Posts Tagged ‘vaccines’

The vaccine Gardasil for the prevention of the human papillomavirus (HPV) won regulators’ approval for use in males, setting the stage for a debate over whether this will be profitable for Merck. Remember that is the real debate behind the scenes. The one about safety, or effectiveness is not quite as important. The driving force is profit. If you want to ensure your safety the only place to go is to your pocketbook. That is the vote of approval that pharmaceutical companies depend on.

Gardasil is approved for boys 9 years old and up. The Food and Drug Administration found Gardasil, to be safe and effective in protecting males from genital warts. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has to decide whether to recommend its routine use in boys. That could mandate inoculation and prompt insurers to pay for it. This is a vaccine that boys parents will be less likely to take advantage of.

When the FDA approved Gardasil’s use for girls and women in 2006, Merck was taken to task for the aggressive lobbying to get states to make inoculation a requirement for pre-teenage girls. The price of the vaccine was just under $400 for the three-dose regimen. I am sure they felt compelled to protect a 9 year old from sexually transmitted disease. Another way to look at it, and probably a lot more realistic. Merck generated revenues of 1.4 billion dollars last year.

The approval of the vaccine for boys could add $200 to $300 million in annual sales according to Bloomberg’s report. If it was a mandatory vaccine those figures would climb. Expanding the vaccines use could revive sales, which declined 5 per cent last year according to the Bloomberg article.

“This is an important milestone, because the use of Gardasil can now help protect boys and girls and young men and women from certain diseases caused by this common virus.” Said Richard Haupt, executive director of Merck Research Laboratories, in the companies statement. The funny part it would cost $100,000 to vaccinate enough boys for one year of additional life compared with less than $50,000 for girls, according to a study by Harvard University Researchers presented in June to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.” This is from the Bloomberg report.

A good diet and exercise program will add many healthy years for a lot less money. The rational behind the vaccine is that  if you routinely inoculate boys you will prevent cervical cancer in women. The problem is that boys may not directly benefit from it. About 1% of sexually active males in the U.S. develop genital warts, which are not usually life threatening. The vaccinations would help women who can wind up with cervical cancer from the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus.

Their figures show that cervical cancer kills nearly 4,000 women in the U.S. each year. The CDC recommends that girls get vaccinated against HPV, and schoolgirls in several states, and the District of Columbia are required to. So far 37% of adolescent women have gotten at least one dose, the agency says. Merck generated sales of $1.4 million last year, without assurances that this will protect anyone. The vaccine has been tracked for 5 years, a 11 year old will be 16 years old when the vaccine may lose its effectiveness, When has a company been so altruistic to mount this type marketing campaign.to save 4,000 people. Unless the possibility of $1.4 billion sweetened the pot.

Merck has tracked immunity for five years in women, and just three years in boys.The long-term effectiveness is not known. Just because Gardasil is approved for boys does not mean it is a good idea. John Barron’s quote “Never Mind that genital warts are about as common among middle-school boys as opera buffs “ says it all.

Gardasil dangers are well know and under reported. This is the vaccine approved for the  prevention of the human papillomavirus (HPV). As of May 1, 2009 more than 24 million doses of Gardasil have been distributed in this country. There have been nearly 14,000 adverse events reported to Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). This is only the officially reported cases. Ninety-three percent of the reported evens were considered to be non-life threatening. These were fainting, headache, or fever. Seven percent were considered to be serious enough for hospitalization. Included in the serious cases were thirty-nine women who died. None of these has officially been linked directly to the Gardasin vaccine.

Merck studied the vaccine in fewer than 1200 girls under age 16 and the majority of the serious problems and deaths happened in that period, These were the pre-license clinical trials and all events were considered coincidental, just like the future profits from gardasil will be coincidental.

A new study finds that millions of the girls and women who had the shots, are at an increased risk of developing blood clots and other complications. The real problem is no one is sure it even works. The vaccine does give some immunity against ( HPV) human papillomavirus, but there is no data that will tell if cervical cancer will be adverted in the vaccinated group. It will take 20 years for cervical cancer to develop following HPV infection. The fact is there is no research that indicates that the vaccine is protective past 5 years.

Dr.Diana Harper, one of the chief coordinators for Gardasil’s clinical trials and a paid consultant for Merck, has voiced an opinon about vaccinating teenage girls. “If we vaccinate 11 year olds and the protection doesn’t last…we’ve put them at harm from side effedts, small but real, for no benefit.” The August 19^thissue the Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama ) also contains an editorial that sheds some light on the way important issues get sidestepped in the rush for profit. Dr. Charlotte Haug points out the dilemma doctors face in administering a vaccine to healthy patients that may not protect them against a cancer they may develop decades from now. Also, this cancer can be caught early through regular exams.

The research team led by the centers for Disease Control and prevention and the Food  and Drug Administration said the benefits of Gardasil still outweigh the risk. They recommend everyone to get the vaccine, which guards against some but not all forms of the human papillomavirus(HPV)

There are about 100 different strains of HPV, with an infection rate of nearly 80%, and is the most common sexually transmitted disease around. Of the 100 strains, about 15 have a link to cervical cancer. Gardasil offers some protection against 2 of the 15 oncogenic (cancer causing) HPV strains. On top of this HPV infection isn’t the sole cause of cervical cancer. It is thought of as the most commonly recognized risk factor. Immunizing women theoretically protects them from this cancer.

The numbers do not add up to any kind of assurance that this is vaccine saves lives. There were 54 reports for every 100,000 doses of some type of side effect. That is high considering the fact that a large portion of adverse reactions are never reported. Adverse effects ranged from headaches, nausea, blood clots, dizziness, lose of consciousness.

If  it doesn’t kill, it’s considered a minor problem. The thinking of these drug companies is  warped. If your body is complaining about the intrusion of some foreign material there is a big problem. The dizziness, headaches, lost of consciousness is your body’s way of trying to cope with an intruder that it never came in contact with before.

Gardasil faced opposition, HPV is known as genital warts, and the way to get it is though sex. By offering the vaccine to a11 year old meant that parents were protecting their child from sexual activity. Many parents did not feel comfortable with that image. Merck the maker of the drug saved the day by drawing attention away from the virus as a means of transmission and focused on the message of protecting girls from cervical cancer. Now only a diabolic parent would pass up something that could potentially save their child’s life in the future.

They know the response to that type of message will be emotional, with a little panic thrown in you will get people to line their children up to be immunized. It is a lot easier to embrace the vaccine when common sense, and logical thinking is turned off. The question is who is going to be put at risk, and who will benefit from the vaccine. The answer is simple the public takes the risk, while Merck benefits. Gardasil dangers comes from a pharmaceutical company that puts profit above everything and everyone.

Alzheimer’s is a chilling reminder that the medical profession is off the mark. As the numbers climb, we see many inconsistencies in the notions of what causes it. The new numbers include early onset cases. People in the prime of their life are succumbing to this cruel condition. The issue of cognitive decline is going to be one of the ultimate challenges. As this condition strikes people at younger ages there will be many requests for more studies. The notion that this will be solved in a laboratory is due to allopathic medical thinking.

They will find more methods to screen for the condition, but the answers we need will elude them. It is a inflammatory condition, vaccines cause inflammatory responses. They are given to toddlers while their nervous systems are developing. Sluggish thyroid is known to increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Data from the Canadian Study of Health and Aging found that less education, heavy smoking and drinking speed up the onset of Alzheimer’s.

Canadian researches found the use of anti–inflammatory drugs, wine consumption, coffee consumption and exercise were associated with a lower risk. Anti-inflammatory agents include nutrients from food. Grape seed extracts have been shown to reduce the plaque formation associated with Alzheimer’s. Omega 3 fish oils, natural vitamin E, DHA, and folic acid have been shown to protect the brain. Exercise has been proven to be very helpful in keeping from developing all forms of cognitive problems.

There will not be one cause of progressive cognitive decline. It will be a combination of poor lifestyle choices, pharmaceuticals, and chronic health conditions. There are plenty of things that cause an inflammatory response in the body from lack of sleep, stress, malnutrition, obesity, and a diabetic condition. Diabetics are prone to Alzheimer’s both from the sugar level, and the medication. If inflammation is behind heart disease, auto-immune conditions, cancer, and cognitive decline, than we already have part of the answer. Inflammation adversely affects the brain before you notice any cognitive decline.

Cognitive decline is a deviation from true health. We think of it as normal, because we are use to seeing this decline. What if it is a reflection of a decline in health, not just of cognitive functioning?  People with sharp memory are showing that they have a healthy brain.

The vaccine issue is real, as they are responsible for an inflammatory response. This is provoked by the vaccine to provide an active immune response. To facilitate this reaction the vaccine uses some pretty nasty substances. The ingredient list is so unappetizing, that the pharmaceutical companies do not make that part of their advertising campaign. The massive number of vaccines is setting the stage for Alzheimer’s and other conditions. There is no way to prove that vaccines are not involved in the wave of conditions that are on the rise.

Alzheimer’s surprises are in the way that the condition is viewed. Hugh Fudenberg, M.D.way back in 1997 presented his research at the NVIC International Vaccine Conference in Virginia,  His data showed that five consecutive flu shots between 1970 and 1980 boosted the chances of getting Alzheimer’s disease by 10 times. We are on vaccine overload and it is meaningless to study the connection for the next 10 years. The number of vaccines given to infants, the most vulnerable group shows the dilemma of waiting for Alzheimer’s cases to surge. The easy study would be to cut the number of vaccines, and see if the numbers of cases start to fall. That takes common sense, and a willingness to forgo profits at any price.