Or robeysilver.com/

My fault it is www.robeysilver.com/silveraid/contactus.... again my apologies.

Nothing on roby.com . Its a domain sales or hosting service site, I think.

Be proactive and help maintain the immune system. Read about how with age your body can't absorb enough vitamins, minerals from foods and use supplements based on what your body tells you. Whne you have some knowledge then talk to a nutritionist who understands the pros and cons of alopathic medicine, and how to help the body deal with pollutants etc as it ages. You will be able to keep the body happier and the immune system stronger for a lot longer, and not have to suffer the horrors. Best wishes to you.

I am near the 70th mark, and still get carded to receive over 50 senior benefits in Florida when I visit. It makes my day every time, lol. I stay active and I try to take care of myself, and I can't remember when I was last on an antibiotic. So I think I have a strong immune system. As far as pneumonia goes, I think that susceptibility to it may depend on smoking and drinking in the past. Not always, but many people are harming themselves in ways they aren't aware of, until they are old. I'm not a gambler, but I do know that life is a crap shoot sometimes, so I will err on the side of prevention and precaution. I do know that most people get Shingles later on in their life, so I felt confident that this was the time for me to get it. I'm the matriarch of a lot of kids, so I don't want to be a burden before my time. ;-D

Remeber, the same government that told you that EVERYBODIES healthcare was going to drop $2500 a year and that you would be able to keep your Doctor ALSO tells you that you need to buy this shot, FOR YOUR OWN GOOD. Sure.

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My mother had the shingles. I’m not denying it’s painful, I’m just pondering whether getting the shot and avoiding the shingles is as beneficial as letting nature run it’s course. There doesn’t seem to be any long-term damage from suffering from the shingles (on average the symptoms last 4-6 weeks), and by letting nature take it’s course. and I gain the benefit of having actual evidence of exactly when my immune system hass weaken to a point that I can’t rely on it. Someone around here ask why old people are more prone to catching pneumonia. Well, this is why. Their immune system have aged to the point of being non- effective, causing too much work for the respiratory system to handle on it’s own. Their lungs fill up with fluid much easier than someone who has a working immune system. There isn’t any test that I know of that can tell you that your immune system is compromised.other than developing an auto-immune disease or in this case-developing a case of shingles. If I cross the Rubicon, I want to know it.

I guess I’m just a tough cookie, or a gambler or maybe a bit of both. ;) I also am still thinking about this. It does look incredibly painful. I intend to make up my mind about this soon since I have hit the fifty-mark.

Mimi, I've heard many horror stories about the pain and suffering of Shingles, but never reached a conclusion until I watched my father suffer horribly in his early sixties with the Shingles, and at that time, there wasn't a vaccine. It made me a believer. Medicare doesn't pay for this vaccine, but I didn't care. I researched it, consulted with my doctor, and paid out of pocket. It was painless, and I never had any side effects, (same with the flu shots). I figure there will be ample medical issues to research, as I age without the Shingles.

About the shingle vac: I have thought not to get it. The virus emerges when your immune system weakens enough for it to leave it’s dormant hiding place. I almost feel gaining the empirical knowledge of exactly when your immune system has weakened due to age is almost worth suffering through a nasty bout of shingles.

Do you remember whether or not there was an age-factor to the study?

I notice that the only people who I knew that were getting the flu were people who ended up getting the flu shot. When I would ask them about this they always responded the same way-- that they were fully protected but they had contracted a different strain. Either way, I’ve always avoided getting a flu shot because I think it makes you more vulnerable based on my observations. I haven’t had the flu in thirty years.

"Is the flu vaccine lobby that powerful?"

Yes. It's the most powerful lobby in American history. I know - I have cashed in on it.

"At times like these, when men's fat little comforts are threatened you can be sure that science is the first thing they abandon." I'm typing that out of memory. Anybody else remember it from Atlas Shrugged?

Same here. The only time I ever got a flu shot, the entire IT department got it the same day. Three of us (two guys, one gal) were sick for the next two days. The other guy? He refused the vaccine.

And I've never gotten the vaccine since.

Haven't taken flu shoot since 2003 and no flu since. Make sure Vitamin D, 25(OH)D, level is between 50-80 ng/ml and 1 to 2 tsp of Now Foods liquid omega-3 per day.

Yes, it is common. Thank you for the insightful query - it made me go and look up 'why'. The CDC says that about 30% of the elderly have been vaccinated against Strep pneumo, so while the vaccine is easily available (and has been for decades...at least I remember hearing about it when I was still working in a lab, and that was 20 years ago) it is not universally used. The other reason is that Strep pneumo is not the only cause of pneumonia - other strains of bacteria can cause it, as can viruses - Strep pneumo is merely the most common cause.

Jan

I have. I took one at 50, and had another at 65. One is usually enough but after 65 I had it again. I have had a flu shot every year for 20 years, and I just had the Shingles shot this year. I had the Hepatitis B shots, along with my staff at a school in Miami. When you are living in a large area with a lot of students from other countries, you are crazy not to vaccinate. Google the "Great Flu Pandemic of 1918." It killed 50 million. Young adults were the hardest hit. Do the math.

I got one flu shot, swine flu, years ago, and thought I would die. I found out I was allergic to eggs and my brain swelled. Every year my doctor, who never met a drug he did not like, offers me the shot, and is reminded of my allergy. A friend took the flu shot a few years back, became paralyzed, and spent months in the hospital rehabbing. I always think of Gate's remark about thinning the population, "Vaccines are the way to go." Eerie.
A few years ago, my husband went through Atlanta when H1N1 was popping up, came home with it. Gave it to me. When I talked to our doctor, he said no, if we had nausea, it was not flu. I gave him an article saying it certainly was part of H1N1. I told him I was not coming in, as there were sick people in the office, and I could not take any of his anti-flu meds, as I was allergic to penicillin., That was the only flu I had in years, and we did survive it.
It is not just flu vaccines, it is cures for a lot of diseases which will never happen. Charter fund raising organizations for specific diseases collect billions of dollars to find cures, yet curing them would mean they would lose their charters and the billions that went with them. Follow the money.