By Melissa Corkhill
24th March 2016
This is one of the top twenty stories published in The Green Parent magazine from the last seventy issues. Want to read everything? This is just one of thousands of articles we’ve published. Read all our back issues online here – over 7,000 pages of content at your fingertips for £4.
KIRSTEN CHICK, nutritonist at connectwithnutrition.co.uk, describes how best to support a child’s immune system, not through suppressing but by providing children with the nutrients that they need.
Provide nutrients
‘A healthy child (or adult) is one who is firing on all cylinders. He or she has the energy and resources to carry out the thousands of biochemical and electrical processes needed to keep everything flowing and working well. That child is then able to express him or herself to the full, on every level. This requires a level of vitality that can quickly shift and resolve any stagnation and blockages. Childhood illnesses – and indeed anything involving a fever – are viewed holistically as the body’s attempt to do just that. They create enough heat and movement to burn up and get rid of whatever is standing between that child and his or her full health. They can be viewed as the immune system doing its job well. Any suppression of that – be it with traditional western medicine or alternative approaches – puts a barrier between that child and not just full health, but his or her full potential. Not only that, but it depletes that child’s vitality so that he or she becomes less able to deal with the toxic load inherited from the parents and grandparents and added to each day by pollution and normal biochemical processes. A good nutritionist or naturopath will be able to identify what level of vitality or suppression is there, and then help raise the bar by supporting the body’s own healing processes. Not only to provide the nutrients and vitality that child needs from their diet, but also to make sure he or she is able to digest and absorb them well, and safely support the body’s efforts to clear stagnation and rebalance itself.’
RAMIEL NAGEL author of Healing Our Children – healingourchildren.net – explains that disease is caused by toxins in the body.
Avoiding toxins
‘You don’t need to be afraid of childhood diseases because most diseases have two known causes, and they are not virus or bacteria. Both ancient and modern systems of medicines identify that disease can be caused by toxic substances, or nutrient deficiencies. Toxic substances that can cause disease include environmental poisons like car exhaust, heavy metals such as from lead pipes or mercury fillings, or dead waste within the body that is not properly excreted. Deficiencies are caused by a lack of necessary minerals for the body to operate with ease. Common deficiencies for modern children include vitamin C, calcium, and fat-soluble vitamin’s A and D. Let’s look at measles from the perspective that illness is caused by a toxin. Toxic starch such as bleached white flour, and toxic sweets such as high fructose corn syrup, and toxic vegetable oils like soy, corn and cottonseed, and pasteurized, homogenized milk from factory farmed animals, particularly in the form of ice-cream can create an environment in which a child’s body creates measles as a response to remove the toxic burdens it has. So it expels toxins with a fever by trying to burn up the offending material, with nasal discharge which is the body’s attempt to make a sticky substance to assist in capturing and excreting toxins and finally the skin tries to expel the toxins itself which has a side effect of making red bumps known as measles. You can try to treat measles like a bad cold. Baths can help the skin detox, and fruit juice diluted to at least half the sweetness mixed with water can help ease symptoms. For preventative measures, fat-soluble vitamin D found in oily fish, or fermented cod liver oil will help prevent and reduce the severity of “infectious” diseases.
“Both ancient and modern systems of medicines identify that disease can be caused by toxic substances, or nutrient deficiencies”
A key premise of my book, “Healing Our Children,” is that as parents we do not need to fear disease, when we know the cause. I am opposed to vaccinating because vaccines have so many poisons and toxic additives and even if they were successful in stopping the symptoms of red bumps and fever known as measles, at the level of the cause of disease nothing is done by vaccines to prevent the causative factor. And therefore vaccines make diseases worse than they would be without them because they inhibit the body’s ability to respond to an environmental injury.’
HEATHER NICHOLSON FNTP, MIfl chose not to vaccinate her child and instead helped create a strong immune system
Develop a strong immune system
‘After reading evidence from Mercury Babies, the Vaccination Bible and Silenced Witnesses, there is no doubt in my mind that orthodox injected vaccinations contain (amongst other things) mercury-based preservatives that can severely damage our immune systems. I chose not to vaccinate my own child or myself as an adult (I had no choice with BCG and polio vaccinations) and have used homoeopathic prophylactics and remedies such as Belladonna 30c to help with fevers, Aconite, Gelsemium and Eupatorium for colds, coughs and flu. Colloidal silver works effectively in cases of inflammation instead of antibiotics or steroids. Sensible, organic nutrition protocols, very little dairy, cane sugar, artificial additives and colours are also to be advised. Naturopathic nursing techniques learned from the College of Natural Nutrition and Barbara Wren, such as castor oil packing, water cure, and observation of the sun and moon influences, have all played their part in keeping my family healthy.
“Castor oil packing, water cure, and observation of the sun and moon influences, have all played their part in keeping my family healthy”
The biggest barrier in my experience has been the resistance from orthodox health consultants and surgeons to my decision to not use antibiotics and vaccinations. It has often been very difficult to stand my ground against biased dogma. However, I was rewarded recently with an admission from an ear, nose and throat consultant surgeon that he agreed with me that antibiotics do not work and should not be used so freely.’
ILANA DANNHEISSER is a homeopath at the College of Naturopathic Medicine (naturopathy-uk.com). She believes that childhood illnesses are part of developing a healthy immune system.
Natural Immunity
‘As a homeopath, I would support the view that generally childhood illnesses are part of the natural development of a child’s immune system, and that it does not necessarily ensure the general health of the child to give frequent multiple vaccinations which confer artificial immunity. For most childhood illnesses such as chicken pox, mumps and measles, looking after the child appropriately can be enough to guarantee the child will recover successfully and give the best chance for natural immunity, which lasts through life. The issue of vaccination is complex as well as emotional, and there are a number of factors to consider in each case. The number of vaccines given at one time and the age at which they are given should be considered. Infants under six months who are exclusively breastfed will be protected by the mother’s immunity while their own highly immature immune system is still developing. Many parents I speak to are concerned about the contents of vaccines injected into young infants. It is observed by many practitioners that vaccinated children suffer from frequent low grade colds, allergies and recurring infections. However, to my knowledge there is no research that compares the general health of non-vaccinated and vaccinated children over the longer term. Homeopathy looks at specific individual variations in health, because each person expresses health and disease differently, so there is no ‘one size fits all’. My clients use homeopathy with the aim of improving their children’s general state of health prior to vaccination, as well as for support should there be adverse reactions. Some choose to use homeopathy exclusively and not vaccinate, or select some vaccinations but not all.’
Steps to reduce risk
1 Give vitamin A before the measles vaccine (MMR). Vitamin A has been shown to reduce death in measles sufferers by 50% so will support the body in its dealing with the measles vaccine. The WHO is now giving out Vitamin A pills along with the vaccine. Consider high doses (5,000 IU or more) the day before, on the day and the day after vaccination.
2 Give increased vitamin C before and after all vaccines. Vitamin C is known to help eliminate heavy metals. Consider high doses (3,000-5,000 mg per day) the day before, day of, and day after.?
3 Consider detox programs after vaccination. These include homeopathy (before and after each vaccination), supplements, especially vitamin C, probiotics etc. It can take up to a year to detox the system but it is worth the investment.
4 Reconsider the routine use of Calpol or similar before or after vaccination. A rise in body temperature is the immune system’s healthy response to any attack. Suppressing this reaction will impair ability to deal with the load imposed by the vaccine. Links have been made with the use of Calpol etc after the MMR and autism because the body needs to raise a high temperature to deal with measles. Complications can arise if temperature is bought down too early in cases of measles.
5 Avoid antibiotic use where possible. Delay vaccines, especially the MMR, within up to 6 months of antibiotics. The strength of the gut is compromised and the gut is 70% of the immune system. Antibiotics during pregnancy and breastfeeding can also compromise the child’s immune system. Try not to use antibiotics, as there are links with increased asthma in the vaccinated and also with the overuse of antibiotics in children. Asthma kills 1,300 people a year in the UK and rates have doubled in the last 40 years. This is far higher than the mortality rates as a result of contracting contagious diseases before the vaccines. In the years leading up to the vaccination program between 30-50 people died of measles, for example. Nearly 200 children under 14 years now die of asthma. For most children, as they recover from illness, their immune system is strengthened.
6 Use probiotics to strengthen the gut, in capsule form rather than from a drinking yogurt product, which usually contains sugar and other additives.
7 Consider giving long term vitamin B6. Carol Teasdale explains, ‘One of the components of the MMR is Neomycin. This is an antibacterial drug that is used to suppress gastrointestinal bacteria before surgery to avoid infection… This antibiotic interferes with the absorption of vitamin B6. This is the major vitamin for processing amino acids, which are the building blocks of all proteins and a few hormones.’
Practical steps to take
1 Keep your vaccination records up to date. Vaccine damage has occurred in cases where children had been given additional vaccines by mistake.
2 Check the lot expiry dates. Problems can arise if a vaccine is out of date.
3 Consider using single vaccines. This requires careful research. The Health Protection Agency argues that this leaves children unprotected against some diseases and that is why single vaccines are not licensed anymore. However, this route does give much flexibility for parents who want to choose a different vaccine program for their child. Dr Halvorsen at babyjabs.co.uk offers open consultations and aluminium free vaccines. If using single vaccines for the MMR it has been suggested that one year be left between live vaccines (currently, the mumps single vaccine is not available).
4 Consider the ‘merits’ of each and every vaccine separately. For example does an eight week old baby need tetanus? Is chicken pox really necessary?
5 Wait until your child is older. At least wait until your baby is an average weight of an eight week old, or is at least eight weeks after the due date if premature. Better still, wait until six months. Maternal antibodies will have passed via the placenta and through milk of a breastfeeding mother and will offer some protection for about the first six months of life, and for that reason the dosage is far higher for young children. In Japan, during the changing of the vaccination program to start at two years old, they enjoyed the lowest child mortality in the world. Two years old is considered a milestone in development of the immune system. However, when Japan came into line with other countries and vaccinated at two months, child mortality rose and cot death was seen.
6 Monitor your child closely after vaccinations. Fits are known to occur in a minority of children, often 10 days after the MMR for example. Breathing during the night takes a dip a few days after and a few weeks after the DTP jab.
7 If constant fever lasts more than a few days or if you child fits, see your doctor. Fits, for example, occur in one in a thousand children after the MMR vaccination. They need to be monitored and the child can be helped if caught early. Calpol, etc. does not reduce the risk of febrile convulsions. See your GP also if your child’s behaviour changes, or if their development regresses, e.g. speech. Take more precaution with babies.?
8 Be aware of allergy issues. Be aware of the peanut and albumen (egg) content of vaccines if your family suffers severe allergies.
9 Be aware that vaccinated children still contract childhood diseases. One borough recently found 90% of children with whooping cough were fully vaccinated against it.
10 Ask to read the Vaccine Insert first. The insert will often reveal more than you will be told by your GP. Did you know that a side effect of the rubella vaccine is juvenile arthritis?
Resources:
Arnica Network – arnica.org.uk
JABS – support for vaccine damaged children – jabs.org.uk
Vaccine Awareness Network – vaccineriskawareness.com
The Informed Parent – informedparent.co.uk
Want to read more? Get your fix of awesome, thought-provoking articles delivered direct to your door here. The Green Parent is a bi-monthly print magazine, which costs just £8 for your first three issues. Find your tribe and get inspired!
