We're going backwards
Over half of US children now suffer from a chronic condition, disability, or disease. Americans spend the least on food, the most on health care, have the most highly vaccinated kids, and have the sickest kids of any industrialized country. More kids than not are now chronically ill, developmentally delayed, and eating or injecting prescription medications from cradle to grave -- which is going to be a quicker trip for them than it was for their parents, according to data on life expectancy in the US. We are inured to childhood autism, epilepsy, allergy, asthma, diabetes, obesity, Crohn's disease and cancer. We are dying younger. We are going backwards.
I grew up not knowing a single child with these conditions. I neither had the flu nor flu shots (as there weren't any). I only remember being sick when I had the chickenpox, which was a rite of passage for the ten and under.
Causes of death for US children have shifted since 1970. As then, accidents and injuries still top the list. And poverty is still a potent predictor of higher mortality. Chances of surviving cancer are stronger for children now, but there has been a fifty percent increase in cancer rates in children compared to forty years ago. Is this due to "better diagnosing" too, as we have been told about the staggering increase in autism?
Judy Converse, MPH RD LD
http://fearlessparent.org/americas-new-normal-chronically-ill-kids/
A study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in found an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants in umbilical cord blood from 10 babies born in U.S. hospitals in 2004. Tests revealed a total of 287 chemicals in this small group of children. The umbilical cord blood collected by Red Cross after the cord was cut, identified pesticides, consumer product ingredients, and wastes from burning coal, gasoline, and garbage. The kids don't stand a chance from birth in today's age.
So what is your pediatrician missing? Why is there so much ADD, ADHD, Autism, and other neurological disorders? Can heavy metal toxicity be part of the answer? The answer is YES and I have never seen a pediatrician check for metal toxicity in any of my patients. Why is this important?
Mercury Toxicity
Symptoms may progress with moderate or chronic exposure to include: anorexia, numbness and paresthesias, headaches, hypertension, irritability and excitability, and immune suppression, possibly immune dysregulation. Advanced disease processes from mercury toxicity include: tremors and incoordination, anemia, psychoses, manic behaviors, possibly autoimmune disorders, renal dysfunction or failure.
Sources dental amalgams, explosive detonators; in pure liquid form for thermometers, barometers, and laboratory equipment; batteries and electrodes and in fungicides and pesticides.
Aluminum Toxicity
Symptoms of presenile dementia or Alzheimer's disease are observed. Hair Al is commonly elevated in children and adults with low zinc and behavioral/learning disorders such as ADD, ADHD and autism. Individuals with renal problems or on renal dialysis may have elevated Al.
Sources of Al include some antacid medications, Al cookware, baking powder, processed cheese, drinking water, and antiperspirant components that may be absorbed.
Lead Toxicity
Symptoms associated with excess Pb are vague, but include: loss of appetite and body weight, poor memory, fatigue, constipation, headaches, inability to concentrate, and decreased coordination.
Sources of exposure to Pb include: welding, old leaded paint (dust/chips), drinking water, some fertilizers, industrial waste, lead-glazed pottery, manufacture of stained glass, and newsprint.
Should your child be checked for toxic metal analysis? Find out more at www.diversehealthservices.com.
Dr. J
