WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2010
This week a few headlines caught my eye, and at first I sort of stewed over a few, but have since collected my thoughts and started sweeping out the dust.
On Cord Clamping
A Flu Rant-Yes, it is a rant about the vaccine(s), so, just, you know, brush past if you don't care
Yes or no? Compared to last year and the hoopla surrounding H1N1, there doesn't seem much about the flu vax. This year it is a combo of seasonal and the H1N1. What about those who do not want H1N1? Out of curiosity, I called a local pediatrician. Well, they do have just the seasonal vaccine-without both Mercury and H1N1. It's called Fluzone, and made by Sanori Pasteur. But, you have to make sure to request that one.
One interesting thing about the flue vaccines, is, in all the inserts, under Pregnant and Nursing Women-there are no safety studies to the fetus, or the breastfeeding infants. And none of them are approved in infants under 6m old. So, why now are pregnant women supposed to get the vaccine? How many women will get the combo vaccine not knowing this? It's not like the insert information is readily handed out. We just ask if it's safe. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/biologicsbloodvaccines/.../ucm195479.pdf Another option would of course be the Flumist, which is a Live vaccine, and includes H1N1. The percent is to be minimal for transmission, but really, think about that. Back to that call to the pediatrician-I was told no Flumist if my child has asthma, or breathing problems. But, they didn't inform me not to give it to my infant under 2yrs old. Can't doctors and nurses read? And to throw just one more wrench to the flu vaccine, there is Afluria. http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/clinical-care-research/20100812afluria.html
Somewhere at the bottom of the page, it mentions to give Afluria, only if there is no other vaccine available. And how many times do we hear that there is a flu vaccine shortage. Enough, that I'm sure we'll hear about Afluria in US circulation at some point. Either by intention or mistake.
An End?
Wait, there was also a thing about labeling cigarette packages with horrible photos and captions about health dangers. So, in today's paper, a cartoonist drew a picture of a cow. The cow was smoking and had a photo of a man's head-that said, "meat eater" on it. A chicken sat on the cow. The cow was saying, "I better go take my hormones", and the chicken replies, "Me too". I thought it pretty funny, until you think about the seriousness of GMO's, what we eat and the implications of it all.
I believe the cobwebs are gone...for now.
On Cord Clamping
First I saw a headline about newborn cord clamping, and I brushed past that, until I saw it again. Now really, it's not rocket science, to wait to clamp the cord until it is finished pulsing. (this actually comes up every few months, so not new at all) Midwives have been doing this delayed clamping for years. Some Obgyns actually do too. If you don't know what cord clamping is, Empowered Childbirth has a nice write up on it- http://www.empoweredchildbirth.com/articles/birth/noclamp.html . WHO, supposedly has been recommending it. But, when I think back, I was never told about this-from any of the Obgyns I met. Why not? I blindly trusted my dr, being a first time parent and all. I didn't find out about the different birth choices, until I searched for a breastfeeding support group, the day we brought our son home. With the approach of our second son, I was better prepared, and we let the cord go until it was done pulsing. Though, he was born in a birth center, so the whole scene was very different, than that of a hospital. Delayed cord clamping can also be done with Cesareans, though I doubt that info comes up in the dr's office much. Also, if I wanted to collect cord blood, and delay clamping, that is possible as well.
Road Trips
Awhile ago I saw about the body scanners at the airport. You can of course opt out of this and get a pat down. Now, yesterday and today, I see that TSA has a new pat down policy. I wonder how long it will stay in place. Apparently, if you opt out of the scan, you will now be patted down quite "personally", as a nice way to put it. Front of hand pat down. At the moment, children under 12 are excluded. Yet, there is no exact description of the new policy. I think if there were, more people would be in an outrage than there already is. What exactly is okay about any of this? Nothing! The body scan bothered me from the start, and there is already a leak of images out there. http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=139918 Well, are the images stored or aren't they? What are they going to do with them? I'm not okay with these new rules of flying. So, I won't fly. How many airlines will start to suffer with the new regulations? Or will people just go along? I guess it's back to road trips for us.
Remember road trips? I went on one yearly as a child. We didn't fly, it was too expensive. And we usually weren't driving that far anyhow. Road trips could be boring, but they were sometimes fun too. With the expense of flying with a family being high anyhow, we've been discussing driving in any future trips, so not flying is not a big deal to me. But it is to those who don't want to take road trips, or can't. What about them? What choice are they left with? The train I guess, if one's available.
A Flu Rant-Yes, it is a rant about the vaccine(s), so, just, you know, brush past if you don't care
Yes or no? Compared to last year and the hoopla surrounding H1N1, there doesn't seem much about the flu vax. This year it is a combo of seasonal and the H1N1. What about those who do not want H1N1? Out of curiosity, I called a local pediatrician. Well, they do have just the seasonal vaccine-without both Mercury and H1N1. It's called Fluzone, and made by Sanori Pasteur. But, you have to make sure to request that one.
One interesting thing about the flue vaccines, is, in all the inserts, under Pregnant and Nursing Women-there are no safety studies to the fetus, or the breastfeeding infants. And none of them are approved in infants under 6m old. So, why now are pregnant women supposed to get the vaccine? How many women will get the combo vaccine not knowing this? It's not like the insert information is readily handed out. We just ask if it's safe. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/biologicsbloodvaccines/.../ucm195479.pdf Another option would of course be the Flumist, which is a Live vaccine, and includes H1N1. The percent is to be minimal for transmission, but really, think about that. Back to that call to the pediatrician-I was told no Flumist if my child has asthma, or breathing problems. But, they didn't inform me not to give it to my infant under 2yrs old. Can't doctors and nurses read? And to throw just one more wrench to the flu vaccine, there is Afluria. http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/clinical-care-research/20100812afluria.html
Somewhere at the bottom of the page, it mentions to give Afluria, only if there is no other vaccine available. And how many times do we hear that there is a flu vaccine shortage. Enough, that I'm sure we'll hear about Afluria in US circulation at some point. Either by intention or mistake.
An End?
Wait, there was also a thing about labeling cigarette packages with horrible photos and captions about health dangers. So, in today's paper, a cartoonist drew a picture of a cow. The cow was smoking and had a photo of a man's head-that said, "meat eater" on it. A chicken sat on the cow. The cow was saying, "I better go take my hormones", and the chicken replies, "Me too". I thought it pretty funny, until you think about the seriousness of GMO's, what we eat and the implications of it all.
I believe the cobwebs are gone...for now.
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