health issue are profound, rarely investigated, and impossible to predict. In recent years, more and more emergency room visits and hospital admissions are due to the effects of medications. For example, consider the following limited list: 15
D RUG C LASS
E MERGENCY V ISITS
H OSPITAL A DMISSIONS
Antibiotics
95,000
131,300
Narcotics
44,300
121,200
Anticoagulants
29,200
218,800
Steroids
13,300
283,700
Our bodies are highly resilient and self-repairing, but medicines cannot enable us to escape the biological laws of cause and effect. When we damage ourselves with exposure to toxic, disease-causing diets, we develop diseases.
Medicines cannot drug away the
cellular defects that develop in response to
improper nutrition throughout life.
The point here is that we have to be responsible for our own health and rely on vigilant avoidance of the underlying causes of disease. We need to adopt scientifically supported superior nutrition and rid ourselves of the idea that doctors and pharmaceutical companies are our saviors, capable of enabling us to live long and productive lives.
The Pros and Cons of Flu Shots
All medical interventions have a benefit-to-risk ratio. Each person has to weigh the supposed benefits against the potential risks. Often the long-term risks of medications are not clearly delineated, however, and most of the time they are not adequately investigated. The supposed benefits are almost always exaggerated by pharmaceutical companies and the authorities in their sphere of influence in medicine and government.
Flu vaccines have benefits and risks as well. Researchers and physicians study these issues and attempt to ascertain if the benefits outweigh the risks, but no scientific person studying this issue would conclude that immunizations are without risk. So to consider whether getting vaccinated against the flu is wise and advisable, we have to look at how effective flu shots are and then weigh that against the known (and potential additional unknown) risks. When reviewing this information, keep in mind that the dangers of the flu are highest in sickly and poorly nourished individuals; healthy people have little to fear from the simple flu.
Flu Facts
We are told that about 10 percent of U.S. residents get influenza each year. About 100,000 are hospitalized, and it is most often quoted that 36,000 Americans die from complications of the flu each year. But that is an older statistic that is now questioned. A recent study, in government reports, provides updated estimates of the range of flu-associated deaths that occurred in the United States during the three decades prior to 2007. The CDC estimates that from the 1976â1977 season to the 2006â2007 season, flu-associated deaths ranged from a low of about 3,000 per year to a high of about 49,000. So an average of 25,000 is more accurate. 16 The biggest complication and cause of death in someone with the flu is bacterial pneumonia, which develops most often in elderly or immunosuppressed individuals. The symptoms of the flu include:
⢠High fever
⢠Headache
⢠Extreme fatigue
⢠Muscle aches
⢠Cough, sore throat, nasal congestion (common but not universal)
⢠Gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea (more common in children)
Of these symptoms, it is primarily severe headaches and muscle aches that usually differentiate the flu from other viral illnesses (such as colds).
People stay contagious for about a week after contracting the standard flu. The good news is that, if you are generally healthy and eat a healthy diet, consuming a high percentage of your calories from fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts, you need not panic. The flu is not a dangerous disease in healthy individuals. Even the more virulent and dangerous flu strains, such as the avian flu, stand little chance against a truly healthy immune system.
Forty percent of Americans die of heart attacks and strokes, but almost all of these
D RUG C LASS
E MERGENCY V ISITS
H OSPITAL A DMISSIONS
Antibiotics
95,000
131,300
Narcotics
44,300
121,200
Anticoagulants
29,200
218,800
Steroids
13,300
283,700
Our bodies are highly resilient and self-repairing, but medicines cannot enable us to escape the biological laws of cause and effect. When we damage ourselves with exposure to toxic, disease-causing diets, we develop diseases.
Medicines cannot drug away the
cellular defects that develop in response to
improper nutrition throughout life.
The point here is that we have to be responsible for our own health and rely on vigilant avoidance of the underlying causes of disease. We need to adopt scientifically supported superior nutrition and rid ourselves of the idea that doctors and pharmaceutical companies are our saviors, capable of enabling us to live long and productive lives.
The Pros and Cons of Flu Shots
All medical interventions have a benefit-to-risk ratio. Each person has to weigh the supposed benefits against the potential risks. Often the long-term risks of medications are not clearly delineated, however, and most of the time they are not adequately investigated. The supposed benefits are almost always exaggerated by pharmaceutical companies and the authorities in their sphere of influence in medicine and government.
Flu vaccines have benefits and risks as well. Researchers and physicians study these issues and attempt to ascertain if the benefits outweigh the risks, but no scientific person studying this issue would conclude that immunizations are without risk. So to consider whether getting vaccinated against the flu is wise and advisable, we have to look at how effective flu shots are and then weigh that against the known (and potential additional unknown) risks. When reviewing this information, keep in mind that the dangers of the flu are highest in sickly and poorly nourished individuals; healthy people have little to fear from the simple flu.
Flu Facts
We are told that about 10 percent of U.S. residents get influenza each year. About 100,000 are hospitalized, and it is most often quoted that 36,000 Americans die from complications of the flu each year. But that is an older statistic that is now questioned. A recent study, in government reports, provides updated estimates of the range of flu-associated deaths that occurred in the United States during the three decades prior to 2007. The CDC estimates that from the 1976â1977 season to the 2006â2007 season, flu-associated deaths ranged from a low of about 3,000 per year to a high of about 49,000. So an average of 25,000 is more accurate. 16 The biggest complication and cause of death in someone with the flu is bacterial pneumonia, which develops most often in elderly or immunosuppressed individuals. The symptoms of the flu include:
⢠High fever
⢠Headache
⢠Extreme fatigue
⢠Muscle aches
⢠Cough, sore throat, nasal congestion (common but not universal)
⢠Gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea (more common in children)
Of these symptoms, it is primarily severe headaches and muscle aches that usually differentiate the flu from other viral illnesses (such as colds).
People stay contagious for about a week after contracting the standard flu. The good news is that, if you are generally healthy and eat a healthy diet, consuming a high percentage of your calories from fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts, you need not panic. The flu is not a dangerous disease in healthy individuals. Even the more virulent and dangerous flu strains, such as the avian flu, stand little chance against a truly healthy immune system.
Forty percent of Americans die of heart attacks and strokes, but almost all of these
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