Dr. Lauren Hughes

“Time to scrub your skeleton!”

Me to my kids when I brush their teeth

Every time I don a piece of KC branded clothing (which is basically daily), I think about how Kansas City is the only place where locals dress like tourists.

If an expert explains something to you that’s in their area of expertise that you don’t understand it, it doesn’t make it not true.

It’s okay for science not to make sense to you if you aren’t a scientist.

I don’t understand how planes fly, but I trust that the pilot does.

My best litmus test for if you can trust the advice of the health professional speaking?

Check their links/website. If they sell their own supplements, supplement packs, and/or parasite cleanses…

Run.

Can we stop pretending that Bobby/the anti-vax industry would be 100% on board with vaccines if they were placebo controlled? Covid was placebo controlled, double blinded, RCT with thousands of participants. But ya ain’t gonna find him recommending it.

Instagram comments turned me off the app this weekend and into making this mug. drlaurenhughes.com

I built this Lego robot for my son and honestly it’s v cute

This is why we are worried. Not because we don’t want rigorous safety standards (which already exist), but because we don’t want kids to needlessly die from preventable diseases.
Kids used to regularly die from meningitis and pneumonia, but that drastically declined thanks to PCV.

Pneumococcal (PCV) has gone from protecting against 13 strains of strep to 20 in our routine schedule just over the last several years. We don’t compare PCV20 to placebo because we have existing safe vaccines and it would be UNETHICAL to leave kids vulnerable and without protection.

Why this is so concerning is in the immediate - flu and COVID vaccines. We do not have time to run placebo controlled trials before next flu season, esp coming off a terrifyingly deadly flu season for kids - 216 kids died. The most in 15 years.

In the future - what about updated pneumococcal shots?

When we have a vaccine that is proven safe/effective, it’s morally & ethically wrong to withhold this from kids, which is why updated vaccines are tested against previous versions instead of placebo. We don’t want to know if it works against nothing, we want to know if it’s better than what we have.

“Why wouldn’t you want vaccines tested against placebos?”

THEY ARE! They are. That’s literally part of clinical trials.

Why this is infuriating is it creates a narrative that there’s no safety testing, which is categorically false.
Vaccines are rigorously safety tested because WE care about kids

Additionally, who is going to volunteer for these studies?

Parents who want their kids vaccinated and risk getting a placebo?

Parents who don’t want their kids vaccinated and risk giving them a vaccine?

Where are the patients going to come from?

Let’s rephrase this to apply to other safety features.
New air bag? Compare a crash against a car without airbags
New helmet? Have kids wreck and compare to kids without a helmet.
New car seat? Compare wrecks to kids who aren’t in any car seat.
Also the original vaccines were tested against placebo

This continues to be the biggest story in the country: DOGE has already squandered half a trillion dollars in 6 weeks. Not billion. half a trillion, $500 billion talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/irs-p...

One of my biggest parenting wins is that my kids do not know Chuck E. Cheese exists.

I told my kids it was time to go and they all started singing “tv off” and I feel like this is a monumental parenting win

“Don’t yuck other people’s yums” is a lesson we’re utilizing for our kids in general and not just about food and it’s v helpful.

This is why I always and only recommend having a pediatric anesthesiologist present when doing general anesthesia for dental care. Thankfully in KC we have a mobile group that does just that.

97% of the nearly 500 confirmed cases of measles are in unvaccinated individuals.

Know what else is 97%? Your protection from measles after 2 doses of the MMR vaccine.

Happy Severance Finale Day to all who celebrate.

Reminder that no one who hears a baby screaming on a plane wants that baby to stop screaming more than their parents.

For all those who continue to ignore scientific truth…in the words of Galileo

Eppur si muovo

Oh shit. Shoulda googled lol

There is no indication or approval for hyperbaric oxygen for ADHD, nor does it make physiological sense. But of course this wellness center claims it helps a host of issues including “autoimmune” which is an umbrella term, not a specific disease. The wellness industry is beyond dangerous

I have a whole rant on my Instagram page about why he’s dangerous. But honestly, he’ll pair perfectly with RFK Jr to destroy what little good is left in American healthcare

Quinoa is grown all over now but 20 years ago it was almost unknown. USAID, working with countries in the Andean region, helped develop and popularize the nutritious grain, thereby raising living standards and reducing food insecurity. It’s just one example of what we’ve lost.

My SIL is a 2nd gen Irish gal and is part of the Irish dance academy and they’re called ‘Whimsical Skedaddlers’ and I think that’s v important information.

My parents both had measles and mumps. They vividly remember the pain from it. I remember scratching myself raw from chickenpox. I’m beyond grateful for science and that my children will never know these diseases.

One of my most vivid memories from childhood was the first day of second grade. My teacher had polio. She contracted it before the vaccine was available. It paralyzed her from her feet to her waist and showed us her atrophied legs. She explained why it happened and why we all were safe.#vaccinessave