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Saturday, October 24, 2009

Fascinating Video On Dystonia

First off, let me start by saying it's always a good idea, considering the source, to take this with a grain of salt. News magazine shows like Inside Edition and A Current Affair made their reputations by making mountains out of molehills and vice versa. This is, after all, the birthplace of Bill O'Reilly.

The video tells the story of a young woman who, after getting a routine flu shot in August, developed dystonia 10 days later. It is a very interesting video. Unfortunately, all versions of the original video have been tampered with. At about the two minute mark, the audio has been altered to make it sound like they're saying that this SHOULD discourage people from getting the flu shot. This was not the case. Of all the videos and news stories on Youtube I found, Inside Edition actually had the least sensationalizing story available. Other "respected" news agencies were actually questioning whether flu shots were safe. This video focused more on her unusual symptoms, which is what I wanted to share:



The human body is an amazing thing. It works in mysterious, and often, misunderstood ways. This woman's symptoms disappear only while she is running. Mine disappear only when I am singing. I didn't start to notice my Tourette's tics until I was 31. By definition, Tourette's Syndrome must be diagnosed before the patient is 18. It develops in childhood. At this time, clinically, "adult onset Tourette's Syndrome" does not exist.

What I am saying is there is always a precedent. A young woman develops a severe, and extremely rare, neurological condition after a routine flu shot. It may never happen again, and probably won't, but it's possible. Anything is possible. For all we know she could have developed rabies from the flu shot, not likely, but possible. There is always room for a precedent. Never rule out a possibility, and just because something rare happens to an unlucky individual, don't think it's going to happen to you too. The odds of you dying from Swine Flu are far greater than you being diagnosed with dystonia after getting that flu shot. And frankly, I like those odds.

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