Amelia's World of Health

Just kidding! But this article is great on the importance that the role of dirt plays in our everyday lives and helps determine health!

Enjoy!

Link to article: http://www.drmomma.org/2010/07/dirt-its-good-for-kids.html

Dirt: It's Good for Kids!

by Janelle Sorensen
posted with permission

DrMomma Preface: Please note that "healthy dirt" is not the same as fecal matter or contaminated raw meat which the body cannot develop an immunity for and are often filled with bacteria that are not beneficial to consume in any amount. There is a difference between letting kids 'get dirty' playing around (even putting it in their mouth) and not worrying about keeping the house spotless vs. having contaminated raw meats and fecal droppings where babies and small children can become infected. So continue to wash your hands well after changing a poopy diaper or using the restroom. Clean up the counter and your hands after handling raw meats. And go romp around at the park or the beach - but be sure to pick up after your dog! ;)


I don’t know how to say this without sounding crazy, so I’m just going to be blunt. When I was a child, I liked to eat pebbles and stones. Well, technically I didn’t eat them, just sucked on them. Yes, I was a closet rock sucker. Away from the judging eyes of friends and family, I secretly relished their earthy, mineral flavor.

I’m sure, like any mother, my own mom would have been considerably horrified at the idea of her small child sucking on dirty rocks from God knows where. And, while my strange appetite persisted from about ages 4-7, almost all parents have witnessed their younger babies or toddlers shove an ample handful of dirt or sand into their mouths. Probably on more than one occasion.

What is it about kids and dirt? Why the deep mysterious magnetism? According to Mary Ruebush, PhD, author of Why Dirt is Good: 5 Ways to Make Germs Your Friends, the attraction is for our own human good. And, the great news is, it’s a match made in heaven. Just like any other muscle in our body, the immune system needs to be exercised in order to fully develop and become strong enough to resist illness and disease. Eating dirt as a child turns out to be the ideal training to build your immune system’s overall fitness.

We’ve written about the Hygiene Hypothesis and the overuse of antimicrobials in the past, but Ruebush, professor of microbiology and immunology for Kaplan Medical, really brings it home. Her detailed description of the immune system is not only extremely informative, it’s also surprisingly entertaining. Really! She has these delightfully silly pictures of blood cells and bacteria that had my kids peering over my shoulder, giggling, and asking what the book was about. And, the writing is equally as comedic and engaging. She writes about viruses gettin’ busy making baby viruses, macrophages burping up crumbs of their meals, and T-cells going to school and taking final exams.

The main points of the book are simple: let kids eat dirt and don’t overuse antibiotics. According to Ruebush:

Mother Nature has given you the elements to build a strong immune system, but you have to put it into action and take care of it. A strong immune system gets built up by plenty of exercise – that’s why you need a lifetime exposure to plenty of dirt. Your healthy immune system is your savings account for a healthy retirement. If you constantly make withdrawals and live with a negative health balance due to too much stress, too little rest, and too many chemicals, you will arrive at a point where you have no reserves for any catastrophic illness that might lurk in your future. A lifestyle that gives you the food, rest, exercise, and other elements you need for basic good health contributes to a healthy immune response and increases the likelihood of a long, productive life.

Sounds like the perfect prescription to me! So, relax. Let your kids get dirty. Stop trying to sanitize every square inch of your home. And, unwind with a good book (like Why Dirt is Good). It’ll make your whole family healthier and happier.


P.S. My childhood affinity for sucking rocks was likely pica, a medical disorder that can make people hungry for non-food items. Turns out, I’m slightly anemic, so my body was craving iron and hoping to get it from the mineral content of rocks. Pica is not uncommon in children and pregnant women. If you or your child are craving non-food items, talk with your midwife, nutritionist, or physician.

I found this article written by an MD to be quite interesting. I wished he would have elaborated, but it was still helpful! I hope you too will find it useful and help you determine what you will choose for yourself or your children.

http://www.imcv.info/vaccination/articles/the-marvellous-health-of-unvaccinated-children.html

Article Text:

The Marvellous Health of Unvaccinated Children

Françoise Berthoud, MD [paediatrician]
June 25, 2010

Once upon a time, in April 2009 to be exact, I was invited to give a speech at a conference on vaccination. I was to talk after two of the best speakers France has to offer on the subject had their turn, journalist Sylvie Simon and biologist Michel Georget. At hearing them speak in the past, it was absolutely clear to me that the best option is to stay as far away from vaccines as possible. I just did not know what to do instead to best assure staying alive and well.

As a paediatrician and homeopath qualified to speak on the subject, I decided to setup a conference called The Marvellous Health of Unvaccinated Children along with my friends, Sylvie and Michel. This work would later evolve into a book that analyses various life choices often made by families that do not vaccinate, including home birth, breastfeeding, simple therapies, good food (often vegetarian), a tranquil living environment and trust in the capacity of the body to heal itself.

In my life as a paediatrician, I had spent lots of time in dialogue with the parents who often needed to voice their fears about both disease and vaccines. We worked out together the best route for their children. Some chose not to vaccinate at all. Others held onto fear of disease, especially tetanus. In those cases, we postponed vaccination as much as possible and used a homeopathic protection and "cleansing" called nosode.

I worked in Switzerland where there is no real legal obligation to vaccinate, only great social pressure. In France, just a few kilometres from my office, there were four compulsory vaccinations at the time (BCG was fortunately removed in 2007, and three remain: Di Te Pol).

Some of the basis of my ability to speak on the marvellous health of unvaccinated children comes from my personal experience as a medical doctor, having collected years of feedback.

• “My child began coughing immediately after the vaccination.”
• “He has had constant ear aches since he was vaccinated.”
• “My 16 years old daughter is completely unvaccinated. She is almost never sick. If she does get sick, it’s two days at the most.”
• “The neighbour's kids followed normal vaccination guidelines. They are constantly sick and on antibiotics.”

That was not enough upon which to write a book; however. As it would turn out, I found these observations were paralleled over and over again all over the world. Follow me around the planet.

EUROPE

In England, Michel Odent, MD showed in two studies that children having received no Pertussis vaccine had 5-6 times less asthma than those who were vaccinated for it. The first study was on 450 babies from La Leche League; the second one on 125 children in a Steiner school. ⁽¹⁾

Throughout Europe, a group of mostly paediatricians studied 14,893 children in Steiner schools in Austria, Germany, Holland, Sweden and Switzerland and found that children living in "anthroposophist culture" (where vaccination is largely shunned) were in better health than the controls. ⁽²⁾

In Germany, one of the European Steiner schools study researchers wrote, “In the eastern part of Berlin before the fall of the wall, we saw less allergies than in the west. This population was poorer, nearer nature and less vaccinated.” Too much hygiene is not always good. As UK researcher and originator of the “hygiene hypothesis” David Strachan might say, "give us this day our daily germs".

In Spain, Xavier Uriarte, MD and J. Manuel Marín, MD published a study in 1999 on 314 children they followed between 1975 to 2000. ⁽³⁾ This group of children is characterized by a majority of homebirth or natural births, prolonged breastfeeding, no vaccinations, holistic health education and no allopathic medicine. There were no serious diseases, few hospitalisations (mostly for traumas), and 3.3% asthma compared to the 20% in the general population. And of course, a lot of money was spared!

USA

The rate of autism in the U.S. is now an unthinkable 1 in 100. Those who are unvaccinated boast numbers that run in shocking contrast to the nation’s statistics. As this article is directed to the American people, I will not go on at length here. Most of you know the work of your very own journalist Dan Olmsted showing the incredible absence of autism in the unvaccinated Amish communities of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Further impressive is Chicago-based Homefirst Medical Clinic run by a group of doctors including medical director Mayer Eisenstein, MD, JD, MPH. They have no known autism and super-scarce allergies in their children, many of whom were home deliveries, and most of whom have had no vaccinations. In 1985, I translated to French U.S. paediatrician Robert Mendelssohn, MD's How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor. Now I find concrete result in the marvellous health of kids whose doctors are his pupils! I like these synchronicities in my life.

AUSTRALIA

In 1942, Leslie Owen Bailey, founder of the Natural Health Society of Australia, accepted guardianship of 85 children whose mothers were unable to care for them. Among these 85 children, no vaccinations were ever given, no drugs were ever taken or used, and no operations were ever performed. The only malady that occurred was when 34 of the children developed chicken pox. They were immediately put to bed and given only pure water or fresh fruit juice. They all recovered quickly without after-effects. Investigations revealed that these children whilst at school had been swapping their healthy lunches for unhealthy conventional foods, so this outbreak was not altogether surprising.

Many of these children inherited poor health due to a history of illness and malnourishment in their mothers. Despite this, and the fact that they were never breastfed nor could enjoy the normal bonding of mother to child, they were able to grow into sturdy, self-reliant children.

NEW ZEALAND

Two studies done in New Zealand in 1992 and 1995 show that the unvaccinated children clearly have less allergies, less otitis (ear aches), less tonsillitis, less running noses, less epilepsies and less ADHD. ⁽⁴⁾

JAPAN

An interesting period in Japan was 1975-1980, when a decision was made to begin the first vaccinations at two years of age instead of at two months. The reason was that more and more was discovered linking vaccines and cot-death (SIDS). A study was published in Pediatrics showing that from 1970 to January 1975, there were 57 cases of serious vaccine reactions, including 37 deaths. From February 1975 to August 1981 there were eight cases of serious vaccine reactions, including three deaths. Unfortunately for kids and their parents, the Japanese vaccination plan is now "normalized" again. The study shows well that the immune system is stronger at two years than at two months. How well would these kids have done had they not been vaccinated at all?

We find the same observation in a Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology study. Of 11,531 children studied at age seven, here are the results: vaccinated at two months, 13.8% are asthmatic, vaccinated between two and four months, 10.3%, vaccinated after four months, 5.9 %. Again, how well would these kids have done had they not been vaccinated at all?

THE LESSON LEARNED ON VACCINATION

As a concerned, compassionate and considerate paediatrician, I can only arrive at one conclusion. Unvaccinated children have by far the best chance of enjoying marvellous health. Any vaccination at all works to cripple the chances of this end.

www.vaccinationcouncil.org

Sources
___________
1) www.birthworks.org/primalhealth
2) Allergic diseases and atopic sensitization in children related to farming and anthroposophic lifestyle - Persifal study. Allergy 2006, 61 (4) : 414-421.
3) www.vacunacionlibre.org
4) http://www.ias.org.nz