A few recent headlines have captured my attention so I'm going to share them here.
The first is news about the link between autism and mercury. Back in 2004 there was a controversial article that was published showing the results of research that concluded that there is no link between mercury levels and autism. Now researchers are saying that there was an error in that study and that there is in fact a clear link between mercury levels and autism and the original data was misrepresented. This was published in the Journal of Child Neurology along with information stating that hair sample testing seems to back up this theory. You can read the article here.
On a somewhat related note, the news of the recent vaccine recall is circulating the internet. Although they are saying there is no known health threat as a result of the contamination that triggered the recall, it still illustrates an important point about vaccine safety. This follows on the heels of the controversy surrounding Gardsisil, the "cancer vaccine." Without going into too much detail I will just say that I find it repulsive that our country operates in the manner in which it does. We allow big pharma companies to control government agencies such as the FDA and CDC which means that these drugs and vaccines are entering the market when their safety is still in question. Instead of researching extensively these drugs and vaccines are being pushed onto consumers now and then the horrible complications are discovered only after many people suffer and die as a result.
Then I read this article about the Tuscon mom who died after delivering her triplet sons. The poor dad is 28 years old and left to care for these 3 boys by himself. It's incredibly sad. There is not much information out there about what went wrong but she was 34 weeks pregnant when she delivered the babies by emergency cesarean. There has been a huge response from across the country as people send baby items to the father. There is another picture of the boys here. Donation information is also listed: Items for the Smith family can be dropped off at Victory Assembly of God Church, 2561 W. Ruthrauff Road, Tucson 85705-1853.
Cash donations can be made to the Debra L. Smith Family Memorial Fund at any Wells Fargo Bank. Account number 8453610233 through routing number 121000248.
Lastly, there have been several articles out last week about the link between cesareans and lung infections. This hits close to home for me since I have had a cesarean and it just so happens that my cesarean baby has asthma. I have asthma and we have a strong family history of asthma so it is not surprising. However, none of the other children have it-only Joshua. This makes me wonder... The reasoning behind this is that the amniotic fluid is not squeezed out of the baby's lungs when being delivered by cesarean because there is no compression in the birth canal. Makes sense to me.
