Dr. Andrew Wakefield has been banned from practicing medicine in Britain.
If you can’t beat 'em, just ban 'em.
Good riddance.
Doesn’t surprise me. Scary stuff.
Hey limitgov, this the second post of yours about natural medicine (or the dangers of conventional medicine) I have read. I am extremely interested in this topic, and was wondering what your experience is and how you came to be interested/informed. I am interested because I have chronic Lyme disease and natural medicine is saving my life.
LeeO explain more about chronic lyme and what you are doing. I had (have?) Lyme too.
I’m not into banning doctors, but the link between autism and vaccines seems very tenuous to me. I did some research on this topic in grad school and it seemed obvious that the increases in autism coincide with a decrease in other forms of disabilities, so it’s really not on the rise.
Don’t get me started on the “1 in 150 have autism” nonsense.
In the long run, it is probably the best thing that could happen to him, career wise.
Regards, onebornfree.
Mtn Dew,
I don’t understand the increase in autism coinciding with a decrease in other forms of disabilities… are you saying that these previous disabilities simply came to be called autism, such that the increase was purely an accounting phenomenon and not something actually occuring?
I am still waiting to hear why the Amish don’t get autism, or why a group of something like 20,000 homeschoolers in the Chicago area, who do not get vaccinated, also do not get autism. Is it just the way it’s being diagnosed and counted?
Irrespective of the merits of Dr Wakefield’s research this shows the inherent problem of a state run medical system. Like all sciences, and yet more so, all scientists disagree on something. In other disciplines it’s part of the course but in medicine it seems like disent from the official line is a sackable offence. As is obvious the free market in medicine the solution.
As an aside however I am always sceptical of the mainstream medicinal hierarchy as they consistently show themselves to be authoritarians and to back the pharmesuetical industry at every turn who line theirs and the state’s pockets. Further this helps the state justify a plethorer of new taxes and regulations for example the recently proposed minimum tax on alcohol.
I was watching some documentary that Richard Dawkins made about junk science and he was talking about how pissed he was that homeopathy and psychics and other alternative crap is actually subsidized by the state along with real stuff. And how people go there because the lines are usually shorter and more people can do it without having any real training (since no licensing board like doctor’s unions exist for these alternative things). Apparently, they don’t have a problem with alternative, even if they are very questionable in their methods. In fact, this doctor could very well just become a faith healer or a homeopathy practitioner and no one would stop him from practicing that medicine. He might even make some serious cash.
So whether you think it is a win or a loss, you’d be wrong.
If you look at what was diagnosed in the 1960s there was a huge portion of people diagnosed as simply “mentally retarded”. Autism wasn’t part of the lexicon back then. Over time as autism has increased diagnosis-wise the general label of mentally retarded has decreased. They have more classifications now, and even a lot of people labeled autistic might simply be developmentally delayed. They just recently did away with Asperger’s as a separate category, which will lead to autism becoming more prevalent. It’s an accounting thing.
In 1976 more than a quarter of all special education students were labelled mentally retarded, today it’s about 8%. In 1991 only about 5,000 children were labelled autistic, in 2002 it was 118,000.
I’m not sure that the Amish don’t get autism, nor that homeschoolers in Chicago don’t either. I’d have to see the research.
@Mtn Dew
Interesting. Thank you.
“Hey limitgov, this the second post of yours about natural medicine (or the dangers of conventional medicine) I have read. I am extremely interested in this topic, and was wondering what your experience is and how you came to be interested/informed. I am interested because I have chronic Lyme disease and natural medicine is saving my life.”
I’m really sorry to hear that. For me, it sort of started by reading articles here and there on lewrockwell…from people like Dr. Donald Miller or Mercola. Also I heard a podcast with a raw foodist doctor on coast to coast. He was talking about all the benefits of raw foods (basically fruits and vegetables and nuts). He basically said that every single one of his patients that came to him with diabetes type II was cured in about 2-4 weeks after eating a raw food diet.
That really made me realize how important your diet is. Even if its not 100% raw foods. But I try to eat mostly fruits and vegetables and nuts. Pretty much anything that’s not processed. I throw in processed food sometimes, because its way too hard to be married with kids and maintain a perfect diet. And who’s to say what the perfect diet is.
I get most of my health news from
naturalnews.com - good source…listen to the podcasts…especially the one with Susan Sommers…she talks about Dr. Russel Blaylock who’s another good source…
natmedtalk.com - nice little forum…
occasional guests on coast to coast…and lewrockwell.com…
also, you might want to look into TCM…traditional chinese medicine…make sure the doctors are accredited…
TCM doctors have to take most courses western doctors take…only they branch off where western doctors learn about drugs…
here is a great webpage with info on different diseases from a great TCM page:
It’s a very long story. I was diagnosed when I was 14, but I have had Lyme since birth because my mother has it and the bacteria crosses the placenta and is passed on in breast milk. My childhood was relatively normal with mild symptoms. Then when I was 10 (2000), I was bitten by a tick during the summer and became extremely ill: nausea, dizziness, weight loss. I ended up in Children’s Hospital, Boston for 8 days. The doctors never tested for or considered Lyme, even though my mom told them about the tick bite. I got “better” through the treatment of a severe deficiency in phosphorus, which was just a symptom of my Lyme.
Meanwhile, my mom traces back her symptoms to her teenage years working with horses in northeastern MA. After my illness at 10, she went on a downward spiral of her own with debilitating head pain, joint pain, inabilty to think and speak, and many more symptoms. She finally found Dr. Richard Horowitz, a lyme-literate doctor in Hyde Park, NY and got a Lyme diagnosis and antibiotic treatment that saved her life. This was when I was 14, so around 2004.
Then, Dr. Horowitz ran blood work for me and my two brothers (keep in mind that Lyme is a clinical diagnosis, nearly all the bloodwork is unreliable). I tested positive for Lyme and the co-infections Babesia, Bartonella, and Mycoplasma. Babesia is the worst co-infection. It is a malaria-like blood parasite that is treated with Malaria drugs or the herb artemisia. My brothers tested positive for Lyme also.
I began antibiotic and supportive therapies under Dr. Horowitz, and my health stabalized but never improved past a certain point. I functioned at a high level throughout high school, but with symptoms of fatigue, brain fog, cognitive difficulty, and joint/muscle pain. During my senior year I underwent Intravenous antibiotic therapy (Rocephin) without positive results. I made it through one year of college, but then my health crashed during the fall of sophomore year (2008) becuase I was pushing myself way too hard. I left school on a medical leave of absence and have been home ever since.
In March of 2009, I began working with Dr. Kenneth J. Emonds in North Hampton, NH. He is not a medical doctor, but he has a PhD in biochemistry and many other degrees. He practices what is called Orthomolecular Medicine and Environmental Medicine. He treats mostly cancer patients and patients with sever environmental illness like allergies and chemical sensitivities. He also treats infectious disease, and many other types of neurological illness. He is a genius who trained under the noble prize winning chemist Linus Pauling, the founder of orthomolecular medicine. I am truly blessed to be working with him. He has saved the lives of many people given weeks or months to live.
I improved steadily on Dr. Emonds’ regimen of a strict diet avoiding all foods I am allergic or sensitive to, and daily supplements of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, and natural anti-microbials including herbs, iodine, and silver. The regimen is tailored specifically to my biochemistry through a testing process called Elecrodermal Titration. Then, about a month ago, I suffered another tick bite and was re-infected. So now I am back on antibiotics and feeling much worse. I am hoping it is a short setback, and that I will be back at school in the fall.
The issue of chronic Lyme disease is as much political as it is medical. The mainstream medical establishment refuses to acknowledge the disease, and most doctors follow the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), which are not based on good science. All six people in my family have chronic Lyme, and my mom has led the fight for our health. We are very, very, fortunate to have navigated the waters of this misunderstood disease. Here are the best resources we have found:
International Lyme and Associated Disease Society (ILADS)
Cure Unknown by Pamela Weintraub
Under Our Skin documentary
Healing Lyme by Stephen Harrod Buhner
American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM)
An Alternative Approach to Allergies by Theron G. Randolph
Well, that’s a start. What is your situation?
Thanks for taking the time to write that, LeeO.
Well, that doctor was wrong, there is no link (as far as “science” knows) between vaccines and autism. I was researching this stuff for about half a year and read many skeptical/scientific articles. It’s simply not there and he is guilty of all this crap about anti-vaccine movement. Many children have died from preventable deseases just because parents thought (or were taught by charlatans) that vaccines are bad.
Following the judgment of the UK General Medical Council’s Fitness to Practise Panel on Jan 28, 2010, it has become clear that several elements of the 1998 paper by Wakefield et al. are incorrect, contrary to the findings of an earlier investigation. In particular, the claims in the original paper that children were “consecutively referred” and that investigations were “approved” by the local ethics committee have been proven to be false. Therefore we fully retract this paper from the published record.
LeeO,
you seem to be very literate on the subject, so I would be pleased if you could answer a question:
About three years ago, I was bitten by a tick. It was removed, but a red spot began to emerge in the area of the bite. I immediately saw a doctor and was diagnosed with Lyme disease; he prescribed some antibiotics, and after a few weeks of taking them, the red spot had disappeared. I was told that I am probably healed, though there is no sure way to tell.
In your esimate, what are the odds that the antibiotic assault got rid of all the borrelia? Can I do anything now to lower the chances of a new outbreak?
Thanks a lot for reading this!
“About three years ago, I was bitten by a tick. It was removed, but a red spot began to emerge in the area of the bite. I immediately saw a doctor and was diagnosed with Lyme disease; he prescribed some antibiotics, and after a few weeks of taking them, the red spot had disappeared. I was told that I am probably healed, though there is no sure way to tell.”
LeeO is probably alot more informed than me, but I found these articles on lyme disease:
“The Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria cause Lyme disease and the disease is also known as Borreliosis because of this. Apple cider vinegar has been shown to treat the symptoms of Lyme disease and to kill the bacteria.”
“In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lyme disease is treated as toxic fire. These fire toxins are treated with extreme heat clearing herbs. From the western point of view, fire toxins include aggressive entities such as bacterial and viral infections but are not limited to them. They can be amoebic parasites and even just toxins of chemical nature or metal particles.”
"Based on the best of TCM protocols, here is a “clear toxic heat” formula for use as an anti-toxin or “fire quenching agent.” These amazing herbs have been successfully used against fire toxins such as malaria, pneumonia, diphtheria, septic angina, typhoid fever and others.
The 6 herbs used in this formula to clear toxic heat are 5:1 extracts of:
Chuan xin lian - Andrographis paniculate (a very effective anti-toxin heat clearing herb with anti-spirochetal action in particular)
Huang Lian - Coptis chinensis (Anti-toxin heat clearing)
Jin Yin Hua - Flos Lonicerae japonicae (Anti-toxin heat clearing)
Da Qing Ye - Folium Isatidis (Anti-toxin heat clearing)
Ban Zhi Lian - Scutellaria barbata; Herba (Anti-toxin heat clearing)
Tu Fu Ling - Smilax glabra; Rhizoma (Anti-spirochetal action)
As part of this protocol it is also important to take 2 grams twice daily of Hu Zhang powder (Natural resveratrol from Knotweed in 5:1 extract). It is positive against Leptospirosis, Treponema denticola (spirochetes in oral flora), Bartonella (Buhner) and many gram neg and gram pos bacteria.
Continually Removing The Toxins From The Joints:
Xu Duan (ChineseTeasel Root) taken with a “Clear Toxic Heat” formula will help drive the spirochetes from the joints into the blood stream (where it can be killed by the heat clearing herbs). Xu Duan Teasel in tincture form is the best way your body can absorb it.
Maximizing Your Immune System With a Strong Defense:
There must also be an effective formula for the immune system that is suitable for long term use. Reishi mushroom and Chinese Astragalus 5:1 (Called Strong Defense) are perfect.
Together all these herbs become the building blocks of a true hard working lyme disease protocol that, although formulated from ancient herbs, becomes “cutting edge” in fighting this toxic fire we call Lyme Disease."
I am not a doctor, just to be clear, but here is what I think, Sphairon;
If you can remember, was the tick engorged? That is, had it enjoyed a nice meal of blood and grown big and round, many times its normal size? About a third or so of tick bites result in a rash, often in a bulls-eye shape with rings going outward. If you had any sort of rash, that means you were infected with the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria almost definitely. A small red spot is different, I think, perhaps just irritation from the bite.
That is great. It’s better to be on the safe side when it comes to Lyme, and when you treat it right away you can be cured.
Two weeks is pretty standard I think, though most Lyme literate doctors would probably prescribe at least 4 weeks to be safe. What antibiotic did you take? After my recent bite, Dr. Horowitz prescribed a month of Doxycycline for me as a prophylactic. I will probably continue the antibiotic for more than a month, maybe six weeks, maybe longer. My case is very different, however.
The best way to tell if you are “healed” is to consider your symptoms, if any, before and after the bite. Even though the spot went away, it is possible that the bacteria or other bugs from the tick persisted. Lyme and the related co-infections can affect every system of the body, and the list of possible symptoms is very long. The most common are probably joint pain, fatigue, cognitive impairment, headaches…well, there is good list on pages 9-11 of Dr. Joseph Burrascano’s guidelines.
I’m not sure what the odds are, but thousands and thousands of people have persistent Lyme even after treatment, without realizing it. If you are really concerned, the best thing to do is find a Lyme literate doctor. I can point you in that direction. There is so much you can do to fight Lyme, it really all depends of what fits for your sitution. Again, best to be working with a doctor, but you can do many things on your own just with diet, supplements, herbs, natural anti-microbials, exercise, and just being generally healthy.
Don’t be too sorry. I am alive and well and lucky to be working with great doctors. I subscribe to Dr. Mercola’s site, but I haven’t heard of Dr. Miller. Will look him up. That diabetes anecdote is amazing, and it makes perfect sense. Raw foods are the best medicine out there probably.
Diet is the key! I eat mostly fruits and vegetables and nuts also! I have also been tested for food allergies, not in the traditional style, but with an alternative technique that finds all the sensitivities that traditional allergists miss. The main theory behind environmental medicine is that everyday foods and chemicals make us sick. People get addicted to common foods like milk, corn, wheat, eggs, and soy, but they don’t realize it because the symptoms are chronic, not accute. They continue eating the same foods to avoid withdrawl, and get unexplained symptoms of arthritis, headaches, depression, fatigue, etc. Dr. Theron Randolph pioneered this field of medicine, which he calls Clinical Ecology. I linked his book above, and the American Academy of Environmental Medicine.
Thanks for all the sources. I get natural news but have yet to explore the podcasts. I think TCM is fascinating. Acupuncture is one the treatements that helped my family with Lyme.
You’re welcome. I have fun being a crusader for Lyme disease and natural health.