9 September 2019: News about vaccines

Here are updates on the HPV and Measles vaccines:

HPV:

"While common and generally not life-threatening, HPV also can trigger a host of cancers, and rates are rising: 43,371 cancers were associated with the virus in the United States in 2015, up from 30,115 in 1999, according to a report in August by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." See https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-health-watch/hpv-cancer-rates-are-yet-many-michigan-doctors-wont-talk-about-it

Most of the US population of reproductive age is infected with HPV, which means that all in this age range are likely to get exposed unless vaccine use increases dramatically. Don't pretend you can avoid it by being "careful." That assumes that everyone communicates honesty and accurately about their histories, and that you are only exposed to people who themselves were never exposed or were vaccinated and developed antibodies.

For more information on how HPV causes cervical, head & neck and skin cancer, see page 20 of my December 2017 paper at http://www.natpernick.com/HowCancerArises.pdf.

Measles:

Yes, measles kills healthy people. See https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/13/health/israeli-flight-attendant-measles-death. When physicians give our opinions on medical matters, we put our reputation and license on the line. We cannot easily just state our opinion because we feel like it. We also have extensive training and experience. Of course, we could be wrong, and there are "bad apples" in the medical profession, but it is usually obvious that they are "outliers." This is not the case with those who write anonymous flyers.

3 September 2019: Be Optimistic to Live Longer (or does it only seem longer?)

Good news for the cheery: A Boston study published this month suggests people who tend to be optimistic are likelier than others to live to be 85 years old or more.

Click here.