I’m not super pro-vaccine, I think I’ve made it pretty clear in my past posts. I don’t think they are cutting edge medicine by any means. I think that herbal and homeopathic remedies along with nutrition and a holistic approach (that includes seeing a person as a combination of mind, body and spirit) hold the keys to the future health of our species. Yet, if you follow this blog, you know that very little irks me quite as much as a junk study.
I just got done reading a study (found HERE) that at first glance seemed to have the potential to cause a vaccine revolution. The study itself is very interesting. (The results can be found HERE.) It is an ongoing compilation of currently 10400 participants that seems to show that unvaccinated children are far less affected by common diseases than vaccinated children. From my analyzing eye though, this is not a valid study… this is a database. It becomes a study to its German researchers when it takes the health statistics (which impressively included medical records) of non-vaccinated children (mostly from the US) and compares them to the general population of children in Germany. I contend that you can not take a large group of American children’s health and compare it to the average child in Germany’s health and propose it as a study comparing vaccinated children’s health verses non-vaccinated children’s health.
You can’t do that responsibly. It doesn’t make any sense.
For starters, there’s a huge difference between American children and German children. Like:
- Geography and environment. This is a HUGE difference. There’s no way this can just be ignored. Any number of factors could influence health in completely differnet geographical regions.
- Genetic differences. America is a huge melting pot of people from different ethnic backgrounds. Just like with purebreds -vs- mutts, or the royal family -vs- the commoners, or the fish that mate in my aquarium -vs- the fish that mate in the sea, when you add more diversity to a society’s “bloodlines” you end up with healthier people. Recessive genes fall away.
- Cultural Differences. Since they are looking at medical records, it’s quite possible that German doctors more carefully examine and more commonly diagnose health issues than American doctors. I don’t know for sure, but it’s highly possible.
- Lifestyles of the Surveyed Individuals. In order to find around ten thousand unvaccinated people to participate in this study, choosing at random wasn’t an option. The children involved were predominantly unvaccinated children from America, right? So, these children’s parents, as a general rule, have had to go through a lot of trouble to keep their children not vaccinated. That means these parents are also far more likely to choose other natural parenting styles. Unvaccinated children are usually more likely to be breastfed, to co-sleep, to eat organic foods, to be baby-carried, to be home schooled, etc… Than the general population of any children in any modern civilization.
Woot.
I hate vax too, and good point on the better parenting choices made by nonvaxers. I don’t care if that’s controversial to say – breastfeeding, cosleeping, organic eating and such ARE better parenting choices.
If somebody would pay me a modest amount – say $40,000 – and give me six months, I’d have a study like that done in a snizzap. I don’t want the money to determine the outcome (though for six figures, my study will say anything you’d like) – I just want it to buy groceries. 🙂
Takers?
Hahahahaa!!!!!