Circumcision and YouTube policy

So anyone who has followed this blog for a while knows that I post a lot of videos from a YouTube user known as C0nc0rdance, no seriously a lot of videos from him. I do this because he makes well informed well researched videos that summarize the scientific understanding right now. Most of these topics are also on more medical oriented topics which tend to be outside my area of expertise so I appreciate the effort he puts into the videos. A few months ago he posted a series on circumcision in baby boys. It was interesting and is worth checking out but it was really outside of my interests for this blog. When I got back from break I saw the video below and decided that I would put up the full series. Well since then the video has been restored but YouTube's earlier bad action will mean I will still post the series for all to see. Note that the circumcision series itself (2 videos) is below the fold.

Water Fluoridation

So C0nc0rdance does it again releasing another heavily researched medical video on a controversial medical topic. Yes this video has been out for a while but sorry I was busy traveling over the holidays. Anyway enjoy the video and I welcome any discussion that comes of it, or you could go join the one already in progress in the comment section of the video itself. On a related note you could, and in fact should check out his short 2 part series explaining how the dose makes the poison I posted a while ago.

A Vaccine Cover-up!

No! but C0nc0rdance breaks down a recent claim that says something very similar to that. It should be worth noting that my big post on vaccines and Autism has seen a lot of action recently not sure why just found it interesting.

Why We Must Vaccinate

Another great video by C0nc0rdance showing the importance of vaccination. I have covered this before, for some reason my prior post has been getting tons of hits recently, and just in the last few days a new report was released which showed, shockingly, that vaccines do not cause Autism (NPR article on the report). The report did show that vaccines have side effects, this is not surprising as almost all medicines do, but that the side effects were typically minor especially when compared to the harm the actual disease would have done.

Artifical Sweeteners

I have been moving across the country so I have obviously failed at finishing my Costa Rica series and I have yet another National Park series post to write, but while I finish unpacking enjoy yet another great video by C0nc0rdance this time discussing the actual science behind artificial sweeteners and do they really give you cancer, as a diabetic I found this a helpful video (note: this video is 24 minutes long).

Another Response to McCarthy

In January I wrote a post about an opinion piece by Jenny McCarthy on the problems with vaccines. In that post I explained how several of the comments that she wrote were wrong on several factual layers. Well on Saturday the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) published an article that included some of what I pointed out but also included more as well as more references, and who are we kidding it was much more professional. One of the things I really wanted to point out was something that they said at the end.

As an aside, repeating the words of parents is not how science is done; science uses anecdotes as a starting point to coin hypotheses, and that’s where the relationship ends. Anti-vaxxers cannot have it both ways: either Wakefield was only repeating parent’s words, or he was doing a proper scientific investigation of the parent’s concerns.

Next, McCarthy completes the circle: after the incorrect factual statements, and the hint to conspiracy, comes the irate-mom-who-won’t-take-no-for-an-answer act:

I know children regress after vaccination because it happened to my own son. Why aren't there any tests out there on the safety of how vaccines are administered in the real world, six at a time? Why have only 2 of the 36 shots our kids receive been looked at for their relationship to autism? Why hasn't anyone ever studied completely non-vaccinated children to understand their autism rate?

Please pay special attention to this paragraph. This seems to be the new direction the anti-vaccination movement is moving in, the new position of the goal post. What is so great about this line of thinking however is that it proves what we in the pro-health camp have known for a while: the anti-vaccine proponents know vaccines cause autism. No amount of contradictory evidence will ever be enough, because they will always fantasize something else about vaccines that they can demand to be studied, but that is OK. Our educational efforts are not aimed at the McCarthys, or Meryl Doreys, of the world, but to the parents who are on the fence and about to make a very important decision about their children’s health. We fight for them, and even more importantly for their children, which is why correcting the anti-vaccination misinformation is of paramount importance to the pro-health community

This is exactly how I feel so make sure you read the article over at JREF.

Modern Snake Oil

At the end of the 1800s and the start of the 1900s people pushed cure alls that are commonly called snake oils. Eventually as scientific rigor and testing became more important most of these were pushed out of the market by people not believing that these cure alls actually work because they had not been scientifically tested. This did not get rid of them all, however, and new ones pop up from time to time. C0nc0rdance has a great video up about one such snake oil, although he refers to it as Windex Syndrome (you do have to enjoy the My Big Fat Greek Wedding reference), that involves bleach.

Vaccines Save Lives!!!

There is no question that the above statement is true but there are many out there who would have us not vaccinate ourselves and our children because of a made up link between autism and vaccines. Recently the British Medical Journal, BMJ, called the only study that anti-vaccine personalities cite saying that vaccines cause autism, fraudulent. This obviously struck a nerve with Jenny McCarthy. Some of the statements that she makes are not only wrong but they are anti-science and anti-medicine. Now while I am not as qualified as some, go here if you are really interested, let me address just some of her concerns.

Dr. Wakefield did something I wish all doctors would do: he listened to parents and reported what they said. His paper also said that, "Onset of behavioral symptoms was associated, by the parents, with measles, mumps and rubella vaccination in 8 of the 12 children," and that, "further investigations are needed to examine this syndrome [autism with gut disease] and its possible relation to this vaccine."

Believe it or not most doctors do listen to their patients. They have to in order to figure out what is wrong with us. When you go in to the doctor when you are sick does he ever just look at you and take a guess at what you have? No, he asks questions to try to narrow down the focus and then runs some test to see what he can find. As for the MMR vaccine there have been millions of dollars spent trying to see if it does cause autism. So far there have been no studies that conclude that vaccines cause autism, I say none because the one study that did has been retracted. An example can be found here in which those involved found:

Measles, mumps and rubella are three very dangerous infectious diseases which cause a heavy disease, disability and death burden in the developing world. Researchers from the Cochrane Vaccines Field reviewed 139 studies conducted to assess the effects of the live attenuated combined vaccine to prevent measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) in children. MMR protects children against infections of the upper airways but very rarely may cause a benign form of bleeding under the skin and milder forms of measles, mumps and rubella. No credible evidence of an involvement of MMR with either autism or Crohn's disease was found. No field studies of the vaccine's effectiveness were found but the impact of mass immunisation on the elimination of the diseases has been demonstrated worldwide.

Jenny McCarthy continues

American media, why aren't we hearing from these parents? If Brian Deer's allegations are actually false, if the Lancet 12 parents stand with Dr. Wakefield, then what exactly are moms and dads supposed to think about last week's media circus?

I know children regress after vaccination because it happened to my own son. Why aren't there any tests out there on the safety of how vaccines are administered in the real world, six at a time? Why have only 2 of the 36 shots our kids receive been looked at for their relationship to autism? Why hasn't anyone ever studied completely non-vaccinated children to understand their autism rate?

Jenny you just included quotes from the parents why don't you include quotes from parents whose children were infected with some of these diseases. There have been tests, see above, to see how safe the vaccines are in the real world.

Here is the real thing though. These vaccines are not 100% safe, no medicine is, but these diseases were/are worse. In the U.S. we have almost completely eliminated these diseases as seen the the graph below. The problem is that, as seen here and in the wikipedia article on the controversy, as people fight against these vaccines many of the diseases that can be prevented are making a come back and what is more is that we are losing our herd immunity. There will always be some who won't or can't be vaccinated for whatever reason but they were protected by the rest of us having been vaccinated, they/we are losing this now. Also those with immunodeficiency disorders or who have been taking drugs that suppress their immune system will be at high risk because they can't fight off the disease vaccinated or not.



Jenny your stance and people like you are distracting people and resources from being spent looking for the real cause of autism.

If you want to read more about the history of the anti-vaccine movement it appears that two new books have just come out which you can read a long review of one of them here and a quick review here.

Update: A blogger better equipped than me has responded

Michael Specter on the danger of science denial

It's a little long but Michael Specter does a great job talking about why denying science is dangerous



This can of course be applied to evolution and global climate change as well but medicine is obviously one of the things that effects us all and is easy to see in the short term.

Thank Goodness!

So this story caught my attention today.

In general the parents of a young girl whose daughter died because instead of seeking medical attention let her suffer through complications of diabetes were sentenced today to 6 months in jail and 10 years probation. I am happy for this decision because being a diabetic myself I know two things 1) the complications of diabetes while not painful are very draining I have never been so tired in my life and 2) in the 21st century when we have the drugs to make life very comfortable and live a long time with diabetes you should be forced to treat it. It will also make parents seek medical treatment for a sick child instead of just praying for them.

The judge had this to say:

'God probably works through other people,' Howard told the parents, 'some of them doctors.'

That is fine even if you believe in God there is no reason to seek medical treatment for a disease because without it life expectancy would be much shorter sort of like it was in the middle ages.

The parents had this to say:

'I do not regret trusting truly in the Lord for my daughter's health,' she said. 'Did we know she had a fatal illness? No. Did we act to the best of our knowledge? Yes.'

Dale Neumann, 47, read from the Bible and told the judge that he loved his daughter.

'I am guilty of trusting my Lord's wisdom completely. ... Guilty of asking for heavenly intervention. Guilty of following Jesus Christ when the whole world does not understand. Guilty of obeying my God,' he said.

First to the mother:

You didn't know your daughter had a fatal illness? Let me describe what happens before people typically get diagnosed:
1) They become thirsty to the point that they are unbelievably thirsty (I would drink multiple hydrating drinks and still thirsty).
2) The need to use the bathroom is almost as bad (I was using the bathroom every hour)
3) Hunger is slowly getting replaced by the wanting to drink (I never was hungry I would only want to drink the only reason I ate was because I knew I had to)
4) People lose weight very quickly (over the course of a few months I lost 40 pounds [I put 15 pounds on the first night I was in the hospital])
All of this was noticeable in to other people which is why I finally went to the hospital but she was even worse than I was she apparently was unable to speak, eat, or drink.

To the father:

You are not guilty of following Jesus' word in fact I had many a christian say to me that Jesus tells us to seek out those who can help us in this world.

Assistant District Attorney LaMont Jacobson said justice was served by the sentences, but he was disappointed the parents never said they were sorry for what happened.

Your kid died the least you can do it feel bad about it.

I don't know if their is a God or not but if there is, to those who think we shouldn't use medicine, and he made us he gave us a big brain that has gotten us to where we are, why can't we use it?