Mom chooses not to have baby immunized

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My daughter had a baby recently, a beautiful baby girl. Now I have found out that she does not want her baby immunized against all the common childhood diseases. I discussed it with her, but she said she feels they are not necessary. I am sure that when the girl is old enough to go to school, she will face a problem because she isn’t immunized. Will you expand on the pros and cons of immunizations? — C.G.

ANSWER: Of all the benefits that medical science has brought to humans, nothing has done more for us than immunizations (vaccines). I can’t deny that some have suffered complications from vaccines, but those numbers are strikingly small compared with the numbers of people who have been protected from illnesses that can kill or seriously and permanently damage bodies. Your daughter did not live when polio was rampant. She did not see hospital wards full of adults and young children in iron lungs. She might not appreciate that people she sees limping on muscle-damaged legs are victims of polio, a disease that is now rarely seen in the developed world, thanks to vaccines. Smallpox, once a worldwide killer, no longer exists. The congenital malformations caused by the virus of German measles are no longer a problem. Whooping cough used to take its toll on babies. It no longer is the threat it was. The list goes on and on.

I know your daughter is choosing this path because she believes she is protecting her daughter. She really isn’t. If she talks with the baby’s doctor, maybe the doctor can convince her that her choice is not in the baby’s best interest.

State laws differ on their requirements for which vaccines are needed for entrance into school. A local school or doctor can provide your daughter with that information. If parents have a religious or personal reluctance to having their children immunized, they can be excused, but they have to follow the state’s explicit instructions.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Will you write about a left bundle branch block? I have it but do not understand the situation. — C.C.

ANSWER: In the upper part of the heat is a little power plant called the pacemaker. It generates an electric signal. That signal has to reach the two lower heart chambers. It causes them to contract and pump blood out of the heart. The right ventricle pumps blood into the lungs so that it can pick up oxygen. The left ventricle pumps fully oxygenated blood to the body.

The electric signal reaches the ventricles through two cables — the bundles. There’s a right and left bundle; each respectively conducts electricity to its corresponding ventricle.

With a bundle branch block, there’s an obstruction in the bundle. The signal has to take a detour to reach the ventricle. That means that the contraction of the involved ventricle is a bit late, but not so late that a person notices that anything is wrong. The only evidence that this is occurring is found on an EKG tracing.

A left bundle branch block is often a sign that the heart suffers from a condition that might not need immediate attention, but it should put a person on warning to do all the heart-healthy things that can be done. Drop some pounds if overweight, lower cholesterol if its high, maintain near-normal blood pressure, stop smoking, become as active as the doctor permits, and on and on.

If the electric signal faces a complete blockage, where the signal cannot reach either ventricle, then an artificial pacemaker is required. You don’t face such treatment now, and you might never. Most people with this condition do not.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am turning to surgery to get rid of the bags under my eyes. I was told to try cucumbers, tea bags and even ice. Nothing works. Am I right? — J.T.

ANSWER: Those bags are globules of fat that have pushed through the retaining wall that’s supposed to keep them in place. I know of nothing, other than surgery, that gets rid of them.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.