Forward & introduction to The Unvaccinated Child: A Treatment Guide for Parents and Caregivers

 Forward

You have in your hands a compendium of brilliance for raising healthy, strong, bright-eyed children. I wish to congratulate Dr. Judith Thompson, ND and Dr. Eli Camp, ND, DHANP, for writing this much-needed resource for families.

There is no need to poison our children’s blood streams with toxins in the name of “prevention” when the real prevention to illness is a healthy immune system. As we are exposed to more bacteria and viruses our immune system strengthens with the experience of the previous encounter. This will then allow us to fend off chronic illnesses, degenerative diseases and cancer as we age. We do a disservice to our children if we do not allow their immune systems to encounter the common infectious diseases of the human race.

Infectious diseases are regularly treated and healed using natural principles such as fasting a fever, hydrotherapy, homeopathy, herbal medicine and other methods that support the body’s wisdom. Over the last 30 years as a practicing naturopath and as a daughter of a naturopath, I have treated or have seen treated, thousands of children (and adults) that have developed these contagious diseases. The sickest of these folks are routinely the ones who had the full schedule of immunizations. Even with the most severe cases of measles or pertussis, by using these basic principles of health and healing as outlined in this text, the children have healed quickly and without harm or lasting effects.

If you have vaccinated your child, you will still want to have this information at hand. If your child becomes ill you will have a starting place to begin supporting the natural healing process which is what will heal the illness no matter what approach you take. All medicine only works to cure an illness if it supports the body in bringing the metabolic function to a higher level. If the approach given to the child is suppressive, then the condition of the body’s health can only worsen. We CAN treat contagious diseases with gentle medicine that is strong, fast-acting and uncomplicated. So, let us strive to nurture the vitality of the child’s body, strengthen the circulation and digestion, empower the immune system and, in doing so, let us all raise healthy children.

Dr. Letitia Dick-Kronenberg, ND

INTRODUCTION

When we were first in practice, the number of parents who told us they did not want to vaccinate their children was low. They didn’t want anyone to know they weren’t vaccinating, but, they desperately wanted and needed medical support in order to know they were doing the right things to keep their children healthy. They suffered in silence, not telling friends, family members or medical providers that they had chosen to do something different than the conventional standard of care. Fearing ostracization from their families and communities, they didn’t know that more parents were slowly making the same decision and quietly coming to us for help.

Over the years, the numbers of parents looking for information—statistics, risk factors and overall support—has grown exponentially.1 They are becoming more aware of potential risks and want to minimize them by proactively and naturally maintaining their children’s health. As naturopathic doctors, we are trained in optimizing health regardless of vaccination status, and are therefore their ideal health care practitioners. These parents feel safe and confident with the information we provide. They trust us because they know we have education in nutrition, herbal medicine, homeopathy, immune system development, physiology and children’s health.2Since many of these conditions are not as prevalent as they used to be, parents’ and caregivers’ ability to restore health when faced with these diseases has been lost. Neither parents nor medical providers are aware that these conditions can easily be managed through natural means. Our intent is to provide education and resources for parents who have decided it is best for their family not to vaccinate their children.

A Note to Parents That Have Vaccinated Their Children

If your child has had some injections and not others, this book can still be a helpful guide, especially those sections that discuss how to support your child’s immune system through specific illnesses. If your child is in full compliance with the current vaccination schedule, they too can benefit from this book, since statistics show that children in full compliance have the highest rates of actual illness.3 Whether a child is not vaccinated, partly vaccinated or fully vaccinated, this book provides parents the information to keep children in the best health possible.

A Note on Methodology

The statistical and disease presentation information in this book comes from public information readily available through public health organizations such as the National Institutes for Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as medical texts and journals from the US National Library of Medicine. Treatment guidelines come from interviews with doctors that have been in practice over thirty years (some have over forty or fifty years of practice experience or were mentored by doctors that were in practice in the mid-20th century when these conditions were commonly seen).

We have also consulted research from new publications about the effectiveness of vitamins, minerals, herbs, homeopathic remedies and other natural therapies, as well as reviews of older literature available from doctors that were treating these conditions at the time when they were most prevalent, i.e. before vaccinations were available. Some of the treatments discussed are from Eclectic doctors, doctors from the late 19th and early 20th century who used herbs, homeopathic remedies and minerals to help the body heal.

By compiling information from different sources including books, medical journals, public health records, medical professionals and historical documents, we aim to bring all available information together to assist parents and caregivers in working with these conditions, and to include as many of the natural therapeutics known to re-establish health.

Finally, a number of the protocols discussed come directly from our clinical practices, working with hundreds of children using vitalistic naturopathic modalities of healing.

1As of the writing of this book, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has changed how they distribute this type of information. Whereas they used to give numbers of diagnosed contagious diseases, they now only give percentages on their front pages. (This is concerning because in the cases of some contagious disease that have very low numbers. For example, rubella with less than 10 cases per year, a 100% increase would mean 10 more people in the country were diagnosed with it but that type of percentage can scare the public into accepting mandatory vaccinations.) Currently, much statistical data is either unavailable or buried within public records.

2For clarity, when the word “we” is mentioned in the book, it refers to the authors of the book.

3Center for Disease Control and Prevention. “2015 Final Pertussis Surveillance Report”. https://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/downloads/pertuss-surv-report-2015.pdf (accessed Feb 15, 2017)