It was mentioned in a post further down that flu vaccines was known to increase your chances of getting alzheimers.

I've done a quick search on this but have yet to find supporting info. Can someone point me in the direction of a reliable source?

thanks!

-- Buk Buk (bukabuk@hotmail.com), October 17, 2001

Answers

I think what they were saying was that the MERCURY in vaccines such as the flu vaccine has been linked to Alzhiemers. Maybe a search on mercury would prove useful. I've also read about aluminum being a possible contributor to Alzhiemers.

-- Bren (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), October 17, 2001.

Ig you re-read it carefully, I think what was said was that if you take the flu shot you don't get sick and die. You live long enough to get Alzheimers at an old age because you didn't die from the Flu or pneumonia. I. too, had to read that sentence twice. I didn't sense they were suggesting a connection between the two.

-- connie in nm (connieandkarrel@msn.com), October 18, 2001.

Yes the connection is the aluminum in the flu shots that is related to alzeimers. Not everybody that lives to a ripe old age gets alzeimers, and the flu is seldom deadly. One link to info on flu (and other)vaccine reactons is: http://thinktwice.com/studies.htm If you use the search string vaccine reactions it is amazing what info one can find out. Most are about childhood vaccines, some are about the anthrax vaccine, and a few are about the flu vaccine. A search on aluminum alzeimers would probably come up with more things. Tana

-- Tana Cothran (tana@getgoin.net), October 18, 2001.

Oh heck, wrong link. http://thinktwice.com/comments.htm#Flu is the right one. Sorry. Tana

-- Tana Cothran (tana@getgoin.net), October 18, 2001.

The connection between aluminum and alzheimers is real, but I think you are exposed to more aluminum in everyday under arm deodorant than a once a year flu shot.

-- cowgirlone (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), October 18, 2001.

Let us not forget cookware! The difference in the exposure to aluminum in a flu shot and in deoderant is that you don't (at least I assume you don't) inject the deoderant INTO the body, but the aluminum in a flu shot is injected. Tana

-- Tana Cothran (tana@getgoin.net), October 18, 2001.

Hmm, when last I looked up the numbers it seems that some 20,000+ people in the U.S. alone die every year from the flu or as a result of complications arising from the flu. I wouldn't say that the flu was seldom deadly.

I, for one, make it a point not to miss my flu shot every year. The last two times I did miss it I got the flu both years and it cost me three days of work both times and several weeks of just plain being sick and unable before I got over it.

The flu is a great one for setting you up to die of something else, most especially for the very young, the very old and the already ill.

={(Oak)-

-- Live Oak (oneliveoak@yahoo.com), October 18, 2001.

Most of the time flu is serious because of other factors of a person's health. If you are in general good health, you most likely do not need a flu shot, and that goes whatever your age is. It's no fun to get the flu, but it is not the big deal that say, polio is, unless of course your general health is not good.

I think a lot of the problems surrounding the flu are brought on by the media hypeing it, and then people psychologically want to be part of the crowd-- "oh yeah, I got it too, it was awful, etc."

Probably the best protection is to keep washing those hands with good old soap (and not the antibacterial ones either) and water.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), October 18, 2001.

My wake up for Y2K was my sister. I was prepared beyond belief with my normally smug :) ness. It wasn't 2 weeks after New Years, she started vomiting etc. she was diagnosed with the flu, because of the flu epedemic in Houston. No beds at the local hospitals because they were full of patients with the flu. Of course I could nurse her, and I did. She got worse, much worse. She finally found a bed at a nearby hospital that was so overran with elderly patience with the flu, 2 died within the first week of us being there. The nurses constantly complained that why these folks didn't get flu shots were beyond her! The hospital (Kingwood) was so overrun with flu problems that I stayed with my sister to help with her. 14 days later she was finally diagnosed with a huge abscess on an ovary. The flu nearly killed my sister...................not because she ever had it, but because the medical folks were so overran/overworked with cases of it my sister was getting very poor care.

Let the gals sentence slide on the otherpost about the Flu not being bad enough to even need vaccinations for it last year, couldn't let it slide again. If you are older, immune deffiecent, asthmatic, prone to bronchitis, get your flu shots! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), October 18, 2001.

As to Tana's point about deodorant not being injected... what about inhaling the fumes from spray deodorant? I think we should be more careful about what we spray into the air... for instance, Baking Sprays...have you ever read up on what is in highly refined vegetable oils, that is extremely harmful if inhaled? It seems to me that the fastest way to get anything into your body, and to get it assimilated the fastest and most completely, is to inhale it.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), October 18, 2001.

I believe that the aluminum in deodorant is absorbed into the skin on a daily basis, the flu shot would be a once a year dose. Which is worse?

-- cowgirlone (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), October 18, 2001.

Wonderful. You all have given some awesome responses, here. didn't realize it was the aluminum in the vaccine that was the cause for concern. regardless, i think i've decided to go ahead with my flu shot this year. also, thank you for sharing that web site.

thanks again for all your insight.

-- Buk Buk (bukabuk@hotmail.com), October 18, 2001.

cowgirlone, my husband and I were concerned about the daily exposure to aluminum (it adds up over many years) and that is why we haven't used commercial anti-perspirants in over 10 years. Plus perspiring is one way your body rids itself of toxins so it didn't make sense to us to impede that natural process.

-- Bren (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), October 18, 2001.

I didn't say the flu wasn't bad enough last year to not even worry about flu shots. What I said was the flu vaccines were late, and the flu season was late. I was trying to point out the correlation between the flu shot and the flu season. When people get flu shots in early Oct. the flu season hits by late Oct., If people get flu shots in late Nov., the flu season seems to be early Dec. The modified flu virus that people are getting shot up with is giving it to people that don't get the shot.

As far as the daily aluminum intake because of deoderant...WHY do you keep using it if you believe that you are absorbing heavy metals into your system??? Do you use Draino when you are constipated? Probably not, it is poison, so is your deoderant. We get enough poisons in our systems second-hand, why poison yourself, too? Tana

-- Tana Cothran (tana@getgoin.net), October 19, 2001.

Bren, I too have started checking for products that contain aluminum. I have found a women's deodorant that is aluminum free. It's Crystal Clean by Mennen. It's amazing how many every day products contain aluminum! I think it's worth reading the labels.

-- cowgirlone (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), October 19, 2001.

I too have not seen any supporting evidence either on the aluminum link--in fact, the link below says all of those theories (aluminum, mercury, etc.) have been disproved--

http://health.yahoo.com/health/diseases_and_conditions/ disease_feed_data/alzheimer_s_disease

Vicki, I assume you meant me when I said if you are in general good health you don't need a shot. I still stand by that, with perhaps one caveat--if you are in a job where you handle money, and or deal with a lot of different people on a daily basis (such as sales clerks) you might want to get a shot, because your chances of being exposed are much greater than being, say, a stay-at-home-parent.

I do agree that if your immune system is already compromised, by all means get a shot.

But just being a senior citizen does not automatically make you frail and prone to getting everything going around. I'm not saying that all older people could be like Jack LaLanne (don't know if I spelled that right), but I highly doubt that someone in his shape is susceptible to flu.

I hope your sister pursued legal action in the case of her misdiagnosis.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), October 19, 2001.

...contrary to what your doctor or health department may be telling you, vaccines are not innocuous annoyances that magically protect the kids from dangerous infectious diseases. They are serious drugs with efficacy that is increasingly being disproved or questioned. And as both parents and doctors become better informed, a new light is also being cast upon the safety records of these products. Although the federal government's adverse reactions data are already alarming, even the FDA has confessed that serious reactions to vaccines go unreported by doctors nearly 90% of the time. Long-term follow-up studies are absent for these products, which contain diseased animal tissue, formaldehyde, phenol, mercury derivatives, aluminum salts, and very often unsafe and inconsistent amounts of the bacteria and viruses the products are meant to protect the recipient against. Although constantly denied by policy makers aiming for 100% compliance, vaccines have been linked to autism, epilepsy, ADD, ADHD, minimal to serious brain damage, learning disorders, arthritis, diabetes, Guillain Barre Syndrome, encephalitis, anaphylactic shock, and a slew of other serious conditions. Links to SIDS, HIV infection and cancer have also been suggested by many credible researchers. Other researchers have shown concern about the evolving area of inter- species contamination of our gene pool. The CDC has only recently confirmed the contamination of early polio vaccines with a monkey retrovirus, Simian Virus-40 (SV-40), which since the early 1960s has been known to at least cause cancer. Perhaps more alarming are recent findings by researchers in California that a newly discovered "Stealth Virus" in people with symptoms as varied as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Autism, and ADD, has DNA sequences almost identical to the Simian Cytomegalovirus (SCMV) found in African green monkeys used to culture the later polio vaccines. This discovery is a landmark in that it shows viral fragments to be capable of causing serious, varied and chronic illnesses in humans. To make matters worse, the researchers have encountered entire families (and their pets) with different diseases who all test positive for the virus, thus making this a highly transmittable problem.

-- Tana Cothran (tana@getgoin.net), October 19, 2001.

Sorry GT didn't mean that all older folks were elderly! But you got the gist of what I meant. My sister pulled through just fine, and we got the medical bills paid for, which was what we wanted, also at home nursing aside from what her insurance paid for was a bonus.

Tana, you are very passionate about your cause. But folks who knew families with Polio stricken children, just 5 years older than me, and older folks who went through the deaths of younger siblings from measles, whooping cough etc. you aren't going to be able to sway us. Talk to some older folks and find out how bad it all really was. I am only 44 but my Grandmother was a story teller, I hated all that when I was a kid, now I wish they all had gotten written down! It's a shame that we all just can't learn from others instead of having to repeat the same mistakes over and over. Something I haven't been able to get my children to understand either. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), October 19, 2001.

Polio immunizations started in 1955, so it should be only 2 years older than you, not five. Talk to some older folks? You would be suprised at how many older folks I have talked to, and what I know about what the polio epidemics were like. Yes, I refuse vaccines for me and mine, few docs give you the truth as there is too much money to be made. But, tell me this... Why can everybody else on this list try to verbaly cram the shots down my throat, but I can't say anything to refute it?

Now, for all you christians...This poisoning of oneself is a sin. A Christian is to present his/her body as a "living sacrifice", Romans 12:1-2 and should therefore keep that body unpolluted. Our body is God's Temple. God will destroy those who willfully pollute it, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. The Christian's body is paid for, now the property of Jesus Christ and is to be taken care of as the owner dictates, 1Corinthians 6:20, 7:23.

-- Tana Cothran (tana@getgoin.net), October 19, 2001.

Tana, I could care less if you vacinate yourself or your children. Free country, free choice. I don't see anyone jamming anything down your throat, but you sure seem compelled to spread a bunch of mis information and scare crap. Now scripture to support your cause??? IMHO you are pushing the window of good taste.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), October 19, 2001.

Tana, I think what Vicki is saying is that we must all look at the benefits of a vaccine vs the risk of not getting it and perhaps dying of the disease. Personally, a polio vaccine is a no-brainer for me, I'd get one. An iron lung is not my idea of a good time. Flu or chicken pox, not necessarily.

If you talked to people who lost loved ones in the epidemic (flu or smallpox) of I think 1918, they will probably all tell you that they would have gladly taken a vaccine if it had been available, even with the risks that you mention. Except for possibly the anthrax vaccine, which has not really been tested at great length, most vaccines carry very low risks. Some risks are basic allergies, like to egg albumen which is used in some vaccines.

I had heard of the possible autism/MMR vaccine link, although I didn't see any hard evidence, even on a recent news story. It was just one doctor. Anecdotal evidence at best. I have never seen anything on the other possible links you mentioned (imho, ADD and ADHD are over-diagnosed and a cop-out for many people who do not know how to deal with a "busy" child). I personally know a child diagnosed with ADD, and it is amazing how differently he behaves with one parent than with the other (divorced couple). So, perhaps it is more a simple discipline problem than a real disease. Again, merely my opinion, but when teachers send notes home saying "I think you should get your child checked for ADD" (which has happened ) there's something wrong.

Sure, in some cases the cure can be worse than the disease (seeing all those commercials for brand-name drugs come to mind), but another thing to think about is that diseases which have been "eliminated" here can always come back through immigration, legal or illegal. There's a reason they tell you to get all those extra shots when you go overseas.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), October 19, 2001.

Smallpox kills one third of it's victims, polio more than half of it's victims, diptheria kills over half of it's victims, tetanus has a almost 100% kill ratio.

Gee, this is a real no brainer for me, how about you?

Of course vaccines, and ALL prescription drugs have side effects, they are listed in that annoyingly small print that goes on for pages and pages when you get a perscription. Over 50 thousand deaths each year are from prescription drug side effects, but odes that mean you should NEVER use them?

How about the side effects from general anesthesia? Thousands of folks DIE each year from the side effects of dentist's anesthesia, but does that mean you should never get a root canal done under general anesthesia?

You got to weigh the benefits versus risks ratio, and make your decision that way.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), October 19, 2001.

Does anyone want to know about polio? Ask me. I had it in 1946 and am still dealing with the ramifications! Would I have wanted the vaccine? You bet your sweet bippy I would!

-- Ardie from WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), October 19, 2001.

I am sorry to hear of a struggle that you have had to carry for so long. You did not say what your ramifications were, the effects of polio were quite varied. My mother and uncle both had had it, but they were affected quite differently.

Although I have no personal experience with it, I understand that there is a homeopathic alternative to the medical establishments vaccines. Maybe someone else that knows about homeopathy could start a new string to help inform us. Tana

-- Tana Cothran (Tana@getgoin.net), October 19, 2001.