Beware of questionable cures!

[jensequitur]

The re-emergence of the old Progurt post reminded me of an experience I wanted to share with you guys.

I have a friend whose mom is constantly falling for the new mystic cure.  Crystals, colloidal silver, light therapy, color therapy, every single fringe medical theory out there, she's bought into it.  Just recently my friend's mom (we'll call her E) asked me if she could come over and talk to me about something.  She didn't tell me what it was, but she caught me at a party while doing something else, so I said sure.

Well, E came over to the house, and started asking me about MS, and how I was doing.  I gave her the general gist.  So she pulls out something that looks like a silver ballpoint pen and starts waving it around.  She tells me that this is a wand filled with crystals and minerals and other unspecified substances (in other words, B.S.) that was developed in Thailand using medical technology not available to us here in the US.  E says that they haven't gotten medical approval for it from the FDA because it's technology that the Western world doesn't understand.  She also says that waving this wand at problem areas will 'cure' whatever ailment that is in the area.  To top it all off, she said that it was active up to 30 ft.

As you can imagine, my eyebrows were so far up that they should have been over on the back of my head.  I couldn't believe that I was being subjected to this sales pitch!

She asked me if she could use it on me, and I told her no flat-out.  "Why?" she wailed.  "It's just not good science!" I told her.  

I could have gone on.  I've gotten even worse at stringing sentences together than I used to be, and I was so mad I was afraid I wouldn't be coherent.  

There's several things that you should always watch out for with new medical products that you're not sure of.

• The tonic, tincture or technological device is touted as a cure-all for a wide range of ailments.

• The product is called a 'scientific breakthrough', 'miraculous cure', 'exclusive product', 'secret ingredient', 'ancient remedy' or other far-fetched term.

• The manufacturer claims the government, medical profession or scientists have conspired to suppress the treatment.

• Ads for the remedy rely on a lot of impressive-sounding, yet incomprehensible medical jargon to disguise the lack of scientific research supporting the product.

• Undocumented case histories are used to claim amazing results.

• The drug or device is only available from one source.

• Payment is required in advance.

• The promoter promises a money-back guarantee. (Good luck getting your money back from a fly-by-night operator.)

[jensequitur]

My mother-in-law told me about helminthic therapy, which is whipworms, I think.  Certainly they're not necessarily harmful, but I'm not cool with parasites living inside of me.  And unless they show me some real hard evidence that this would totally eliminate all neurological symptoms, then I'm out!

[HVAC]

My favorite is my best friend bought these sunglasses with bright lights which are supposed to cure your brain of anything. I almost died laughing. She is to young for the Movie Brainstorm, the guy who invented them obviously saw the movie. She also has a friend from Hungary who will exorcise me for a fee.

Another friend wants me to eat parasites, porcine roundworms, because German pig farmers do not get MS. You are to only have seven in your system which is quiet a trick and they are bred in some man's gut. I would rather die.

My ex acupuncturists cure MS as well.

At a party some guy read a book about electrical fields which cure everything even MS.

No one knows what MS is but all these amateurs can cure it usually for a price.

Alex

[Wobbly]

I have friends and family that come up with some real weird cures... I just say yah yah... hahaha

take care
wobbly

[Sumanadevii]

There are more and more miracle cures....People are desperate to believe anything.

The Vatican is investigating a woman that claims she went by stretcher to a shrine at Knock and walked out...cured, of course.  Then a man was healed from MS by the dirt at Lourdes.

It isn't just Thailand folks.

[zenhound]

So true. I think it ***** that sick people end up getting fleeced like this. They actually did a story on This American Life about the hookworm guy and how that's supposed to cure all kinds of stuff. Wonderful of them to give him free advertizing and not really give room for actual scientists to talk. Sigh.

I am a believer in yogurt and probiotics in terms of digestive health. I definitely notice a difference when I am eating my home made yogurt regularly versus when I'm not, but how anyone could claim that could help MS is beyond me.