The politically correct term for this time of year is the “Holiday Season.” Even worse, it seems the politically correct public health minions want us to think of this time of year as “flu season” and even “vaccination season.”
These same minions shamelessly push the flu vaccine to older adults, like myself. In fact, I can barely go out to get a coffee at this time of year without coming across an offer for a “free” flu shot.
I have not gotten a flu shot since Thomas Jefferson University Hospital forced me to 10 years ago as a condition of my employment as Executive Director of the Center for Integrative Medicine, which ironically promotes natural treatments.
But I’ll never get another flu vaccine, especially now that I’ve just entered my 60s. As I’ll explain in a moment, the flu vaccine is entirely ineffective for older adults. I’ll tell you why the truth about the flu vaccine has been hiding in plain sight for 10 years.
But first — let’s back up.
Five factors that skyrocket your flu risk
As I have explained before, viruses actually thrive in warmer weather…but the flu is more common in the winter months for a few simple reasons.
First, most people in the U.S. fail to adapt to changes in weather. In Ayurvedic and Chinese health traditions, they pay a great deal of attention to adjusting activities, diets, herbs, and habits while moving from summer to fall to winter. In the west, we just barrel on through the four seasons with nary another thought, faster than Vivaldi’s four movements.
In addition, from October through April, in most parts of the world, the sun isn’t strong enough to activate vitamin D production in the skin. And with declining vitamin D levels, it compromises your immune system.
Of course, most Americans are deficient in vitamin D to begin with — even during the summer months — according to national standards. And even the national standards are inadequate, according to the science. That’s why I recommend you take 10,000 IU of vitamin D each day year round, but especially at this time of year.
Also, people tend to get dehydrated in the winter. In the winter, when you don’t get as hot, you don’t feel thirsty, and you’re less likely to drink proper fluids. In addition, dry winter heat inside your home and workplace draws moisture from your lungs and skin. It also dries out your upper respiratory passages, making them more susceptible to viruses.
To stay hydrated in the winter and summer, make sure to take 400 mg of aspal daily. This supplement, which I helped develop, comes from the South African red bush plant. You can find aspal as a combined supplement with dandelion extract that supports increased vitality as well as hydration. You can also find it as a water soluble powder with other healthy constituents like blueberry and baobab.
Stress also plays a role in your susceptibility to the flu during the winter months. Stress comes from rushing around, getting ready for the holidays. You may also worry about the weather and its impact on travel for business. Gone are the long, relaxing days of summer. We have to pack more work into shorter days.
Sugar intake, which often increases during the holidays, also plays a role. Indeed, excess sugar is another factor that leads to dehydration. It also leads to imbalanced immune, hormonal and stress responses, so we have a vicious cycle that any virus is happy to take a ride on.
Of course, as I mentioned earlier, the mainstream’s simple solution is to get the flu vaccine every year. But even if the vaccine did work, it can’t solve the real problems of low vitamin D, dehydration, sugar intake, and stress.
But as I said, the vaccine doesn’t work. Especially for the elderly. And we’ve known about that key fact for almost 10 years.
Flu vaccine misses the target, over and over again
In fact, about a month ago, independent journalist Sharyl Attkisson posted a report on her website about her investigation into the flu vaccine back in 2006.
I worked with Sharyl taping some shows for HealthWeek on Maryland Public Television at their studios in Owings Mills, MD about 15 years ago. Back then, they were most known for Wall Street Week with the great Louis Rukeyser. It was the business news channel before the proliferation of niche channels like CNBC, which hosted the shameful presidential debate last month. Sharyl also worked for CBS News at that time. We got on well together. She and producer Mason Essif called me a “one take wonder” since they never had to reshoot my interviews.
To keep reporting the truth, Sharyl now works as an independent investigative reporter. According to her report, most mainstream physicians still push the flu vaccine on older people even though we’ve had conclusive evidence for at least 10 years that it doesn’t work for this “target” population.
Indeed, as I reported before, all the previous studies failed to show the flu vaccine benefits older people. But instead of considering the lack of effectiveness of their vaccine, they assumed there must be something wrong with the scientific studies!
Then, in 2006, a group of researchers gathered again and spent even more taxpayer money to perform the “definitive” U.S. study to try and find any shred of evidence the flu vaccine benefits older people.
No matter how they manipulated the data, their study showed flu shots are of no benefit to the elderly. In fact, the death rate from flu has increased markedly since widespread flu vaccination has been forced onto older Americans.
Many international studies showed the same lack of benefit in Australia, Canada, France and the U.K. In fact, over the past 20 years, the percentage of older people getting the vaccine has climbed from 15 percent to 65 percent. Yet today, more than 90 percent of people killed by the flu are 65 years or older. So the vaccine is just pouring fuel on the fire.
The NIH’s billion dollar gag order
According to Sharyl’s investigation, the political bosses at National Institutes of Health (NIH) blocked the study’s lead author from speaking publicly about these findings. I’m not surprised — the NIH did the same thing to me 30 years ago regarding my findings on nutrients and cancer prevention. Taxpayers paid billions of dollars funding studies that uncovered these facts — but the real scientists are forbidden to speak the truth about them.
Sharyl’s investigation also helps explain why primary care physicians still push the vaccine on their older patients. And it also helps explain why I can’t seem to walk into town without coming across an offer for a free “flu” shot. We have the NIH to thank.
Of course, the government also recommends infants and children get vaccinated. But the only real research on children and the flu vaccine comes from Hong Kong. This study shows vaccinated children have the same risk of getting influenza. Plus, they have three to four times more respiratory infections caused by other viruses.
What’s worse is a brand new study shows getting a flu vaccine one year puts you at a higher risk of getting the flu in future years. I’ll tell you about that study on Thursday.
Source:
- Impact of Influenza Vaccination on Seasonal Mortality in the US Elderly Population,” Arch Intern Med. 2005;165(3):265-272