Adrenal Fatigue: Just Another Quack Diagnosis

"Adrenal fatigue is the false belief that our adrenal glands become 'worn out' as a result of prolonged, repetitive stress – and the output of key regulatory hormones, like the 'master stress hormone' cortisol, is diminished. Let’s be clear: adrenal fatigue is not a true medical condition.

"Just like many pseudoscience claims and diagnoses, the notion of adrenal fatigue is based on a nugget of truth. That nugget? There are legitimate medical issues related to adrenal gland and cortisol dysfunction. These including Cushing’s syndrome and Adrenal insufficiency (including Addison’s disease). Contrary to what wellness influencers claim. though, adrenal fatigue is NOT a ‘mild’ version of adrenal dysfunction."

Click on this link for the full story.

Nootropics Supplements: Typical Quackery

"Chris Kresser is a licensed acupuncturist and self-identified proponent and practitioner of functional medicine and ancestral health. He has his own website with lots of health information, articles, and links to various businesses, many his own. It’s important to know that he doesn’t have any formal training in medicine or research.

"ACSH recently published an explainer piece on nootropics briefly touching on the idea that prominent wellness influencers often have their own lines of supplements that may include nootropics. Kresser is a prime example. In a 2024 article about nootropics on his website, Kresser discusses his favorite caffeine-free nootropics to help you “enhance your brainpower, sharpen your focus, and protect your cognitive health as you age.” They include citicoline, lion’s mane mushroom, phosphatidylserine, Bacopa monnieri, ginkgo biloba, uridine monophosphate, and alpinia galanga. Let’s go through these one by one."

Click here for the rest of the article.

PTSD And Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): Quackery

"Today we're going to unravel a specific type of psychotherapy, and it's one that presents the researcher with formidable walls to scale of both support and criticism. Some psychotherapists are firm believers; some are firm detractors. The therapy is called EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is controversial as the day is long, and yet it enjoys broad recommendations in most of the world's major guidelines. It also has plenty of criticism of its effectiveness. And it has a wildly unscientific origin story, which never bodes well for any kind of treatment. So now let's dive in and find out if EMDR is for real or phony.

"EMDR is one of a number of treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a potentially serious and debilitating condition in which certain traumatic memories can trigger anything from nightmares and anxiety to an uncontrollable emotional breakdown to a complete dissociative episode. The idea is to reduce the emotional distress associated with traumatic memories, and when used as an adjunct to other therapies, EMDR does this by attempting to get the brain to reprocess those memories via bilateral stimulation. Whether bilateral stimulation can actually do that is mainly where the controversy around EMDR lies. The stimulation is usually guided eye movements back and forth, but can also be tactile or auditory: tapping or holding a buzzer in each hand, or hearing tones played through headphones alternating between left and right. A typical EMDR session would include the patient recalling and talking about their traumatic memory while the therapist moves a pointer from side to side in front of them, for the patient to follow with their eyes. If you were uninitiated and saw this happening, you might well be inclined to wonder what kind of freaky woo you had just walked into."

Click on the link below for more:

EMDR: Looking Past the Pain

America's Frontline Doctors: The Vanguard Of Anti-Vaccine Quackery

"Simone Melissa Gold, M.D., J.D., who founded America’s Frontline Doctors (AFLDS), is one of the world’s most arrogant promoters of COVID-19 misinformation. Gold graduated from the City College of New York at age 19 and received her medical degree from the Chicago Medical School in 1989. After obtaining a medical license in California, she attended Stanford Law School, graduating in 1993. She was admitted to the New York bar in 1997 and shortly afterward completed a residency in emergency medicine at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University [1]. She became board-certified in emergency medicine, but her Linkedin page states that she chose not to renew her certification “due to the medical cancel culture that is threatening physicians and the doctor patient relationship.” [2]

"AFLDS is said to be a project of the Free Speech Foundation, which was registered in Arizona as a nonprofit corporation in 2020. Documents filed with the Arizona Secretary of State list Gold as the foundation’s board chairman and chief executive officer. Mother Jones magazine has vividly described Gold’s right-wing radicalization and ascent to MAGA stardom [3]."

Click on the link below for more:

A Skeptical Look at Simone Gold and America’s Frontline Doctors

Doctors: Beware Of The Gateway Drug To Quackery

There is Medicine, which is based on science. Then there is a "Grey" area with labels such as "Functional", "Integrated", "Complementary", and "Holistic" that can have some benefits but no more than basic health factors such as nutrition, lifestyle/behavior, exercise, social factors, and mental hygiene. Click on the link below for a 15-minute video by a physician presenting the risks of science-based physicians complimenting such with elements of the "Grey" areas and eventually going off the rails into full quackery/alternatives to medicine. Let the public be aware of what to look for in the utilization of healthcare.

Why some doctors become quacks

Social Media, Conspiracy Theories, And Quackery

"Tesla Biohealing, which has no connection to the car company, is part of a growth industry marketing unproven cures and treatments to conspiracy theorists and others who have grown distrustful of science and medicine. Experts who study such claims say they’re on the increase, thanks to the internet, social media and skepticism about traditional health care.

"'There have always been hucksters selling medical cures, but I do feel like it’s accelerating,' said Timothy Caulfield, a health policy and law professor at the University of Alberta who studies medical ethics and fraud. 'There are some forces driving that: obviously the internet and social media, and distrust of traditional medicine, traditional science. Conspiracy theories are creating and feeding this distrust.'

"Blending the high-tech jargon of Western science with the spiritual terminology of traditional and Eastern medicine, these modern salesmen claim their treatments can reverse aging, restore mental acuity or fight COVID-19 better than a vaccine. They promise better health, but what they’re really selling is the idea of insider information, the promise of a secret known only to the wealthy and the powerful.

"So-called medbeds are one of the flashiest, most expensive, and least credible. 'Medbeds are coming,' exclaims a woman in one TikTok video. Similar videos have been seen millions of times on the platform.

"According to believers of the QAnon conspiracy theory, medbeds were developed by the military (in some versions, using alien technology) and are already in use by the world’s richest and most powerful families. Many accounts claim former President Donald Trump, if he wins another term in the White House, will unveil the devices and make them free for all Americans."

Click on the link below for more:

Miracle cures: Online conspiracy theories are creating a new age of unproven medical treatments

Sacred Frequencies: The Worst Of Quackery?

I was watching one of my favorite YouTube channels and came across this advertisement. It's so bad, it could pass as a parody. I reported it to YouTube.

In my efforts to find out more about it, I found a similar one, here, almost as bad. 

"Sacred Frequencies", my arse. That said, much music is calming and therapeutic, just not in the category of working miracles!!

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Some reading this may have heard the term "Solfeggio Frequencies." The term was new to me. It was found in researching "Sacred Frequencies" and appears to be similar to such (maybe the same thing?). In any event, below are some links describing it as quackery:

https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4474

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Solfeggio_frequencies

https://glasgowguardian.co.uk/2023/03/29/solfeggio-frequencies-and-making-a-quick-buck/

https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/no-evidence-support-claim-solfeggio-frequencies-remove-toxins-from-body/

Can Sanjay Gupta Be Trusted?

"Gupta is known for his many TV appearances on health-related issues. During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, he has been a frequent contributor to numerous CNN shows covering the crisis, as well as hosting a weekly town hall with Anderson Cooper.[3] Gupta was the host of the CNN show Sanjay Gupta MD for which he has won multiple Emmy Awards. Gupta also hosted the 6-part miniseries Chasing Life. He is a frequent contributor to other CNN programs such as American Morning, Larry King Live, CNN Tonight, and Anderson Cooper 360°. His reports from Charity Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina led to his winning a 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Feature Story in a Regularly Scheduled Newscast. He is also a special correspondent for CBS News." (Wikipedia)

What most folks who have been exposed to him in the media do not know about him is that his advice is not always consistent with the consensus of medical experts on some subjects. Click on the link below for a science-based look at him:

Where Does Sanjay Gupta Register On The Quackometer?

The World Health Organization: Beware Of Quackery

"In trying to ensure everyone has access to healthcare, the WHO promotes homeopathy, traditional Chinese medicine, and rhythmical embrocations"

Click on the link below for the details:

The World Health Organization Has a Pseudoscience Problem

Harriet Hall: The "SkepDoc" Continues To Debunk Nonsense

For most of my professional life as a physical therapist, there was no one who gave me more fuel to combat medical quackery than my contemporary-in-age Harriet Hall, MD: "a U.S. retired family physician, former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon and skeptic who writes about alternative medicine and quackery for Skeptic and Skeptical Inquirer. She writes under the name The SkepDoc."

Click on the links below for recent examples from her biting commentary that I regularly receive via email (she is no longer accepting requests for such, but, if you would like to get on a "Forward" list that I am creating, send me your email), She also is on Facebook:

Neuroplastic Nonsense

Bobath Cerebral Palsy and Stroke Rehab Nonsense

Supplements: Misguided Marketing

Race and Medicine

Why Is There Still Religion And Medical Quackery?

The major religions of today began when written communication was rudimentary and well before modern science evolved. It was a period of ignorance and superstition:

The Growth of Knowledge

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INTELLIGENCE: the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.

KNOWLEDGE: facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education.

SCIENCE: knowledge about the natural world that is based on facts learned through experiments and observation.

UNDERSTANDING: the capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination.

IGNORANCE: lack of knowledge or information.

SUPERSTITION: a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation.

QUACKERY: dishonest practices and claims to have special knowledge and skill in some field, typically medicine.

RELIGION: many definitions, but usually includes belief in spiritual beings/the supernatural/a God.

Radon Therapy

"In what seems like a throwback to the days when quack medical products included radium, causing people's jaws to fall off from cancer, some people are once again turning to a carcinogenic radioactive element for their health. This time it's not radium but radon, an alpha particle emitter, and second only to smoking as a cause of deaths from lung cancer. The benefit, they say, is pain relief, or treatment of high blood pressure, or — in the ultimate irony — treating cancer. It is not an approved therapy in the United States (though it is in some other countries), so the playing field is wide open for anyone who wants to sell it, and anyone who wants to try using it." (link)

A Dialogue Over Stem Cell Therapy

I recently visited a local stem cell therapy practice to ask some questions. I then sent them an email summarizing the information that was presented to me and ask more questions. Below is the email exchange in response to such. It is a look into alternatives to medicine and the thinking of its proponents.

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HER: Thank you, Tom, for reaching out. Our services are certainly not FDA approved and I apologize if someone at our office gave you that impression. The kits that are used to harvest the stem cells are FDA cleared to harvest and process the cells. However, there is no FDA approval on treating joint pain with stem cells. Did someone at our office tell you differently? We also don’t have any record of you coming in today or even calling the clinic. I just want to verify that you were told by us at (redacted) and not somewhere else.

ME: I walked in a few days ago and the person specifically told me that the treatment was FDA approved and has been for 5 years. She was clear that it was for treatment and not for research.

HER: I apologize that happened Tom. No one in our office should’ve ever told you that. I will make sure I say something to the team today. Again there must’ve been some confusion on her end in terms of FDA approval for treatment or the harvesting process. I would be happy to give you a lay of the land on the FDA stance and all this if you want to give me a call personally on my cell phone at (redacted). We’ve been doing this for almost 6 years and I can give you a really in-depth breakdown of how the FDA feels about all the stuff. I look forward to hearing from you And again I apologize for any confusion.

ME: Thanks (redacted). I was just curious about how you folks can practice without FDA approval.

HER: I would be happy to explain if you want to give me a call.

ME: "Please know that if you are being charged for these products or offered these products outside of a clinical trial, you are likely being deceived and offered a product illegally. Likewise, FDA is aware that patients and consumers are being referred to clinicaltrials.gov, or are told that a product is registered with FDA, as a way to suggest that the products being offered are in compliance with FDA laws and regulations. This is often false. The inclusion of a product in the clinicaltrials.gov database or the fact that a firm has registered with FDA and listed its product does not mean the product is legally marketed."

https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/consumers-biologics/important-patient-and-consumer-information-about-regenerative-medicine-therapies

If you have information contradicting the FDA, I would be interested in being enlightened. Otherwise, I am not interested, I think I understand the situation.

HER: I appreciate your passion for the subject. This June 2021 ruling has been in the making for 3 1/2 years. What it essentially did was shut down all of the "off the shelf" products as those were the ones making false claims and treating for systemic issues. As far as stem cells from your own body, OrthoCarolina, for example, does bone marrow aspirate injections for OA, despite not having FDA approval, so this is nothing our clinic or other stem cell clinics are just doing roughly on our own. If you are interested in further reading, check out the FDA distinction between a 361 vs a 351 in terms of cellular products. Autologous stem cells are considered a 361 and not a drug and a 351 has to be registered as a drug. There are many holistic and alternative procedures in medicine that are being used on people every day that are not FDA approved. I would agree with the FDA in that many of these are making false claims because they are not regulated by any agency, but there are also some really good products out there helping people.

ME: I assume from your response that the materials you folks are using are in the 361 category. Thus, they have not been tested for safety and effectiveness. Are you clearly telling your patients such?

Your sentence (" There are many holistic and alternative procedures in medicine that are being used on people every day that are not FDA approved. I would agree with the FDA in that many of these are making false claims because they are not regulated by any agency, but there are also some really good products out there helping people.") is troubling. 

The use of "holistic" and "alternative" suggests quackery. How do you know that your procedures are safe and effective without research testing? All of what you are doing could just as well be a placebo (and an expensive one at that).

HER: There are all kinds of scientific research out there, studies, white papers, clinical research, etc on the effectiveness of stem cells treating OA. Please feel free to do a google search and you will see how much it is out there. We believe the science is there to support the treatments we offer. And like anything, FDA approved or not, you will see plenty of negative to go along with the positive :) Stem cell therapy has been studied for years. Again, the safety and effectiveness of harvesting the stem cells is FDA 510k cleared and has been extensively researched for safety. What we are really talking about here is the actual treatment of OA with stem cells. Does it really help or doesn't it?

In my opinion, there is much more than just effectiveness as to why the FDA has not approved any of these treatments. Stem cell therapy is a threat to the cash cow of big pharma and the hospital medical system that currently exists. X-ray or your knee, a cortisone shot (plenty of scientific research out there now showing that extensive cortisone shots will deteriorate a joint). Didn't work. MRI of your knee. Lets try another cortisone shot, maybe some gel shots or some pain medications. That didn't work, lets do a $40,000 surgery. Many of these pain medications people have received are FDA approved, yet are so addicting and ruined lives.

Although I do agree with you using the word "holistic" or "alternative" can suggest quackery, I do think it is unfair to label those terms as 100% negative. Like anything professional, there are good and bad. There are good doctors and bad doctors, there are good restaurants and bad restaurants, there are good lawyers and bad lawyers, etc. I personally enjoy going to a Chiropractor for aches and pains. I also prefer to take natural supplements for ailments vs medications.

I am not sure what the end game of this conversation is, but from my point of view, we are having a healthy debate on the topic. I hope that is the way you see it too. I respect your position and your beliefs and the last thing I want to come out of this conversation is anything negative.

ME: Thanks for the respectful dialogue. I see no reason to continue. Take care and have a good day.

HER: Same to you, Tom.

Joe Mercola: The Worst Of The Worst

"Joe Mercola is a physician whose nearly a quarter-century of promoting quackery and antivaccine misinformation has garnered him a net worth north of $100 million. It is therefore not surprising that in the age of the pandemic, he has pivoted to fatten his bottom line promoting misinformation and conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and the COVID vaccines."

Click on the link below for details:

A Superspreader of Medical Misinformation