Looking for something? Search this site and archives.

"Your Health Matters"
A VACCINE DISASTER?
by Derrick Lonsdale, M.D.
(Column in the 2014 Spring Edition of Dialogue)

A VACCINE DISASTER?

Derrick Lonsdale, M.D., Strongsville OH

On the 8th of July 2013, I received an e-mail from a mother (SF) of an eighteen year old girl who had received two injections of the Gardasil vaccine 4 years earlier.  This is the HPV vaccine that is designed to protect against cancer of the cervix and normally requires three separate injections.  About a week after the second injection she experienced a febrile episode that was diagnosed as mononucleosis.  At first this was considered to be coincidental and independent of the injection. However, she subsequently developed the symptoms of Postural Orthostatic Hypotension Syndrome (POTS) that have continued to the present. 

This falls into a group of diseases under the general heading of Dysautonomia, referring to dysfunctional changes in the autonomic (automatic) nervous system, controlled by the lower part of the brain.  SF had done her own research and had come to the unusual conclusion that her daughter suffered from Beriberi, the ancient scourge now known to be due to vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency (TD).  Beriberi, in its early stages, is the prototype model for Dysautonomia.  She contacted me because of my published interest in this vitamin.  I suggested that she should obtain a blood test known as erythrocyte (red blood cell) transketolase (Dialogue 2012,26-1: “What is Transketolase?”) This test involves activity of an enzyme that occurs in erythrocytes.  It depends on thiamine for its normal function, so measuring its activity can be used in order to show thiamine deficiency (TD).  This was done and it was strongly positive.  Because of this, she persuaded the mother of another Gardasil affected girl to have the same test done and this was also positive for TD. 

The next patient was a boy who had been ill for some years following the Gardasil vaccination.  Since the virus can affect boys in another way, they are sometimes vaccinated before they go to college. His test was so strongly positive that I asked his mother whether there was a family history of alcoholism, since there is a well-known relationship between TD and this addiction.  She wrote back that there was indeed a strong family history of alcoholism on the father’s side.  The genetically determined background in this case was therefore obviously important.

Many cases of POTS and cerebellar ataxia have been reported as a post Gardasil phenomenon on two web sites called “Hormones Matter” and “SaneVax.” 

The cerebellum is part of the brain which deals with the coordination of balance; and ataxia means that this function is lost. To illustrate a thiamine connection, a six-year old boy was reported who suffered repeated self limiting attacks of cerebellar ataxia due to defective metabolism associated with this vitamin [1].  Although relatively stable between attacks, each ataxic episode in this child was an imitation of childhood beriberi and was always initiated by a “stress factor” in the form of a minor infection, a mild head injury on one occasion, and an inoculation on another occasion. We know from the history of Beriberi that ultraviolet light from the sun can act as a “stress factor” to initiate symptoms for the first time in a group of previously asymptomatic individuals (Dialogue 2013, 27-2: “What has Oxidation to do with Disease?)

Another puzzle noticed by the Gardasil-affected families known to SF is that the vaccine “seems to pick off the brightest and the best students/athletes”.  SF then informed me that another girl had symptoms similar to those of her daughter. Although this girl had not received the vaccine, her transketolase test was also positive for TD. 

The close association of thiamine metabolism with the processing of sugar in the body has been known since 1936, when vital new research by Sir Rudolph Peters was performed in England. He compared the metabolism of thiamine deficient pigeon brain cells with thiamine sufficient cells.  There was no difference until glucose was added to the reaction. Thiamine sufficient cells reacted immediately, whereas there was no increased reaction from the thiamine deficient cells.  It is important to note that all simple sugars are metabolized in the body as glucose, heavily dependent upon thiamine for normal cellular energy synthesis.

Because of the hedonistic use of sweets and sweeteners in the social life of adolescents, it may well be that they are already at risk when they get the vaccine.  An overload of sugar, consumed without the necessary thiamine, is exactly like choking the engine of a car.  It reduces the efficiency of oxidation, particularly in brain and nervous system cells.  The characteristic heart disease of beriberi was recently reported in 17 adolescents in Japan who were consuming carbonated drinks from the soda fountain and soft noodles. 

In 2007 I hypothesized a new model for disease in which I described the “Three Circles of Health.” This proposes Boolean Algebra, the use of interlocking circles, in statistical analysis.  Genetics, Stress and Nutrition (energy) – the three circles – are the essential elements in impacting on health and its breakdown (Dialogue 2007,21-2: “A Proposed Revision of the Medical Model”) and the impact of sugar on health was emphasized (Dialogue 2008, 21-6: “Sugar is Dangerous”).

This suggests a provisional conclusion that demands further detailed research, since it may alter the present concept of the potential danger of this vaccine and might even apply to vaccination in general.  There is, however, an additional caveat in relationship to Gardasil.  This is a yeast based vaccine and the particular yeast used is known to contain a naturally occurring enzyme by the name of thiaminase.  This enzyme splits the thiamine molecule, rendering it biologically inert.  Thiaminase disease has been reported in Japan in conjunction with dietary thiamine deficiency, thus “raising the bar”.

Since cellular energy is required to adapt to any form of physical or mental stress, it may well be that the vaccine itself, or the needle used to inject it, was a “stress factor” superimposed on a metabolic situation which was marginal for TD (Thiamine Deficiency). If so, then this might possibly apply to other similar nutritional deficiencies. Perhaps these young people were more at risk when they received the vaccine since TD depletes the cell of energy. 

To explain the apparent selection of the high IQ students, I have suggested that a good brain requires more energy to meet the demands required of it and that a marginal nutritional status possibly put them at higher risk when the vaccine was administered. It would imply that the subject seeking vaccination has a personal health responsibility and that the vaccinator needs to seek at least a minimum diet history from his subject. A simple question about a family history of alcoholism might also indicate additional risk. 

[1] Lonsdale D, Faulkner W R, Price J W, and Smeby R R. Intermittent cerebellar ataxia associated with hyperpyruvic acidemia, hyperalaninemia, and hyperalaninuria. Pediatrics 1969;43:1025-34.

                                                 ~ Derrick Lonsdale, M.D.

“Everything is connected to everything else.”

 

Derrick Lonsdale is a retired Fellow of the American College of Nutrition and a Certified Nutrition Specialist. www.prevmed.com /

Blog: http://o2thesparkoflife.blogspot.com/    §

---

Return to the Dialogue Home Page

What is Dialogue Magazine?