How Natural Childhood Illnesses Prevent Degenerative Diseases Later in Life

Occasional “spontaneous” tumor regressions of Hodgkin’s disease and Burkitt’s lymphoma have been documented after measles infections.[786264] Perhaps the most compelling was the case history of an 8-year old African boy who presented to a clinic in Uganda with a four month history of painless right orbital swelling. A biopsy specimen of the right retroorbital tumor was histologically diagnostic of Burkitt’s lymphoma but at the time of planned initiation of therapy, he was noted to have a generalized measles rash. On the same day, the right orbital tumor was noted to be regressing and because of the presumed measles infection, he was given no chemotherapy for the Burkitt’s lymphoma. During the course of the next two weeks, his rash disappeared and he seroconverted to measles. At the same time, the tumor regressed completely and remained in complete remission for at least four months after the measles infection in the absence of antineoplastic therapy. The mechanism underlying the rapid tumor regression that was observed in this remarkable case history was never elucidated but Burkitt’s lymphomas are known to express high levels of SLAM and are therefore susceptible to infection by wild-type measles viruses.[6566] The timing of the regression, coinciding with the period during which measles virus burden and measles-induced immunosuppression are at their peak, supports the contention that the tumor cells were directly destroyed by the virus.

Studies Citing Health Benefits of Measles Infection

 
The present study was designed to investigate the hypothesis that febrile infectious childhood diseases (FICDs) are associated with a lower cancer risk in adulthood
 

Natural Viral Infections Lead to Cancer Remission

Remissions in leukemia of childhood following acute infectious disease. Staphylococcus and streptococcus, varicella, and feline panleukopenias

Eur J Epidemiol. 2013 Mar;28(3):257-65. doi: 10.1007/s10654-013-9775-1. Epub 2013 Feb 15.

Childhood infectious disease and premature death from cancer: a prospective cohort study.

In this pre-vaccination cohort, childhood infection with measles and influenza were associated with a reduced risk of death from cancer in adulthood, while pertussis was associated with an increased risk. While these results suggest some disease-specific associations between early-life infections and cancer, further studies are required to confirm the specific associations identified.

J Nat Sci Biol Med. 2011 Jan-Jun; 2(1): 43–49.
PMCID: PMC3312698

Immunity over inability: The spontaneous regression of cancer

The spontaneous healing of cancer is a phenomenon that has been observed for hundreds and thousands of years and after having been the subject of many controversies, it is now accepted as an indisputable fact. A review of past reports demonstrates that regression is usually associated with acute infections, fever, and immunostimulation. It is stated that in 1891, William Coley of New York's Memorial Hospital developed the most effective single-agent anticancer therapy from nature, which faded into oblivion for various reasons. Cancer therapies have been standardized and have improved since Coley's day, but surprisingly modern cancer patients do not fare better than patients treated 50 or more years ago as concluded by researchers in 1999. This article peeks into the history of immunostimulation and the role of innate immunity in inducing a cure even in advanced stages of malignancy. The value of Coley's observation is that rather than surviving additional years with cancer, many of the patients who received his therapy lived the rest of their lives without cancer. In our relentless efforts to go beyond nature to fight cancer, we often overlook the facts nature provides to heal our maladies.

Few more studies:

Few of the studies confirming the scientific link between vaccines and cancer:
Albonico et al found that adults are significantly protected against non-breast cancers -- genital, prostate, gastrointestinal, skin, lung, ear-nose-throat, and others -- if they contracted measles (odds ratio, OR = 0.45), rubella (OR = 0.38) or chickenpox (OR = 0.62) earlier in life. [Med Hypotheses 1998; 51(4): 315-20].
Montella et al found that contracting measles in childhood reduces the risk of developing lymphatic cancer in adulthood [Leuk Res 2006; 30(8): 917-22].
Alexander et al found that infection with measles during childhood is significantly protective -- it cuts the risk in half -- against developing Hodgkin's disease (OR = 0.53) [Br J Cancer2000; 82(5): 1117-21].
Glaser et al also found that lymph cancer is significantly more likely in adults who were not infected with measles, mumps or rubella in childhood [In J Cancer 2005; 115(4): 599-605].
Gilham et al found that infants with the least exposure to common infections have the greatest risk of developing childhood leukemia [BMJ 2005; 330: 1294].
Urayama et al also found that early exposure to infections is protective against leukemia [Int J Cancer 2011; 128(7): 1632-43].

 
  "It is well known that measles is an important development milestone in the life and maturing processes in children.  Why would anybody want to stop or delay the maturation processes of children and of their immune systems?"--Viera Scheibner
"people who contracted a typical case of red measles as children are 35 per cent less likely to develop Parkinson’s, a nervous system disorder marked by slowness of movement, shaking, stiffness, and in the later stages, loss of balance."  (from a press release from the University of California - Berkeley issued on Friday, 20 July 2012)*
A reduced risk of Parkinson's disease was associated with most childhood viral infections. The negative association was statistically significant for a history of measles prior to college entrance Am J Epidemiol 1985. Measles infection and Parkinson's disease.
"Chronic tendencies, such as recurring respiratory infections, often heal after measles. Chronic health problems disappear, such as psoriasis or chronic kidney problems. The children’s hospital in Basle (Switzerland) used to get children with chronic kidney infections to contract measles intentionally in order to heal them, up until the 1960s . Children susceptible to infections are healthier and stronger after contracting measles; the need for medical treatment clearly decreases . Children in the Third World countries are less likely to contract malaria and parasites after measles . The risk to suffer breast cancer decreases to less than half. MS is also much lower in people who had measles. Hay fever is more rare in children who have older siblings and had measles than in those who were vaccinated against measles .  A large African study showed that children who have had measles are 50% less at risk from allergies than those vaccinated,. Furthermore it is shown that experiencing measles protects from diseases of the immune system, skin diseases as well as degenerative cartilage, bone and tumourous diseases."----Anita Petek-Dimmer
"In Eastern medical philosophy, poisons are believed to accumulate in the baby's body during life in the womb. After birth, the body at some time attempts to rid itself of the poisons. This leads to the many childhood diseases with eruptive rashes, and in particular, measles. Since the 16th century, it has been realized in Eastern medicine that measles is connected with infection. However the basic function of the disease is the same: the infection is regarded as the necessary agent for poisons to "come out". So, although the dangers of measles are clear, the illness is seen as a step towards overall health.
    Measles as a transition. The impact of measles can be best understood by observing changes in your child's behaviour, attention and attitude before and after the illness. Often, he or she is restless and irritable for some weeks or months before developing measles as though a storm is brewing. The family and other people around the child often greet the appearance of measles with relief, because at last the cause of the problem is evident. As the rash develops, and the disease goes into its second stage, the child becomes more confused and irrational. This is the most dangerous phase, and it represents the transition point.
    At this time, the body turns the corner as the poison leaves and the immune system gains the upper hand against the invaders. Then, as the crisis passes and the fever subsides, the child's awareness returns -- but with a different outlook. The negative and irritable behaviour has gone, and he or she is emotionally delicate and open to new influences. The child sees ordinary and familiar things in life for the first time, but through new eyes, as though he or she has had a form of ritual experience. 
On the physical level, the poisons accumulated during life the womb have been expelled. At the higher emotional and mental levels, negative forces such as greed and selfishness have also been expelled. So a child who has measles is afterwards less self-centered and more openhearted, and often more able to express his or her individuality. The personality becomes rounder and fuller, and more joyful and contented, as a step towards maturity and adulthood." Natural Medicine For Children by Julian Scott
Normal and naturally occurring childhood diseases are, in my opinion, a very necessary rite of passage for children. On a deeper soul level, I truly believe they need to "suffer" through them. We all had chicken pox and measles and we came out just fine. With proper care and support, the human body does its best to take care of itself. Childhood illness is a soul cleansing process necessary for the full and complete development of the child. From a spiritual perspective, childhood illnesses are the means by which the individual adapts her inherited body to her own needs and as a result, her body can become an increasingly adapted and adequate instrument for the tasks which she has set herself on earth and which will unfold in the future. 
    We must also consider that illness is a very important time of growth for the child. From the book Natural Childhood: "Illness in childhood has an important role to play in building up the child's immune system for healthy adulthood. So we must ALLOW the child to be ill and then give her enough time to convalesce thoroughly."  Some words from Kytka
"In Annals of Tropical Paediatrics, [53] the following case is reported: 1984 a 5 year-old girl presented with a bad case of psoriasis. She showed large affected areas on her body and extremities, also involving to a significant degree her scalp. During the following year she was treated by Pediatricians and Dermatologists with coal tar preparations, local steroids, UV light, and dithranol wraps. Despite these therapies and two hospitalizations, the psoriasis was refractory and remained essentially unchanged until she came down with measles. As the measles rash began to spread over her skin, the psoriasis disappeared. Since then she has been free of psoriasis."--Thomas Quak,
"After contracting measles and other childhood illnesses (e.g.. chickenpox, scarlet fever, whooping cough, rubella, mumps and may be others), it has been widely accepted by many health practitioners, including experienced orthodox paediatricians that this is often beneficial for the general health of many children. Specifically it has been shown that children contracting measles naturally were less likely to suffer from allergic conditions such as asthma, eczema and hayfever, (Lancer June 29 1996)."---Trevor Gunn BSc
"Most parents today find it quite difficult to understand why they have to have their child vaccinated against this  particular disease (measles) when their mothers used to organise measles parties to ensure all the children of the family had it!"   In fact a mild dose of measles stimulates the immature immune system, in the correct sequence, to develop naturally, thereby strengthening the child generally."--Christina J Head MCH Rs. Hon
"Experiencing the measles actually strengthens the immune system.  If measles is experienced generation after generation the disease gets weaker in its manifestation and becomes stronger in the identifying properties of the DNA/RNA chain.  This passes on a permanent immunity to future generations from that particular lineage.   If there is a virgin population that has never experienced the disease, then these individuals have a more likely chance of having more severe complications of that illness.   Measles, along with, chickenpox, smallpox, any herpes, ringworm is a Tubercular Miasm."--Phyllis (AVN list)
"the process of recovering from the natural disease also "primes" the organism nonspecifically to respond promptly and efficiently to other micro-organisms in the future. A crucial step in the maturation of a healthy immune system, the ability to mount a vigorous, acute response to infection unquestionably represents a major ingredient of optimum health and well-being in general.....................It has taken us many centuries of adaptation and "herd immunity" to convert it into an ordinary childhood disease, such that, when I first encountered it at the age of 6, nonspecific mechanisms were already in place to help me deal with it effectively. In that historical sense, the permanent immunity acquired by recovery from the natural disease represents an absolute net gain for the total health of the race as well. However the vaccines act inside the human body, true natural immunity or any other qualitative benefit cannot be ascribed to them: their effectiveness is a mere statistic, and the resulting "immunity" a narrowly defined technicality."---Richard Moskowitz, M.D.(Vaccination: A Sacrament of Modern Medicine
"Relation between psoriasis and measles" (Z. Hautkr., vol. 57, no. 6, March 15, 1982, pp. 439-40 [article in German]): Psoriatics with measles in the history had a light type of psoriasis and low titers of measles antibodies; psoriatics without measles in the history, however, had severe types of psoriasis, and the titers of measles antibodies were high."
In the majority of children the whole episode has been well and truly over in a week, from the prodromal phase to the disappearance of the rash, and many mothers have remarked “how much good the attack has done their children,”as they seem so much better after the measles. . . In this practice measles is considered as a relatively mild and inevitable childhood ailment that is best encountered any time from 3 to 7 years of age. Over the past 10 years there have been few serious complications at any age, and all children have made complete recoveries. As a result of this reasoning no special attempts have been made at prevention even in young infants in whom the disease has not been found to be especially serious. (Vital Statistics, British Medical Journal, February 7 1959, p. 381)  http://vaxtruth.org/2015/01/measles-benefits/
Occasional “spontaneous” tumor regressions of Hodgkin’s disease and Burkitt’s lymphoma have been documented after measles infections. Perhaps the most compelling was the case history of an 8 year old African boy who presented to a clinic in Uganda with a four month history of painless right orbital swelling. A biopsy specimen of the right retroorbital tumor was histologically diagnostic of Burkitt’s lymphoma but at the time of planned initiation of therapy, he was noted to have a generalized measles rash. On the same day, the right orbital tumor was noted to be regressing and because of the presumed measles infection, he was given no chemotherapy for the Burkitt’s lymphoma. During the course of the next two weeks, his rash disappeared and he seroconverted to measles. At the same time, the tumor regressed completely and remained in complete remission for at least four months after the measles infection in the absence of antineoplastic therapy. The mechanism underlying the rapid tumor regression that was observed in this remarkable case history was never elucidated but Burkitt’s lymphomas are known to express high levels of SLAM and are therefore susceptible to infection by wild-type measles viruses. The timing of the regression, coinciding with the period during which measles virus burden and measles-induced immunosuppression are at their peak, supports the contention that the tumor cells were directly destroyed by the virus. (citation: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3926122/)   http://vaxtruth.org/2015/01/measles-benefits/
Spontaneous regression of primary progressive Hodgkin’s lymphoma in a pediatric patient: A case report and review of literature http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1658387613000642  
SR of Hodgkin’s lymphoma is extremely uncommon and only 16 cases have been reported in the literature. Among the 16 reported cases of SR, most were of the mixed cellularity subtype, while five cases occurred in children following measles infection   http://vaxtruth.org/2015/01/measles-benefits/nb