laurence Grummer-Strawn of the Center for Disease Control, “rapid growth in infancy has been shown to be associated with increased obesity.” My tip to mothers, dump the charts and watch your baby, if they look healthy and not emaciated, they are probably fine. To pediatricians, do the same.

 

    Childhood Trauma and Adult Disease – The Link

    Many of us in the healing arts know that trauma suffered while a child, like beatings and molestation can have ramifications down the road. What this study done by researchers at King’s College in London shows is a real definitive link between childhood trauma and adult diseases like heart disease.

    What these researchers found was people who were physically or sexually abused, or physically rejected by their mothers at a young age had significantly higher levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein in their blood. What Dr. Andrea Danese said was “Inflammation is a natural response to physical trauma such as cutting yourself or getting an infection, but psychological stress can also trigger inflammation, because stress is really the anticipation of pain.” What constant stress seems to do is inhibit a child’s ability to produce the hormone glucocorticoid which helps the body turn off the inflammatory response.

    As Andrew Steptoe noted about the study: “They have elegantly connected childhood stress to a real adult risk of disease.”