According to Rex Huppke of the Chicago Tribune, we should call those who don't believe in science, "ecneictists" - "ecneics" is "science" spelled backwards. He, along with many of us in health care in the U.S., is irritated with those parents who don't believe in vaccinations, even though there is no scientific basis for considering them dangerous. Here's what's dangerous: The measles! In the month of January in the U.S. there were 100 cases of the measles in 14 states. In 2014 there were 644 cases in 27 states. Just recently a child died from a complication of the measles.

Rex, always the comic, quotes what he believes the ecneictists are saying (contains one of our community's most discussed words):

quote:

I'm not exactly sure what "science" means. I could look it up in a dictionary, but I don't believe in dictionaries. I've heard they cause brainwashing and are in the pocket of Big Lexicography.

Besides, as a word-user, I think I'm best-qualified to determine the meanings of my words. That's why I pancake eggplant every chance I schadenfreude.

quote:

as a word-user, I think I'm best-qualified to determine the meanings of my words.

Sounds like Humpty-Dumpty. Although the word 'pancake' might be a bit of a sore point with him.

And of course he was being facetious.

If you barf a pancake, it's an ekacnap.

quote:

If you barf a pancake, it's an ekacnap.

more like a npakeac.

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
According to Rex Huppke of the Chicago Tribune, we should call those who don't believe in science, "ecneictists" - "ecneics" is "science" spelled backwards. He, along with many of us in health care in the U.S., is irritated with those parents who don't believe in vaccinations, even though there is no scientific basis for considering them dangerous.

Just had to respond to content, as opposed to the new word (I like it). Our kids (like those of many boomers) were born late '80's, when MMR [measles-mumps-rubella] vaccines in the first yr of life were routine, but simultaneously we were hearing of a spike in autism dg, particularly in NJ, & speculation as to connection w/the mercury preservative in the MMR vaccine.

This was an amber-alert for our family because (a)my French cousin, whose eldest was then 7 & dg autistic, stayed over w/us in annual transit to the autism center in NC and (b)our tiny eldest [deceased 4.5 yrs ago from multiple autoimmune issues] was showing signs of rheumatic & neurological issues, as well as rare side effects to scrip & OTC medications.

I have no doubt that the MMR vaccine got the rap because of the timing: autism & other pediatric mental illnesses onset abruptly at age 18-24mos after previously normal development.

I will never know whether MMR accelerated my kid's susceptibility to autoimmune disease. We are not We are not "ecneictists"--even with what I know now, I would choose the same odds & vaccinate. Yet I cannot help but wonder whether the documented rise in autoimmune diseases over the last few decades has something to do with the effects of multiple vaccinations on the immune system.

What was the Lancet doing publishing that "study" ? It has always been such a highly reputable journal, and each article should be rigorously reviewed. I couldn't believe that this case report (12 patients???) has caused so much sickness and death in our children. Just today I got a Tribune Alert that there are 5 measles cases in babies at a Palatine day care center. These babies were too young to have the vaccine - they must have been exposed to someone who wasn't vaccinated.

What these parents who don't vaccinate their kids don't understand (and maybe they honestly don't know?) is that they are putting other kids at risk, like those 5 babies. Also children who can't be vaccinated because of immune disorders, such as being on chemotherapy.

I'm telling you, Kalleh, it really makes me see red. This report spells out the dirty facts of fraudulent research for monetary gain.

Studies used to recommend drugs with dangerous side effects-- then prescribed off-label to teens and even children for supposedly medical [psychiatric] illnesses diagnosed on the basis of a handful of behavioral symptoms-- studies usually based on 12-15 subjects-- were rampant during the years I had to become a researcher to advocate for my kid.

In the most horrible incident, his psychiatrist (he had one because he was supposedly ADD) put him on a new drug out of Europe which resulted in a 4-wk psychotic break (hospitalized) plus months of recuperation complicated by severe motor issues caused by a series of anti-psychotic drugs-- thank god finally a neurological consult at a local children's specialized hospital put a stop to it & weaned him off all that crap. Six months later the shrink abjectly apologized, saying he'd learned the Euro research was falsified & being used to peddle the drug!

Meanwhile my wunderkind managed to completely catch back up w/his grade via tutors during spring & summer. Ironically the special ed team (instrumental in coordinating the tutors etc), after his final SpEd evaluation, concluded he did not & probably never had had ADD!!

I suggest another 'new word' for the medical personnel involved in these fraudulent shenanigans: ROTCODS!

You mean the contents of his codpiece should rot?

I've heard some rumblings of suits against parents who exposed other people's kids to diseases for which there is a vaccine. Any truth to such goings-on?

Not sure, Geoff, but if they got an exemption, and right now that is easy to get in most states, I'd think there'd be little chance of winning that suit.

Bethree, was the drug he gave your son FDA approved for that condition? If not, and it sounds like not, he could be in deep trouble.

Sorry Kalleh just saw your question. The drug was the first of the combo serotonin/dopamine reuptake inhibitors; it was approved for adhd 5 yrs before prescribed to my son, based on studies which I assume did not pass muster with the shrink (he was cautious). I believe what caught his attention was a much larger study being conducted in Europe, where early not-yet-verified results were showing remarkably positive results.

The thing I think goes wrong medically here: the risks in administering psych drugs to children & adolescents are underestimated. Several major mental illnesses onset age 17-23. Higher level of either hormone can trigger onset. My son got a bipolar dg because of the psychotic reaction. Tho he never exhibited typical bp symptoms, the dg was helpful thereafter in making drs think twice about prescribing similar drugs; he apparently was oversensitive to anything messing with dopamine levels.

I agree that the risks of administering psych drugs to kids is underestimated. I also think that diagnoses of ADHD are overestimated.

However, while I don't think the US has the best medicine in the world (like some do), I do think we have nearly the best (or maybe the best) system for approving medications. [Thank heaven's Richard isn't here!] Often medications have been used for years in another country before receiving FDA approval in the US. Remember Thalidomide in Europe? It was never approved here. So I am surprised that drug was approved. The FDA has rigorous steps a drug must go through before approval.