Vaccines, Autoimmunity, and the Changing Nature of Childhood Illness

“Tom Cowan belongs to a different breed of physician, one who makes an alternative assumption: that nature is not hostile, dangerous, and imperfect, but is infused with wisdom.” —Sally Fallon Morell, from the foreword

One doctor’s answer to the epidemic of autoimmunity and chronic disease—for the reader willing to look beyond the vax/anti-vax debate and delve deeper into the latest research in medicine, parenting, the microbiome, and more 

Ask any parent: it’s hard to see your child struggle. And yet, experts tell us that a certain amount of adversity helps children develop problem solving techniques and resilience, crucial emotional traits for living in today’s complex world.

What if the same is true for a child’s developing immune system?

During a decades-long family practice, Tom Cowan, MD, author of Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby and Childcare, noticed big differences in the health of children who were vaccinated versus those who weren’t. In Vaccines, Autoimmunity, and the Changing Nature of Childhood Illness, Cowan builds off his own observations and looks at emerging evidence that acute childhood disease can prevent chronic health problems. 

For readers of Let Them Eat Dirt and An Epidemic of Absence, Cowan describes all the benefits of childhood illness, including:

-Training and strenghtening of the immune system

-Protecting against illness later in life

-Supporting a child's growth and self-awareness

“We have traded a temporary reduction in innocuous childhood illnesses,” Cowan writes, “for a lifetime of toxicity, chronic disease, clouding of the spiritual world, and loss of self-confidence in our ability to heal without intervention. . . . My hope is that this book helps [with a] reevaluation and gently nudges more of us toward a way of life aligned with the development of free, autonomous, and spiritually aware human beings.”