Campbell Company announced their support for GMO labeling, federal legislation for a single mandatory labeling standard for both GMO-free and GMO-containing foods, in a press release dated January 7, 2016.

Campbell wants us to view them in a particular light. This one:

Campbell (NYSE:CPB) is driven and inspired by our Purpose, “Real food that matters for life’s moments.” The company makes a range of high-quality soups and simple meals, beverages, snacks and packaged fresh foods. For generations, people have trusted Campbell to provide authentic, flavorful and readily available foods and beverages that connect them to each other, to warm memories, and to what’s important today. Led by its iconic Campbell’s brand, the company’s portfolio includes Pepperidge Farm, Bolthouse Farms, Arnott’s, V8, Swanson, Pace, Prego, Plum, Royal Dansk, Kjeldsens and Garden Fresh Gourmet. Founded in 1869, Campbell has a heritage of giving back and acting as a good steward of the planet’s natural resources…” – BusinessWire news release.

Campbell states that their earlier opposition (to the tune of $982,888.00) was an effort to defeat fragmented state-by-state labeling laws, not consumers’ right to know what is in their food.

Why One Federally Mandated Label Law?

The reality is that state-by-state laws could be a major problem and expense for Campbell or for any manufacturer.

All the fuss about higher costs to the consumer if GMOs were labeled is a smokescreen, an excuse to keep the consumer in the dark about what they are eating. But if a manufacturer had to label a product 50 different ways and ensure shipments were sent to the right state with the right label, then we are talking about a major expense.

If standards were set in place and all manufacturers had to alter their labels once, this change makes sense. Keep in mind, some of the manufacturers who are complaining about this possibility already have different labels for their European markets and/or different formulas for their products that meet European standards.

Campbell’s President and CEO, Denise Morrison, makes a good point regarding state laws when she uses Vermont as an example. The new law in Vermont only pertains to products regulated by the FDA, not the USDA. Their original variety SpaghettiO’s falls under the FDA regulations and therefore requires a GMO label. Their SpaghettiO’s meatballs does not. Due to the fact that it contains meat, it is regulated by the USDA and is therefore not bound by Vermont’s new law. These products sit side by side on many grocery shelves. Both contain GMOs, but only one is labeled.

Our Right To Know

Campbell wants to be sure we understand that they still support GMO technology.

Campbell continues to recognize that GMOs are safe, as the science indicates that foods derived from crops grown using genetically modified seeds are not nutritionally different from other foods. The company also believes technology will play a crucial role in feeding the world.” – BusinessWire news release.

They are conceding to our right to know because 92% of Americans support GMO labeling.

There you have it. They are now pushing for labeling, not because it is the right thing to do, not because it is logical, moral, and just. Not to protect our health. They are backing labeling because of overwhelming pressure from consumers, consumers whose well-justified fears the company continues to discount.

The best news is that they state they will go ahead with new labels even if a federal solution is not reached in a timely manner.

Other Changes by Campbell

Campbell has also removed artificial flavors, coloring, and preservatives as well as “additional added” MSG for its condensed soups for kids and the company plans to remove

…artificial colors and flavors from nearly all of its North American products by the end of fiscal 2018. Additionally, Campbell plans to move away from using high fructose corn syrup in certain products, including the complete line of Pepperidge Farm fresh breads by the end of fiscal 2017, as well as most new products launching in fiscal 2016 in its Americas Simple Meals and Beverages portfolio.” – Campbell Website Press

Why not all products? Why not now? Why not remove all MSG because is has been proven dangerous?

Is it not condescending and self-serving to say they are taking out these ingredients from kid’s soups so the recipes are simplified for parents rather than admitting parents are right in choosing non-toxic products for their children?

Conclusion

We want to applaud every decision they have made to remove toxic ingredients from their products and to label those that remain. But we can’t help feeling it’s a little bit late. We wish Campbell and other giant food companies would stand up for clean, healthy food. Not for the sake of profits. Not to fit in a niche. Because it is the right thing to do!

The real takeaway from this story is the power of public opinion and a reminder that we do vote with our dollars. Every time we buy a product with artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, MSG, HFCS, trans fats, or GMOs we are supporting the use of these products in processed foods. We are voting FOR toxic food. Every time we purchase whole, fresh, organic, foods, we are voting AGAINST toxic foods. Let’s applaud the 92% of Americans who want to know what they are eating for this victory and keep up the momentum.

Recommended Reading:

• Understanding and Detoxifying Genetically Modified Foods
• MSG’s Many Side Effects and Aliases
• Gluten, Candida, Leaky Gut Syndrome, and Autoimmune Diseases
• Corruption and Pork – Agricultural Boards Behaving Badly

Sources:

• Campbell Announces Support for Mandatory GMO Labeling – BusinessWire
• Who are the companies fighting our right to know? – Just Label It!
• Campbell Continues To Shift Portfolio Toward Faster-Growing Categories and Regions – Campbell Website News
• Why We Support Mandatory National GMO Labeling – Campbell Website News

When it comes to cleaning your home, how do you choose products? Marketing companies try to convince us that scrubbing bubbles or a bald genie will do all the work. These advertisements may entice much of the population to purchase these products, but chances are most of us choose cleaning products by habit. Many of us probably use buy the same household cleaners our parents used.

The problem is, these conventional cleaners are made with chemicals. They pollute our water, they pollute our homes, and they pollute our bodies. We come in contact with these toxic chemicals through our skin and we breathe in the fumes, long after we have finished using them.

In this toxic world, we are exposed to so many chemicals, why would we want to go to the store, buy more chemical solutions, and expose ourselves to a daily dose for the sake of cleaning? Is a toxic home a clean home? No! Of course not!

It’s time we skip a generation or two and learn how to clean from our grandparents or great grandparents. Two of their best-kept secrets were vinegar and baking soda.

Use Vinegar to Clean

Vinegar, plain white vinegar, is a great non-toxic cleaner. It removes odors and is great for lifting dirt. And don’t worry, the smell of vinegar does not last.

• Add a cup of vinegar to a bucket of warm water to clean wood, linoleum, and tile floors. (Do NOT use on stone floors.)
• Mix equal parts of vinegar to water in a spray bottle to clean mirrors, windows, countertops, refrigerators, walls, and more. (Do not use on granite or marble counters or tables.)
• Mix with an equal amount of olive oil to use as a furniture polish and to remove glass rings from wooden furniture.
• Freeze vinegar in an ice cube tray – use to clean disposals.
• Use full strength to disinfect cutting boards.
• Use full strength to clean mildew in showers or on patio furniture.
• Add one cup of vinegar to final laundry rinse for soft soap-residue free laundry. (Use with Dr. Bronners liquid soap to wash your clothes. Works great!)
• Soak rusted tools or nut and bolts in full strength vinegar for several days. Takes dried paint out of paintbrushes, too.
• Remove glued on tags and stickers with full strength vinegar.
• Add 1-2 cups to the bottom of the dishwasher to make dishes and glasses shine. (Use in a regular cycle along with your soap).
• A mixture of 1 part vinegar, 1 part lemon juice, and 2 parts water was able to eliminate 99.9% of E.coli, Listeria and Staphylococcus bacteria from surfaces. The acidic nature of vinegar makes it a good disinfectant that is also effective against mold.
• Equal parts salt, vinegar, and borax makes a great stain remover for carpets and fabrics.

Use Baking Soda to Clean and Remove Odors

Baking soda is also an excellent cleaner and odor remover.

• Sprinkle baking soda on countertops, stovetops, or inside refrigerators. Scrub with a damp rag. Rinse with a clean wet rag.
• Make a paste with water to clean ovens. Leave on overnight. Wipe out with clean wet rag the next day. You can also make a paste with hydrogen peroxide and baking soda for really stubborn caked on food.
• Sprinkle baking soda in pans with burned on food. Add hot water and soak overnight.
• Add to wash load – you can even replace half of your laundry soap with baking soda.
• Make a paste with water to clean the bathroom sink, tub, tile, and toilet.
• Sprinkle baking soda in trashcans before and after adding trash bags.
• Sprinkle baking soda on the dog and brush.
• Soak diapers in a solution of baking soda before washing to remove odors. (Great addition to diaper pails).
• Sprinkle baking soda on carpets, let stand for 15-20 minutes and vacuum to remove odors.
• Leave an open box of baking soda in the refrigerator.
• Add to kitty litter to control odors.

Combine Baking Soda and Vinegar

It seems to be all the rage to combine these two wonderful cleaning products together, but basic chemistry puts a damper on this. One is an acid and one is a base, and the result when you mix the two is essentially water; they cancel each other out.

Have you used vinegar or baking soda in other ways to clean? If you have, please let us know.

Recommended Reading:

• Three Homemade Toothpaste Recipes – Better Oral Health for Less Cost
• Total Nutrition – Make your own Homemade Multivitamin and Mineral Formula
• 35 Things You Could Do With Coconut Oil – From Body Care to Health to Household

Resources:

• The Vinegar Institute
• 5+ Household Uses for Vinegar – RD
• 27 Ways to Clean with Baking Soda – The New Homemaker
• Do Natural Cleaners Work? – GoGreen

The prevailing beliefs around pharmaceuticals in America are that prescription drugs are safe if used according to directions, over-the-counter drugs are even safer – that’s why they don’t require a prescription, and pharmaceutical complications are rare.

Drugs aren’t as safe as many assume. It seems using NSAIDs significantly increase your risk of heart attack or stroke, more so than previously believed, though doctors have known these drugs increase the risk of heart attack and stroke for 15 years, along with raising blood pressure and causing heart failure.

Dangers of Using NSAIDs

Apparently, they did not know the extent of the risk until Vioxx (rofecoxib), another NSAID, was pulled from the market and further studies on all NSAIDs were conducted. In the five years Vioxx was on the market, it caused as many as 140,000 heart attacks in the U.S. and 55,000 deaths.

After Vioxx was removed from the market in 2004, further studies into the safety of NSAIDs were conducted. In mid-2015, an expert panel reviewed the new information about these drugs and decided it was time for the FDA to modify the warnings associated with their use.

NSAIDs (pronounced en-saids) are Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Common, well-known NSAIDs include:

• Ibuprofen (Motrin®, Advil®, Motrin IB®)
• Aspirin (Note: these particular warnings do not apply to aspirin.)
• Naproxen (Naprosyn®, Aleve®)
• Nabumetone (Relafen®)

The new warnings from the FDA point out that the risk increases with increased dosage and the length of time NSAIDs are taken; however, heart attack and stroke risk increase with short-term use, possibly as short as a few weeks. The risk applies to all users but those with heart disease face a greater risk.

The FDA website says:

There is no period of use shown to be without risk,” says Judy Racoosin, M.D., M.P.H., deputy director of FDA’s Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Addiction Products.

People who have cardiovascular disease, particularly those who recently had a heart attack or cardiac bypass surgery, are at the greatest risk for cardiovascular adverse events associated with NSAIDs.

FDA is adding information in the drug label for people who already have had a heart attack. This vulnerable population is at an increased risk of having another heart attack or dying of heart attack-related causes if they’re treated with NSAIDs, according to studies.

But the risk is also present in people without cardiovascular disease. “Everyone may be at risk – even people without an underlying risk for cardiovascular disease,” Racoosin adds.

Can You Safely Use NSAIDs?

The FDA tells consumers to take the smallest dose possible for the least amount of time possible to increase safety. The reality is, these drugs are not safe, though many still believe them to be. In addition to the cardiovascular risks, there is a risk of “… inflammation, bleeding, ulceration, and perforation of the stomach, small intestine, or large intestine, which can be fatal.” [Motrin Insert] Renal damage is also a concern.

Conclusion

The best approach is to managing pain and inflammation is to treat the cause rather than the symptoms – to heal the body. For many, this entails a sweeping lifestyle change. But those who choose to heal their bodies through nutrition, detox, and exercise, reap the rewards. Check out What Causes Chronic Inflammation, and How To Stop It For Good.

Recommended Reading:

• How to Detoxify and Heal the Lymphatic System
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones
• How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children
• How to Detoxify From Antibiotics and Other Chemical Antimicrobials

Sources:

• FDA strengthens warning that NSAIDs increase heart attack and stroke risk – Harvard Health Publications
• FDA Strengthens Warning of Heart Attack and Stroke Risk for Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs – FDA
• Motrin – Med Library

You’re sound asleep or floating in that delicious half dreaming, half aware state of limbo. Suddenly you are jolted awake as a white-hot, searing pain rips through your calf. You scream. You cry. You try to stretch out your leg or you force yourself to stand up and limp around in circles until the pain subsides. Sanity returns as the muscle relaxes and you collapse back into bed. But what caused that muscle to twist itself into a knot?

To relieve a cramp right now, stretch the muscle. The muscle cramping needs to be elongated. A bit of unrefined sea salt under the tongue followed by eating a banana can keep them from coming back for the time being, but if you get muscle cramps regularly it’s time to put a stop to them with a holistic approach that addresses the cause.

Causes of Muscle Cramps

Dehydration, mineral deficiency, or muscle strain are common causes of a muscle spasm also known as a charley horse. Poor circulation, nerve compression, or an adverse reaction to a prescription medication may also be to blame.

How To Avoid Muscle Cramps

Too often we look at one symptom and try to resolve it with medications instead of looking at the body from a holistic viewpoint. If you move away from the conventional medical model and realize that there is one disease – cellular dysfunction with its many symptoms, you will change your approach to health. You can heal the individual cells through detox, exercise, and nutrition. In other words, give the body what it needs, remove the interfering toxins, and it will heal itself.

Dehydration

Your body needs plenty of pure, clean water each day. The rule of thumb is ½ ounce to 1 ounce per pound. If you weigh 150 lbs., that’s 75 to 150 ounces of water per day, roughly half a gallon to a gallon a day. If you weigh 200 lbs, that’s 12 .5 to 25 cups of water or ¾ gallon to a 1 ½ gallons a day. Hotter weather and more exercise puts you on the high end of the range, whereas cooler weather and a more sedentary lifestyle lowers your requirements.

Cranberry Lemonade Recipe from The One Gallon Challenge

• Glass gallon jar
• Safe, clean, spring water or distilled water
• 1 cup of unsweetened, organic cranberry juice, not from concentrate
• 3 organic fresh lemons
• A citrus juicer
• Liquid stevia
• Liquid cayenne

Fill the jar to about 85% capacity with spring water (or distilled water). Squeeze the lemons and pour the juice into the water. Add cranberry juice. Add stevia to taste and then add cayenne to taste. The amount of cayenne used is up to you, but the more the better.

Nutrition

You can easily increase nutrition through raw fruits and vegetables. Muscle spasms can be caused by low levels of magnesium, potassium, calcium, and sodium. If you eat a truly healthy diet consisting of 80% fresh, raw, organic produce, you will increase your overall health.

Foods rich in magnesium include pumpkin seeds, spinach, Swiss chard, sesame seeds, quinoa, cashews, black beans, cashews, sunflower seeds, and navy beans.

Foods rich in potassium include beet greens, Lima beans, Swiss chard, bok choy, sweet potato, potatoes, spinach, avocado, pinto beans, and lentils. Of course, bananas are a good source as well, but compare their 422.44 mg of potassium per serving to beet greens at 1,308.96 mg per serving. Greens really pack in nutrients.

Greens alkalinize the body and keep calcium levels up in the body as well. Collared greens, spinach, turnip greens, mustard greens, beet greens, and bok choy are all excellent sources of calcium. Try to eat a large salad every day with lots of greens, plenty of other colors, garlic, cilantro, ginger, and more.

Exercise

The body needs exercise to maintain muscle strength and limberness, bone density, lymphatic movement, and blood flow. All are vital for health. In order for the body to dispose of waste and toxins, blood and lymph must move through the tissues. Exercise and massage aid in circulation of blood and lymph.

Chiropractic and Massage

If muscle spasms are a regular occurrence, especially if you maintain a healthy diet and get good exercise, it’s a good idea to check in with your chiropractor, your masseuse, or both, to relieve any impinged nerves that may be contributing to the problem.

Stretch Properly

Lightly stretch after your muscles are warm, and take care not to injure yourself as you build up flexibility. Incorporate Dynamic stretching with your workouts. Dynamic stretching means your body is still continuously moving while you elongate, or stretch, the muscles, like with stiff-legged deadlifts and high kicks. Use static, slow-and-hold stretching to grow and maintain your flexibility after your workout when your muscles are hot, not before when the muscles are cold. Doing static stretches at the end of a workout will help reduce muscle soreness the next day and allow your muscles to heal faster due to the increase in blood flow to the muscles.

Supplementation

Shillington’s Total Nutrition Formula and Sunwarrior’s Liquid Light  are excellent for daily supplementation. It’s best not to take potassium or magnesium by themselves unless recommended by a doctor who has verified a deficiency. There are many good liquid multi-mineral formulas on the market (and a lot of bad ones), but not many great whole-food supplements like Shillington’s formula (you can also get the recipe here).

Conclusion

When you embrace a healthy lifestyle and reject processed foods, replacing them with whole healthy foods and an alkaline diet (which is very easy to do with whole foods), and you drink plenty of clean water, exercise, and get good rest, healing begins. Muscle spasms, along with other aches and pains or symptoms attributed to age or other circumstance, simply disappear. If you get cramps in your feet, look into  hypothyroidism.

Recommended Reading:

• Hypertension – How To Lower Your Blood Pressure Quickly and Naturally
• Understand Hypothyroidism – Prevention and Natural Remedies
• Joint Pain – What Causes it? How to Stop it Naturally

Recommended Supplements:

• Shillington’s Total Nutrition Formula
• Sunwarrior’s Liquid Light
• Liquid Magnesium – 8oz • Drs Advantage
• Shillington’s Body Balance+
• Magnesium Complex Liquid

Sources:

• Charley horse – Medline Plus
• Water and Your Diet: Staying Slim and Regular With H2O – Web M.D.
• Magnesium – The World’s Healthiest Foods
• Potassium – The World’s Healthiest Foods
• Calcium – The World’s Healthiest Foods

At first glance, ADHD, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), and autism have little in common. When we think of ADHD, we tend to think of hyperactivity, kids zooming from room to room. Chronic fatigue brings up opposite images, of people so wracked with fatigue they can barely get out of bed. Autism suggests children lost in their own world, spinning objects while rocking from side to side. How could they possibly have anything in common?

In order to answer that question, we have to take a serious look at the numbers and understand the diagnostic criteria. If we don’t, the myths and lies will continue to overshadow every effort to understand the real story behind the rise in these debilitating conditions.

ADHD, CFS, and Autism – Epidemics

The first thing these diseases have in common is the fact that all three have reached epidemic proportions. The CDC reports the following statistics:

ADHD (> 6 million children in the U.S.)

• 11% of our children have ADHD as of 2011 (up from 7.8% in 2003)
• 1 out of 42 boys
• 1 out of 189 girls
• Rates vary from state to state

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (up to 2.5 million estimated in the U.S.)

• Between 0.2% and 2.3% of children or adolescents (up to 1.7 million) suffer from CFS.

Autism (> 11 million Americans)

• 30% increase from 2012 to 2014
• 5 times more prevalent in boys
• Up 119.4% since 2000, though some current reports now say it has moved from 1 in 68 children to 1 in 50; other reports say 1 in 45.

Add up the current numbers afflicted with one of these three illnesses, and we are talking about 6% of the population – without counting adults with ADHD.

Public Perception of ADHD, CFS, and Autism

The perception of these three illnesses are skewed and no clarity is in sight.

ADHD Myths and Propaganda

• ADHD is horribly over diagnosed
• Children can’t sit still in a classroom; ergo, hyperactivity is normal
• All active little boys are diagnosed with ADHD
• The rising numbers of ADHD cases are all due to over diagnosis
• Kids diagnosed with ADHD are spoiled children who don’t behave

For decades, we have heard the number of children with ADHD is dramatically over reported. This myth has resulted in the public ignoring the alarming rise in the number of children (and children who have grown into adulthood) afflicted by this disorder.

The idea that children are diagnosed with ADHD just to medicate them is ludicrous. That might be a good argument if tranquilizers were the medication prescribed for ADHD, but the opposite is true. Put any child without ADHD on amphetamines and the child will become hyper, anxious, and out of control. Amphetamines have the opposite effect on most of the children with ADHD. The child is able to calm down, focus, concentrate and control impulsivity. (Note: We are NOT advocating the use of medication to treat ADHD).

As long as we continue to discount the validity of this diagnosis, the sheer number of afflicted children won’t alarm us, and we won’t shake the boat by looking for the cause or causes.

Chronic Fatigue Myths and Propaganda

• It’s all in their head
• They’re not sick, they’re lazy
• There is no such thing as chronic fatigue syndrome

Like ADHD, chronic fatigue syndrome has been discounted, but in this case, it is dismissed as a non-disease. It was even given a derogatory nickname, the yuppie flu. Severe chronic fatigue is a devastating illness, and yet, due to propaganda within the medical field and vague diagnostics, many doctors believe it to be psychosomatic. Patients are dismissed as attention seekers, histrionics, and malingerers. This is an all too common occurrence whenever doctors cannot find a cause or determine a diagnosis for autoimmune or neurological symptoms unless evidence can clearly be shown through a blood test, an MRI, or some other definitive test.

Although it is estimated that twice as many Americans suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome as HIV, the National Institutes of Health budgeted a paltry $6 million in funding for chronic fatigue research for 2016 while HIV/AIDS research is budgeted at $3.1 billion. (Compare this amount to headaches budgeted at $25 million – migraines have a separate budget of $21 million.) So we have a serious, debilitating illness on the rise that affects a huge number of Americans, but since it became an issue, it has been discounted and largely ignored.

Autism Myths and Propaganda

• The change in diagnostic criteria is responsible for the increase in rates.
• Vaccines have no association with autism.
• Autism is an entirely genetic disease.

Autism was a rare diagnosis in the last century. In the 1980s, estimates from multiple studies suggest autism affected 1 in 10,000 children. In a mere 20 years, the year 2000, that number rose to 1 in 150 children. By 2010, the number was 1 in 68. The 2010 numbers are still being reported as the official numbers by the CDC and used by other organizations, though some are now estimating 1 in 45 children. Dr. Stephanie Seneff, Senior Research Scientist from MIT, stated, “At today’s rate, by 2025, one in two children will be autistic.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3P6wVUH0pc

While there is truth to the claim that new diagnostic parameters created a bump in the numbers, the increase happened once. Once! And again the numbers climbed and continue to climb. Like ADHD and CFS, autism is a relatively new disease with the first case diagnosed and named in 1938.

The autism epidemic is huge. How can we continue to deny the truth? The numbers are frightening and not just for the afflicted child and parents. The impact on our society will be tremendous when the children with severe autism grow to adulthood. Who will care for them when their parents are no longer able to provide for them?

Diagnostic Criteria

The myth that “ADHD is horribly over diagnosed,” is a bit harder to swallow when you understand the diagnostic criteria, when you appreciate the severity of the impact ADHD has on a child and his/her family, and when you see how unlikely it is for a child to be improperly diagnosed.

CDC Diagnostic Criteria for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

The CDC uses the DSM V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual V – the diagnostic manual for mental health professionals) definition as follows:

“People with ADHD show a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development.”

Inattention: Six or more symptoms of inattention for children up to age 16, or five or more for adolescents 17 and older and adults; symptoms of inattention have been present for at least 6 months, and they are inappropriate for developmental level:

• Often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, at work, or with other activities.
• Often has trouble holding attention on tasks or play activities.
• Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.
• Often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (e.g., loses focus, side-tracked).
• Often has trouble organizing tasks and activities.
• Often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to do tasks that require mental effort over a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).
• Often loses things necessary for tasks and activities (e.g. school materials, pencils, books, tools, wallets, keys, paperwork, eyeglasses, mobile telephones).
• Is often easily distracted.
• Is often forgetful in daily activities.

Hyperactivity and Impulsivity: Six or more symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity for children up to age 16, or five or more for adolescents 17 and older and adults; symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity have been present for at least 6 months to an extent that is disruptive and inappropriate for the person’s developmental level:

• Often fidgets with or taps hands or feet, or squirms in seat.
• Often leaves seat in situations when remaining seated is expected.
• Often runs about or climbs in situations where it is not appropriate (adolescents or adults may be limited to feeling restless).
• Often unable to play or take part in leisure activities quietly.
• Is often “on the go” acting as if “driven by a motor”.
• Often talks excessively.
• Often blurts out an answer before a question has been completed.
• Often has trouble waiting his/her turn.
• Often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations or games).

In addition, the following conditions must be met

• Several inattentive or hyperactive-impulsive symptoms were present before age 12 years.
• Several symptoms are present in two or more setting, (e.g., at home, school or work; with friends or relatives; in other activities).
• There is clear evidence that the symptoms interfere with, or reduce the quality of, social, school, or work functioning.
• The symptoms do not happen only during the course of schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder. The symptoms are not better explained by another mental disorder (e.g. Mood Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Dissociative Disorder, or a Personality Disorder).”

DSM-V Diagnostic Criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Diagnostic Criteria

Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative, not exhaustive, see text):

1. Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation; to reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect; to failure to initiate or respond to social interactions.
2. Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, ranging, for example, from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures; to a total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication.
3. Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to absence of interest in peers.

Specify current severity

Severity is based on social communication impairments and restricted repetitive patterns of behavior (see Table 2)

Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, as manifested by at least two of the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative, not exhaustive; see text):

1. Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech (e.g., simple motor stereotypies, lining up toys or flipping objects, echolalia, idiosyncratic phrases).
2. Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns or verbal nonverbal behavior (e.g., extreme distress at small changes, difficulties with transitions, rigid thinking patterns, greeting rituals, need to take same route or eat food every day).
3. Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus (e.g, strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interest).
4. Hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interests in sensory aspects of the environment (e.g., apparent indifference to pain/temperature, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, visual fascination with lights or movement).

Specify current severity

Severity is based on social communication impairments and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior (see Table 2)

1. Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities, or may be masked by learned strategies in later life).
2. Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning.
3. These disturbances are not better explained by intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder) or global developmental delay. Intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder frequently co-occur; to make comorbid diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability, social communication should be below that expected for general developmental level.

Note: Individuals with a well-established DSM-IV diagnosis of autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder, or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified should be given the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Individuals who have marked deficits in social communication, but whose symptoms do not otherwise meet criteria for autism spectrum disorder, should be evaluated for social (pragmatic) communication disorder.

Specify if:

• With or without accompanying intellectual impairment
• With or without accompanying language impairment
• Associated with a known medical or genetic condition or environmental factor
  (Coding note: Use additional code to identify the associated medical or genetic condition.)
• Associated with another neurodevelopmental, mental, or behavioral disorder
  (Coding note: Use additional code[s] to identify the associated neurodevelopmental, mental, or behavioral disorder[s].)
• With catatonia (refer to the criteria for catatonia associated with another mental disorder, pp. 119-120, for definition) (Coding note: Use additional code 293.89 [F06.1] catatonia associated with autism spectrum disorder to indicate the presence of the comorbid catatonia.)

Table 2  Severity levels for autism spectrum disorder

CDC Diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

A clinician should consider a diagnosis of CFS if these three criteria are met:

1. The individual has unexplained, persistent fatigue for 6 months or longer that is not due to ongoing exertion, is not substantially relieved by rest, has begun recently (is not lifelong)
2. The fatigue significantly interferes with daily activities and work
3. The individual has had 4 or more of the following 8 symptoms:
   • post-exertion malaise lasting more than 24 hours
   • unrefreshing sleep
   • significant impairment of short-term memory or concentration
   • muscle pain
   • pain in the joints without swelling or redness
   • a sore throat that is frequent or recurring
   • tender lymph nodes in the neck or armpit
   • headaches of a new type, pattern, or severity

Association Not Cause

In a recent interview, Judy Mikovits, PhD eloquently explained the scientific definition of cause and effect versus association. In order to say that a disease is “caused” by something, there has to be a clear cause and effect that is the same each time. For instance, mumps is caused by a particular virus – every time. It isn’t caused by a virus in one case and a bacteria in another.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6HPe-s1V2o

Most of us are used to defining an illness through cause and effect of a bacterial or viral infection. Contagious illness and trauma are well understood by the general public. Autoimmune diseases and neurological diseases are much harder to understand, and this is true for medical professionals as well as the general public.

There are few definitive diagnostic tests for ADHD, CFS, or autism. Most of the diagnostic criteria is based on observation and patient report.

However, MRI studies with children diagnosed with ADHD have shown lower activity in the frontal lobes as well as recent discoveries of disrupted connections between different areas of the brain showing structural and functional abnormalities.

In 2011, Judy Mikovitz, PhD, found an association between gammaretrovirus XMRV and chronic fatigue syndrome and autism. Retroviruses damage DNA and cause autoimmune and neurological damage. Judy believes up to one-third of our vaccines are contaminated with this retrovirus that accidently contaminated cell lines in the labs where vaccines were made.

Fragile X syndrome is “…the most common inherited cause of intellectual disabilities. It is also the most common known cause of autism.” – Fraxa Research Foundation website.

Fragile X is caused by a defect in the FMR1 gene. The gene shuts down and fails to produce a protein vital for brain development. Symptoms include mild to severe attention deficit and hyperactivity and autism. One can’t help but wonder if damage to the FMR1 gene is caused by a retrovirus.

What Do We Know?

Vaccines are certainly proving to be a major factor associated with ADHD, autism, autoimmune disease, and other diseases with mercury poisoning, retrovirus exposure, and damage from aluminum and other toxins all playing a part. But vaccines are not the only toxins we are exposed to and clearly not the only factor in play. We know that there are multiple means to damage the immune system and the neurological system and that damage is cumulative.

Damage begins in utero. A fetus pulls mercury out of its mother’s body. It is tragic that doctors continue to recommend pregnant women get vaccines, especially the flu shot that contains mercury.

In addition to vaccines, environmental toxins contribute to damage. Herbicides and pesticides accumulate in our tissues along with the countless chemicals we are exposed to every day.

Conclusion

If we are to stop the current epidemic of neurological and autoimmune diseases including ADHD, CFS, and autism, we have to stop poisoning our bodies and our children’s bodies with chemicals and heavy metals. We need to clean up our food, eliminate toxin exposure in our homes and workplaces, and stop poisoning ourselves and our children through vaccines. The numbers don’t lie. ADHD, CFS, and autism are the result of our polluted lives and a vaccine schedule that would defy common sense even if our vaccines were safe and effective. Too many of us are sick. Too many children are sick. It’s time we stand up and demand change.

Further Reading:

• How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children
• Doctors Against Vaccines – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research
• Scientists Against Vaccines – Hear From Those Who Have Done the Research
  
• Mercury Fillings, Root Canals, Cavitations – What You Need to Know

Sources:

• Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) – CDC
• A Biological Basis for Chronic-Fatigue Syndrome – The Atlantic
• Facts About Autism – Autism Speaks
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) – CDC
• Estimates of Funding for Various Research, Condition, and Disease Categories (RCDC) – NIH
• Quick History – Fourteen Studies
• DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria – Autism Speaks
• MRI Scan Detects ADHD In Children’s Brain; May Mean Earlier And More Accurate Diagnosis – Medical Daily
• Vaccines, Retroviruses, DNA, and the Discovery That Destroyed Judy Mikovits’ Career – Organic Lifestyle Magazine
• Fragile X – Fraxa.org

These days, the media and the general public label anyone who questions the overblown, profit-driven vaccine program as an “anti-vaxxer,” a label synonymous with “anti-science.” Many, if not most, of the people who have questioned the safety and efficacy of vaccines attest that they themselves are not “anti-vaccine” at all. They want vaccines cleaned up and a vaccine schedule that makes sense.

We at Organic Lifestyle Magazine are in fact fully in the anti-vaccine corner. We are “anti-vaxxers” and we are proud of the label. At the time this article was written, everyone that works at OLM chooses not to vaccinate. Why do we choose not to vaccinate? For many of the same reasons others don’t vaccinate. But it’s not due to just one reason, or even just a few. If you’re on the fence about vaccinating, or if for any reason you’re looking for information regarding reasons one should rethink immunizations, then this article was written for you.

The bottom line is we do not trust vaccine companies with our health any more than we trust any other profit driven corporation with our health. We know how corrupt the government is in every other way, and we know that extends to vaccines as well. We see, just by looking at the ingredients, that every single vaccine contains toxins and many contain DNA disrupting viruses.

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut

We know that vaccines rarely, if ever, deserve the credit they get for eliminating disease. We believe every vaccination causes vaccine damage. Toxic chemicals cause damage; it’s that simple. But even if we discovered that we were wrong, and/or vaccines were suddenly made to be much safer and proven to be truly effective, there is still a reason why we would not, will not vaccinate.

Vaccines are produced by large corporations that are so profit driven they are perfectly willing to cut corners at the expense of people’s lives. They will harm children, infants, anyone, and sweep it all under the rug. We have seen this. We’re not talking about unproven conspiracy theories. We’re not talking about just a handful of incidences either. The vaccine industry has proven itself to be corrupt, time and time again.

We do our best to boycott companies that prove themselves to be unethical. But more importantly, if we’re going to trust someone to inject something directly into our blood, we absolutely need to completely trust the product and the people making it. When the products are not ethically and precisely produced, the results are catastrophic.

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg-52mHIjhs

This video above is one of countless examples of pharmaceutical corruption. There are so many. Do you really want to trust a company with your life that would do something like this?

Still not convinced?

Maurice Hilleman, PhD

Maurice Hilleman, PhD was a microbiologist, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Science, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. He received the National Medal of Science and a special lifetime achievement award from the World Health Organization (along with other awards) after developing more vaccines than any other scientist (more than forty), including the vaccine for mumps, measles, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, chickenpox, meningitis, rubella, and pneumonia.

Dr. Hilleman headed Merck’s vaccine program. Due to mandatory retirement, he left his position as a senior vice president of Merck Research Labs at age 65 to direct the new Merck Institute for Vaccinology and serve as an advisor to public health organizations, including the World Health Organization. He died at age 85.

This is but a small token of the accolades for Dr. Hilleman, but the cited information should suffice in establishing his credibility. It seems whenever the safety or efficacy of vaccines is questioned, the first knee-jerk reaction is to discredit the source.

Dr. Hilleman, in an interview with PBS, revealed that back in the 1950s, there were “forty something viruses” in vaccines that they were inactivating. As an example, he said, “Yellow fever vaccine had leukemia virus in it.”

SV40 and the Cancer Connection

He recounted a conversation he had about the simian virus, SV40, that he found in his good friend’s, Albert Sabin’ s, live-virus polio vaccine. When Sabin asked why he was concerned about it, Hilleman said,

…I have a feeling in my bones that this virus is different. I don’t know why, to tell you this, but I’ve been around biology a long time. I just think this virus may have some long-term effects.”

When Sabin asked him what he thought the long-term effects might be, Hilleman said, “Cancer.”

Hilleman’s team injected hamsters with the virus.

…We knew it was in our seed stock for making vaccines. That virus, you see, is 1 in 10,000 particles, [it] is not inactivated by formaldehyde. It was good science at the time because that was what you did. You didn’t worry about these wild viruses.

So then, the next thing we know is, three or four weeks after that, there were tumors popping out in these hamsters.”

Conservative estimates determine 30 million Americans and hundreds of millions more around the globe received a vaccine contaminated with SV40. Both the Sabin and the Salk polio vaccines were contaminated, as were different adenovirus vaccines used with the U.S. military in the first half of the 1960s.

Today, decades later, SV40 has been found in many kinds of human cancers including cancer of the lung, brain, bone, and lymphatic system. Whether the virus causes cancer in humans has been a matter of debate.

Many who are pro-vaccine will search just long enough to find a source that discounts this possibility (such as Wikipedia). Many such sources are easy to find. Dig a little deeper and you will find current peer-reviewed sources that say the opposite.

Persuasive evidence now indicates that SV40 is causing infections in humans today and represents an emerging pathogen. A meta-analysis of molecular, pathological, and clinical data from 1,793 cancer patients indicates that there is a significant excess risk of SV40 associated with human primary brain cancers, primary bone cancers, malignant mesothelioma, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Experimental data strongly suggest that SV40 may be functionally important in the development of some of those human malignancies.”

So we now know that SV40, “a potent DNA tumor virus,” is associated with our cancer epidemic that afflicts 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women.

We have learned this information through the revelation of Dr. Hilleman, a renowned scientist who is now deceased, and today’s research scientists. In his interview, Hilleman stated that there was no press release to inform the public about the SV40 contamination because it was “…a scientific affair within the scientific community.” The scientific community closed ranks to protect both the pharmaceutical companies and the vaccine program.

Judy Mikovits, PhD

Fast forward to today. The vaccine program is a multibillion-dollar industry under attack by concerned citizens due to the rise of autism and other neurological impairments they believe are caused by vaccines. No longer dependent upon the press for information, concerned parents and advocates for change communicate via the Internet.

Another internationally known scientist, one with a previously flawless reputation, a “rock star among her peers”, Dr. Judy Mikovits, stepped forward. Mikovits, a molecular biologist and biochemist with more than 30 years experience served as the director of the lab of Antiviral Drug Mechanisms at the National Cancer Institute before directing the Cancer Biology program at EpiGenX Pharmaceuticals. She later developed the first neuroimmune institute. Her early work focused on cancer and HIV, her later work focused on chronic fatigue syndrome and autism. She has published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles.

Related: Vaccines, Retroviruses, DNA, and the Discovery That Destroyed Judy Mikovits’ Career

https://player.vimeo.com/video/146831570

Retrovirus Autism Connection

In 2011, she came forward with the discovery that at least 30% of our vaccines are contaminated with a retrovirus, one associated with autism and chronic fatigue syndrome. But that’s not all. The virus is also associated with Parkinson’s, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and Alzheimer’s. This retrovirus comes from lab mice.

Mikovits was threatened and told to destroy her data. She refused. She was fired and later arrested for stealing her data, an act she denies. Years later, charges were finally dropped and the 4-year gag order imposed by the court was lifted. Now Mikovits is speaking out. She asks,

How many new retroviruses have we created through all the mouse research, the vaccine research, gene therapy research? More importantly, how many new diseases have we created?”

And she says,

When they destroyed all of our work, and discredited everything I or Frank Ruscetti had ever published, and arranged for the publication of my mug shot in Science, the NIH very deliberately sent the message to researchers everywhere about what would happen to any honest scientist who dared ask those important questions.”

You can do a search for Judy Mikovits on the Internet and easily find that she lost her job, was arrested, and discredited. The question is why. The answer? Because she dared to come forward and tell the public that vaccines are associated with autism and other diseases. And because she is telling us that the labs are responsible for the contamination, the reason for the association.

If you are pro-vaccine, know that you believe in the promise that we have been given, that vaccines are safe and effective. When you seek out and find a source to confirm this belief, what is that source? Is it the pharmaceutical industry? Is it someone who receives funding from the pharmaceutical industry?

Why Big Pharma Will Hide the Truth

If the pharmaceutical industry admits their contaminated vaccines are implicated in millions of cases of cancer and if clear, conclusive evidence proves the link between vaccines and the devastating rise in autism, what would be the result? How many victims and parents of victims will demand compensation? How many will refuse vaccines, deciding that the risks outweigh the benefits?

Instead of taking that risk, pharmaceutical companies will continue to protect their corporate interests. Doctors with enough clout or with evidence that is highly damaging to the industry will be silenced or discredited. Mainstream media will be controlled through coercion (pharmaceutical companies control media through advertising dollars – huge budgets the news outlets depend on for revenue). The media will continue to be used to promote fear, stirring up the ludicrous belief that unvaccinated children pose a risk for vaccinated children.

The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP)

The ever-growing threat to the vaccine program has taken a new turn with mandated vaccinations. The federal government is now considering a federal law to force parents to vaccine their children regardless of their beliefs or concerns about toxic, contaminated vaccines. The federal government has already eliminated a parent or an adult victim’s ability to sue pharmaceutical companies for damages from vaccines. Our right to sue has been replaced with adjudication through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), regularly called vaccine court. Financial compensation is entirely derived from taxes placed on vaccines.

A document from the Health and Human Resources Department about VICP compensations clearly shows the current level of deception our government is using to assuage fears of vaccinations and support any and all questions from wavering pro-vaccine citizens. The document opens with these words:

The United States has the safest, most effective vaccine supply in history. In the majority of cases, vaccines cause no side effects, however they can occur, as with any medication—but most are mild. Very rarely, people experience more serious side effects, like allergic reactions.

In those instances, the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) allows individuals to file a claim for financial compensation.”

This makes it sound like claims are being made for allergic reactions, not for neurological damage, for autism, paralysis, death, or any number of other outcomes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueKVez4W54g

MMR II Adverse Reactions

Compare the benign statement from the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program suggesting allergies are the adverse reactions causing concern to the actual adverse reactions listed in the insert from the MMR II or the following information extrapolated from the insert.

“While Merck, the MMR II manufacturer, does not list autism as one of the possible side effects of this vaccine, it does list many other serious, adverse reactions. This list includes meningitis, encephalitis, pancreatitis, diabetes, decreased blood platelets, convulsions, seizures, arthritis, bronchial spasm (asthmatic reaction), pneumonia, anaphylactic shock, and death. The list also includes many severe illnesses/reactions that are not commonly recognized or understood by the general public. These include:

• Pneumonitis – inflammation of the lungs
• Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) – a severe, life-threatening disease in which the body attacks the nervous system causing paralysis.
• Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) – a rare, fatal neurological disease
• Encephalopathy – abnormal brain function that may denote structural damage
• Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) – a post infection or post vaccine inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. (Attacks brain tissues and nerves).
• Transverse myelitis – an inflammatory disease of the spinal cord that causes weakness and loss of sensation and it affects the autonomic nervous system (breathing, the heart, digestion, reflexes).
• Ataxia – lack of control of muscles suggesting brain and nerve damage.
• Polyneuritis – weakness, numbness and pain – nerve damage
• Polyneuropathy – damage to nerves causing tingling and pain that may begin in the hands and feet and spread to other parts of the body and may affect the autonomic nervous system
• Ocular palsies – Damage to the nerves of the eye affecting eye movements, pupil constriction, and eyelid movement often resulting in an inability to focus without double vision.
• Panniculitis – inflammation of the fat layer and connective tissue just under the skin
• Stevens-Johnson syndrome – following a painful rash, the top layer of skin blisters, dies, and sheds.
• Erythema multiforme – skin reaction similar to Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
• Nerve deafness – hearing loss and dysfunction.
• Retinitis – damage to the retina causing damage to vision.
• Optic neuritis – inflammation of the optic nerve, which can cause temporary blindness.
• Papillitis – Inflammation of the optic nerve head
• Epididymitis – Inflammation of the tube at the back of the testicle.
• Orchitis – inflammation of the testicles.

Of course, less serious reactions also occur including fever, vomiting, swollen glands, diarrhea, rashes, pain and swelling of the injection site, and contracting measles, mumps, or rubella from the vaccine.” (For more on the MMR II see our full article, The MMR Vaccine – A Comprehensive Overview of the Potential Dangers and Effectiveness.)

Face the Truth

For far too many, simple statements made by the government such as “Very rarely, people experience more serious side effects, like allergic reactions.” obfuscate the truth. And then, any claims that vaccines cause autism or other serious side effects are swept aside with, “At least 250 studies have proven there is no link between autism and vaccines.”

Those who still believe our vaccines are safe and effective are ignoring these truths:

• The inserts show very real and very serious risks associated with vaccination including possible death.
• Pharmaceutical companies are not benevolent or trustworthy.
  • Big pharmaceutical companies have been fined billions for illegal activities. The top 6 are:
    • GlaxoSmithKline PLC, fined 7.56 billion for 20 settlements
    • Pfizer Inc., fined 2.96 billion for 15 settlements
    • Johnson & Johnson, fined 2.33 billion for 14 settlements
    • Merck & Co. Inc., fined 1.86 billion, for 27 settlements
    • Abbott Laboratories, fined 1.82 billion for 12 settlements
    • Eli Lilly & Co., fined 1.71 billion for 13 settlements
  • Two former Merck scientists, whistleblowers, contend that Merck “fraudulently misled the government and omitted, concealed, and adulterated material information regarding the efficacy of its mumps vaccine in violation of the FCA [False Claims Act].” Merck stands accused of defrauding the U.S. government in order to procure government vaccine contracts. This, of course, is not the first time they have faced state and/or federal fraud charges.
• The CDC cannot be trusted to tell the truth in regards to the vaccine/autism connection.
  • A whistleblower has come forth from the CDC in regards to suppressed data regarding a correlation between the MMR vaccine and autism in black male children
  • Pharmaceutical company executives have served as advisory panel members for the CDC.
  • Dr. Julie Gerberding, who headed the CDC from 2002 through 2009, became the new President of Merck’s vaccine division.

If you are still not convinced that injecting mercury, formaldehyde, aluminum, polysorbate 80, and animal or human tissue with whatever viruses they carry into your body or your child’s body is not safe, speak to a parent who knows a vaccine caused their child’s autism. Listen as a mother tells you her healthy, happy, verbal child received a shot, spiked a fever, and disappeared. It only takes hearing the story once to know the truth. When you hear the same story again and again, denial is much harder.

Today, 1 in every 45 children are diagnosed with autism, but how many others are suffering in ways that manifest with other disabilities from ADHD to diabetes, auto-immune disorders and other chronic disorders? With so many toxins in our air, water, and food, injecting more of them directly into the bloodstream is asking for an epidemic. And that’s what we have on our hands, a brain-damaged, vaccine injured society. It is an epidemic, to say the least, and it’s growing rapidly.

Diseases are scary. The idea of dying from a disease that one could be vaccinated for is scary. There are potential risks on both sides. We choose to minimize our risk on this matter in two ways. First, we know that the right nutrition and a truly healthy lifestyle is a better defense against disease than any corporation can concoct in a lab. Second, we choose not to trust companies with our life when those companies have proven they cannot be trusted. It’s that simple.

Disease is a symptom of cellular malfunction. Cells malfunction due to a lack of nutrition and/or toxicity. Health starts in the gut because it’s all about what you put in it. And, the truth is, with a healthy gut, the body can withstand a remarkable toxic load. If you have to vaccinate, if you don’t have a choice, and especially if you have to do multiple shots in a short period of time, we recommend you get your gut as healthy as possible and keep it that way. Eat and drink in a manner that allows you to always be properly detoxing. Check out the three articles below for more information.

Sources:

• The MMR Vaccine – A Comprehensive Overview of the Potential Dangers and Effectiveness
• Emergent Human Pathogen Simian Virus 40 and Its Role in Cancer – NCBI
• Maurice Ralph Hilleman, American microbiologist – Encyclopedia Britannica
• 60 Lab Studies Now Confirm Cancer Link to a Vaccine You Probably Had as a Child – The Edgy Truth
• Data and Statistics (Vaccine Compensation) – Department of Health and Human Resources
• CDC: 1 in 45 Children Diagnosed With Autism – National Vaccine Information Center
• One thing Ackman’s right about — drug companies survive billions in fines – MW Market Watch
• Merck Has Some Explaining To Do Over Its MMR Vaccine Claims – Huffington Post

It sounds like the latest Star Wars movie or a villain from Marvel Comics, but this “phantom menace” is not fiction. It’s a deadly superbug with a twist. Classified as a Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, this class of bacteria is not only antibiotic resistant to last-resort antibiotics, it has the ability to pass on its antibiotic resistance to other bacteria in the body. Like other superbugs, the phantom menace is associated with healthcare centers (like hospitals, nursing homes, and long-term care facilities) and results in a high mortality rate of 50% or more.

From 2010 through 2015, the CDC has confirmed 43 phantom menace cases in the U.S. from 19 states. The CDC reports that the majority of patients were exposed and infected outside of the United States. While 43 is a very small number, the CDC is concerned because they believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. These types of superbugs are believed to be on the rise and under diagnosed.

The phantom menace bacteria pass on antibiotic resistance through a plasmid, a small DNA molecule with the ability to replicate independently. It includes an enzyme that breaks down antibiotics. It is this plasmid that can transfer antibiotic resistance to other bacteria in our bodies. Basically, the non-superbug bacteria become infected with a resistant gene from the superbug bacteria and then continue spreading the resistant gene creating new strains of superbugs.

The worst-case scenario is not far fetched. The Washing Post quotes Lance Price, director of the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center at George Washington University’s Milken Institute of Public Health, as saying, “History shows that these mobile resistance genes can spread around the world quickly, silently riding in people, animals and food.”

The superbug gene, MCR-1, is becoming more common in China and has recently shown up in Demark, fueling the concern that it will spread worldwide. Researchers in China tested marketplace meats and slaughterhouse pigs looking for the gene. It was found in 20% of the pigs and 15% of the meat.

Once again this very real threat is man-made. Researchers have concluded that drugs given the pigs in China provided the breeding grounds for the bacteria. If we continue the inhumane and dangerous practice of factory farming, feeding animals both prophylactic and indicated antibiotics, we will continue to breed new threats to worldwide health.

If we as individuals continue to use antibiotics when they are not needed along with antibiotic soaps, hand wipes, and cleaning solutions, we are part of the problem. We are aiding bacteria in their natural progression toward antibiotic resistance.

Recommended Reading:

• Make Your Immune System Bulletproof with These Natural Remedies
• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• How to Cure Lyme Disease, and Virtually Any Other Bacterial Infection, Naturally

Sources:

• Superbug known as ‘phantom menace’ on the rise in U.S. – The Washington Post
• Notes from the Field: Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae Producing OXA-48-like Carbapenemases — United States, 2010–2015 – CDC
• A ‘superbug’ emerges in China to remind us that antibiotics won’t last forever – The Washington Post