Why Did Peanut Butter Become An Allergen?
I can remember eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch while growing up. Hell, I still eat them. Now, as I try to watch my sugar intake, I enjoy peanut butter on apple slices. It’s a healthy indulgence. But, for those with peanut allergies, it’s a life threatening allergen. I had never heard of peanut allergies until one of my coworkers told me about her son. Peanuts, and other foods…
Childhood Cancer Up 13 Percent in Past Two Decades
A recent study, coordinated by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), published in Lancet Oncology shows that childhood cancer was 13 percent more common between 2001-2010 than in the 1980s, totaling to an annual incidence rate of 140 per million children aged 0-14 years worldwide. Although the data for this study was…
Malaria Burden Worldwide Has Dropped Without Vaccines
It is a common position taken by vaccination proponents that vaccines deserve all the credit for the worldwide decrease in incidence and mortality from communicable diseases since the early 1900s. Last month, vaccines were credited with saving nearly a half million lives since 1963, in the U.S. alone. This popular stance glosses over such contributing factors as management of sewage…
Autism Symptoms in Pets Rise as Pet Vaccination Rates Rise
Just as the incidence of Autism-Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) has risen alarmingly in children over the last half century, there is evidence that similar behavioral disorders have been observed in pets, most widely reported among pet dogs. It is too early for mainstream veterinary authorities to confidently confirm that dogs can develop autism, but there are numerous reports of behavior…
Thalidomide: One of Many Big Medical Error Tragedies
Thalidomide, which was aggressively marketed as a totally safe and effective treatment for morning sickness in early pregnancy, ultimately took its place as the drug that caused “the largest man‐made medical disaster in history.” Patented in 1954, thalidomide was initially approved as the first non-addicting, non-barbiturate sedative and was used as a treatment for respiratory infections. Once it became clear that it also relieved nausea and vomiting in pregnant women, the drug quickly grew in popularity.
One of the Worst Pharmaceutical Disasters in History is Still Relevant Today
DES (diethylstilbestrol) is a synthetic estrogen that was given to pregnant women from 1940 through the early 1970s. DES was touted as a “wonder drug” that would prevent miscarriage and morning sickness. It was only after millions of women and fetuses were exposed to DES that it was recognized that DES was causing deadly cancers in both the women who…
