Back in February of 2015 I wrote an article on measles and vaccinations for my weekly column in a local newspaper. The challenge, it wasn’t printed. Apparently it was too controversial. So I am going to use some of the information from that article and some additional information, to convey my thoughts. You see, even though pediatrics is not my specialty and in fact is a very small portion of my patients and thus measles and vaccinations are not something I deal with in my office, I believe people have the right to information and choice. Last time I checked, I still live in Canada where people have freedom of rights. Isn’t that why people come to Canada from other countries, to live in a country to have choices and not live under dictatorship and fear. So at this time of writing, measles isn’t an emotional issue in the news and maybe as the article is read, the information can be processed and options weighed, logically.
As I stated, pediatrics is not my specialty, but dealing with people with cancer and their health and wellness is and as a homeopath I believe it is important to go to the root cause of health challenges. So I got to thinking, why has cancer dramatically increased in general, but more specifically in children? So I started to do a little research and I have to tell you I am not one for sitting at my computer and searching on the internet but I feel this information is important. I wanted to look at numbers of cases and if there were any trends, because I read over and over again about children getting cancer with brain tumours and leukemia being at the top of the list for childhood cancers. The brain tumour foundation of Canada, http://www.braintumour.ca/2494/brain-tumour-facts stated “Brain tumours are the leading cause of solid cancer death in children under the age of 20, now surpassing acute lymphoblastic leukemia. They are the third leading cause of solid cancer death in young adults age 20 – 39. Because brain tumours are located at the control centre for thought, emotion, and movement, they can dramatically affect an individual’s physical and cognitive abilities and quality of life. Brain tumours in children are different from those in adults and are often treated differently. Although as many as 60% of children with brain tumours will survive, they are often left with long-term side effects. This information, I would assume is up to date as it is currently on their website. Again my question is why, why, why, this happening and why are so many children being affected in this day and age? There has to be a reason and yes I understand environment and food could play a part but again why so many? So I tried to look up worldwide numbers of brain tumours in children, http://www.cbtrus.org/factsheet/factsheet.html, from what I understand this is a registry of brain tumors. I found this, “The incidence rates were higher in more developed countries (5.1 per 100,000) than in less developed countries (3.0 per 100,000). “, I realize this isn’t breaking the number down into children and adults but it was an interesting fact. If food and environment are a factor then why are less developed countries showing a 2 % lower rate of brain tumours in general? Most less developed countries have challenges with proper nutrition and sanitation. So maybe there are other factors to consider.
Then I thought I would see if there was any information on numbers of cases of brain tumours from years past. I found this study, “The total number of children under 15 years of age with intracranial tumours in Denmark during the years 1935-1959 was found to be 533. The average incidence was 21 new cases/106 children/year during the 25-year period in question and 25/106 children/year during the first 17 years of Danish cancer registration.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2009736/ This is a government study. I realize the Danish have a smaller population but look at the number, 533 cases in 25 years. In Canada brain tumours are the leading cause of solid cancer deaths in children under 20, which means about 5913 children in a year. I will explain how I obtained this number later.
So where am I going with this? I keep thinking what is different, what has changed, what “something” could have such a detrimental effect on a child’s immune system that it allows cancer cells to mutate? Not just in a few but in thousands of children?