Deconstructing Some Health Myths By Mrs Vera West

     Here  I want to range over a number of topics, which I hope will be of interest to readers on health issues, and their deconstruction, or if you like, the debunking of some establishment myths. The idea is to give some references so readers can go to the primary article when needed. This is for education purposes only and no health/medical advice is being offered, naturally.

     Did vaccinations eradicate diseases such as polio and other diseases? Not according to this article: http://www.naturalnews.com/049300_public_sanitation_plumbing_disease_prevention.html. It was water infrastructure, clear water and sewers that eliminated diseases such as polio. India has also had an aggressive vaccination campaign, with some children receiving up to 30 doses of the polio vaccine before their fifth birthday. There have been tens of thousands of vaccine injuries and death. Proper sanitation, however, has achieved vast results in disease elimination, without such ill health effects. For a further discussion and some references: https://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/graphs/.

     Back in March this year, Natural News.com published an insightful piece about how the mainstream media have given mutually inconsistent readings of the same scientific paper, that vitamin D decreases the risk of cancer, and also that vitamin D does not reduce the risk of cancer: http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-03-29-fake-science-opposite-news-headlines-vitamin-d-study.html.
The original paper: http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2613159%20, said in its abstract that vitamin D3 did not significantly lower the risk of cancer, but as Adams points out, the data from the paper actually shows that those who did not receive vitamin D supplementation were at a 42.9 percent increased risk of cancer, which is significant. Go figure.

     What goodies besides mercury are in US vaccines? In March this year, Mike Adams was once again in the Big Med hot seat for claiming that African Green Monkey kidney cells were used in vaccines: http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-03-09-cdc-confirms-natural-news-100-correct-on-report-of-african-green-monkey-kidney-cells-used-in-vaccines.html. This article reports that CDC documents confirm the claims, and screenshots are reproduced in the article. Gasp!

     Can type 2 diabetes be reversed? Alternative medicine folk have said in many cases, yes, but now, the mainstream medical profession believes that exercise, lifestyle changes, oral medications and insulin can in fact reverse this condition: https://www.endocrine.org/news-room/current-press-releases/intensive-medical-treatment-can-reverse-type-2-diabetes.

      And finally, the best for last, the dangers of some prescription drugs: http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-03-15-prescription-drugs-declared-one-of-the-most-significant-perils-to-human-health-in-the-world-by-british-medical-journa.html:

“Prescription drug therapy has been a major contributor to the soaring rates of serious, disabling or fatal injuries, according to a 2011 study published in the British Journal of Medicine. Data from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices showed that anticoagulants dabigatran and warfarin were the most frequently identified medications that were reported to the FDA, suggesting that treatments designed to inhibit blood clots top the health risk index among prescription drugs. Nine other drugs were also shown to meet five criteria for clinically-relevant injuries associated with drugs.

    The FDA received a total of 179,855 reports of serious, disabling and fatal drug interactions in the U.S. in 2011, a significant 9.4 percent increase (15,386 more cases) from 2010. The federal agency received the highest number of direct calls for the anticoagulants dabigatran and warfarin at 817 and 490, respectively.”

     In conclusion, just as in politics, it pays to be self-aware about one’s health issues, and to always have an active critical rationality, to say the least.