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getting rid of vaccines?????

  --as we quickly approach the post-science darkening ages, i thought it would be useful to recirculate an old blog on measles. But first, some comments on the anti-vaxxers and polio:       -- per the NY Times: "The lawyer helping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pick federal health officials for the incoming Trump administration has petitioned the government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine, which for decades has protected millions of people  from a virus that can cause paralysis or death…that campaign is just one front in the war that the lawyer, Aaron Siri, is waging against vaccines of all kinds ”: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/health/aaron-siri-rfk-jr-vaccines.html       --it is abundantly clear that the polio epidemic in the US in the 1950s led to both lots of morbidity and mortality back then, that lots of post-polio muscular problems until now, that the vaccine invented then by Jonas Salk dramatically stemmed the virus...
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Sciatica: acupuncture helps

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  a recent study of patients with sciatica from a herniated lumbar disc found that acupuncture vs sham acupuncture was associated with significant improvements in pain and function (see   sciatica acupuncture helps JAMAintmed2024  in dropbox, or doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.5463)   Details : -- 216 participants were randomly assigned to receive 10 sessions of acupuncture (n = 110) or sham acupuncture (n = 110) over 4 weeks, in a multicenter clinical trial conducted in 6 tertiary-level hospitals in China in 2021. all participants had pain for at least 3 months, with at least moderate leg pain intensity of >40mm on the visual analog scale -- mean age 51.3 years; 147 females (68.1%) -- BMI 24, duration of low back pain (LBP) 3 years -- site of MRI- or CT-determined disk disease: L3-4 in 33%, L4-5 in 78%, L5-S1 in 70% -- treatments received: NSAIDs 7%, steroids <1%, neurotropic drugs (mecobalamin, vitamin B1, vitamin B12) 4%, acupuncture 27%, Chinese he...
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