Research much?
H1N1
By now we have all heard of it, and people are lining up to go and get the vaccine. People have heard the risks, and for the most part, they don't care. It just isn't important to them because the chance of them being affected by one of the side affects is so rare, there is cause for worry.
But I have two friends that are pregnant that are contemplating getting the shot. I know that I have no right to tell them what to do, and I understand that they are getting recomendations from doctors and from the media that it is important for pregnant women to get the shot because the risk involved for thier child if the mom gets sick is higher than the risk of the side effects of the vaccine.
The Reason Why
When one asks a doctor about what risks are involved if a pregnant woman were to get sick with influenza, mostly the affects discussed are about what will happen to the mother. She runs the risk of getting sick worse than a normal adult, consintrated more on respitory issues with a igh proability of getting a baterial pnemonia infection after influenza sickness. This was really first marked in the 1919 influenza pandemic, and has since then recorded in other pandemic situations like in the 1980s North America, and the late 1990s in China. When it came to the affect on pregnancy, "adverse pregnancy outcomes have been reported following previous influenza pandemics, with increased rates of spontaneous abortion and preterm birth reported, especially among women with pneumonia." (http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/clinician_pregnant.htm)
As for the affect on the fetus, there has been "with statistically significant associations for cleft lip with or without cleft palate, and neural tube and congenital heart defects" "Associations between maternal influenza infection and childhood leukemia, schizophrenia, and Parkinson disease have been suggested by some studies."(http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/14/1/95.htm)
Because of these documented affects, it is highly recomended that pregnant, or might become pregnant, women sould get vaccinated. If a child is under 6 months and breast feeding, they do not need to get vaccinated, as they will share their mother's anti-bodies. Because of an infants burgeoning immune system, vaccinations are important for reducing the risk of infant death and life-long crippling due to infection.
The Reason Why-Not
I have NO issue with getting the vaccine is you have a normal, uncomprimised immune system and you are getting the non-mecurial based vaccination. I state this because I want to be clear that my concern is about the use of mercury, not the vaccine. Yes, it is a live vaccine (the virus is not dead, but rather in a weakened state) and if your immune system is comprimised, you should not be getting the shot regardless because you have a high probability of contracting the virus. Most, and both of my pregnant friends fall under this category, DO NOT have a comprimised immune system, and therefore it is not an issue. By all means, get shot up!
One of the biggest concerns that I have for getting the H1N1 vaccine is that they have recently lifted the ban for Thimerosal, which is a mecurial based stabalizer, in vaccines for infants and pregnant women, and really for all people, but they old a greater risk as brain development is occuring. In 1992, the FDA banned the use of any mercury based vaccines for infants and pregnant women because it causes erosion of the myelin and degeneration of neurons.
What is this? I'll tell you.
This has been a field of interest of mine since I was aout 5 years old. I love neuropsychology, brain development, and neural research like most people like a good romance novel. It is one of my guilty pleasures and I am constantly reading about it medical journals, doctoral publications, and sticking my nose in my ex-roommates lab (she is getting her doctorate in neuromedical research). The only reason I didn't make a career of this is that I am no good at lab work. I just like to learn about it. I don't want to work in a lab. That being said, I want those that are reading this to be aware that I'm not just following trends, buying into urban ledgends, and pulling this out of my ass.
Myelin is basically like grease on the axel of a car: without it, and using alot of force, the car can get from point A to point B, but it doesn't do it effeciently and breaks down easily. What myelin is, is an insulation on the neuron so that the electic currents stay within the nueron instead of dispersing along the way, like rubber on wires do. Babies are born with limited myelin, which is one of the reasons that they have trouble focusing their eyes and moving their fingers. The brain just doesn't have the electrocoductivity to do these things. At six months, myelination (the production of myelin on neurons) finally occurs in the Broca's area in the brain, which is the language area for language production. This is why it is at 6 months that a child finally starts mimicing linguistic sounds, like laughing and babbling, instead of just crying. It isn't until around 10 to 12 years of age that myelination of the brain is complete. (http://earlychildhoodmichigan.org/articles/12-03/SH-Brain5-25-03b.htm)
What mercury does, unlike any other heavy metal, is it actually causes the building block proteins of the neural axom (ends where electric currents and neurotransmitters connect to other neurons) to break apart, making dead ends occur. It also breaks down the protiens that make myelin, and therefore stripping the neuron its protection and insulation. Basically, it causes the neurons to become like rocky roads that the car without grease on the axels has to somehow drive over. The "car" doesn't get very far, and if it does, it takes forever because it has to navigate around obsticals and roads that are too rough to use to get from point A to point B.
What does this mean for a fetus or infant that gets a mercurial based vaccine? It means that they are at risk for getting demyelination based deseases, the most common is MS, or multiple sclerosis. (http://www.myelin.org/) Some beleive that it might be one of the causes of Autism, although this has not been proven to date as there seems to be NO common factor with children of Austim. For those that want to learn more about Mercury and its affect on the beuron, University of Calgary Medical has a great instructional video about it here: http://movies.commons.ucalgary.ca/mercury/
So what does this mean when you weigh the risks of either outcome?
I can not, nor will not, ever tell someone what to do. I will give them the facts, of both sides, and let them decide like I have done here. BOTH HAVE NEGATIVE!!!! The best thing that I can see is if you are pregnant, or have an infant, and you DO have non-mecurial based vaccinations, GET IT! If you don't, then you have to weigh your probability factor. What is the likelihood that you will be exposed? What kind of immune system do you have? If I do get sick, what kind of health care response would I receive? How far along am I in the pregnancy? If you are early on, it isn't an issue because there is no higher function brain development occuring, but rather just neural building. Also, you would be more likely to have spontaneous abortion instead of premature labour and birth. After having the information and answering these questions, I hope that you will have a better idea of what you might do and feel that you have done your best to protect yourself and the child for the developing road ahead.
By now we have all heard of it, and people are lining up to go and get the vaccine. People have heard the risks, and for the most part, they don't care. It just isn't important to them because the chance of them being affected by one of the side affects is so rare, there is cause for worry.
But I have two friends that are pregnant that are contemplating getting the shot. I know that I have no right to tell them what to do, and I understand that they are getting recomendations from doctors and from the media that it is important for pregnant women to get the shot because the risk involved for thier child if the mom gets sick is higher than the risk of the side effects of the vaccine.
The Reason Why
When one asks a doctor about what risks are involved if a pregnant woman were to get sick with influenza, mostly the affects discussed are about what will happen to the mother. She runs the risk of getting sick worse than a normal adult, consintrated more on respitory issues with a igh proability of getting a baterial pnemonia infection after influenza sickness. This was really first marked in the 1919 influenza pandemic, and has since then recorded in other pandemic situations like in the 1980s North America, and the late 1990s in China. When it came to the affect on pregnancy, "adverse pregnancy outcomes have been reported following previous influenza pandemics, with increased rates of spontaneous abortion and preterm birth reported, especially among women with pneumonia." (http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/clinician_pregnant.htm)
As for the affect on the fetus, there has been "with statistically significant associations for cleft lip with or without cleft palate, and neural tube and congenital heart defects" "Associations between maternal influenza infection and childhood leukemia, schizophrenia, and Parkinson disease have been suggested by some studies."(http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/14/1/95.htm)
Because of these documented affects, it is highly recomended that pregnant, or might become pregnant, women sould get vaccinated. If a child is under 6 months and breast feeding, they do not need to get vaccinated, as they will share their mother's anti-bodies. Because of an infants burgeoning immune system, vaccinations are important for reducing the risk of infant death and life-long crippling due to infection.
The Reason Why-Not
I have NO issue with getting the vaccine is you have a normal, uncomprimised immune system and you are getting the non-mecurial based vaccination. I state this because I want to be clear that my concern is about the use of mercury, not the vaccine. Yes, it is a live vaccine (the virus is not dead, but rather in a weakened state) and if your immune system is comprimised, you should not be getting the shot regardless because you have a high probability of contracting the virus. Most, and both of my pregnant friends fall under this category, DO NOT have a comprimised immune system, and therefore it is not an issue. By all means, get shot up!
One of the biggest concerns that I have for getting the H1N1 vaccine is that they have recently lifted the ban for Thimerosal, which is a mecurial based stabalizer, in vaccines for infants and pregnant women, and really for all people, but they old a greater risk as brain development is occuring. In 1992, the FDA banned the use of any mercury based vaccines for infants and pregnant women because it causes erosion of the myelin and degeneration of neurons.
What is this? I'll tell you.
This has been a field of interest of mine since I was aout 5 years old. I love neuropsychology, brain development, and neural research like most people like a good romance novel. It is one of my guilty pleasures and I am constantly reading about it medical journals, doctoral publications, and sticking my nose in my ex-roommates lab (she is getting her doctorate in neuromedical research). The only reason I didn't make a career of this is that I am no good at lab work. I just like to learn about it. I don't want to work in a lab. That being said, I want those that are reading this to be aware that I'm not just following trends, buying into urban ledgends, and pulling this out of my ass.
Myelin is basically like grease on the axel of a car: without it, and using alot of force, the car can get from point A to point B, but it doesn't do it effeciently and breaks down easily. What myelin is, is an insulation on the neuron so that the electic currents stay within the nueron instead of dispersing along the way, like rubber on wires do. Babies are born with limited myelin, which is one of the reasons that they have trouble focusing their eyes and moving their fingers. The brain just doesn't have the electrocoductivity to do these things. At six months, myelination (the production of myelin on neurons) finally occurs in the Broca's area in the brain, which is the language area for language production. This is why it is at 6 months that a child finally starts mimicing linguistic sounds, like laughing and babbling, instead of just crying. It isn't until around 10 to 12 years of age that myelination of the brain is complete. (http://earlychildhoodmichigan.org/articles/12-03/SH-Brain5-25-03b.htm)
What mercury does, unlike any other heavy metal, is it actually causes the building block proteins of the neural axom (ends where electric currents and neurotransmitters connect to other neurons) to break apart, making dead ends occur. It also breaks down the protiens that make myelin, and therefore stripping the neuron its protection and insulation. Basically, it causes the neurons to become like rocky roads that the car without grease on the axels has to somehow drive over. The "car" doesn't get very far, and if it does, it takes forever because it has to navigate around obsticals and roads that are too rough to use to get from point A to point B.
What does this mean for a fetus or infant that gets a mercurial based vaccine? It means that they are at risk for getting demyelination based deseases, the most common is MS, or multiple sclerosis. (http://www.myelin.org/) Some beleive that it might be one of the causes of Autism, although this has not been proven to date as there seems to be NO common factor with children of Austim. For those that want to learn more about Mercury and its affect on the beuron, University of Calgary Medical has a great instructional video about it here: http://movies.commons.ucalgary.ca/mercury/
So what does this mean when you weigh the risks of either outcome?
I can not, nor will not, ever tell someone what to do. I will give them the facts, of both sides, and let them decide like I have done here. BOTH HAVE NEGATIVE!!!! The best thing that I can see is if you are pregnant, or have an infant, and you DO have non-mecurial based vaccinations, GET IT! If you don't, then you have to weigh your probability factor. What is the likelihood that you will be exposed? What kind of immune system do you have? If I do get sick, what kind of health care response would I receive? How far along am I in the pregnancy? If you are early on, it isn't an issue because there is no higher function brain development occuring, but rather just neural building. Also, you would be more likely to have spontaneous abortion instead of premature labour and birth. After having the information and answering these questions, I hope that you will have a better idea of what you might do and feel that you have done your best to protect yourself and the child for the developing road ahead.