Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Jenny McCarthy is not a pediatrician

I'd like to make my blog about nothing but positivity and cute ideas, but sometimes a certain celebrity comes along that really just chaps my hide....

Jenny McCarthy has a child afflicted with autism, and I can only imagine how devastating that must be. As a result, she has become an activist, advocating for the delay or refusal of vaccines in general.

Vaccines have been blamed for causing autism by several groups for decades, even though there has been no conclusive data produced by scientists to prove this. Typically, signs and symptoms of autism develop around age 2, after a child has completed the recommended regimen of vaccines. The debate is also that the preservative, thimerisol, is the autism-causing culprit, although it has been removed from all regular pediatric vaccines since 2007 and was never even in several of them in the first place. Yet, autism is on the rise! Blaming vaccines for autism does not cure autism. Vaccination does prevent and has even eradicated several diseases.

Jenny McCarthy was an avid supporter and participant of the "Green our vaccines" campaign last summer. What does "greening vaccines" even mean? It means that she is taking advantage of anyone who wants to be trendy and earth-conscious and appear to be cool and she's changing minds.

She claims to have cured her son's autism with diet and chelation-which is a therapy that removes heavy metals from the body. This is interesting to me because she is the one taking credit for this. Last time I checked, she was a Playboy centerfold and a C-list actress. I'm pretty sure she hasn't received her medical degree and I'm not sure exactly when she became a politician. She's a public figure and she's pretty and she's being viewed as a hero. Since she's using words like cure, how could pediatrician's possibly compete with her expertise?

I find it rather suspect that she touts the benefits of having Botox, but advocates delaying or eliminating vaccines. She advises parents not to subject their kids to vaccinations, but she'll happily inject poison into her face!

I am not a parent, though I hope to be one someday. I don't have a child with autism or cancer or even the flu, but I see these diseases and diagnoses every day I show up to work. If there is a chance to keep them healthy and free of polio, rotovirus, meningitis, hepatitis, and several others-why wouldn't you take advantage of that? Especially when there is no proven study that shows they are dangerous! Do the research for yourself, just don't believe everything somebody has to say just because they're on TV.



3 comments:

  1. Thank-you Mcbee. My hats off to you for talking about vaccines. Chicken pox or Varicella the most common disease that causes rash. Many consider chicken pox harmless. The truth is it that 6,500 to 9,000 hospitalizations annually in the United States. About one hundred to two hundred deaths each year. Later in life it can cause shingles, a painful Varicella inflammation on a nerve root. Other childhood complications include, brain damage, and also damage to skin and muscles from infected pox.
    The connection between autism and vaccines have not been proven. The deaths, brain damage, shingles and limb damage are real. Which risk are you willing to take on your life or your children’s?

    Thank you again From Kathy

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  2. You know, in talking about this topic with one of our pediatrician's the other day, he made a good point. Certainly there are worse things you could do to your kids than not vaccinate them. Feed them nothing but junk, not discipline them, try to be their friends instead of their parents, and of course, not love them. And, certainly, medicine HAS made more than it's fair share of mistakes.
    I think what really has gotten under my skin is the concept of DIY healthcare. Taking herbs, reading blogs, and attending the University of Google or getting your Associates Degree from Wikipedia have become norms in our society! Couple that with the fact that we've become so obsessed with celebrity that Jenny McCarthy has actually become a valid voice.

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