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Toxins That May Be Implicated in ADHD, ADD, Anxiety, Autism, and Other Developmental Delays Acetaminophen (also called paracetamol), a pain reliever found in more than six hundred over-the-counter and prescription medications, including DayQuil, Robitussin, Sudafed, Tylenol, and Vicks Aluminum, a metal injected as an adjuvant in vaccines and other pharmaceutical products, also found as a contaminant in intravenous nutritional products Aspartame (NutraSweet, also called E951), an artificial sweetener used as a sugar substitute in processed foods and beverages Endocrine disruptors, any chemicals that interfere with the human endocrine (hormone) system, including pesticides, herbicides, chemical softeners in plastic, flame retardants, and chemicals used in agriculture, disease control, manufacturing, and industrial processing. Known endocrine disruptors include BPA, DDT, DEHP, DES, dioxin, PCBs, and PCBEs. Fluoride, a chemical added to drinking water and found in toothpaste, pesticides, Teflon pans, and processed foods and beverages Methanol, a chemical found in cigarette smoke, canned and jarred foods, smoked fish and meat, and any food product that contains aspartame Mercury, an element found in thimerosal (a mercury-based preservative widely used in infant vaccines until 2001 and still used in some flu, DTaP, DT, and meningococcal vaccines), dental amalgams (fillings), fish, shellfish, and animals that eat fish, released into the air from coal-burning factories and aluminum smelters
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But in 2008 a team of five scientists led by Stephen Schultz at the University of California, San Diego, published an important study that compared eighty-three cases of children with autism with eighty controls. The study found that children who took Tylenol after getting the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine were significantly more likely to have autism than children who did not. While the study had several weaknesses—it has a relatively small sample size, it relies on parental recall, and it includes no validation of clinical records to confirm either the autism diagnoses or the use of acetaminophen—the findings were significant. Children given acetaminophen between twelve and eighteen months of age were eight to twenty times more likely to have autism than children given ibuprofen or no pain-killer. Parents of children who became autistic also reported more side effects following the MMR vaccine, including fever, rash, diarrhea, irritability, and seizures, than parents of children who did not.
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We know from research conducted in the 1980s on laboratory rats, as well as studies done on other mammals in the 1990s, that acetaminophen—especially in the presence of testosterone—can wreak havoc on living cells, causing mitochondrial disruptions and depletion of glutathione. I tell my patients to think of glutathione as nature’s mop—an essential biochemical that your body needs to bind with toxins and escort them out of your system. For whatever reason, children with autism have been found to have lower glutathione levels. Giving already susceptible children Tylenol and other acetaminophen-containing drugs, especially in combination with a known neurotoxin (aluminum, say, injected intramuscularly via a vaccine), may be the last straw for their brains.
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The researchers don’t suggest that circumcision causes autism but instead point their finger at the pain reliever given to infant boys during the procedure, concluding that a growing body of experimental and clinical evidence links acetaminophen metabolism to autism and related developmental disorders.
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Danish study of more than 64,000 mothers and children published in April 2014 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, which found that use of acetaminophen (but not ibuprofen) during pregnancy was associated with significantly higher risks of attention deficit disorders in their offspring. The more acetaminophen mothers took during pregnancy, the more likely it was that their children would have severe attention deficit disorders and hyperactivity.
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Pregnant women and children also report relief using a few drops of lavender oil on a cool washcloth on the head, a practice that Yale-trained Aviva Romm, M.D., an integrative family physician based in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, also recommends. Magnesium deficiency is a common cause of headaches, so Epsom salt baths (which contain magnesium that is absorbed through the skin) can also provide relief.
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Finally, turmeric, a spice derived from a ginger-like root beloved in Indian cuisine, is a powerful anti-inflammatory.
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Both adults and children have found quick headache relief from drinking turmeric in water (mix a quarter of a teaspoon in an eight-ounce glass of water for children under five, half a teaspoon for children aged five to ten, and a teaspoon for older children and adults). I recommend keeping a supply of empty gelatin capsules on hand (you can buy them online or at a natural food store) and filling them with ground turmeric. Take these instead of acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
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Aspartame is not good for anyone, to be sure. I especially recommend that pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children steer clear of it. It is broken down in the human body to methanol and then converted into formaldehyde. Yes, formaldehyde, the same substance we use to embalm dead people so their bodies won’t rot. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen (a substance that causes cancer). Some researchers further believe that formaldehyde may well be a major factor in causing both multiple sclerosis and autism. A sticky molecule that can bind tightly to almost any molecule in your body, formaldehyde prompts the immune system to destroy its own tissue.
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After you ingest it, aspartame is broken down into methanol (wood alcohol) and two amino acids, phenylalanine and aspartic acid. Due to the small size of the methanol molecule, it crosses the blood-brain barrier, where it is converted into formaldehyde that then interferes with myelin, the protein that sheathes nerve cells.
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Mercury is cytotoxic (damaging to your cells), neurotoxic (damaging to your nervous system), immune-toxic (damaging to your immune system), and nephrotoxic (damaging to your kidneys). Due to its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, it is especially toxic to brain tissue. Mercury toxicity can result in mood, memory, and concentration problems, as well as headaches, fatigue, and motor coordination issues.
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To make matters even worse, safety studies looked at ingested amounts of mercury. Injecting a chemical is much more toxic than eating it, as injecting chemicals bypasses the normal liver detoxification and the entero-hepatic pathways that shunt toxins from the liver to the gut for excretion.
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There is still mercury in at least three different multidose flu shots (Fluvirin, Flulaval, Fluzone), one meningococcal vaccine, and three tetanus-diphtheria vaccines.
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But while vaccine manufacturers phased out thimerosal, the thimerosal-containing flu vaccine was universally recommended to pregnant women, more vaccines were added to the schedule, and higher doses of aluminum, another known neurotoxin, were injected into infants. Unlike mercury, which is a preservative, aluminum is used in vaccines as an adjuvant—a foreign substance that the body recognizes as toxic. The aluminum in vaccines helps induce the body’s immune system to mount a strong antibody response to the viral and bacteria proteins also found in the vaccines. Currently another vaccine loaded with aluminum is being pushed on pregnant women, the Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis).
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Another way humans are exposed to mercury is in our mouths. The silver dental fillings still used today—mercury amalgams—are about 50 percent mercury by weight. Mercury amalgam fillings release mercury vapor when chewing or drinking hot liquids, and 80 percent of that inhaled vapor is absorbed, carried all over the body by blood cells.
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you or your child needs to get a cavity filled, insist on BPA-free white composite fillings.
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Foods high in aluminum include processed cheese, baking soda, bleached flour, nondairy creamer, and even pickles.
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Based on these FDA guidelines, the safe amount of aluminum exposure for infants is 4 to 5 micrograms per kilogram per day, which means that the safe amount for a newborn who weighs 4 kilograms (about 8 pounds) at birth would be 16 to 20 micrograms of aluminum, about fifteen times less than what is contained in the hepatitis B vaccine given to every newborn in America. There can be no doubt that injecting 250 micrograms of aluminum into a newborn should raise concern.
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The science tells us that aluminum can interfere with cellular metabolism, as well as with information transfer in DNA (meaning it makes your body less able to read your genetic map as well as it should). Aluminum has been found to interfere with enzymes in ways such as the inhibition of hexokinase, which is important in pathways that give our cells energy. Aluminum is known to be neurotoxic through increased lipid peroxidation, making cells more vulnerable to free radical attack. Lipid peroxidation refers to the oxidative breakdown of lipids. This is where free radicals (toxic chemicals) “steal” electrons from the lipids in cell membranes, resulting in cell damage. All cell membranes are made of lipids, and avoiding this kind of damage is vital. All of these factors are more significant in infants during periods of rapid brain development.
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We need to do everything we can to avoid exposing women trying to conceive, pregnant women, breastfeeding moms, newborns, infants, and children of all ages to toxic doses of aluminum. This means no aluminum-containing antacids, no aluminum antiperspirants, no Tdap during pregnancy, no soy formula for infants (soy formula contains high levels of aluminum), and spacing out aluminum-containing vaccines.
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University of California at Berkeley, Tyrone Hayes, Ph.D., ignited a controversy with a series of experiments that unexpectedly showed that atrazine, one of the most widely used pesticides in the world, could feminize male frogs at concentrations 30 times lower than that legally allowed in American drinking water. One of the largest agribusinesses in the world, Syngenta, originally funded Hayes’s research. But when his laboratory experiments did not produce the results Syngenta was looking for, their relationship became difficult. Unsealed court documents would later prove that Syngenta used a public relations team and then hired an outside PR firm for the sole purpose of discrediting Hayes’s science, actively hounding him in an attempt to ruin his reputation.
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The Cochrane Collaboration—considered the gold standard in unbiased scientific research—reviewed studies on water fluoridation, identifying the best designed and most comprehensive, and concluded that water fluoridation does not reduce the number of cavities in adult teeth.
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Dr. Paul’s Plan FOR AVOIDING TOXINS 1. Read the ingredients. You need to know what’s in the foods you eat and the medicines you take, and in your vitamins and supplements. Don’t eat or drink anything that contains aspartame, chemical dyes, or nonfood additives like mold inhibitors and aluminum. Avoid acetaminophen in all forms. 2. Be plastic free. The chemicals in plastics are endocrine disrupting, especially when heated. Use cloth bags at the grocery store, or put food (apples, bananas, even broccoli) directly into your cart. Store uneaten food in glass containers instead of in plastic. Avoid processed edibles wrapped in plastic. Chew natural gum (conventional chewing gum is loaded with—you guessed it—plastic, as well as aspartame). Never put plastic in the microwave or dishwasher. Skip the plastic garbage bags. (You can put your waste directly into the trashcan and save a lot of money.) 3. Eat whole foods, preferably organic. Avoid GMO- and pesticide-grown crops whenever you can. You’ll be reading this advice from me again and again. If there’s one lifestyle change you can make that will benefit your whole family’s health from now until forever, it is to eat real food. Yes, it’s frustratingly more expensive. Grow your own food, sign up for community-supported agriculture, shop at a farmer’s market or food co-op, and make friends with local farmers and others who grow food who would be happy to share their extra. 4. Avoid flame retardants. New furniture and new carpets are the largest source of toxic off-gassing. If you’re setting up a new baby’s room, the investment in a flame-retardant-free mattress, like an organic futon mattress for the crib, is worth the added expense. Don’t buy pajamas or other clothing that has been dosed with flame retardants. 5. Embrace natural insect control. Do everything you can to avoid indoor and outdoor pesticides and herbicides, especially glyphosate. Ladybugs, which you can buy in bulk online, kill insects better than insecticides anyway. Convert your backyard to native plants that thrive where you live. 6. Avoid accumulating toxic exposure. You can expect your doctor or dentist to downplay the harms of toxic exposures, saying that any given toxin—whether it be X-rays, residual pesticide on food, lead in old pipes, or fluoride—is harmless because the exposure is so small. Don’t be duped by these false assurances. It doesn’t matter how small any given single exposure may be. One plus one does not equal two, it may equal three thousand. If the toxins are interacting in a harmful way that scientists have yet to understand or if your child begins accumulating exposures, it is more than enough to cause harm. 7. Replace harmful cleaning products with safe ones. White vinegar and water make a great cleanser. Baking soda is the perfect abrasive to clean the tub. Buy perfume-free, dye-free laundry detergent and dish soap or make your own with cheap, simple, nontoxic ingredients. 8. Use natural toothpaste. Conventional…
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Drink either filtered water or glass-bottled spring water. (Water in plastic bottles is not the best choice because chemicals from the plastic leach into it.) The best choice is a reverse-osmosis and charcoal filtration system to remove heavy metals, pesticides, and herbicides. These cost a couple hundred dollars, but if you currently drink one soda a day, giving up that habit will pay for your new water filter system in no time.
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Also concerned is Alan Brown, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at Columbia University. Brown and his colleagues found that provoking an inflammatory response in pregnant women puts their babies at risk for neurological damage in childhood. Though they did not specifically study vaccination, they found that the same marker of inflammation that increases in the bloodstream after vaccination (it’s called CRP) is associated with a 43 percent greater risk of having a child with autism. This was not a small study. Brown and his team examined blood samples from over 1.2 million pregnancies.
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Dr. Paul’s Plan FOR PREGNANCY 1. Decline vaccines. They have not been tested on pregnant women with prospective long-term studies to look at outcomes in those children through school age. 2. Eat a whole-foods diet that is as organic and non-GMO as possible. Your unborn baby is what you eat. He needs real foods (including healthy fats, high-quality protein, iron-rich vegetables, and probiotic foods, like lacto-fermented sauerkraut and plain cultured yogurt, that are high in beneficial bacteria). He also needs to avoid endocrine-disrupting pesticides and herbicides. 3. Skip the soda. Do not drink regular or diet sodas, and avoid aspartame like the poison that it is. 4. Drink filtered water. Reverse osmosis and charcoal filtration will remove heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, and medications that leach into our water supply and dangerously increase a baby’s body burden of toxic chemicals. 5. Minimize stress. Chronic stress has a negative effect on the body and the brain, even triggering long-term changes in brain structure and function. For the sake of your unborn baby, pregnancy is the time to learn how to mitigate stress. Do you need to stop working? Do you need help at home? Do you need to make difficult life choices to get out of a toxic relationship? 6. Get treatment for addiction. Smoking, drinking, and drug use are all very damaging to your unborn child. Professional help and a good support system to keep you clean and sober will help your child get the best start in life. 7. Join an in-person pregnancy support group. You can find these through La Leche League, Holistic Moms Network, and Attachment Parenting International, among others. Facebook and social media are great for support, but you need to be wary of online pregnancy “due date” clubs run by companies trying to sell you products, like infant formula, that will undermine your child’s health. Start a face-to-face pregnancy group if you can’t find one in your area.
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3. Are ultrasounds safe for my baby? A: Pregnant women should avoid ultrasounds if they can. Research led by Yale University’s Pasko Rakic, M.D., Ph.D., revealed that prolonged exposure to ultrasound disrupts brain development in mice. Neurologist Manuel Casanova, M.D., Ph.D., at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, believes ultrasound exposure in utero is one of the main environmental factors contributing to autism in children. Israeli researcher Eitan Kimmel, Ph.D., has found that ultrasound exposure alters human tissue by creating pockets of air inside cell membranes. Even though there’s no clear consensus about how much exposure to ultrasound is too much, all this is enough for me to invoke the precautionary principle. The FDA strongly discourages any non-medical ultrasounds and even the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists specifies that ultrasounds should only be used to “answer a relevant clinical question.” Despite the popularity of ultrasounds with doctors and expectant couples, there is no medical need for low-risk women to have routine ultrasounds during pregnancy. Too often, expectant couples come to my office anxious about non-specific ultrasound findings that are later found to have no medical significance. I take this opportunity to emphasize the importance of minimizing stress during pregnancy. If you need an ultrasound, ask the doctor and technician to set the machine at the lowest possible exposure and to do the scan for the shortest amount of time.
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A Swedish study randomly assigned 382 healthy full-term infants to delayed cord clamping (of at least three minutes) or immediate cord clamping (just after birth), then followed up with 263 of the children four years after birth. It found that boys, in particular, seemed to benefit from the delay. The Swedish children, especially the boys, had better social and fine motor skills than babies whose cords were cut within ten seconds of being born.
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When we wait to cut the cord until it stops pulsing—anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours—babies are less likely to hemorrhage and more likely to have higher iron stores.
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But forward-thinking pediatricians who look critically at after-birth practices are now realizing that we should not be bathing babies so soon after birth. The baby’s skin-protecting vernix (the white coating over much of a newborn’s body) contains powerful antifungal and antimicrobial agents. Washing also removes the smell of the amniotic fluid that has surrounded that baby for nine months and that is part of the familiar bond she has with her mom. Studies show that newborns prefer the smell of their own amniotic fluid, which rubs off them from that skin-to-skin time right after birth and promotes breastfeeding. And washing the baby with antibacterial soap removes the beneficial bacteria from a newborn’s skin.
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A study by an international team of neurologists and psychologists published in Frontiers in Psychology suggests another reason to keep the baby out of the bathwater: The scent of a newborn human is literally intoxicating to adults.
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If you do not have the surface antigen for hepatitis B, then you do not have hepatitis B. Your baby is not at risk. With no possible benefit, this vaccine is not worth any risk. What most doctors do not tell their patients (and doctors are often unaware of this themselves) is that the hepatitis B vaccine contains 250 micrograms of aluminum. As I mentioned in Chapter 1, when premature infants are injected with more than 4 or 5 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day of aluminum, it accumulates at toxic levels. If your baby weighs 7 pounds at birth (approximately 3 kilograms), the FDA stipulations suggest that the maximum safe dose for that newborn is 15 micrograms, sixteen times less than what is given in one hepatitis B vaccine. Since infants may not be able to effectively rid their bodies of aluminum, the truth is that no amount is safe. By giving infants this shot, according to the FDA’s own calculations, we are literally poisoning them. “Research indicates that patients with impaired kidney function, including premature neonates, who receive parenteral [intravenously or intramuscularly injected] levels of aluminum at greater than 4 to 5 [micro]g/kg/day accumulate aluminum at levels associated with central nervous system and bone toxicity. Tissue loading may occur at even lower rates of administration.” —Food and Drug Administration
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A 2013 study showed that by age sixteen, the majority of children—over 50 percent—who were given the hepatitis B vaccine as infants are no longer protected. A 2014 study published in Pediatrics found similarly poor immunity rates among sixteen-to-nineteen-year-olds vaccinated as infants. Only 24 percent of American teens who completed the three-shot series by age one had adequate protection. Giving the hepatitis B series of shots to newborns not only exposes them to toxic doses of aluminum, but also fails to give them lasting protection against hepatitis B.
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Not a single medical association in Europe recommends routine male circumcision. The Royal Dutch Medical Association has urged a ban on the procedure in Holland as it can endanger a baby’s health and is ethically questionable.
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But how can circumcision lead to autism? you might ask. I wondered the same thing. Perhaps babies who are circumcised are given acetaminophen-containing pain relievers, which can cause cell death in the presence of testosterone.
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Dr. Paul’s Plan FOR NEWBORNS 1. Decline the hepatitis B vaccine. Routine use of the hepatitis B vaccine in infancy is not supported by either scientific evidence or common sense. Babies born to healthy moms who test negative for hepatitis B, are not intravenous drug users, and do not work as prostitutes should not get the vaccine. However, if the mom is hepatitis B positive or has other risk factors, her baby should get this vaccine. It may also make sense to give the hepatitis B vaccine if her partner or the baby’s other caregivers have hepatitis B. 2. Clamp the cord after two to three minutes (or later). Wait until the cord stops pulsing. This varies from baby to baby and can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. 3. Keep in touch. Immediate skin-to-skin contact for as long as possible is the best postpartum medicine for both the mom and the baby, as long as both are stable. In fact, there is no reason for a mom and a healthy baby to be separated during the first hours of life. If the mom can’t have skin-to-skin contact because of complications from the birth, another loving person (the dad, grandma, or friend) should get shirtless and have skin-to-skin with the baby. But beware: It’s addictive, and Mom will want the baby back. Thereafter keep your baby by your side. You can’t spoil a newborn with too much holding or too much love. 4. Leave the baby’s eyes alone. Antibiotic eye ointment is optional and is unnecessary if you have had a C-section. It is truly needed only if you have tested positive for venereal disease. 5. Give oral vitamin K or insist on an aluminum-free vitamin K shot. This prophylactic intervention protects against infant hemorrhaging. The oral vitamin K dose is 2 milligrams on the first day of life, at one week, and at one month. Since aluminum is a neurotoxin that we want to avoid, if your baby has a vitamin K shot instead of oral vitamin K, make sure your doctor uses an aluminum-free brand. 6. Nurse your newborn. Breastfeeding takes a while for both the mom and the baby to get the hang of, but the longer you stay with it, the easier it gets. Don’t let a nurse or doctor trick you into thinking your baby needs formula. If you must supplement in the first week of life, use donor milk. 7. Leave your baby’s privates whole. Neither boys nor girls should be circumcised. This painful and unnecessary cosmetic procedure carries a 1 in 500 risk of acute side effects and has no real medical benefit. 8. Back to sleep. Babies should be laid on their backs on a firm mattress, preferably free of flame retardants, unless they are sleeping on your chest or in your arms.
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Goopy eyes are a common problem that I see at the two-week visit, usually caused by a blocked tear duct but sometimes by an eye infection. As I mentioned in Chapter 3, I don’t reach for antibiotics first; I encourage breastfeeding moms to put breast milk in the eyes as the first step, several times a day. That almost always does the trick if there is an infection.
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Dr. Paul’s Plan FOR TWO-WEEK-OLDS 1. Get help. When you return home with a new baby, have friends and family bring you healthy home-cooked meals, clean the bathroom, and tidy up the house in lieu of giving traditional baby gifts. 2. Pay attention. What new babies need most is your time, love, and attention. 3. Take it one drop at a time. Breastfeeding can be hard for some new moms. Don’t give up. You’ll get the hang of it. 4. Eat well. Moms need optimal nutrition to make the most nutritious milk. Dads need optimal nutrition to give them energy and boost their mood. 5. Allow yourself time to heal. Having a baby is a big adjustment. 6. Enjoy your baby. Love her, snuggle her, hold her, talk to her, smell her, and kiss her. When she becomes a teenager, you’ll miss this like crazy.
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However, there is considerable evidence that the new generation of rotavirus vaccines may also cause intussusception.
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Data from my own practice shows that those infants who got the rotavirus vaccine were four times more likely to have gastroenteritis and diarrheal illness than those who did not get the vaccine.
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My Take on the Rotavirus Vaccine for TWO-MONTH-OLDS In America the vast majority of rotavirus infections in children will be mild. When vomiting and diarrhea are severe, antinausea drugs exist to treat the problem. My experience indicates that the rotavirus vaccine is unnecessary, as long as families practice good hygiene, drink clean water, and have access to health care if a child gets dehydrated and needs IV fluids. The rotavirus vaccine may be helpful for families living in rural areas with no ready access to a hospital or for families traveling outside the United States to remote parts of the world. But rotavirus vaccine is unnecessary for American babies. There is no reason to give it. I recommend saying, “Thanks, but no thanks, Doc.” Take a pass on the rotavirus vaccine.
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The IPV seems to be safe. In thirty years of giving thousands of injections of this vaccine, I have not seen any reaction other than local redness at the injection site. The IPV does not contain mercury or aluminum. It does, however, contain formaldehyde. Though I would not hesitate to give this vaccine, the presence of formaldehyde, even in trace amounts, concerns me.
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Pentacel has 330 micrograms of aluminum. Pediarix has 850 micrograms. Kinrix has 600 micrograms. I do not recommend these combination vaccines.
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My Take on the Polio Vaccine for TWO-MONTH-OLDS Despite its safety and efficacy, there is no real reason for an American two-month-old to get the polio vaccine, especially if the family is not traveling outside North, Central, and South America. There has not been a newly acquired case of polio in over thirty-five years, which means that the chances of your baby contracting polio are zero. I’ve heard pediatricians try to scare parents by saying, “Polio is just a plane ride away.” That theoretical argument holds little water. In the past thirty-five years, millions of people from countries where there are still active infections of polio have traveled to the United States, yet no one in America has become sick. Is this because polio vaccine uptake rates are high, or is it because polio does not at this time pose any kind of real threat? Ask Howard Morningstar, M.D., who graduated from Yale Medical School, completed his residency in family medicine at Brown University, and has been working as a family physician in Ashland, Oregon, for almost twenty years. Dr. Morningstar is less concerned about possible side effects of vaccines than about the potential overall effect on the immune system of giving too many vaccines to very young children. “I would rather use the long-term, tried-and-true ways to prevent epidemics—sanitation, nutrition, hygiene, health awareness—and save the emergency measures, like mass vaccinations, for true emergencies.” At the same time, if you are traveling outside the United States, the polio vaccine may be necessary. In 2014 there were 359 cases of wild poliovirus infections reported in nine countries, 306 (85 percent) in Pakistan, 28 (8 percent) in Afghanistan, and 6 (2 percent) in Nigeria—the three countries where polio has never been completely eradicated. Previously polio-free countries that had polio cases in 2014 included Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Somalia, Ethiopia, Iraq, and Syria. The World Health Organization has declared the international spread of polio a public health emergency. As a result, new regulations are being put in place if you plan to travel to affected countries. If you will be staying in one of these countries for more than four weeks, you will need a booster (required before you may leave that country) regardless of your past immunization status. Children or adults who have never been vaccinated can get a second polio vaccine (IPV) four weeks after the first, and get a third dose four weeks after that. If you have enough time, the fourth dose for children should be given at least six months after the previous dose. So if your family plans to travel internationally, getting the polio vaccine is a good idea and an evidence-based choice. If you have no plans to leave the Americas, there is no quantifiable chance that your baby could get polio at this time and no compelling evidence that your two-month-old needs this vaccine.
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Depending on which brand you use, the Hib vaccine is perhaps the purest vaccine on the market. Do not give Hib in a combined vaccine. If your doctor is using a combined vaccine, your baby is getting a dangerously large dose of aluminum. (See Chapter 1 for reasons to avoid aluminum whenever possible.) The ActHIB brand contains no mercury, aluminum, or animal products and has only minimal formaldehyde.
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My Take on the Hib Vaccine The Hib vaccine offers tremendous benefit with minimal side effects. I recommend you give it to your infant on the usual CDC schedule of two, four, six, and twelve months. I prefer the ActHIB brand, which contains no mercury or aluminum.
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The DTaP vaccine is relatively safe, and I use it in my practice, but unfortunately it contains aluminum. As with any vaccine, it comes down to weighing the risks and the benefits. Because pertussis is difficult to treat and deaths in infants can occur, I recommend this vaccine on the CDC schedule.
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My Take on the DTaP Vaccine for TWO-MONTH-OLDS With the rise of pertussis infections, possibly due to changing pertussis strains, we clearly need a better vaccine. In addition to vaccination, we also need other ways to boost the immune system to fight this infection. At the same time, the chance your baby will die from pertussis may be reduced if you vaccinate your two-month-old, as well as family members and caregivers. Though I am concerned about the amount of aluminum in this vaccine, and I would like to see a vaccine with better efficacy, I recommend you vaccinate your child against pertussis at two, four, six, and eighteen months and get a booster at age four, as per the CDC schedule.
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This vaccine has 125 micrograms of aluminum, the lowest amount of all aluminum-containing vaccines. How much aluminum do I think is safe? NONE! So what are we to do? It is, again, weighing benefit against risk. The Prevnar-13 vaccine also contains 100 micrograms of polysorbate 80.
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My Take on the Pneumococcus Vaccine FOR TWO-MONTH-OLDS If you have a family history of autism, immunodeficiency, or MTHFR defects, it is better to avoid this aluminum-containing vaccine. For children whose families do not have a history of immune dysfunction, I believe the benefits of the pneumococcus vaccine outweigh the risks. Do not give this vaccine at the same time as another aluminum-containing vaccine, and you should avoid acetaminophen before and after. This vaccine has 125 micrograms of aluminum. Because the DTaP also has a lot of aluminum, I recommend you give the first dose of the Prevnar-13 vaccine when your baby is three months old. Give the second dose at five months and the third between seven and nine months. This way your baby is not receiving more than one aluminum-containing vaccine at a time.
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If you wanted to modify my Vaccine-Friendly Plan to have only one shot at a time, it would be reasonable to give the DTaP at two months, return for the Hib two weeks later, and then give the Prevnar two weeks after that, at the three-month visit.
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Dr. Paul’s Plan FOR TWO-MONTH-OLDS 1. Avoid acetaminophen. Acetaminophen interferes with the body’s natural ability to rid itself of toxins. Question your doctor’s recommendation to use any product containing acetaminophen. If you need to reduce fever, sponge the baby with a damp washcloth. 2. Delay hepatitis B, polio, and rotavirus vaccines. Unless Mom has hepatitis B, your baby has no risk of getting hepatitis B until he is sexually active or sharing dirty needles. There has not been a case of polio acquired in the United States since 1979, and rotavirus is a treatable illness if you have access to health care. 3. Give DTaP, Hib, and Prevnar vaccines. On balance it feels like the risk of bacterial meningitis and serious infection is worth preventing. In the case of Hib, the risk of side effects is very low. The DTaP does have aluminum and should be avoided by those with a family history of autism or immune issues. Prevnar prevents the worst strains of pneumococcus, which causes meningitis and serious infections. Return for a shot-only visit at three months to get Prevnar, to allow one month between aluminum-containing vaccines. 4. Breast is best. Continue exclusively breastfeeding, which is the best food for your baby and the best way to give her the healthiest start in life. 5. Give 1,000 IUs of vitamin D daily. This is given in liquid form. I have tested thousands of children over the past decade, and 99 percent of them were deficient in vitamin D; most are severely so. While you can test, and I encourage testing, you can just about be certain your child needs extra vitamin D. If you want to get vitamin D naturally, you’ll need to take a lot of fish oil or get a lot of sun exposure (which carries the risk of skin cancer). Sunscreen, while providing some protection from skin cancer, also blocks most of the vitamin D production. 6. Wear your baby. Baby-wearing has been shown to promote bonding, quiet alertness, and a sense of well-being. You can’t spoil a baby! Hold them, talk to them, and interact with them as much as you both want to. Don’t forget you will both benefit from lots of skin to skin. 7. Tummy time. Tummy time during waking hours helps your baby develop coordination, muscle tone, and problem-solving skills. 8. Back to sleep. It is safest for your baby to sleep on his back at this age. But she may already be showing her independent thinking. If she has taught herself to roll over and prefers to sleep on her stomach, there’s not much you can do. Just make sure the baby is sleeping on a hard surface without too many blankets or pillows or stuffed animals (which can cause suffocation). 9. Kindness counts. The transition into parenthood is a process that takes time, patience, and love. You are still getting to know your baby and getting to know yourself as a parent. Be kind to yourself and others, especially your spouse.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics still recommends introducing solids at six months. However, I’ve been reading with great interest the research that shows reduced allergies when solids are introduced between four and six months.
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I find that babies on either side of the Atlantic will eat happily when provided with fresh home-prepared baby food. Ruth Yaron’s Super Baby Food: Your Complete Guide to What, When, and How to Feed Your Baby and Toddler is a great resource and an inspirational read for anyone interested in nutrition,
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At four and six months old, I recommend continuing the DTaP, Hib, and Prevnar (see the detailed discussion in the previous chapter). A brief refresher here:
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Hepatitis B and Rotavirus Vaccine: “Thanks, but No Thanks, Doc” As discussed in detail in Chapters 3 and 5, I do not recommend the infant series of the hepatitis B vaccine (a total of three shots) or the rotavirus vaccine (three oral doses). The risk of damage to your baby’s immune system from the toxins in the vaccines exceeds the limited benefits from these vaccines.
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If Your Baby Is at Risk FOR AN AUTOIMMUNE DISORDER OR AUTISM, IT IS SAFER TO DELAY VACCINES I do not recommend any vaccines for your baby in the first year of life if you have a family history of any of the following diseases: Addison’s disease Autism Celiac disease Dermatomyositis Graves’ disease Hashimoto’s thyroiditis Multiple sclerosis Myasthenia gravis Pernicious anemia Reactive arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis Sjögren’s syndrome Systemic lupus erythematosus Type 1 juvenile diabetes
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Dr. Paul’s Plan FOR FOUR-TO-NINE-MONTH-OLDS 1. Keep breastfeeding. Human breast milk is still your baby’s best food. 2. Read your baby, not the guidelines. Start solids when your baby shows interest in food. 3. Fresh food rules. Feed your baby fresh whole foods (mashed or puréed), preferably organic, not food from a jar or processed cereals. 4. Take a first aid class. Babies put everything in their mouths, and new eaters are notoriously good at choking. Take an inexpensive community first aid class. Ask all your baby’s caregivers and your family members to do the same. 5. Get DTaP, Hib, and Prevnar vaccines. These three vaccines will help keep your baby safe from potentially serious diseases. 6. Say no thank you to influenza, hepatitis B, and rotavirus vaccines. These vaccines are unnecessary, and the flu vaccine is often ineffective. Several flu vaccines currently on the market contain mercury, a toxic chemical that should have no place in your baby’s life. 7. Continue to avoid acetaminophen. As discussed in Chapter 1, this popular pediatric pain-killer is toxic to a growing baby’s liver and causes glutathione depletion. Glutathione is nature’s mop, and your baby’s body needs it to clean up toxins. 8. Make sleep a priority, for yourself and for your baby. Babies thrive on consistent sleep, and so do their parents. Get as much sleep as you can, even if that means you aren’t as productive as usual or you have to step back from the rat race. 9. Remember that the only constant is change. As soon as you get used to your baby at this age, she will surprise you by doing something new. If you find yourself frustrated, remind yourself that the only constant is change. 10. Trust your instincts. You know your baby better than your doctor, your mom, your mother-in-law, or anybody else does. If you feel something is wrong and find yourself being dismissed as an “overanxious parent,” find a doctor who will listen. If you are sure your baby is fine or if you want to forgo a recommended test, medication, or vaccine, don’t let your pediatrician bully you into accepting something for your baby that you don’t want.
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have had no new cases of autism in those following the Vaccine-Friendly Plan out of nearly eleven hundred children who are now 2.3 to 7 years old.
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Currently we give thirty-four doses of ten vaccines against fourteen diseases to children by age six. 34 doses of 10 vaccines against 14 diseases by age 6 52 doses of 12 vaccines against 16 diseases by age 18 Birth: hepatitis B 2 months: DTaP, polio, Hib, hep B, rotavirus, PCV 4 months: DTaP, polio, Hib, rotavirus, PCV 6 months: DTaP, polio, Hib, hep B, rotavirus, PCV, flu 7 months: flu 12–18 months: DTaP, MMR, Hib, PCV, chicken pox, hep A 2–6 years: DTaP, polio, MMR, chicken pox, flu (5 doses) 7–18 years: Tdap, flu (12 doses total), HPV (3 doses total), meningococcal (2 doses)
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There has never been a study done comparing fully unvaccinated children to fully vaccinated children.
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One such study has been done. Researchers compared equal numbers of unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, and fully vaccinated homeschooled children in several states. They found that the partially vaccinated and fully vaccinated children were significantly more likely to have a host of illnesses, including allergies, ADHD, and autism. Don’t bother looking for that study in any journal, though. It was slated to be published in a major medical journal after passing through a rigorous peer-review process. At the eleventh hour the journal let the epidemiologists who conducted the research know that it had changed its mind. It is unusual—almost unheard of—for a scientific study that has passed peer review and been scheduled for publication to be pulled like this. Except when the subject is vaccines.
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There are currently two MMR vaccines available for American children, both manufactured by Merck. MMR II: a live attenuated virus vaccine approved for children over twelve months of age as well as for babies six months and older who are traveling to high-risk parts of the world where there is an active measles epidemic. Infants who get the MMR before age one will still need two other doses at age twelve months and at age four to six years, per CDC recommendations. ProQuad: a vaccine against four viral infections, measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (chicken pox) that is used in children aged one to twelve. In theory this vaccine offers a convenience—four vaccines in one pinprick. However, I do not recommend this vaccine as it is associated with a much higher rate of seizures.
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have found that the MMR vaccine provides excellent immunity against measles if the shot is delayed until age three, instead of giving it between twelve and fifteen months. When given at age three or later, the immune response to the MMR vaccine is so robust that your child usually does not need a second MMR (as the CDC currently recommends for four-to-six-year-olds).
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Of the close to five hundred children in my practice who received just one dose of MMR, 98 percent showed immunity to measles. Of the one-third of these children who got the MMR after age three, 99 percent (172) showed immunity to measles. The measles IgG blood test was done an average of 3.5 years after the vaccine was given, showing that the measles vaccine provides lasting immunity. If you have your child tested for measles immunity, ask your doctor to give you a copy of the results of the blood work, which is your proof. Schools are required to honor proof of immunity—either that your child has had the disease, or that your child’s lab blood levels of the immune globulin IgG against measles show that she is protected and does not need a second MMR vaccine. If your child’s school gives you any problems, contact your local public health department.
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This one is simple: I recommend that you wait until age three to give your child the MMR vaccine and then have her titers tested between the ages of four and six to determine if she needs a booster.
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This vaccine seems to have more risks than benefits for one-year-old babies. Children this age are at minimal risk from hepatitis A infection but maximal vulnerability to toxins.
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Dr. Paul’s Plan FOR ONE-YEAR-OLDS 1. Set clear and reasonable boundaries. While you cannot spoil a baby under six months old, you can spoil a one-year-old. At this age, children do not need to get whatever they want whenever they want it. Start setting gentle but firm boundaries. 2. Drive safely. Motor vehicle accidents are the second leading cause of preventable deaths in American children aged one to four. Car seats must be installed safely, and seatbelts must be worn at all times. The car seat is safest when installed in the back middle seat. The less you drive, the less risk you have of a car accident. Walking is a healthy option. 3. Say yes to Prevnar and Hib. Your baby needs these vaccines to avoid severe bacterial infections. 4. Say no to MMR and chicken pox. It is safer to wait until your baby is three years old before you vaccinate against measles, mumps, and rubella, a vaccine that contains three live viruses. Chicken pox is an unnecessary vaccine for a mild disease. 5. Breastfeed. For as long as you both feel good about it, the health benefits of breastfeeding continue. 6. Get out of the way. Sometimes it seems that as parents we just need to get out of the way, encourage and support our children, and then let them explore and interact with the world on their own terms. 7. Baby-proof. Remove poisons from under the sink, and cover electrical sockets. Place window locks on upstairs windows. I recently had a toddler fall out of a second-story window onto concrete. Despite a skull fracture, he seems to be fine.
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In my practice I always give the MMR by itself. We never use the combined MMRV, which contains four viruses (measles, mumps, rubella, and chicken pox) and is associated with increased seizures. If your family has a history of autism or if there are developmental delays, autoimmune issues in your child, or a family history of autoimmune disorders, or if a child is homozygous for the MTHFR C677T mutation, I do not recommend this vaccine.
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When testing the HPV vaccine, as discussed in Chapter 10, researchers used an aluminum-containing injection (instead of saline) for the placebo group for the initial HPV trials. They then used individuals who were given the first generation of the HPV vaccine as the control group and compared them to individuals getting the newer HPV vaccine. Is it any wonder that the “control groups” had nearly identical side effects to the vaccine groups being tested?
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Dr. Paul’s Plan FOR TODDLERS AND PRESCHOOLERS 1. Toddler-proof your home. Your big-headed, walking, talking little human is now a great explorer. Matches, lighters, prescription medications, and cleaning supplies with bright labels beckon to a curious child and must be kept out of reach. Your home need not resemble a fortress and you do not need to buy expensive safety gadgets, but electrical outlets should be covered, blind cords kept wrapped, and guns secured in a safe. 2. Skip the screens. While television gives parents a much-needed break and allows busy couples with young children some private time to reconnect, preschoolers should be spending as little time in front of the TV as possible. The less they watch the better. 3. Read to your toddler. Reading improves language and academic skills and is magic for your child’s self-esteem and your special bond. Studies show that children who are read to often do better in school. The practice it takes to sit still and pay attention reduces distraction and improves children’s attention spans. Visit the library to get a fresh crop of new-to-you books without the expense of buying them. 4. Get the MMR vaccine at age three. A triple live-virus vaccine before age three is too much for many children to handle. The immune system responds so well to the MMR vaccine at age three that your child most likely won’t need a booster later on. If you are traveling to a part of the world where measles is endemic, however, the CDC schedule recommends the shot between twelve and fifteen months. 5. Eat meals together. As tempting as it is to feed the little ones first and eat later, it’s important to include your children in family meals. Family meals create an invaluable sense of family unity and help establish positive lifelong eating habits. 6. Eat real food. If it comes in a bag or a box, was made in a factory, or has a long list of ingredients, it is not real food. Choose eggs, meat, fish, nuts, seeds, fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains, plain whole-milk yogurt, and kefir over packaged “kid-friendly” food. 7. Take your supplements. Almost all toddlers and preschoolers need extra vitamin D3 (1,000 IUs daily until your child weighs 40 pounds or 20 kilograms, then 2,000 IUs after that). Fish oil, methylfolate, and methyl-B12 can also be beneficial. Vitamin D and fish oil are available in either liquid or chewable form. Methyl-B12 and methylfolate are available in small chewable tablets. 8. Don’t play catch-up on vaccines before age three. Even if your child is thriving physically, developmentally, and socially, and your family does not have risk factors that make vaccination riskier, it is safer to catch a child up on vaccines after age three.
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100 to 200 milligrams of magnesium, 2,000 IUs of vitamin D3, and 10 to 20 micrograms of vitamin K2 (menaquinone) daily. You can get these vitamins in liquid form, but by this age your child can learn to swallow pills.
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Dr. Paul’s Plan FOR FOUR-TO-SIX-YEAR-OLDS 1. Stay off screens. Children need interactive play to thrive at this age. Limiting screen time (or better yet, having no TVs in the home) is important for their best brain and body development. 2. Read, read, read. The more you read to your child, the more you ensure that she will spend a lifetime loving books. 3. Exercise together (and apart). Your children need to be moving their bodies as much as they can every day, and so do you. Exercise improves mood, energy levels, immune system function, and restful sleep. Make time in your busy day as a parent to exercise as well. 4. Get the booster for DTaP. While your school-age child won’t die if she gets pertussis, this booster will help the younger siblings and more vulnerable people in the community from getting whooping cough. It will also give your child protection from tetanus. 5. Get MMR titers tested. If your child’s titers to measles are low, get the second MMR shot. We no longer have separate measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines, or I would recommend you get only the one you need. If you don’t have a doctor willing to test titers, change doctors. Since measles is highly contagious, it’s important your child is protected against it before starting school. 6. Skip the flu shot. The efficacy of the influenza vaccine varies from year to year and may do more harm than good for otherwise healthy children. If your child was born premature, has lung or heart issues, or suffers from asthma, I recommend the shot. 7. Continue eating well and drinking filtered water. What you give your child to eat has an effect on every aspect of her health. The fuel she needs to get through the day should not contain sugar, harmful additives, or food dyes. 8. Supplement with purified fish oil and vitamin D. High in omega-3 fatty acids, fish oil supports the immune system as well as the brain. A school-age child can take 1,000 mgs a day of fish oil and 1,000 to 2,000 IVs of vitamin D. 9. Avoid acetaminophen. Acetaminophen magnifies the negative impact of all other toxins that enter the body. Read the label of every medication. If it contains acetaminophen, put it back on the shelf. 10. Nix the gum and diet drinks. Never give your child anything that contains the artificial sweetener aspartame. Aspartame becomes methanol that becomes formaldehyde, triggering direct toxicity as well as activating the immune system itself, setting the stage for lifelong autoimmune disorders.
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What we did know even then (and this part was left out of the fancy talk I attended) was that during the original HPV Gardasil trials, there were 258 adverse events and 40 deaths out of the 29,323 people studied. That represents a death rate of 1 in 733 and adverse events of 1 in 114.
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Instead of censoring information about the severe side effects of the vaccine, in 2013 Japan stopped recommending the HPV vaccine, after noting over more than nineteen hundred adverse reactions, including difficulty walking, body pain, joint pain, severe headaches, nausea, and numbness, over a hundred of which were serious.
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the new Gardasil-9, a new and improved HPV vaccine that covers nine strains of HPV. The new vaccine has 500 micrograms of aluminum (compared to 225 in the older version), as well as 50 micrograms of polysorbate 80 and a small amount of yeast proteins.
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no real control group. Instead, they used individuals who had been administered an older Gardasil vaccine and compared outcomes.
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One reported side effect of Gardasil is autoimmune disorders: 2.2 percent for Gardasil-9 and 3.3 percent for the old Gardasil. The overall rate of serious side effects from Gardasil-9 (2.3 percent) may not seem worrisome until you compare apples to apples. Cervical cancer rates are reported as a number per 100,000. For every 100,000 people using Gardasil-9, there will be 2,300 serious adverse events (2,300 out of 100,000), while the cervical cancer diagnosis rate in the United States is 7.7 out of 100,000. What does this mean? By using this vaccine, we potentially cause 2,300 adverse events while theoretically preventing fewer than eight cases of cervical cancer.
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The benefits of Gardasil do not outweigh the risks. I do not recommend this vaccine.
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People Needing Treatment for Meningococcal Exposure – Housemates of the infected person, especially children under two – Childcare or preschool personnel in contact with the infected person during the seven days prior to the illness – Anyone who kissed or shared a toothbrush or bodily secretions with the infected person during the seven days prior to the illness – Anyone seated next to the infected person on an eight-hour or longer flight
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Since 2005 we have had two vaccines available in the United States for use in children eleven and older: Menactra (made by Sanofi Pasteur) Menveo (made by GlaxoSmithKline) Both vaccines cover serogroups A, C, Y, and W-135. These groups (except for A) are thought to be responsible for 75 percent of the severe meningococcal disease in children over eleven in the United States. Both of these vaccines are mercury and aluminum free and contain only a small amount of formaldehyde. I recommend children in my practice get a meningitis vaccine starting at age eleven.
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Until 2015 we did not have a vaccine that contained group B, which is the most common cause of meningitis in children under five. It has been extremely difficult for manufacturers to develop an effective vaccine for serogroup B. There are now two brand-new vaccines to protect against meningitis caused by group B: Bexsero (made by GlaxoSmithKline) Trumenba (made by Pfizer) Bexsero is designed to be a two-shot series given at least one month apart. This vaccine contains 519 micrograms of aluminum, an unacceptably large dose of a known neurotoxin. Given what we know about aluminum toxicity (see Chapter 1), plus the fact that serotype B is not usually the cause of meningitis in older children and that no testing has been done to determine if it is safe to give this vaccine in combination with the vaccines that protect against the other serotypes, I do not recommend it. Trumenba is designed as a three-shot series, where the second dose is given two months after the first and the final dose six months after the first. Trumenba contains 180 micrograms of polysorbate 80 (see this page) and 250 micrograms of aluminum. Because it contains less aluminum, this vaccine may be a safer choice for college students. Unless your teen is living near an active outbreak of meningitis that is confirmed to be caused by serotype B, however, there is no reason to have this vaccine. At a 2015 meeting of the CDC’s advisory committee on immunization practices, the decision was made not to recommend routine universal vaccination with either Bexsero or Trumenba. I’m glad that the CDC is proceeding with caution in this instance.
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Dr. Paul’s Plan FOR PRETEENS AND TEENS 1. Eat dinner together. Regular family dinners have been associated with many positive outcomes in teens, including higher grade-point averages and self-esteem and lower rates of substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and depression. Dinner conversation does more to boost a young person’s vocabulary than reading, studies show. Regular family meals have been associated with lower rates of obesity and eating disorders in children and adolescents. Home-cooked meals (even from a Crock-Pot), family dinners, and a diet of real food are among the most important health practices we can impart to our children. 2. Make smart food choices, and consider some supplements. Most teens will benefit from taking each day 5,000 IUs of vitamin D3, a multivitamin that has methyl-B12 and methylfolate, 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams of omega-3 purified fish oil, and extra vitamin C at 500 to 1,000 milligrams, to help them feel healthier and happier. Green leafy vegetables can provide folate, and red meat is a natural source of B12, so if your teen is eating these daily and does not have the MTHFR defect (see Chapter 2), he might be getting enough from his diet. Teens who don’t eat fish or flaxseeds regularly should take a fish oil or flax supplement to get adequate omega-3 fatty acids, which is important for proper immune system and brain function. Humans are one of the few mammals who don’t make their own vitamin C. If your teen is not eating a diet high in citrus fruits and vitamin-C-rich vegetables (which include chili peppers, red bell peppers, kale, and broccoli), he probably needs extra vitamin C, which is vital for overall brain and body health. 3. Exercise daily. Teenagers involved in organized sports and physical activity of all kinds have higher levels of self-confidence and well-being, lower levels of obesity, and fewer health challenges. Teens should be doing an hour or more of exercise a day. A good rule of thumb is to make sure your teen is exercising for as long as she is spending in front of a screen. 4. Limit TV, video games, and social media. Too much screen time can lead to depression and even suicidal thoughts for your teen and everyone else in the family. Have a docking station for electronics so she does not have access to them at night or in the morning, turn off the Internet at night, and make watching TV a family—not an individual—activity. 5. Promote positive peers. Our children will do what their friends are doing. Encourage your teen to form friendships with young people who have similar values. 6. Create an atmosphere of openness. Talk about the hard stuff, like sex, drugs, depression, and self-harm. Remind your youngster often that you are always available to listen and problem-solve. 7. Seek support. Get professional help for your youngster and the whole family if your child is struggling with depression, anxiety, mental health issues, or learning challenges. 8. Say yes to whooping cough and meningococcal (…
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How to Support Your Child’s Immune System (and Your Own)…Naturally Dr. Paul’s EPIC CHEAT SHEET 1. Nurse your baby. Breast milk contains a microcosm of healthy bacteria, antibodies, proteins, and nutrients that will give your baby the best start in life. Once you get the hang of it, breastfeeding is also the most grounding, stress-relieving, and miraculous cuddle time you will have with your baby. The longer you breastfeed, the more credit you rack up in the healthy baby bank. As many a mom who was not sure she would nurse even for six months but ended up nursing for two or three years can tell you, breastfeeding is an effective way to defuse a toddler tantrum, help an anxious preschooler fall asleep, and ease the transition from only child to older sibling. You and your baby get to decide how long you both want to nurse. Take it one drop at a time at the beginning, and you will be surprised to find a blink of the eye later that you are nursing a walking, talking, not-so-little person. It’s all good. Your baby is getting your live antibodies for as long as you are breastfeeding, which means breastfeeding has both an immediate positive effect on an infant’s immune system and health benefits that will last a lifetime. 2. Enjoy the cuddles. Every time you hold your baby, cuddle your baby, kiss your baby, and hug your baby, you are helping her develop a deep and lasting sense of well-being and attachment. You aren’t just kissing her tiny little tushy, you are actually teaching her that she is lovable and loved. When you answer her cries with love, you show her that people in her life respond quickly and kindly to her needs, which lays a foundation for a healthy childhood. We know from unspeakably sad observational studies done on humans during World War II, as well as from Harry Harlow’s practical studies done on primate infants in the late 1950s, that babies who are isolated and deprived of affection suffer severe psychological distress, physical stunting, and even death. Researchers at the University of Miami Medical School found that premature babies who were massaged for fifteen minutes three times a day gained weight 47 percent more quickly than babies left alone in incubators, were discharged six days earlier from the hospital, and even did better on mental and physical tests eight months later. Human babies thrive on affection. In fact, humans of all ages need active touching to generate growth hormones (which is why you should be loving and affectionate with your teens and your partner). These growth hormones help us grow strong bones and strong immune systems. When you spend time interacting with your child at any age, you send her the message that you care about her, love her, and want to be with her. A well-loved child is a child who thrives. 3. Laugh a lot. What pediatrician is going to tell you to laugh? Me. All those tickles and giggles are actually helping your baby’s immune system, and your older children’s, to say nothing of your…
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Thank you to the late Jaquelyn McCandless, M.D., for her important contributions and the book Children with Starving Brains: A Medical Treatment Guide for Autism Spectrum Disorder; to the late Robert Mendelsohn, M.D., an integrative pediatrician before the term integrative was coined; to Woodrow Monte, Ph.D., author of While Science Sleeps, for his personal encouragement and mentorship; David Kirby, author of Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic; and Robert Sears, M.D., a champion of medical freedom, parental rights, and lasting immunity, as well as author of the outstanding The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child and the first board-certified pediatrician to publicly challenge the CDC vaccine schedule and offer safe,
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We recommend you read them in this order: Mendelsohn, Robert, M.D. How to Raise a Healthy Child…In Spite of Your Doctor. New York: Ballantine Books, 1987. Wiessinger, Diane, Diana West, and Teresa Pitman. The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. New York: Ballantine, 1958. Yaron, Ruth. Super Baby Food. Peckville, PA: F. J. Roberts, 1996.
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On the Dangers of Acetaminophen Shaw, William, Ph.D. “Evidence That Increased Acetaminophen Use in Genetically Vulnerable Children Appears to Be a Major Cause of the Epidemics of Autism, Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity, and Asthma.” Journal of Restorative Medicine 2, no. 1 (October 2013): 14–29, ingentaconnect.com/content/aarm/jrm/2013/00000002/00000001/art00003. In this review article, William Shaw, a biochemist and autism researcher, argues that the increased rates of autism, asthma, and attention deficit disorders are linked to the pediatric use of acetaminophen, which is known to disrupt the body’s ability to rid itself of toxic chemicals. Shaw also presents compelling data from Cuba, where acetaminophen has never been used in pediatrics, and where autism rates are significantly lower than in the United States. We now have more than six studies in peer-reviewed medical journals that suggest a causal link between the use of acetaminophen (the main ingredient in Tylenol) and brain dysfunction. Three new peer-reviewed articles on how acetaminophen unexpectedly affects cognition have been published in 2016.
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Dr. Paul’s Vaccine Plan at a Glance Combining this vaccine plan with exclusive breastfeeding, eating a diet of real food, getting enough vitamin D, exercising, and avoiding toxins like acetaminophen, aspartame, and glyphosate, the children in Dr. Paul’s practice have experienced superior health and a significantly lower rate of autism than the national average, which is 1 in 45. If you have autism in the family, a history of autoimmune disorders, or a significant MTHFR mutation: consider delayed vaccines until at least age five. Pregnancy: No vaccines Birth: No vaccines 2 months: Hib, DTaP 3 months: Prevnar 4 months: Hib, DTaP 5 months: Prevnar 6 months: Hib, DTaP 7–9 months: Prevnar 1 year: Hib, Prevnar 18 months: DTaP 2 years: No vaccines 3 years: MMR (always give MMR by itself) 4–6 years: DTaP (consider varicella) 10 years: Tdap (boost every 5–10 years) 11 years: Menveo or Menactra (meningococcal) (consider varicella, if your child has not had chicken pox) 12–14 years: Consider hepatitis B (three-dose series) 16–18 years: Menveo or Menactra (consider meningococcal B, hepatitis A) Go to drpaulapproved.com for a free expanded ebook of this vaccine plan.
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