ARTICLE: Ingredients in Vaccines: What You Don't Know Could Harm You

(Originally published at Yahoo.voices formerly Associated Content~6/11/2009)

ABSTRACT: While vaccines have proven to be phenomenal in preventing many diseases it would shock one if they knew the ingredients found in many vaccines.

CONTENT: As my great-grandmother, who was a nurse had often said, medicines will either cure you or kill you, and I often wonder if she were alive today, what she would think of the medical profession in general today. While she was a nurse, my great-grandmother, even back in her days, was none to keen on any kind of chemical, pharmaceutical concoction, preferring more natural type remedies. She never took anything stronger than aspirin, and lived to be the ripe age of 98. I must somehow inherited my great-grandmother's disdain for medications as well, and with the exception of occasional usage of antibiotics and yes, aspirin, I too steer away from pharmaceutical drugs.

When it comes to vaccines, I haven't had any in decades. When flu season comes along, I don't rush out to my doctor to get immunized, and with the exception of one case of the flu when I was eleven, I haven't had a case of it since then. Also, my now deceased mother never got flu shots either, despite her age and doctor's recommendation save twice, and ironically she got the flu the two times she did get a flu shot.

Recently, I became aware of the controversial issue of the Gardasil vaccine that is supposed to guard against a few strains of the HPV virus that cause cervical cancer in women. There have been reports of deaths amongst the young girls and women getting this vaccine, while others came down with severe health problems that would remain with them for the rest of their lives. It made me wonder, if vaccines are indeed a cure you or kill you type of medicine, people should become more aware of what ingredients are in these vaccines in general. To give one example, Gardasil has a known ingredient, borax which is often used as a roach killer. Roach killer? In a vaccine? Why on earth would anyone want this ingredient in their vaccine and for what purpose is it included? Then I started reading up on other vaccines and what ingredients they had in them and couldn't help thinking, if people knew exactly what was in those vaccines they would perhaps never get another vaccine in their lifetime.

First I just must say up front, that I'm not entirely against the idea of vaccines as many have indeed been life savers and have helped eradicate and rid the world of the many diseases that previously caused death, especially in children, such as measles, whooping cough, diphtheria and polio. The basic premise in how vaccines work is that all contain the virus, bacteria or allergen itself that one is trying to prevent and by vaccinating a person with the live virus, bacteria or allergen it supposedly creates an immunity to that particular disease, yet as I indicated previously, this wasn't the case with my mother, who only would get the flu the two times she was immunized, and I'm sure others can testify that they may have experienced the same problem.

Perhaps, if the only ingredient in vaccines were the live viruses/bacteria/allergens themselves, maybe, just maybe many people would not be suffering from adverse reactions to the vaccines from the very mild to the very severe to the point of possibly causing death. Instead, vaccines are a virtual cocktail of ingredients that one should be aware of. There are several informative websites, such as Informed Choice and Rense.com that list the various ingredients of the better known and more frequently used vaccines and this of course, included those vaccines that children are bombarded with at a very early age.

One of the most common ingredients found in the vast majority of vaccines is neomycin and quite often polymyxin as well. Both are antibiotics and are included in such vaccines targeted for Measles, Rubella, and Smallpox. The MMR vaccine for Measles, Mumps and Rubella contain neomycin. Now one may wonder what the big deal is about having an antibiotic in a vaccine, that in general antibiotics do help people, however if one reads up on neomycin and/or polymyxin, one will find these two antibiotics come with severe warnings. (1) How many times has a doctor, when writing out a prescription, has asked you if you were allergic to a certain medicine? Well, if you never had that particular medication, how are you to know unless of course you actually take it, and then you are in a sense playing Russian roulette as to whether that medication will help or harm you. More important, a young baby or child subjected to those vaccines won't know if they have a severe reaction until it's too late.

Another very common ingredient found in the vast majority of vaccines believe it or not, is formaldehyde and why on earth this ingredient is included is one that completely baffles me. According to the CDC Website "Formaldehyde is used to inactivate bacterial products for toxoid vaccines" (3) Formaldehyde is more commonly found in many household products such as wood (particle board), glues, insulation materials, and of course is the ingredient used for embalming in mortuaries, it is also a known carcinogen.(2) Formaldehyde is found in the following vaccines: DPT and Tripedia (diphtheria - tetanus - pertussis), FluShild, IPOL (polio). Another known carcinogen that is included in many vaccines are the various forms of Aluminum, and worse is thermisol, a mercury derivative. Supposedly, thermisol was eliminated in vaccines several years ago, however, that isn't entirely true as it is still found in the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, flu, and hepatitis type vaccines.

If this isn't making your head spin already, here is a general listing of other ingredients that can be found in many vaccines: gelatin, chick embryos, human diploid cells from aborted fetal tissue, aspartame, washed sheep red blood cells, monkey kidney cells, calf serum, Monosodium glutamate (MSG) and vesicle fluid from calf skins. (4)

Granted, I'm no chemist, but I sure would like to know why such ingredients are included in these vaccines and if they are truly necessary? So many of these vaccine ingredients are not only toxic and known carcinogens, but many can trigger off allergic reactions to those who are sensitive to them. The ones most likely to be sensitive of course, are the young babies and children of whom many of these vaccines are designated for in the prevention of childhood diseases. While many might question any link between the vaccines and the rise of cases of autism, or of any other serious health issues children seem to be facing in recent years, it does make one wonder, especially since young children are given so many vaccines now, up to 35, as opposed to the ten vaccines of previous years.

Reference Sources About Vaccine Ingredients

CDC(3)

vaccinations

Rense.com

Rense.com2

PrisonPlanetl

VaccinateBaby

Neomycin (1)

Polymyxin(1)

Formaldehyde (2)

Informedchoice(4)

Other Information About Vaccines

ChildrenVaccines

Douglassreport

Immunizations

Pediatrics

ARTICLE: How Safe Are Your Medications? Are Your Prescribed Medications Real, Counterfeit or Inferior?

(Originally published at Yahoo.voices formerly Associated Content~9/29/2008)

BSTRACT: One has to be consciously aware of the medications they are taken as some may not even be the real McCoy. More and more counterfeit medicines are turning up even in one's own trusted pharmacy

CONTENT: I've never been one to take many prescribed or even over the counter medications. While I do have a few minor health problems, they have never been severe enough for me to race over to my doctor and get some kind of medication for the problem. I guess I have inherited my great-grandmother's attitude toward not only medications, but the medical profession in general.

My great-grandmother was a nurse, mid-wife, and was involved with the more natural and herbal approaches. She never took anything stronger than aspirin all her long life, and instead relied on her cornucopia of herb-lore knowledge, and while she may herself had medical problems, she lived to be 98 years old. Her attitude about doctors for the most part was that they were, well idiots, and that the more you stayed away from doctors, the healthier one was. The fact that she lived so long, could be considered living testimony that maybe she was right.

I remembered being told by my grandmother and mother, that on the few occasions that she was hospitalized for some medical malady, she never even took the medications that were recommended to her during her hospital stay. The typical scenario being that the nurse would come into her room, administer the medications and my great-grandmother would "take" them. A few seconds after the nurse would leave, she would pop out the medications she just "supposedly" swallowed.

With all that has been going on in the pharmaceutical world lately, maybe more and more of us today should have a real wary approach when taking medications, and, if one absolutely positively needs to take medications for any serious health issue, one should be a conscientious consumer and perhaps do their own research in taking medications.

One issue that has cropped up lately is the question as to whether the medications one is taking is in fact the real McCoy. In general, medications can be expensive, even for just one, and the cost of trying to be healthy can soar if one needs to take a number of medications. This is a true hardship especially not only for senior citizens who are on Social Security benefits, but for anyone who lives on a tight fixed income and must decide whether to spend their money on their medications or eat.

Instead of heading to their local pharmacy, many people looking for a cheaper alternative to their prescribed medications may resort to anyone of the on-line prescription websites. If one was to do a Google search and typed in the words "On-line Prescriptions" one comes up with the staggering results of 9,090,000 on-line prescription websites. Also, it's not only people that have a specific medication prescribed to them, but some people may decide to self-medicate themselves. By that I mean, if one has a known medical condition, may look up medications for their specific health issue, and pick out a medication that sounds good to them and decide to order on-line, as many of these on-line prescription websites don't even require a doctor's prescription. But how safe are these medications? And the better question to ask, are they indeed real to begin with?

The danger lies in the fact that one is truly taking their life and health in their own hands if one decides to buy prescriptions on-line just to save money since the majority of prescriptions one can buy on-line aren't even the real thing, that is they are more likely to be counterfeit. However, the more alarming fact is that not only are counterfeit medications showing up on the on-line websites, but in one's trusted pharmacy, and the results could prove fatal.

The counterfeit prescription drug market is nothing new but actually goes back several years, but is now increasing and on the rise. This counterfeit illegal market is an estimated $40 million dollar industry yearly worldwide. The so-called prescription medications that are counterfeit may indeed look like the real thing, but contain non of the true pharmaceutical ingredients of the real thing. Even a trained pharmacist might not be able to tell the difference between the real from the fake medication unless he conducted a chemical testing of the medication in question. (1)

Not only are the counterfeit medications made of inferior ingredients, they are often made with ingredients that can be downright lethal. Upon chemical analysis of these counterfeit medications, it had been discovered that such ingredients as boric acid, heavy metals, and road paint can be found in them. To give the medications that shiny surface appearance, floor wax had been used to coat the medications. (2)

I think it can be said that most people, however, would never think of resorting to an on-line medication website, but unfortunately, even going to one's tried and true pharmacist one can also be putting themselves at risk. More and more counterfeit medications are showing up in pharmacies worldwide. A case in point is in the article Counterfeit Drugs, Real Problems which relates where the son of Kevin Fagan, Tom, had to take a prescription after his liver transplant. Instead of helping him, Tom experienced only more excruciating pain each and every time he took the medication. The medication, bought at his pharmacist proved to be counterfeit.

Another danger with prescription medications also in evidence with the generic brands of medications, which while may not be counterfeit are far inferior to the brand name medication. Once again, people may think they are saving money by getting the generic equivalent of a medication but they too may be exposing themself to an inferior product that may prove ineffective to their health and medical needs.

In the news only a little while ago was the disclosure by the FDA that has investigated various laboratories that manufacture generic type medications and in particular two factories that are run by Ranbaxy Laboratories which is a company located in India and of which their generic medications are distributed worldwide and for all you know may be sold at your local pharmacy.

It should be noted that Ranbaxy is the manufacturer of some thirty generic drugs, from the antibiotic types such as Amoxicilin, Cephalexin (Keflex), cholesterol reducing medications such as the Fenofibrate group (Tricor, Antara) to diabetic medications (Metformin HCL). There is a full listing of the medications involved here Ranbaxy Manufactured Medications

The problem with these generic medications manufactured by such a pharmaceutical company as Ranbaxy is that the medications may be inferior in quality, that is may not be the full prescribed strength, and that the conditions that they are manufactured under do not meet the safety standards that the FDA has set forth. Some issues cited by the FDA is that there may be a cross-contamination of medications, that is batches of one kind of medication may be made shortly after the manufacture of another type of medication that is unrelated and that the processing of the medication is made without proper sterilization to insure the purity of the medication in question. In other words, one may think they are getting a cholesterol reducing medication, but may have traces of a diabetic type as well. (3)

I think the bottom line here, is that if you really must take medications, just beware of where you're getting them from. While you may think you are saving money by getting on-line prescriptions, you may be quite literally taking your health not to mention your life in your hands as chances are they are counterfeit. As far as getting one's medications in one's pharmacy, be consciously aware of what you are getting....is it a generic type or the more expensive brand label? One way to be able to check out what you're getting is to go to the Drugs.com Website At this website is a link for a Pill Identifier in which one can type in the name of their medication. Images can be provided for any medication according to it's strength and imprinted number that almost all medications have. This will tell you where the origin and manufacturer of the medication is from, whether from the major pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer to the generic brands that are manufactured by such laboratories Ranbaxy.

Articles About the Counterfeit Drug Trade

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Story?id=5796287&page=1

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Story?id=5796287&page=2 (1) (2)

Inferior Prescription Medications

http://www.forbes.com/markets/2008/09/16/ranbaxy-fda-generic-markets-equity-cx_lal_0916markets39.html (3)