Bioresonance is an alternative therapeutic and diagnostic method employing a device developed in Germany by the scientology member Franz Morell in 1977. The bioresonance machine was further developed and marketed by Morell’s son in law Erich Rasche and is also known as ‘MORA’ therapy (MOrell + RAsche). Bioresonance is based on the notion that one can diagnose and treat illness with electromagnetic waves and that, via resonance, such waves can influence disease on a cellular level. Bioresonance instruments are akin to the scientologists’ ‘E-meter’ which essentially consists of an electronic circuit measuring skin conductivity.
Until recently, just three studies of bioresonance had been published.
- The first was from Germany and suggested that it is effective for treating GI symptoms. This trial was, however, tiny and its findings are likely to be false-positive.
- The second study is from Turkey and suggested that it works for smoking cessation. It is a ‘pilot study’ that has never been followed by a definitive trial.
- The third trial was a double-blind, parallel group study in children with long-lasting atopic dermatitis. Over a period of 1.5 year, 32 children were randomised to receive conventional inpatient therapy and either a putatively active or a sham (placebo) bioresonance treatment. Short- and long-term outcome within 1 year were assessed by skin symptom scores, sleep and itch scores, blood cell activation markers of allergy, and a questionnaire. The results showed that bioresonance had no effect on the outcome.
Now a most ingenious study can be added to this list. Unfortunately, I was published in German, but bear with me, I will explain below. First the original abstract for those who can read German:
Hintergrund
Trotz aller Aufklärungsarbeit wird die Bioresonanz weiter benutzt. Seit einigen Jahren sind modifizierte Geräte auf dem Markt, die auch in Reformhäusern zum Einsatz kamen.
Methoden
Zwei moderne Bioresonanzgeräte, Bioscan-SWA und Vieva Vital-Analyser, wurden untersucht: Neun freiwillige Probanden (vier Frauen, fünf Männer), zwei männliche Patienten, eine Leiche, jeweils frischer Leberkäse (Fleischbrät) und ein feuchtes Tuch nahmen teil. Unter gleichen oder fingierten Angaben von Namen, Geburtsdatum, Geschlecht, Körpergröße und Gewicht der Probanden beziehungsweise Patienten wurden wiederholt Einzelmessungen und Vergleichsuntersuchungen von Proband/Patient, Leberkäse und feuchtem Tuch durchgeführt (nach den Angaben der Hersteller).
Ergebnisse
Bestehende Diagnosen schwer erkrankter Patienten wurden nicht erkannt, der Leiche beste Gesundheit neben einer Fülle potenzieller Gesundheitsrisiken attestiert, ebenso wie allen Probanden. Messungen an frischem Leberkäse sowie an einem feuchten Tuch unter verschiedenen Angaben zu Alter, Geschlecht, Körpergröße, Gewicht und Namen führten zu unterschiedlichsten Befunden mit relativen Standardabweichungen bis über 200 %. Andererseits waren Ergebnisse, die unter gleichen Probanden- beziehungsweise Patientendaten am feuchten Tuch und dem Fleischbrät gewonnen wurden, nahezu identisch mit denen, die von den Probanden beziehungsweise Patienten erzielt wurden.
Schlussfolgerung
Die Gerätschaften waren nicht imstande, die jeweiligen Testmaterialien zu unterscheiden. Es wird vermutet, dass die Überbrückung der beiden Pole der Untersuchungssonde durch schwach leitende Materialien eine Software aktiviert, die gesundheitsrelevante Befunde erzeugt. Wir empfehlen als einfache Tests für die Validität von Bioresonanzergebnissen den Leberkäse- oder verwandte Tests.
And here is my explanation.
The study tested the diagnostic validity of two different bioresonance machines commercially available in Germany. The tests were carried out on:
- 9 healthy volunteers
- 2 seriously ill patients
- 1 human corpse
- 1 liver pate
- 1 wet towel
The results show that the bioresonance method
- failed to diagnose serious diseases in the patients,
- produced a clean bill of health for the corpse,
- diagnosed a host of health risks in the volunteers,
- produced variable results for the liver pate and the wet towel with standard deviations for repeated tests exceeding 200%,
- generated no real differences between the wet towel and the healthy volunteers.
This study was published in 2019. It would be interesting to monitor whether the sales figures for bioresonance machines will now dwindle. Even though I am an incorrigible optimist, I shall not hold my breath.
It reminds me of the famous “dead salmon” study of fMRI. As I’m sure you know, there is a huge range of `bioresonance’ machines, which the MHRA declines to regulate effectively. They don’t even maintain a list of licensed devices. They say that any unfounded marketing claims are a matter for the ASA.
IgNobel Prize in Neuroscience: The dead salmon study, Scientific American
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/scicurious-brain/ignobel-prize-in-neuroscience-the-dead-salmon-study/
But was it pate foie gras? I don’t see how the study could make such conclusions without being specific about the subjects.
I love this! I always find it difficult to get any data on ‘non-sense’ remedies and machines, for obvious reasons the studies aren’t done or published.
This is what we need. And hilariously it’s very similar to a few articles on the daily mash about homeopathy.
I looked up the article and read that this research was filmed for a tv programme on German broadcaster BR Fernsehen. You can still watch it online: https://bit.ly/34oltJH it’s great!
thanks – I did not know!
For those techfreaks that can understand German: A certain Daniel Pugge tested some such devices for the data flow between sensor and PC. He found: None. All the results presented to the customer are created within the PC by the software without any data read from the probe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsIpFRJmPOM
This of course is why, when I ask these charlatans for evidence of reproducibility of signals, the conversation stops. Do you have a link for the Pugge study? I can struggle through the German (good practice!).
I don’t think he did a scientific study, he compared the data from several devices and got the same nonsense results, basically no information was collected, all results were just randomly collected from the same database