The cornerstone principle of preventive medicine is that it is better to prevent disease than to to treat it after it has developed. That seems to be a non-controversial principle, except, apparently, in the world of infant and child woo. There the typical response to devastating preventable diseases and injuries is to pretend that they won’t happen. Homebirth advocates like to pretend that life threatening complications don’t occur in childirth; midwifery proponents like to pretend that there is plenty of time to transfer to physician care when life threatening complications do occur; anti-vaccinationists like to pretend that vaccines are unnecessary, and all of them delight in the fantasy that “good nutrition” and a “strong immune system” are magically protective against everything. It has become highly fashionable among some Western, white, relatively well off women to refuse standard newborn preventive care, whether that is the Hep B vaccine, neonatal ophthalmic ointment, or vitamin K shots.
Proponents of this transgressive behavior like to think that it marks them as independent thinkers. it marks them as ignorant, gullible and willing to take terrible risks with the lives of their children for no better reason that to preen to themselves and others. It also marks them as wishful thinkers who pretend that their child will never be exposed to hepatitis B, that their partner would never have an affair and become infected with gonorrhea and that their child’s blood will clot in the absence of adequate vitamin K. As a result, children die agonizing preventable deaths like this poor infant who sustained massive intracranial bleeding because her mother refused the shot that would have prevented it. According to the Coroner’s Court: The baby’s … initial neonatal examination was also normal. In accordance with her parents’ wishes and the birthing plan, she did not receive Vitamin K, nor was she vaccinated for Hepatitis B. Information relating to the vitamin K injection was provided to the parents during their first antenatal visit.
The information stated the reasons why vitamin K is recommended, namely that it assists the blood to clot and that newborn babies require it to prevent bleeding problems especially in the first few months after birth. The parents submitted a birth plan, which stated their decision not to have vitamin K administered… The baby was exclusively breastfed (the major risk factor for vitamin K deficiency) and was doing well. One month after the birth, the mother noticed that the baby had been sleeping a lot and was not feeding as much as usual. She was noted to cry out at times and then settle. She went to sleep that night, but an hour later, she vomited. In the early hours of the next morning, the mother went to change her nappy and she was seen to be limp. The Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) was contacted. A CT scan … showed widespread subarachnoid haemorrhage and left sided subdural haemorrhage (bleeding on the surface and beneath the dura/lining of the brain). This was causing some effacement of the left ventricle (compression of the cavity within the brain as a result of increased pressure and mass effect).
There was also loss of grey/white differentiation of the brain matter, which indicated damage to the brain and widening of the spaces between the skull bones. No fractures were seen. There was haemorrhaging within both eyes, and her pupils were non-reactive. A blood test called an INR (International Normalised Ratio) was conducted. This test measures the time it takes for blood to clot and compares it to an average, with one being normal and 10 being extremely thin and prone to bleeding. The baby’s measurement was 10. In other words, the baby had developed hemorrhagic disease of the newborn, the very condition that the vitamin K shot is designed to prevent. As a result, she bled into her head so much and for so long that her brain was compressed and destroyed. The baby’s condition did not improve overnight or into the next morning. There remained markedly elevated intracranial pressure and her prognosis was considered to be extremely poor. She remained on ventilation over night.
Following discussion with her parents, the baby’s life support measures were withdrawn the next morning and she subsequently died. The baby died a painful, prolonged and entirely senseless death because the person she depended on to protect her, her mother, thought she knew better than the pediatricians for whom vitamin K has been standard prophylaxis for more than 50 years. Why did the mother think she knew better? Because she read it in a book or on a website and it sounded good to her. Being a parent ought to mean putting a child’s health and brain function before anything else, including the mother’s desire to be transgressive, and even the mother’s distress at her child’s temporary discomfort as a result of an injection. It means taking the advice of experts, not pretending that you are an expert. It means doing whatever you can to prevent the child’s death and disability,not pretending that wishful thinking is a form of preventive care. Having trouble logging in?
Sign up for a free account Get unlimited access on Medscape. Vitamin K has remarkable anti-cancer effects. This newly identified mechanism of vitamin K shows that vitamin K has an uncanny ability to combat cancer at multiple stages. Researchers have shown the distinct ways that vitamin K2 stops the proliferation of cancer cells. These studies confirm the healthiest way to curtail malignancies is through diet and supplementation. Vitamin k is a group name for a number of related compounds. Each one serves an essential purpose in the prevention of cancer. Vitamin K1 and K2 are the two natural forms of the vitamin – which can target cancer at multiple stages of development. The anti-tumor action of vitamin K has been under investigation since 1947. But, only recently, has it been discovered that different forms of vitamin K can actually stop the creation of cancer cells. Vitamin K affects the tumors by modifying growth factors and receptor molecules – which make cells less able to stimulate tumor growth and progression.
The cell cycle becomes frozen and is not able to create any further cells. It also creates programmed cell death through distinctive mechanisms. One of the most unique methods is called “oncosis” – which is a form of stress-activated ischemic cell demise – and tumor cells are particularly vulnerable to this process. Tumors can rapidly outgrow their blood supplies, their high metabolism means they use up oxygen rapidly, which makes them especially vulnerable to oxidant stress – much more so than the healthier tissues around them. Vitamin K targets tumor cells for destruction by stimulating oxidative stress – without toxicity to healthy tissues. Persistent stress often leads to chronic cell injury and eventually the demise of the cell via oncosis. This is another way to get rid of cancer cells besides getting them to commit suicide, which is known as apoptosis. Another unique mechanism of vitamin K, demonstrated recently in bile duct cancers and leukemia, is autophagy, in which cancer cells essentially eat themselves by releasing their own digestive enzymes internally.
By still another mechanism, vitamin C and K in combination contribute to cancer cell death by autoschizis, whereby cells simply split open, spilling their contents. Plus, in case you’re wondering about the science, a study from Uruguay demonstrated that serum markers in a group of prostate cancer patients indicated tumor cell destruction following supplementation with vitamin C and K. Then, there is this other study the “European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition” involving over 24,000 participants from the ages of 35 to 64, all who were free of cancer when enrolled in the study. The participants were tracked for cancer incidence and mortality for an average of 10 years. Part of the study tracked their vitamin K1 and K2 dietary intake over these years and compared it to cancer incidence and mortality. Can you guess what happened? What was found was that vitamin K2, was associated with a lower risk of getting cancer and succumbing to it. The benefit of vitamin K2 intake was revealed with a dramatic reduction in lung and prostate cancer among the individuals in the study.
At the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, researchers have found that people who have higher intakes of vitamin K have a lower risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In this study, vitamin K1 (found mostly in leafy greens) showed a preventative value in reducing cancer risk. Those who had the highest levels of vitamin K1 from diet and/or supplements had a 45% less risk for developing this form of lymphoma. In addition, researchers in Japan discovered that vitamin K2 may play a role in preventing the type of liver cancer caused by viral cirrhosis. Just as a reminder, vitamin K exists in two natural forms ‘vitamin K1’ and ‘vitamin K2’. Vitamin K1 is found in fresh vegetables such as broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, collard greens, broccoli, okra, asparagus, prunes, avocado and other leafy green vegetables. Vitamin K2 is found in meat, dairy, and natto – a Japanese soy product. Obviously, you won’t hear much from your conventionally-trained doctor about how to treat or prevent cancer – nutritionally.
But, the fact remains, most people do not get sufficient vitamin K from their diet. Yet, it’s one of the most important nutrients to consume for optimal health. Hopefully, after reading this article, you have the motivation to eat more (organic) green leafy vegetables like, kale and collard greens – along with cruciferous vegetables – as an effective way to prevent cancer. Remember, we are what we eat. Eat to live and enjoy your life. The NaturalHealth365 Store offers high quality nutritional supplements. Click here to learn more. , the NaturalNews Talk Hour – a free, weekly health show and the NaturalHealth365 INNER CIRCLE – a monthly subscription to the brightest minds in natural health and healing. Reaching hundreds of thousands of people, worldwide, as a personal health consultant, writer and radio talk show host – Jonathan has been educating the public on the health benefits of an organic (non-GMO) diet along with high-quality supplementation and healthy lifestyle habits including exercise and meditation.