Patrick Holford Claims Remarkable Benefits for Homeopathic Vaccinations

Bowel-whisperer Patrick Holford has some disturbing ideas about vaccination. If you pay a subscription to him, you can consult his special online reports on a number of topics. One of these reports is about vaccination. I'm accustomed to anti-vax denialism and general crankery but reading this report was like allowing my eyes to turn into two fists and pummel my brain.

I was slightly worried by Holford's introduction:

The orthodox view is that vaccinations are essential, save lives, have few down-sides and are responsible for the decrease in deaths from many infectious diseases.

These views are, however, highly questionable. One of the best reviews of the facts about immunisation is by Lynne McTaggart in the book, What Doctors Don't Tell You in which she explodes the myths surrounding vaccinations...

The content did nothing to alleviate my concerns and I have addressed a number of them previously, when discussing improvements in childhood mortality and morbidity because of vaccinations. Ignoring those issues for now, the concluding section was the one that disturbed me most.

Alternatives to vaccination

The alternatives to vaccination are to ensure that you or your child has a fighting fit immune system. There is no better way to confer immunity to an infant than breast feeding and, once weaned, ensuring an optimal intake of immune-boosting nutrients. Vitamin A, for example, offers protection against measles and probably polio.

In underdeveloped countries deaths from measles are virtually eliminated by ensuring an adequate intake of vitamin A. It is highly likely, although not yet proven, that a good all-round intake of immune-boosting vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential fats can turn a potentially life-threatening virus into a mild and temporary illness...

Although less well researched, you may wish to investigate homoeopathic immunisations. In one study 18,000 children were successfully protected against meningitis with a homoeopathic remedy, without a single side-effect.

I've previously blogged about the issue of vaccination v. faith in vitamins as a prophylactic for preventable childhood illnesses. You will notice that there is no reference for the "highly likely although not yet proven" thought about the benefit of supplementation in the "underdeveloped countries" and that this assertion has not been tempered even in the light of the successful Measles Initiative vaccination programme in some of those same "underdeveloped countries".

Even in the UK, with comparatively adequate nutrition and abundant medical services, the BBC cited some alarming statistics from the medical newspaper Pulse related to measles:

lowering levels of immunity meant as many as 12% of children and 20% of adults could be hospitalised if infected by measles.

Does a hospitalisation rate of 12% of children and 20% of adults sound like a "mild and temporary illness"?

Holford is a firm believer (without supporting evidence) in the value of an immune boosting diet as a prophylactic or staunch defence against childhood illnesses. A hat-tip to Orac for giving me a polite response for the next time somebody tells me that a product/diet 'supports the immune system'. Orac scrutinises the advertising claims for a herbal remedy that used to claim that it prevented colds until advertising regulations downgraded that claim to 'helps to support the immune system'. Orac hazards a guess that the people who make these products:

don't know an antibody from a T-lymphocyte, but now they're pushing a "boost the immune system" claim. What specific aspect of the immune system are they boosting? Cell-mediated immunity? What cell type? Neutrophils, T-lymphocytes, B-lymphocytes, natural killer cells?

Despite charging for access to this report, Holford does not detail the aspects of the immune system that he believes to be 'boosted' by supplements and diet or why they would be adequate.

As for Holford's claim about homeopathic vaccinations, I have searched everywhere for that study but I can't find it. It would even have helped if he had been more specific about the specific meningitis organism. If you can identify this study, I would be very grateful. Although Holford is not a homeopath, he might be interested to learn that leading homeopath, Dr Peter Fisher, recently argued that homeopaths approve of childhood vaccinations. Fisher even said that Hahnemann would have approved of the vaccination programme (albeit in a very convoluted fashion).

Other issues aside, that subscription is looking like even worse value than I thought. Holford recites the tired anti-vax rhetoric that does not become any more true for the number of times it is cited. You would need very good evidence to argue otherwise, as Holford attempts, but that evidence isn't there. Please discuss vaccination with your paediatrican, Health Visitor, GP and other trusted sources. As a bowel-whisperer Holford may have a touching faith in the "highly likely although not yet proven" and "less well researched" value of an 'immune-boosting' supplementation programme and homeopathic vaccines but the consensus of medical and scientific evidence is in favour of the vaccination programme for children for whom they are not contra-indicated.

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