Health & Wellness

Vaccines:

Helpful or Harmful?

Melissa Gregoire

The development of vaccines is one of the single most successful medical breakthroughs of the past 200 years. The use of vaccines has been estimated to have saved millions of lives and prevented over 4.5 billion cases of disease. Yet when it comes to the use of vaccines there are many that are still skeptical about their safety, their efficacy, and their necessity.

When it comes to health myths one of the most pervasive and dangerous health myths is information surrounding the safety of vaccines. From claims that vaccines cause autism to claims that vaccines just aren’t effective, the misinformation about vaccines seems to outweigh the truth in certain groups. Multiple claims about the efficacy of vaccines and the safety of vaccines can be found everywhere you look. There are an endless amount of blogs, books, and documentaries promising to expose the “truth” about vaccines.

But where does this information come from and where did it start? Is there any truth to it? Are vaccines harmful? Is there any truth to the claim that vaccines cause Autism? Is it true that vaccines are loaded with harmful chemicals like Mercury and Thimerosal? Can your body fight of disease without vaccines? Is there a big conspiracy between the Government and the Pharmaceutical companies to make money by forcing vaccinations on children?

While the vast majority of people in the U.S. support vaccinations and believe they are necessary in order to maintain public health, there is still a lot of controversy surrounding vaccines. There is a very loud and vocal minority who continue to spread misinformation and refuse to accept that vaccinations are safe despite evidence to the contrary.

When it comes to vaccines there it seems that the argument against the use of them comes down to several claims that have long ago been debunked but for some reason still persist.

Claim: Vaccines cause Autism

The most common claim about vaccines is that they cause autism. This claim comes from one single fraudulent research paper conducted by a British medical doctor Dr. Andrew Wakefield who claimed to have found a link between the MMR vaccine and colitis and autism spectrum disorders. He has since been proven to have not only have falsified information but to also have had a financial interest in doing so. In 2010 the General Medical Council found Wakefield guilty of serious professional misconduct and struck him from the medical register, meaning he could no longer practice medicine in the UK. Despite multiple studies and reviews of the information proving no link between the MMR vaccine and autism this false information is still spread by many and Wakefield is touted in many circles as a martyr. He still takes part in many documentaries on the subject and is seen as the victim of a smear campaign by those who continue to use him as an expert. Still there is no proof linking vaccines to autism and the scientific consensus is that the MMR vaccine has no link to autism and that it’s benefits greatly outweigh its risks.

Claim: Thimerosal in vaccines is toxic and unsafe

Many websites make claims about the dangers of the use of Thimerosal in vaccines but it seems they fail to understand the basic differences between ethyl-mercury and methlymercury among many other things. While many claims are made there is no citation for any of the information they claim, toxicity levels for mercury are incorrect, and many of the studies they do refer to are in animals, not humans. Hundreds of Studies have shown thimerosal is safe for use in vaccines for humans. Still out of an abundance of caution thimerosal was removed from most vaccines children receive in 2001, except the flu vaccine, which contains trace amounts. The measles, mumps and rubella; chicken pox; polio; and pneumonia were never made with thimerosal. All vaccines do come in thimerosal free formulations at request.

Claim: Giving a child multiple vaccinations for different diseases at the same time increases the risk of harmful side effects and can weaken a child's immune system. Therefore, vaccinations should be spaced out to prevent this from happening.

While immunizations are not completely without risk current studies do not support the claim that multiple vaccinations given at one time weaken a child's immune system or increase the risk of harmful side effects. At this time there is no reason to believe there is any benefit to spacing out vaccinations.

Claim: Vaccines are forced on the public by the government as a way to help "Big Pharma" make money.

This one might be one of the most ridiculous and illogical claims. If anyone were to think about this claim longer than 30 seconds they would come to the conclusion that if "Big Pharma" simply wanted to make the most money the best way to do that would be to treat the disease of sick people, not prevent it. These claims are never based in any fact just conspiracy but regardless the reality is vaccines are just not very profitable for pharmaceutical companies and make up less than 2% of their total revenue. Still others claim that "Big Pharma" knows vaccines cause chronic health conditions that they hope to make money off of when they treat them. While it's true that vaccines do carry some risk, the risk of adverse effects is very small compared to the risk of the diseases they are preventing.

The debate regarding vaccines is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon but the dangers of spreading misinformation regarding vaccines and their safety are no myth. After the controversy regarding the Wakefield study began the MMR compliance in the UK, US, and other countries declined leading to a 2000 outbreak of measles in Ireland where 3 deaths and 1500 cases were reported. Decreased immunization compliance has lead to several outbreaks of whooping cough, mumps, and measles in the last several years. While nothing is without risk the evidence shows that the benefits vaccines provide far outweigh the risks they may pose. The CDC estimates that for Americans born between 1994 and 2013 vaccines will help prevent 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations, and 732,000 deaths over the course of their lifetimes. While it's important to continue to monitor the safety of vaccines the debate about whether to vaccinate or not is one that should be considered settled.

References

Bikram Yoga

Hot or not?

Myths & Facts About Bikram Yoga:

Heavy sweating during hot yoga will help detox your body. Fact: Heavy sweating is not necessarily detoxing your body, sweat is a way that your body is able to cool down the internal temperature.
Exercising in a heated room elevates heart rate, offering a more intense workout. Fact: The elevated room temperature increases the heart rate, which works your body harder to cooling itself down, but not particularly burning calories.
The heated environment warms up muscles so injuries are less likely to occur. Fact: The postures performed during Bikram can still cause injuries due to lack of flexibility, increased heat does not prevent injuries altogether.

Yoga is an exercise used with the mind-body connection. It can be very helpful with symptoms associated with mental disorders such as depression, physical issues such as low back pain, and for emotional well-being as well. Bikram Yoga can be described as a vigorous form of yoga that is performed in a heated, humidified studio. There is no real difference between regular yoga and Bikram yoga because Bikram is a style of yoga that anyone can practice. The main concerns to be considered should be stresses that each style can take on your body.

The study of "Bikram Yoga Training and Physical Fitness in Healthy Young Adults"

was performed to examine the effect of short-term Bikram Yoga training on general physical fitness. The results of the study showed that there was an increase in deadlift strength, lower back/hamstring flexibility, shoulder flexibility, and a reduced body fat for the participants after yoga training. Bikram Yoga despite the associated myths has been shown to be very helpful when you are given the correct information!

It can be very easy to get caught up in the social trends especially when to comes to living a healthier lifestyle. It is important to take the time to learn about the health benefits of an exercise because every person has a different body type and responds differently to each exercise!