Can it get any worse?

The FDA has now approved the use of Tamiflu for infants as young as two weeks. My question is this. How do they know if it’s the flu or simply a common cold—or maybe a bacterial infection? And what about the side effects that the infant may suffer? See chart below.

Most adults in the United States run to the doctor at the first sign of a sore throat, fever or stuffy nose. And they’re not happy if the doctor doesn’t give them an antibiotic or some other drug for their problem. But antibiotics are only good for fighting a bacterial infection; not a viral infection like the flu or the common cold. From Web MD:

Looking for an effective flu treatment and wondering if antibiotics will work? Antibiotics are medications that fight infections caused by bacteria, the flu is caused by a virus.

Taking antibiotics when you have a virus may do more harm than good. Taking antibiotics when they are not needed increases your risk of getting an infection later that may resist antibiotic treatment.

From Wikipedia on the common cold. It is the most frequent infectious disease in humans with the average adult contracting two to three colds a year and the average child contracting between six and twelve. These infections have been with humanity since antiquity.

Not only are most new moms in the United States feeding their babies some form of animal products in their formulas, now we offering those moms the chance to get their babies started on drugs before they can even recognize their parents. So why does the baby get sick in the first place?

What we need is healthier moms providing their babies with the best food that nature has to offer.

First, the mother of the baby is more than likely overweight or obese and has been eating a toxic western diet since she stopped nursing—if she ever did nurse. The mother is also diabetic, pre-diabetic or moving in that direction. Now the innocent baby arrives and has about a 35% chance of being nursed by her mother beyond a few months.

So the baby is fed some kind of formula with a list of ingredients a mile long—and many of them are derived from animal products (See my “breast is best” blog below). From a June 2012 article in the Christian Science Monitor (see link below):

Despite a lot of hype about women breastfeeding (hello, Time Magazine), the US lags well behind other developed countries (and a lot of undeveloped ones, too) when it comes to nursing. It ranks last on a recentSave the Children “breastfeeding policy scorecard,” with only 35 percent of moms exclusively breastfeeding at three months.

The Bottom Line. When does the madness end? I subscribe to the theory that ALL drugs are toxic. And that the health of our cells depends on just two things: getting the nutrients that we need and minimizing the toxins that we don’t need. As for our babies being given a flu medication at the age of two weeks—I find that news simply deplorable.  But it’s just the latest in an unfortunate series of events.

Consecutive daily blogs

Sadly, our government, medical doctors, registered dietitians and schools of nutrition do not tell the American public the truth about nutrition. The average American has no idea that 75% of our chronic diseases are driven by our toxic western diet. And the newborn baby is the innocent victim of all of the above.

• Source article. FDA Approves Tamiflu for Infants.
• Source article. 8-Year-Olds on Statins? – The New York Times
• Source article. Tamiflu Approval Expanded to Include Infants Under Age 1
• Source article. More about Tamiflu in Pharma Times
• Earlier blog. “Breast is best.” But what if not possible, then what?
• Earlier blog. How funny is a child with high cholesterol? Pretty funny on SNL.

Handy 4-piece take-charge-of-your-health kit—from Amazon.com

• The movie that’s changing the lives of millions: Forks Over Knives DVD 
• Healthy Eating, Healthy World, The “big picture” about food (our book)
• An essential scientific resource: The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell
• Dr. McDougall’s new book, The Starch Solution, with lots of great recipes.

Want to find out how healthy your family is eating? Take our free 4Leaf Diagnostic Survey. It takes less than five minutes and you can score it yourself. After taking the survey, please give me your feedback as it will be helpful in the development of our future 4Leaf app for smartphones. Send feedback to jmorrishicks@me.com

International. We’re now reaching people in over 100 countries. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter or get daily blog notices by “following” us in the top of the right-hand column. For occasional updates, join our periodic mailing list.

J. Morris Hicks, working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

For help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4Leaf page or some great recipes at Lisa’s 4Leaf Kitchen.

Got a question? Let me hear from you at jmorrishicks@me.com. Or give me a call on my cell at 917-399-9700.

SHARE and rate this post below.

Blogging daily at hpjmh.com…from the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

—J. Morris Hicks, board member, T. Colin Campbell Foundation