Thursday, January 22, 2015

Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer and AIDS Vaccine All Now!!!

OK. I lied. None of them are available now. And if they were, I hope I am not the first place you are hearing about them.

But what if it were true? What if the CDC and National Institutes of Health announced breakthroughs in these vaccinations and that they would be available in your doctor's office starting Feb 1, 2015? Would you be calling your doctor for a chance to be the first to get the breast or prostate cancer vaccine? Would you be lining up at your favorite drug store for the AIDS one? Or would you wait until your next annual exam for them?

Or would you tell your doctor you are not interested in them? That they will probably not help, come with side effects, or be generally unsafe to take? Probably not. Why? Because you see the devastation that these diseases cause. Because you know personally someone who has been impacted by these illnesses.

And thus is the problem with the measles, polio, or rubella vaccinations. They have worked so well in the US, you may have no experience with how horrendous these diseases are. So when people who are not medical doctors (just because they have the title Dr. in front of their name, does NOT make them a medical doctor) tell you the vaccines are not safe, you have no reference for how unsafe being un-vaccinated is. All treatments have side effects and risks. And there is nothing wrong with knowing what they are. But use reputable medical reports and websites to get your information. Not a website sponsored by a celebrity or vitamin company.

One of the wonders of our generation is now that we have eliminated these killer diseases, we have gone on to create vaccines for illnesses that are serious but only life-threatening to some people. Chicken pox, the flu, and the HPV vaccines are some of these examples. These diseases haven't shown  the same destructive capabilities as rubella, small pox, or the mumps, and so we tend to think it's ok not to take those vaccines, so it's ok not to use the others. But it's not. If you choose not to vaccinate yourself or your child, you need to know the full truth about the disease you are choosing to leave yourself vulnerable to. Especially in this age where people (and diseases) can spread quickly and easily among continents (think about the chaos from just a few people reaching our country in wake of the Ebola virus.) Think about the number of people complaining that not enough was being done to create a vaccination against the Ebola virus.

Let's try to be consistent people. If you are complaining the drug companies aren't working hard enough to find vaccines for our deadliest known illnesses of today, why would you risk exposing yourself or your kids to the deadliest known diseases of yesteryear by refusing the vaccines?

Think it through.... and play it safe. Vaccinate yourself and your kids. For their healthy future.