Medical Quackery: Let's talk.

[Spidey's mom]

As a well-seasoned nurse I've come across so many medical quackery kind of stories but this one sort of pushed me over the top of the frustration meter. We were talking about it yesterday at work with some of the physicians and nurses so I came home and looked it up.

I've already heard about bleach enemas curing autism by removing toxins from your system. But this one was new to me. I'm hoping this "archbishop" gets the book thrown at him for peddling this elixir (aka "sacrament"). Watch the video . . .

Husband Says Fringe Church's 'Miracle Cure' Killed His Wife - Yahoo

Quote

The U.S. government and medical experts say MMS is really nothing more than a kind of industrial bleach -- a mixture of sodium chlorite and water -- and, when used as directed can cause serious harm to a person's health.

"They might as well be selling Clorox," said Ben Mizer of the U.S. Department of Justice. "You wouldn't drink Clorox, so there is no reason you should drink MMS."

How about the rest of you? Any quackeries you'd like to rant about?

[catsmeow1972, BSN, RN]

Same thing with so called "diet" and sugar free" stuff. Kinda of like "how much healthy choice ice cream can I eat before it's no longer a healthy choice.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

Very true, but the testing (including biopsies) has been run and while I do have the gene, thus far I do not appear to have any symptoms. You are also correct in that it can show up anytime. As I recall you've got to have 3 things- the genetic component, gluten in your diet and something to set it off.

I think what the above poster was referring to was not the "I feel better" component (possibly NCGI) in which I say, go for it, but rather the "gluten free" as a weight loss fad. One of the common symptoms of Celiac is massive weight loss. So, eliminating gluten to lose weight is quite a bass-ackwards thought. Mom eliminated the gluten and subsequently gained 40 pounds. She needed it.

actually many celiacs are over weight. i think it varies by genes, perhaps

[MelEpiRN]

I had an app for my recent pregnancy that had a community forum. There were so, so many women on this app that were convinced essential oils, apple cider vinegar, and coconut oil cured darn near everything. I stopped trying to convince them after a while that they really needed to go visit their healthcare provider for their horrendous UTIs.

[llg, PhD, RN]

It's one thing to try something experimental -- or totally unproven -- after a person has tried conventional therapy and found it to be unsuccessful. But it is another thing entirely to try the unproven therapy first, without giving the mainstream treatments that have worked for others a chance. Those are two totally different things.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

It's one thing to try something experimental -- or totally unproven -- after a person has tried conventional therapy and found it to be unsuccessful. But it is another thing entirely to try the unproven therapy first, without giving the mainstream treatments that have worked for others a chance. Those are two totally different things.

And that have been subject to scientific scrutiny in order to test safety and effectiveness (i.e. controlled trials).