Feeling more than a pinch from RFK Jr.'s germ theory denial
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So why is Kennedy allowing the disposal of this treasure trove of biological samples that could lead to many more insights into the development of human ailments and could prove his theories correct? Tragically, because of political divisiveness or vindictiveness, there may be much that we will never learn about the causes of cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
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Can anyone help Kennedy understand the incongruity of his actions? When will Congress step in and prevent further damage to research that could actually help make Americans healthy, as Kennedy claims he wants to do?
Sharon Schumack
Watertown
Health secretary misses a key truth of germ theory
In his article
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Germ theory doesn't deny the importance of factors such as good nutrition and overall physical fitness in maintaining good health. It asserts what is a well-established scientific fact: that specific diseases are linked to specific microbes infecting the human body. Both notions can be true.
Kennedy is right in citing important determinants of health apart from microbes invading the body. These factors may in fact be essential in determining the course of a disease and its final outcome subsequent to the specific microbes entering the body.
Jim Cain
Wakefield
Eat right, get exercise … tell that to the Mayans
Five hundred years ago, a thriving Aztec civilization of 16 million people in Mexico was devastated within a short time by Hernán Cortés and his 500 men from Spain.
Europeans also brought their diseases to what is now the United States, including reportedly deliberately infecting Indigenous people, with the same devastating results.
World history would have been very different if only these people in the Americas had eaten the right foods, exercised sufficiently, and promoted better sanitation practices.
Marilyn Levin
Arlington
Does RFK Jr. have an Rx for the times we live in?
So, according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., if I eat my veggies and avoid stress, I will not need a vaccine from Moderna or any other drugmaker to fight any new bird flu mutations. Regular exercise, three salads a day, and abstinence from exposure to news of atrocities from the Trump administration should keep me and my octogenarian friends in good health?
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Sorry, I'm not buying that bridge.
Rosemary Jones
Jamaica Plain
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