Category: Altie Meds

Morgellons “disease” is not a disease in any classic sense. There are no agreed-upon definitions of a case, so all else is meaningless. That being said, people are suffering. Since they feel ignored by doctors, they seek help elsewhere.

It’s a problem in thinking, in some ways. When you don’t feel well, you should seek help from a professional and see what they think, rather than have a fixed idea of what’s wrong, and find a professional to confirm it. Otherwise, we wouldn’t need professionals. I could simply call my chest pain “Pal’s chest pain syndrome”, and, no matter what the doctors say, tell them they don’t get it.

Part of the problem is a natural consequence of medical practice. As physicians, we look for patterns. Yes, we care about individuals, but each patient also represents an example of particular diseases. This is how we end up with shorthand like “the MI in 6312”—it ignores certain details about the individual in favor of the pattern of their disease. When talking to a patient, she may be Mrs. Z., but when using the shorthand of medicine, she’s a classic MI, and needs a particular treatment based on medical evidence.

Some people are perhaps more sensitive to this depersonalization; others have personalities that are intolerant of believing they could be wrong. I’ll leave it to the psychiatrists.

What I can’t leave to the shrinks is the patient in my exam room. If she believes she has Morgellons, there isn’t all that much I will be able to do to relieve her suffering, because I won’t lie to her.

I have many patients with abdominal pain that has no known cause, and has never resulted in injury, but the patient is miserable. There are a lot of non-placebo remedies I can try to make them feel better. I don’t deny their pain—it’s real. I honestly tell them I don’t know the cause, but I’ll keep trying to make them feel better.

With problems like Morgellons, this approach is useless. Patients don’t just complain of discomfort—they know what is wrong, and nothing will dissuade them. Since I won’t lie to a patient, I can only tell them that I know they don’t feel well, and I’ll try to help them feel better—but I cannot allow them to think I buy in to their false interpretation of their symptoms.

But others will be happy to oblige them. For example, despite the absence of evidence that chronic fatigue syndrome is a viral illness, or that it responds to anti-viral therapy, there are doctors who are very compassionate and will treat you for your “viral problem”. The patients don’t get better from the treatment, but they occasionally get better spontaneously. More importantly, they have found someone who listens and believes them—which is too bad, because it’s all non-scientific bullshit, and costs a ton of cash.

Getting back to Morgellons, there are many who would, in direct contradistinction to a real doctor, profit off the fears of others. For example, one website, along with a Quack Miranda Warning, offers costly treatments for “ectoparasites”. The offer doesn’t say so, but implies that Morgellons sufferers should use their product. In the usual crooked fashion, they sell potions to cure parasites, but then say that, “These products are not sold as pediculicide nor scabicide.”

FDA! Were are you?!?

Having a mysterious ailment that people don’t believe in is problem enough. But you should be happy your doctor tells you the truth, rather than trying to fleece you. In this instance, good doctors know better than to feed delusions. It helps no one. Unfortunately, others are happy to feed delusions just to see how much money folks will cough up. They should be ashamed.

But of course, they have no shame.

I’m off to the west coast (of Michigan) for a few days, and if I don’t blog, I shall die…or something. So I have a few posts from my old blog to share with you.

Sure, we all have our biases about food and health. I think chicken soup is great when you’re sick—but not because of any proven biologic benefit. It just tastes and feels good, which is about the best you can expect in treating a cold.

But food claims are becoming more and more fanciful. There is a lot we do and don’t know about nutrition. Many of these fanciful claims seem to be centered on “immunity”. This is a word beloved of cult medicine. Cultists like to speak of various things “boosting immunity”, “enhancing immunity”, etc.

They have no idea what they are talking about…

Immunology was my favorite subject in medical school. The immune system is incredibly complex and fascinating. People tend to think about it as fighting off disease, but it’s activities are far more intricate. Immune responses can fight disease, or can kill you. It is so complex, that the terms “overactive” and “underactive” are essentially meaningless. Someone can have an auto-immune illness like multiple sclerosis, in which the immune system destroys certain parts of the nervous system, and at the same time be more susceptible to certain diseases. There is no “volume” switch, as such.

Much of this is because immunity has both specific and non-specific responses available to it. The immune system can recognize the antigens on a Staphylococcus bacterium causing a skin infection, and send troops in to kill it. Or, you can develop an inappropriate and overwhelming immune response known as “sepsis” and die.

Cultists tend to have a reductionist approach to their sales pitch. Something either “enhances” or “calms” the immune system, whatever that means.

Actually, one of my favorite statements comes from our buddy Gary Null’s website.

There are two things about the immune system which everyone has had instilled upon them and which we all now accept. Firstly, your immune system is directly related to your genitals which are completely separate to the rest of your body, as witnessed by the birth of genitourinary clinics attached to every hospital. It has also been given to us as a fact that you can tell what state your immune system is in by counting the number of T-cells that you have in any given millilitre of blood and monitoring them closely.

The whole “genital” thing just kills me. I actually did a spit-take with my coffee. The article actually goes on and on in a non-sensical fashion for a while. But maybe this immune thing is just some fringe idea.

No such luck. Just open a magazine or newspaper, and adds abound for “immune boosters”. But the cultists have a special role here—they supply the pseudoscience behind the adds. For example uber-crank Joe Mercola has a shocking article that combines a fundamental misunderstanding about both the immune system and vaccines.

Vaccines, all vaccines, are immune suppressing; that is they depress our immune functions. The chemicals in the vaccines depress our immune system; the virus present depresses immune function, and the foreign DNA/RNA from animal tissues depresses immunity. Toraldo, et al found that the chemotaxis and metabolic function of PMNs (polymorphonuclear neutrophils) was significantly reduced after vaccinations were given and did not return to normal for months. Other indicators of immune system depression included reduced lymphocyte viability, neutrophil hyper-segmentation, and a reduced white cell count. All vaccines are immune depressing to some extent and that is the trade-off we are risking. The medical thought is that we trade a small immune depression for an immunity to one disease. Now let me repeat, we are trading a total immune system depression (our only defense against all known disease – including millions of pathogens) for a temporary immunity against one disease, usually an innocuous childhood disease. Therefore, the trade is not at all fair. Mullins puts it this way, “Are we trading mumps and measles for cancer and AIDS.”

Wow. Pure. Unmitigated. Bullshit. This shows a complete lack of understanding about what immunity is, and contains anti-vaccine nuttery to boot. Let me show you a little bit more.

Vaccines suppress our immunity merely buy over-taxing our immune system with foreign material, heavy metals, pathogens and viruses. The heavy metals slow down our immune system, while the viruses set up shop to grow and divide. It is like being chained and handcuffed before swimming.

I thought he said vaccines suppressed the immune system. There is no science behind any of these assertions.

Vaccines clog our lymphatic system and lymph nodes with large protein molecules which have not been adequately broken down by our digestive processes, since vaccines by pass digestion with injections. This is why vaccines are linked to allergies, because they contain large proteins which as circulating immune complexes (CICs) or “klinkers” which cause our body to become allergic.

Really, this guy has never read an immunology text book. Our immune system is not some series of “tubes” that can “clog.”

Vaccines deplete our body of vital immune-enhancing nutrients, like vitamin C, A and zinc, which are needed for a strong immune system. It is nutrients like these that primes our immune system, feeds the white blood cells and macrophages and allows them to function optimally.

And it’s back to the nutition/immunity woo. None of these statements has any basis in science.

So what? What’s the harm?

The harm is that because he is a “Dr.” and uses big words, people will believe him. They will avoid real health measures, such as vaccines. Just to ramp up the scare tactics, he actually links vaccines to AIDS.

This is probably the worst article I’ve seen from Mercola’s website. It’s downright dangerous.

But his view is the extreme. “Mainstream” folks are selling nutritional advice for “immunity” everywhere. None of it has any scientific evidence. None of the merchants even knows an immune system from a tie rod.

There’s nothing wrong with eating right. It can help prevent and treat diabetes and hypertension. Usually, fewer calories is the key. There are proven diets, such as DASH, and nutritionists are a key member of a diabetes treatment team. Unless they are selling something.

But apparently he’d rather have me fill it with coffee. Really…I mean it. I love coffee, but c’mon now! I can’t stand that this idiot is given time on public television during pledge drives to peddle his woo…

I stumbled across a website that goes on and on about the supposed vast conspiracy of the medical community to…well, I’m not sure. Anyway, given that you have to buy Gary Null’s quack tomes to get his advice, it’s hard to know exactly what he is selling. The conspiracy theorist from the above-linked site was kind enough to share some of Null’s secrets (at least they are cited that way:
Cervical Dysplasia, Fibroids, and Reproductive System Cancers. Excerpt from The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Natural Healing by Dr. Gary Null.Seven Stories Press, 1997), so that we all may benefit. Here is an excerpt on cancer treatment, and I warn you, poo-woo abounds:

Coffee enemas. “These enemas have been used by thousands of cancer patients, outside the realm of traditional medical care, because they work.

Ok, where is the proof of that? Here is the proof that they don’t work:

1. Ernst, E. M.D., Ph.d., F.R.C.P. (Edin). Colonic Irrigation and the Theory of Autointoxication: A Triumph of Ignorance over Science. Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology. 24(4):196-198, June 1997. (Make sure to follow the references to the primary sources).
2. Green, S. A critique of the rationale for cancer treatment with coffee enemas and diet. JAMA. 1992,Dec 9; 269(13),1635-6.
3. Alison Reed, Nicholas James and Karol Sikora^.Mexico: Juices, coffee enemas, and cancer. The Lancet. Volume 336, Issue 8716, 15 September 1990, Pages 677-678.

Boiled coffee in retention enemas stimulates the liver’s enzyme system, which in turn causes great relief from pain in cancer patients.

There are no studies to support this statement.

The liver has more than a thousand documented medical functions. When we help it to work better and faster, the cancer patient’s overall physiological condition changes, sometimes within hours, and certainly within the first several weeks of treatment. You have a whole different person. People come off gurneys and out of beds, excruciating chronic pain is eased, and addiction to morphine is broken.

Typical woo. Miracles from simple substances. The entire auto-intoxication idea is false (see first article above), as is the idea of the liver needing some sort of help.

Every three minutes, all the blood in our bodies goes through our liver. Our livers and small intestine walls have an enzyme system with a fancy name that we will call GST for short.

Why abbreviate? Does he think you are stupid or is he trying to hide something?

This enzyme system naturally responds to cancer in the body by going up, and the coffee enema has been shown in laboratory experiments with rats, and in later experiments with humans, to produce increased liver bile flow, and to stimulate the GST enzyme system. In fact, it’s raised to 700 percent of normal levels of activity. When the GST system is running that fast, it can effectively remove tumor toxins from the bloodstream. And it doesn’t take very long. The effects of these coffee enemas will last for sometimes four, six, or eight hours before a feeling of discomfort and pain around the tumor returns. They’re that effective.

Actually, the few human articles on cancer and GST showed that it may contribute to cancer’s resistance to chemotherapy. (Theo P.J. Mulder, Johannes J. Manni, Hennie M.J. Roelofs, Wilbert H.M. Petersand Anne Wiersm. Carcinogenesis. Volume 16, No. 3, 1995.) Or, perhaps one form of it helps prevent cell damage in Parkinson’s disease. Or maybe it can be used as a tumor marker. Either way, GST has never been tested as a therapy for anything in humans. (Yes, I actually took the time to do a MedLine search on this.)

Additionally, putting coffee up your ass is not proven to stimulate GST or anything else in the liver…what else might me stimulating about it? Hmm…

You have to know how much coffee to use: a quart of water with three tablespoons of coffee boiled in it. That’s cooled and strained, not filtered, because a filter would remove some of the molecules that stimulate the GST enzyme system. The coffee is safely taken into the colon, while the person is lying on his or her right side, retained for 10 to 15 minutes, and then released. Patients doing this without the supervision of a physician should know that anything cooler than 100 degrees is going to cause cramping in the intestines.

So, basically, if you are watching your local PBS pledge drive, and the charismatic Null recommends his books to you, remember how much good advice they contain. If you have ovarian cancer and pour coffee up your tushie, some guy thinks it will help you. Or at least, it will help him— to buy a boat.

I’m off to the west coast (of Michigan) for a few days, and if I don’t blog, I shall die…or something. So I have a few posts from my old blog to share with you.

This is rich. This is really rich. Mercola is speaking out against the one thing that keeps him in business: the scientific illiteracy and credulity of Americans. He bemoans ignorance that leads to beliefs such as “the Sun revolves around the Earth”, or the bird flu panic. Then, presumably with a straight face, he invites you to join his “inner circle”, further perpetuating ignorance, and relieving you of the inconvenience carrying around twenty-five bucks that was burning a hole in your pocket (that’s per month).

His “inner circle” includes access to such venerable titles as, “The Psychology of Vaccine Injury Awareness, Plus Excerpts from the Book The Sanctity of Human Blood Vaccination Is NOT Immunization”, and, “Ancient Dietary Wisdom for Tomorrow’s Children”.

Want to avoid ignorance? How about reading the newspaper? Joining a book club? Reading reliable online health resources? Avoiding quacks and cranks?

Friends, many of you know the miraculous benefits of Hoofnagle Brand All-Natural Pb®. Well, I am writing to tell you that today I am filing a suit against a wide range of ayurvedic herbal supplements providers for using the active ingredient of Pb® and its sister product, As33® without licensing it from me.

The New York Times reported yesterday on this widespread deception of consumers. You see, in order to make ayurvedic medicine appear efficacious, a large number of supplement providers are secretly including Pb® and As33® in their scammy supplement products:

A report in the Aug. 27 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association found that nearly 21 percent of 193 ayurvedic herbal supplements bought online, produced in both India and the United States, contained lead, mercury or arsenic.

As you can see, the ayurvedic practitioners are riding off the all-natural, pure, elemental aspects of Pb®. I’m not going to allow this to continue, and you shouldn’t either–continue to buy your Pb® and As33® directly from Hoofnagle!

These quacks are in a bit of trouble. The FTC and FDA have decided that they are sick of bogus cancer cures, and have sued a handful of companies.

WHAT THE HELL TOOK THEM SO LONG?

And more important, are they going to go after more snake oil salesmen? There is nothing special about the companies the FTC is going after. They make the usual bogus claims—“our particular magic herbs detoxify, boost immunity, and cure cancer.”

Hopefully, ChrisH will weigh in on some of the legal issues, but one of the interesting facets of these cases bears directly on the Quack Miranda Warning. According to ABC News:

In a May 27, 2008, the FDA acknowledged that Spohn had “attempted to disclaim” some of the statements about products sold by the company, Herbs for Cancer.

The FDA noted that the site contained the message: “Disclaimer: The FTC and FDA require us to place this disclaimer here, please read. Herbs for cancer are not intended to cure, treat, or diagnose your illness.”

In the letter, the FDA told Spohn, “However, untrue or misleading information in one part of your site will not be mitigated by inclusion of such a “disclaimer.’”

Wow. I have regularly complained that snake oil salesmen are allowed to operate unmolested by simply giving the completely disingenuous disclaimer. Is this a sign that the Quack Miranda Warning may someday lose it’s magical power of protection?

Another fun piece of the FTC complaint is “the letter”—the FTC is requiring the cancer herb quack to send “an exact copy” of a letter to all customers:
(more…)

Regular readers of Denialism Blog are familiar with my love for the skymall catalog. I just love all the pictures of the kittens and the babes in their homes with gadgets that make their lives better.

And the quality of marketing, wow! You’d think that the makers of the SkyRest® Travel Pillow could hire a real model and do a professional shoot to advertise their highly efficacious and most excellent product! This picture looks like it was shot in-flight and they didn’t even have time to find a model without a mustache!

Today I write to share with you the Innovative Health Bracelet. This thing increases your protection against harmful waves! Yes, harmful waves are out to get you, and you might experience them near a microwave, your office, when you use a cell phone, and when you golf and run. The nice thing about this bracelet is that you can have it inscribed with a diamond-encrusted cross, as an offering to Christ. And it includes medical magnets! Only $79.95. Call now!

My favorite part of this ad is the “MEASUREMENT OF BODY HEAT TEST.” What, exactly, is meant by the results of this “test?” From a lawyer’s perspective, it appears that your head becomes frozen during the use of a mobile phone. No worries with the Innovative Health Bracelet, because “with product” your face becomes red and healthy again!

Yes, there is. This time for maker of an “all natural” penis enhancer Steve Warshak (and some family members as well) who was sentenced for 25 years!

Steve Warshak, 42, founder of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, also was ordered to pay $93,000 in fines. He was convicted in February on 93 counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering.

Federal prosecutors accused the company of bilking customers out of $100 million through a series of deceptive ads, manipulated credit card transactions and refusal to accept returns or cancel orders.

U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel ordered the company, along with other defendants, to forfeit more than $500 million. He said it was impossible to calculate exactly how much money was lost by customers, so he accepted a figure based on how much Warshak and the company took in.

Berkeley distributes various products alleged to boost energy, manage weight, reduce memory loss and aid sleep. The company’s main product, Enzyte, which promises sexual enhancement, has ads featuring “Smiling Bob,” a happy man with an exaggerated smile.

“This is a case about greed,” Spiegel said as he reviewed the case. “Steven Warshak preyed on perceived sexual inadequacies of customers.”

With any luck I’ll never have to see another one of those goddamn ads again. But really, 500 million? It’s sad to think of how many people are (1) feel so inadequate they would feel the need to buy the product (2) be so foolish as to think that magic penis pills work, (3) think the ad featuring “Enzyte Bob” was anything but an outrageous scam. It is sad to see the power wishful thinking has over basic rationality, and sadder still that there is scum like Warshak who will exploit such feelings to steal money from people.

Thanks Ed

As PalMD has pointed out, millions of Americans use detoxification to improve their optimal health and well being. But the wisdom of detoxification has an underbelly, one not discussed in the MSM: what happens to those toxins after detoxification?

Unfortunately, those toxins do not just disappear. They are exuded from your body and circulate in your immediate environment, placing your family members and animal companions at risk. The toxins then magnify in their bodies, and if they detoxify, you can be retoxinated. This is what is called the deretoxification trap.

An additional problem is that some toxins escape down the drain, where they poison water systems. Even worse, your pets, which do not have good detoxification therapies, may absorb and keep the very toxins you have exuded.

Technology and changes in behavior can minimize the risk from deretoxification. First, after detoxification, you should hold your breath when urinating or evacuating. During these periods, toxins are most likely to leave your body in an aerosolized form and either be reabsorbed or accumulate in the tissues of others. It is very important to never urinate or evacuate near individuals with compromised immune systems, or those sensitive to toxins.

Second, you should avoid perspiration, because toxins are exuded at their greatest rate when sweating. Avoid saunas and vigorous exercise, as perspiration may occur near your orifices, thus allowing toxins to reenter your body.

Pregnancy raises difficult deretoxification challenges. I recommend that you do not detoxify in the last month of pregnancy, or any time during breast feeding. It’s best to keep your toxins deep inside your body during this critical period of development.

Technology offers new opportunities to end the deretoxification trap. Denialism blog is happy to announce that we have partnered with Mike Adams, a leader in the vibrational nutrition field, to create special filtering masks to help those who have difficulty holding their breath during long periods of urination or evacuation.

We are also developing a magnetic filter to help trap toxins in your waste water. This filter, which employs extra strong magnets (offering the derivative benefit of better blood flow for those who spend long periods in the bathroom), collects toxins and allows you to recycle them at your local toxin reclamation site.