Moscow in the Winter

Billy Joel - Big Shot

A Shot in the Dark

I started visiting a chiropractor the other day. Actually it was several weeks ago now. Anita convinced me to do something besides just complaining about the pain in my neck because I was becoming a real pain in the neck. While I’m not yet positive that chiropractic care is the best thing since sliced bread, I have to admit that I feel better physically.

I’m not happy about what I've learned, though.

Education is really important at the clinic I frequent. Not only do several monitors hang on the walls behind the receptionist’s desk that flash informational slides about chiropractic and nutrition, but the doctors actually hold classes and disseminate information on health-related topics. This includes a handout entitled “Should I Get a Flu Shot?” that really gave me the heebie-jeebies. Consider this:

“Each year the flu vaccine is newly redesigned using several strains from different types of flu that were common the season before. So basically you’re getting a vaccine that is in theory ideal for protecting you from last year’s primary flu types…”

But that’s not what made me wince. The next paragraph did:

“But that shot at your doctor’s office contains much more than just flu strains. The vaccine is prepared with chicken embryo fluid, inoculated with the living flu strains. The fluid is then treated with formaldehyde to inactivate the virus.”

But wait. There’s more:

“Thimerosal, a mercury derivative, is injected to help preserve the mixture. Ethylene glycol (better known as antifreeze) and another chemical called phenol are added to disinfect. And because animal cells are used for this process, animal viruses are sometimes introduced into the vaccine undetected…”

Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

The handout goes on to provide information on herbs and supplements that help elevate antioxidant levels and reduce the length and severity of colds and flu. It closes by encouraging the reader to get the right amount of sleep, eat a balanced diet and maintain a light to moderate exercise regimen in addition to using the more natural “helpers.”

I wondered if this was just another one of those pro-PETA fliers put together by damn dirty hippies who meditate with crystals and beat on drums. It may be, but it turns out that it’s not the only source of compelling information on vaccines. I found this at NaturalNews.com:

A common misconception about vaccines purports that they are the primary reason why infectious disease rates saw a rapid and steady decline throughout the early-to-mid 20th century. But an honest look at the figures reveals that diseases like polio, typhoid, measles, and tuberculosis were already in significant decline long before vaccines were ever even invented, this being the result of improved hygiene and diet.

This got me thinking about the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine that we’re encouraged to give young girls to protect against cervical and other cancers. (Remember how Texas Governor Rick Perry caught some heat during a GOP primary debate for mandating the vaccine in his state when he had financial ties to Merck, the vaccine’s manufacturer?) Our oldest daughter, who’s 12, received this vaccine last year; Anita thinks our nine- and seven-year-old girls are still too young. Now I wonder what’s in it and if it’s necessary.

I also thought about last October when over 100 people in Michigan contracted meningitis from contaminated steroid injections. Anita had received steroid injections at around the same time because of her allergies so I paid close attention to the story for a while. When I learned that folks had sought the injections to alleviate neck and back pain, not allergies, I was relieved. But 30 people died. In a nation where 2.4 million people die each year, 30 might seem minuscule – but the friends and families of the 30 probably don’t think so.

I like the idea of embracing herbal supplements and natural remedies. But I wanted to stop eating meat, falling asleep with the TV on and waiting until a neighborhood pet went missing before shoveling my driveway in the winter, too, and that hasn't turned out too well.

I’d like to think my government’s protecting me but in this era of relaxed regulations, slashed budgets and inadequate staffing levels, perhaps it’s imprudent to expect the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to live up to its mandate. And I’m pretty sure the CEOs of Pfizer, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline and the other huge pharmaceutical companies aren't pulling all-nighters to make sure their products are beyond reproach.

I’m going to take a shot in the dark and say that shooting formaldehyde into one’s veins is not the best way to ensure good health.

Thank goodness for chiropractors.


Sources: NaturalNews.com, Volz Family Chiropractic, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, redorbit.com.

Well Played, Bookstore

Boyz II Men - End Of The Road

Sunday poetry

Low Noon

Long after our last slow day together,
say, a campfire, a walk in the woods,
getting lost and not caring;

a year since the last rain-soaked note
under my wiper blade in the parking lot,
how she’d thought about my offer;

months after we both knew it was over,
since we last kissed or had a talk
long enough to be nuanced,

there comes a second kind of silence.
Drizzly and cold, say, at twelve o’clock,
could be today, November tenth.

The phone doesn’t ring, the postman
doesn’t bring the unexpected letter.
I forget to check the box.

The trees have dropped their leaves.
The noon sun barely tops the trees.
I’m not thinking of her either.

~ Jim Ralston

These Eyes