That's interesting Lucy as I was just told the bovine component was taken out and it was now completely plant drived... *she goes off to make another call*
Printable View
That's interesting Lucy as I was just told the bovine component was taken out and it was now completely plant drived... *she goes off to make another call*
Yeah, its tricky. Becasue phytomenadione (pure Vit K) can be totally plant derived. I think the issue is the solution it is made into to make it suitable/stable for administering (oral or via a needle.) So its the additives that are the "issue"? Dunno.
(My mind is spinning between my studies in nutrition and my experiences as a Mummy! LOL!)
For the life of me I cannot remember if my same OB gave me the info again with Lexie: cannot remember, so it may be that when he gave it to me when pg with Charlie Chuckles that it was current info then (mid year 2005) but it has since changed?
It doesn't bother me at all if it was derived from cow bile - quite frankly if it was necessary for my child that would be the only thing that mattered. There are a lot worse things out there that that (i would prefer cow bile that some sythetically made stuff anyway)
And people eat in their foods a lot worse things - gelatin is gross (but you can get synethic ones.. a lot of gel caps in tablets are with bovine gelatin). Some red food colouring is made from crushed insect wings.. and people eat that every day!
How many people know the derivative of every single drug in the market - how many gps and pharmactists (and even vitamins you take - like glycosamine is from shark), tell you it for anything? If they are a good pharmacist they will tell you how to take it, and what side effects etc. It seems like this thread isn't to inform, but to try and and stir up feelings against Vit-K (and i'm not debating when/if it should be given), and obs freely giving out information.
There are more important things i think people should be told, like that Anti-D is a blood product dervivative for example, that would be a bigger concern to me.
In regards to Jewish people and prostgladins and anything else pig, shellfish etc derived, there is absolutely nothing what-so-ever wrong with it. My FIL had a pig valve put into his heart last year, and i would happily have every single one of my organs replaced with pig organs if need be (well, happy because Jewishly its not an issue.. personally i like my organs the way they are :) ). You can even have pig tissue used in plastic surgery if you wanted. The issue is eating pig (or shellfish or lots of other non-kosher things).. Whats more, you are actually obligated to eat these things if your health is in danger - I would eat bacon 3 times a day if i needed it.
But my DH just asked me, how do they collect the pig semen anyway? You wouldn't want to put that on your business card would you ;)
I just splurted coffee over my keyboard when I read that sweets! Thanks for the giggle!:
But my DH just asked me, how do they collect the pig semen anyway? You wouldn't want to put that on your business card would you
Shannon - thats ok, (i wasn't trying to shoot anyone down, just a lot of people don't know) and you would be suprise how many Jewish people don't know it.. I found out a lot by helping FIL research his options for his transplant.
Lucy - really sorry about the keyboard! I did it once to my computer screen (also reading something on BB!)... I suggest a damp sponge! :)
Okay I contacted the manufacturer via a pharmacist friend re: the vitamin K injection. The statement is that this drug and its suspension is 100 per cent from plant derived sources. There are no animal products contained in the current vit. K injection given to babies...
There was a bovine source in the past and it is no longer so according to manufacturers.
I have no problem with it whatsoever. All my children have had it so far and I have already signed the consent for my 4th, unborn, child to have it too. The way I see it, is that yes, there is a miniscule risk of my baby having a problem from not having it - but it is still a risk I am not prepared to take. I was never informed about what is in it but it would have made no difference to me anyway.
From the content of some of the previous posts, it isn't even an issue anymore as cow bile is apparently no longer used. So the question doesn't even need to be raised anymore. I don't think that by making a statement "Vitamin K is made from Cow bile" will have parents up in arms about it and objecting to it.
TBH i find cow bile no more offensive an idea than rennet and we eat a lot of cheese in this house. My mum had to take Premarin for years - that's oestrogens derived from the urine of pregnant mares which are kept in pretty awful (fed and cared for but unable to move much) conditions. She had no choice as it was the only effective drug at the time which she was able to take that prevented her bones thinning to a critical level.
As people above have said - cochineal is bugs, yogurt is bacteria-ridden milk, gelatin is bones and skin boiled down to goop!
At least cow bile can (theoretically) be extracted from the cow without killing it first. I guess this might be more of an issue if one is vegan, but i'm not even vegetarian, so i'm unafraid of the random animal products/parts.
Bec
How cool - you learn something everyday. Love it! Great discussion ladies :)
I told my mum about this today - she tells me she gave her patient Vit-K yesterday (she is a nurse), and they use it not just on babies but on adults to.
Yael... love your previous post & your DH comments.
Reminds me of Yariv when we first went out. We went to a pizza place in St Kilda - and he ordered ham for his pizza.
I said "I thought you don't eat ham" -
he said "I don't"...
I said "that's ham" results in a discussion and confirmation from the pizza guy that it was ham...
and Yariv says "it's really yummy!".
I said "what did you think it was???"....
he says "shredded meat".
d'oh!!!!
now we call it "kosher ham"
Ooooh Deb, that is good info! Thanks!
Lucy I am fairly confident (I have learnt in life one can never be too sure!;)) that what I posted is accurate. I contacted a paed friend and a pharmacist friend and both phoned the practitioner only line of the manufacturer and were given the same info.
So, again, I am 99% sure that the info is correct for those people that may have been frightened by giving a new born a bovine product. For those who weren't it's just one of those interesting things to rack up to the knowledge base!
Deb - my MIL is a pharmacist. I can check with her - and if its 3/3 i would say you are right.
They have often called the manafacturers, or the pharmacy departments at hospitals for me to find out to composition of drugs (normally what type of gelatin for religious reasons - i can take animal geletin if need be, but if you can take the same thing without it then you should)
Good idea Yael - the more info the more informed we are! Thanks... :hug:
I can give you the product sheet that actually says there is bovine bile acids in there
a link I'm sure Kelly won't have a problem with, just in case you want to give me a black mark or whatever it is.
Shannon, I think there is a difference between giving someone a life saving medication no matter what it is derived from and giving a healthy newborn something they don't need. As you can see if you check the ingredients it also contains hydrochloric acid. It's about weighing up advantages over disadvantages and being aware of everything not just part of the story.
Lisa Barrett
Quite a few injections contain hydochloric acid - including local anesethics. It's to change the pH of the injections - and i guarantee everything has passed through the TGA, so why try and scare people?:
As you can see if you check the ingredients it also contains hydrochloric acid.
- thats a matter on opinion, everybody weighs up stats differently and decides what is worth taking a risk on (i.e. not giving and they might have needed it, vs. giving maybe unnecessarily).. just because you state they don't need it doesn't make it fact.:
healthy newborn something they don't need
It can be helpful to bare in mind Sirrhoko tht it is YOUR opinion that vitamin K is unnceccesary. There are times when it may be necessary or in another persons opinion it may be necessary.
Let's share information and own our personal opinions - being aware that our opinions will often differ from others... :hug: