The Truth about Vaccines

Dear Students,

I was up at the Pharmasave today, and a stack of books for sale caught my eye. "The Truth about Vaccines" it exclaimed, while showing a happy elderly couple. Smaller print suggested "Natural alternatives to Vaccines", "Side Effects of Vaccines", and how to boost your immune system.

Here's the actual truth about vaccines. When your body is attacked by an invader, not only does your body mobilize B-Cells and T-Cells to fight the infection, it also creates memory cells that stick around and are primed to react very quickly if the same trigger (called an antigen) ever dares to show up again. Vaccines work by giving a weak or dead antigen to trick the immune system into creating these memory cells, and voila! You are now resistant to a disease that might otherwise have killed you. (See here for a quick overview in cartoon form.)

There are a few other truths. Like failing to vaccinate your children may kill them. Why people believe otherwise, and the pseudoscience involved, may be a possible research topic for a future class.

There are a couple of possible focus points, but the most recent is such a perfect example of the importance of conducting science ethically and honestly. The researcher that started the whole vaccine denier mess? It turns out he may have actually faked the data to begin with!

The world is a dangerous place. Science reveals the danger signs. Luckily some places may be waking up to the danger.

It would seem, however, that when it comes to medicine that our provincial government may also be edging into a non-science approach to medicine. Naturopaths may soon be allowed to prescribe medication! Some of the information in the article is interesting for what it is trying to imply. Naturopathic practicioners have a regulatory College, they call themselves physicians, and take both undergraduate and graduate science courses. Does this make them science-based? Of course not. What's the harm? Check for yourself here.

In one class we've been discussing the difference between real science, and people that try to fake a science, using intelligent design as an example. Those of you reflecting in your journals as to how to tell the difference, naturopathy would be a great topic to investigate.

Cheers,

Ron Neufeld
Canada's Best Boarding School