Years ago I took a Nutrition course at a local college. The teacher was a member of the Society to Prevent Quackery. We had long discussions about how individuals are taken in by those with no real substantiated research regarding whatever it is they are touting (and benefited financially from their claims), whether it be a product or service that was diet, fitness, medically related or otherwise.
It was a very interesting class and one that I wish others had taken. One of the facts that I found interesting was that the most highly educated, including physicians and nurses can be victims to quackery. Often, bogus claims include qualified researched information mixed with claims that are unsubstantiated. I have a friend that is a PhD in Nutrition. Upon reading a book on “the diet of the week”, he admitted it was even hard for him to separate the facts from the fictions.
We all know that there are times when those that have made unsubstantiated claims have later been proven correct. That can make it enticing to follow someone that makes “passionate” claims about a product, test, diet or treatment.
I worked at a Health food store for a short time. While there, I heard every type of claim, cure or treatment that you could imagine. It was actually scary to me. People would come in with all kinds of conditions from heart disease to MS to cancer. One of the owners was the “so called” expert on the products. He would “advise” people on products to alleviate, prevent or treat these conditions.
The truth was, the “expert” was a cocaine addict that was in the beginnings of recovery. I was never able to discern how that made him an “expert. Still people came to him as they would their physician. Also, just about every product around claimed to give people energy. I had to conclude we are really very tired people because the “give you energy” business is huge!
You might expect that the elderly often fall victim to charlatans touting bogus treatments but we are all at risk. I have found fitness people to be particularly at risk.
I personal trained a Naturopathic physician that was practicing illegally in Texas. I am not totally against alternative medicine but I question the qualifications of many that are in practice. This person was not only practicing illegally but treating people for conditions that he did not even fully understand. He once asked me what thrombosis was. Now I am no physician but I can easily tell you what it is, and he was treating people with life threatening conditions? He also treated people with minerals. They can be very toxic in large doses. Another time he diagnosed a trainer I know with a “hemia” and suggested a coffee enema. What the heck is a hemia?
I asked a physician about it and he just laughed. I looked it up to no avail. I did find a plant (not a condition) with the word Hemia it. Here is a description:
Many of the treatments/tests that people are taken in by, they turn to when they have issues that have not been cured by traditional medicine. Sometimes they don’t understand the underlying cause of things that are happening to them (ie: insomnia, memory issues, lack of energy, weight issues etc). These treatments/tests promise an answer or a cure.
Hair analysis has become popular and I have known a number of fitness enthusiasts that have taken the tests and been given treatments based on them. Here are two articles you might want to read about the efficacy of hair analysis as a diagnostic tool.
Recently, the research that created the much touted belief that autism was caused from a childhood vaccine, has been discounted.
Coral Calcium was “big” for awhile. It was used for a variety of conditions from MS to HIV. I have to wonder how much money was made on this supplement?
It is interesting to see how the sellers of these products work their way around the NIH guidelines to still tout their products in a way that will lure people to buy.
I do blame the medical community for some of this. People need to be informed but also listened to. We need to be heard, we need answers and most of all we need their time. Charlatans are much better at this than those in our current medical community. You feel understood. That is very alluring.
The medical community has also come under fire for pushing products, from pharmaceuticals to medical devices that increase their profits. It becomes difficult for the average person to know who to trust.
I guess the point I am trying to make is two-fold:
First, to recognize that there is a lot of false information out there and often it is presented by people that are seemingly “experts” but benefit financially from their opinions. Be careful! It is your body, your health at risk.
Second, we have to become educated consumers on health issues. It is worth our time to look at the substantiated research, get second opinions and do our best to get information from experts that we trust and have no financial gain from their opinions. Unfortunately, for all of us, that is not as easy as it sounds.
