alternative medicine
New German Medicine?
German New Medicine?
What on earth is that?
German New Medicine (GNM) is the creation of Ryke Geerd Hamer (1935-2017), a German doctor. The name is reminiscent of the ‘Neue Deutsche Heilkunde’ created by the Nazis during the Third Reich. Hamer received his medical licence in 1963 but was later struck off because of malpractice. He then continued his practice as a ‘Heilpraktiker’. According to proponents, GNM Therapy is a spoken therapy based on the findings and research of the Germanic New Medicine of Dr.Hamer. On the understanding that every disease is triggered by an isolating and shocking event, GNM Therapy assists in finding the DHS (shocking moment) in our lives that preceded the dis-ease and in turn allowing our bodies to complete its natural healing cycle back to full health. Hamer believed to have discovered the ‘5 laws of nature’:
- The Iron Rule of Cancer
- The two-phased development of disease
- Ontogenetic system of tumours and cancer equivalent diseases
- Ontogenetic system of microbes
- Natures biological meaning of a disease
Hamer also postulated that:
- All diseases are caused by psychological conflicts.
- Conventional medicine is a conspiracy of Jews to decimate the non-Jewish population.
- Microbes do not cause diseases.
- AIDS is just an allergy.
- Cancer is the result of a mental shock.
None of Hamer’s ‘discoveries’ and assumptions are plausible or based on facts, and none of his therapeutic approaches have been shown to be effective.
These days, I do not easily get surprised by what I read about so-called alternative medicine (SCAM), but this article entitled ‘Homoeopathy And New German Medicine: Two German Siblings‘ baffled me greatly. Here are a few short excerpts:
… German New Medicine (GNM) like Homoeopathy is one of the gentle healing methods. As siblings, they have some common features as well as their own unique features. So, let’s explore a unique relationship between these two siblings.
1) Holistic aspect:
Both therapeutic methods are believed in holistic concept of body. The disease condition in Homoeopathy and conflict in GNM are very similar in expression as they are reflecting on mental as well as physical level also. In Homoeopathy, Mind, Body and Soul are one of the important trios to understand the Homoeopathic philosophy. While in GNM, Psyche, Brain, Body are important aspect in learning the GNM. Let’s see these trio in their founder’s language,
• Homoeopathy:
Dr. Hahnemann in his oragnon of medicine, 6th edition mentioned about a unity of materialistic body and vital force. Last lines of aphorism 15 are as follows, “…although in thought our mind separates these two unities into distinct conceptions for the sake of easy comprehension.
• German New Medicine:
Dr. Ryke Geerd Hamer, founder of GNM said that, “The differentiation between psyche, brain and the body is purely academic. In reality, they are one.”
2) Disease origin concept:
• Homoeopathy:
In Homoeopathy, disease originates from the dynamic disturbances and followed by functional and pathological changes.
• German New Medicine:
In GNM, morbid condition starts from conflict in the psyche level and later it reflects on body. The common feature is the disturbance is at the all levels of man.
3) Cause of disease:
• Homoeopathy:
In Homoeopathy, among the web of causations, psyche (mind) is also considers as a cause of disease.
• German New Medicine:
So, in GNM, psyche is playing important role in cause of disease. When Conflict starts, its dynamic effect perceived first at mind level.
4) Individuality:
• Homoeopathy:
In Homoeopathy, diathesis is a predisposition for disease condition. i.e. According to the diathesis every individual suffers with their own individual morbid dispositions. Rheumatic diathesis, gouty diathesis, etc. are the examples of diathesis.
• German New Medicine:
In GNM, every individual suffers from the disease condition after the receiving conflict. It is different and depending upon the type of conflict they are receiving. E.g. lung cancer- death fright conflict, cervical cancer –female sexual conflict…
Conclusion:
Some similarities and with some own characteristics, these two healing methods are developing at a good length in medical science. The main aim of these both methods is – “to serve the suffering humanity in gentle way”…
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Could it be that the author forgot the most striking similarities between GNM and homeopathy? How about these points:
- There is nothing truly gentle about either methods.
- Both are based on bizarre fantasies, far removed from reality.
- Both pretend to be a panacea.
- Both lack proof of efficacy.
- Both have the potential to kill patients (mostly through neglect).
- Both mislead consumers.
- Both are deeply anti-scientific.
- Both dissuade patients from using evidence-based healthcare.
- Both are in conflict with medical ethics.
- Both have cult-like features.
- Both are far from being recognised by proper healthcare.
- Both have been repeatedly in conflict with the law.
- Both were invented by deludes fanatics.
Glucosamine is currently one of the most popular of all dietary supplements. It is marketed as a treatment for arthritis, and there is some evidence that it is moderately helpful for this indication. But evidence had been accumulating to suggest that glucosamine might have other effects as well. The latest analysis evaluated the associations of regular glucosamine use with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in a large prospective cohort.
This population-based prospective cohort study included 495 077 women and men from the UK Biobank study. Participants were recruited from 2006 to 2010 and were followed up through 2018. The investigators evaluated all-cause mortality and mortality due to cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, respiratory and digestive disease. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs for all-cause and cause-specific mortality were calculated using Cox proportional hazards models with adjustment for potential confounding variables.
At baseline, 19.1% of the participants reported regular use of glucosamine supplements. During a median follow-up of 8.9 years (IQR 8.3-9.7 years), 19 882 all-cause deaths were recorded, including 3802 CVD deaths, 8090 cancer deaths, 3380 respiratory disease deaths and 1061 digestive disease deaths. In multivariable adjusted analyses, the HRs associated with glucosamine use were 0.85 (95% CI 0.82 to 0.89) for all-cause mortality, 0.82 (95% CI 0.74 to 0.90) for CVD mortality, 0.94 (95% CI 0.88 to 0.99) for cancer mortality, 0.73 (95% CI 0.66 to 0.81) for respiratory mortality and 0.74 (95% CI 0.62 to 0.90) for digestive mortality. The inverse associations of glucosamine use with all-cause mortality seemed to be somewhat stronger among current than non-current smokers (p for interaction=0.00080).
The authors concluded that regular glucosamine supplementation was associated with lower mortality due to all causes, cancer, CVD, respiratory and digestive diseases.
Previous epidemiological investigations indicated that glucosamine use might play a role in prevention of cancer, cardiovascular disease and other diseases. This suggests that the finding is more than the result of a large ‘fishing expedition’ to which epidemiological studies are sadly prone. It we are indeed dealing with a true phenomenon, we should ask by what mechanism these remarkable outcomes might be achieved. It is well documented that glucosamine has powerful anti-inflammatory effects. Therefore it is conceivable that such anti-inflammatory mechanisms are the cause for the observed outcomes.
How do we prove or disprove the hypothesis that glucosamine reduces the mortality of a range of diseases? A reasonable starting point would be to consult the good old Hill criteria of causality:
(1) The strength of association is small to moderate – certainly not strong
(2) The consistency of the findings is quite remarkable; that is unless dozens of epidemiological studies that failed to yield and association were never published.
(3) The specificity of the association with diseases linked to inflammation is also impressive (with the caveat above).
(4) Temporality seems also not a problem, as far as I can see.
(5) Biological gradient needs further testing, I think.
(6) Plausibility is not a problem, since there is a possible mechanism that could explain the findings.
(7) The same applies to coherence.
(8) Experiment is needed, but it is far from easy to conduct clinical trials where mortality is an endpoint.
(9) Analogy is realised through the well-established concept of (cardiovascular) risk factors.
What does all this actually mean?
It means, I think, that glucosamine could well have clinical effects that go far beyond easing the pain of arthritis. However, we cannot be sure. Once again, it boils down to the need of robust clinical trial data. The subject certainly seems important enough to consider this option.
There has been plenty of research into the factors that determine the usage of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM). Yet, so far, not a single truly powerful predictor has been identified. The aim of this study was therefore to identify the most important predictors of the use and approval of CAM. The researchers performed a canonical correlation analysis on all 3480 records from the 2012 German General Social Survey (ALLBUS) with the lifetime use and opinion of SCAM as the dependent variables.
Approval of paranormal practices such as fortune-telling, dowsing or spiritualism explained 32% of the variance in the dependent canonical variate “approval of SCAM”, while sociodemographic variables explained only 2%. Experience with paranormal practices explained 17% of the variance in the dependent canonical variate “experience with SCAM”, and sociodemographic variables explained 10% of the variance. Traditional religiosity, attitudes towards science and post-materialist values showed no relevant correlations with the dependent canonical variates.
The authors concluded that paranormal beliefs and related measures are the most important known predictors of the use and approval of SCAM. Experience with paranormal practices not only indicates paranormal beliefs but also explains experience with SCAM that cannot be explained by approval of SCAM. Female gender and higher socioeconomic status predict experience with SCAM without predicting approval of SCAM, but their influence should not be overstated.
Let’s not worry for the moment about the fact that most of the methods employed here to quantify the variables in question were not adequately validated. Let’s instead just assume that the reported findings are reliable and real. In this case, we must ask what do these correlations mean?
The authors seem to think that their results are quite extraordinary and require elaborate explanations. I find the findings utterly unsurprising and think they are almost self-explanatory: SCAM use/approval and the belief in the paranormal are linked because, to a very large degree, SCAM is part of the paranormal. The two are associated via a common denominator: lack of rationality and critical thinking.
George Lakhovsky, a Russian-born scientist, believed to have found out that every cell of the human body has its own frequency. Healthy cells emit a frequency radiation, he claimed, and whenever a part of the body gets damaged, inflamed or ill, the resonance of those cells become less intense. When pathogens, bacteria, microbes take over, they disrupt the healthy cells with their harmful frequency, Lakhovsky thought.
Based on these notions, Lakhovsky constructed a device capable of generating a field of frequencies in a very broad spectrum. He argued that, if one would place a sick person or an affected body part in this frequency spectrum, those diseased cells would recognize their own frequency, tune in and would start resonating in their own, healthy frequency again. Thus the illness would disappear, Lakhovsky thought.
He felt it should be possible to halt and even cure degenerative diseases like cancer in this way. After a long time of experimenting unsuccessfully, he called Nicola Tesla for help. Tesla had the blueprints for the oscillator machine ready for use. Their multi-wave oscillator was said to activate healing processes and cured most cases of cancer, leukaemia, osteoporosis etc.
An important part of Lakhovsky’s work took place in 1920-1930. In France, Italy, England and Germany multiple of Lakhovsky’s machines were operating. But then they slowly started disappearing again. Many people said the reason for this was that the quick results provided by the machines made the hospitals unnecessary and no profits could be made by them.
The Second World War put an end to much of Lakhovsky’s work. While visiting the US, Lakhovsky was struck by a car and died under mysterious circumstances aged 72.
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Is this intriguing story the script of a bizarre film?
No, it is a true – well, partly true – story which I have taken from this article by a therapist who, like many others, uses Lakhovsky’s oscillator for treating patients (and sells potions, some of which cost well over Euro 1 000!). Another article by a practitioner offering this treatment claims that the oscillator is effective for the following indications:
- vitalising cells,
- activation of the body’s own healing powers,
- anti-ageing,
- wellness,
- improving general well-being,
- pain reduction,
- detox,
- rejuvenation of skin,
- improvement of visual aspect of the skin.
The article further assures us that the treatment is totally free of side-effects and can be used as an adjunctive therapy for almost any disease.
Yet another website advertises the therapy as follows: Have you lost a loved one to cancer? Georges Lakhovsky had a 98% success rate in treating fatal cancers over an 11-year period. Today we celebrate a 50% five-year survival rate.
And this is what Wikipedia tells us about the Lakhovsky oscillator (depicted in the photo above, together with its inventor): The main circuit basically consists of concentric rings forming electrical dipole antennas having capacitive gaps opposing each other by 180° (called Lakhovsky antennas). The circuit is fed with high voltage, high frequency, impulses from a generator, usually a Tesla coil. If set up correctly, the unit is supposed to create a broad band frequency spectrum of low amplitude, consisting of much more substantially lower and higher frequencies, from 1 Hz to 300 GHz, than those of the exciting generator, usually several 100 kHz to a few MHz from a Tesla transformer or several kilohertz from an induction coil. But the power of this broad band noise spectrum is very low. In order to create more harmonics and sub-harmonics, an additional spark gap on the secondary side has been found in some devices, being mounted directly on the antenna, or being mounted in parallel to the secondary coil…
In an attempt to find out whether the machine works, I have searched for published, peer-reviewed clinical evidence on the Lakhovsky oscillator. I was unable to find any. If any of my readers are aware of any evidence, please let me know.
In response to the recommendation, the health ministry announced the formation of a working group of medical experts to suggest proposals for further regulation of homeopathy. A spokesman said that medicines whose efficiency is not clinically proven should not be procured using public funds, nor prescribed to treat the sick.
Russia has proved a profitable market for foreign suppliers of homeopathic medicine such as French company Boiron, which opened its Russian subsidiary in 2005. “Today, the Russian market is our company’s fourth largest in terms of turnover, after France, the US and Italy. Russia has always been interesting for Boiron because of the large population, and a relatively high incidence of illness and lower level of medicine consumption in comparison with Europe,” general director of Boiron in Russia Irina Nikulina said.
According to figures from Russian pharmaceutical market analysts DSM Group, Boiron sold 35 percent of all the homeopathic medicine sold in Russia last year, or 2.88 billion rubles (USD 49.5 million) worth of medicine. Boiron produces Russia’s most popular homeopathic medicine, called Oscillococcinum, which is marketed to relieve flu symptoms and accounted for 18.98 percent of all homeopathic medicines sold in 2016.
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The many international initiatives aimed at minimising the harm done by homeopathy are slowly beginning to yield results. It took many years for politicians to realise that the supposedly harmless homeopathy is, in fact, not harmless at all. Homeopathy causes harm by:
- wasting people’s money,
- distracting patients from effective treatments,
- the ill-conceived advice homeopaths give to patients,
- making a mockery of evidence-based medicine,
- violating the principles of medical ethics,
- undermining rational thinking in society.
One therefore has to applaud Russia’s ‘Commission against Pseudoscience’, hope that the working group does produce robust advice, and support similar initiatives in other countries.
In 2015, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences stated that “Homeopathic remedies don’t meet the criteria of evidence based medicine” and that homeopathic products should follow the same strict scientific standards as conventional drugs. In 2017, the Scientific Advisory Board of European Academies (EASAC) concluded that there is no substantial evidence that homeopathy works and may even be harmful to our health. 
Now, Hungary is about to act. New regulation is tightening the marketing of homeopathic products in Hungary. From Wednesday this week, homeopathic remedies can only be distributed in Hungary without a therapeutic indication or claim. The reason for this move is that none of the products’ efficacy have been adequately confirmed by rigorous clinical trials.
In a statement, the Hungarian National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition (OGYÉI) said the changes are due to a law amendment that came into effect last year. The new regulation only allows homeopathic medicines with therapeutic indications authorized before Hungary’s accession to the EU (2004), to be marketed after July 1, 2020, if they have complied with the EU regulations on the marketing of these medicines.
Currently, Hungary has no homeopathic product with therapeutic efficacy proven in clinical trials. The product license of homeopathic products – in compliance with the legislation of the European Union – can be obtained by two different procedures in Hungary. The so-called simplified procedure can be used for “high-dilution products” marketed without a therapeutic indication, in which case the effectiveness of the product does not need to be certified.
The “normal” procedure is applicable to homeopathic medicinal products marketed for a therapeutic indication, in which case, just as any other medicinal products, therapeutic efficacy must be clinically proven. OGYÉI emphasized that from July 1st, the advertising of marketable homeopathic remedies may only contain the label text of the product, no additional information.
The move by the Hungarian authorities is, of course, most welcome. It brings Hungary finally in line with the rest of the EU. The many enthusiasts of homeopathy will no doubt suspect a worldwide conspiracy against homeopathy. If so, they merely disclose how far they have put their heads into the sand. Such measures are nothing but the long overdue actions towards abolishing double standards that have existed far too long and have helped nobody except the homeopathic industry.
Amongst all the many bizarre treatments so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) has to offer, distant healing is probably one of the least plausible. Essentially, it involves healers sending healing ‘energy’ to far remote patients. This energy is then supposed to stimulate the patients’ ability to heal themselves.
In my recent book, I summarise it as follows:
Distant healing is a form of ‘energy healing’ where the healer operates at a distance from the patient. This distance can be considerable; proponents of distant healing see no obstacle in healing even over very large distances.
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- The term ‘energy’ must be put in inverted commas, because the underlying concepts have nothing in common with the energy defined in physics. Real energy is measurable and quantifiable.
- ‘Energy’ as used in alternative medicine describes a nebulous concept of a life-force that originates from the obsolete notions of vitalism. This type of ‘energy’ is neither measurable nor quantifiable.
- In distant healing, the healer, who often works for free, sends ‘healing energy’ across space in the belief that it is received by the patient and thus stimulates her self-healing potential. This process does not require the physical presence of the patient.
- Proponents of distant healing offer various modes of action for their treatment; some claim, for instance, that quantum physics provides a scientific explanation as to how it works.
- The assumptions that underpin distant healing are not biologically plausible.
- There has been some research testing whether distant healing is effective. Most of the studies available to date have serious methodological flaws. One review of 8 clinical trials showed that the majority of the rigorous trials do not to support the hypothesis that distant healing has specific therapeutic effects. The results of two studies furthermore suggest that distant healing can be associated with adverse effects.[1] And another review concluded that the evidence to date does not yet provide confidence in its clinical efficacy.[2]
- Reading the literature published by proponents of distant healing, one cannot help but being impressed by the amount of pseudo-scientific language that is being employed to mislead the reader.
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[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12778776
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26665044
Considering its implausibility, it hardly comes as a surprise that Prof Walach studied distant healing in some detail. In fact, he published three studies of it:
2001: Chronically ill patients treated by spiritual healing improve in quality of life: results of a randomized waiting-list controlled study.
Objective: Little is known about the effects of distant healing in chronically ill patients, the population most likely to see a healer in practice. This study investigated whether distant healing as found in normal practice with patients representative of those seeking treatment from healers changes patients’ quality of life substantially.
Method: Randomized, waiting-list controlled study of distant healing (anonymous, amulet, and allowing for personal contact) in chronically ill patients.
Outcome measure: Patient-reported quality of life as expressed by the sum of all MOS SF-36 health survey items.
Results: Sixty patients were treated by various methods of distant healing over 5 months; 59 patients were put on a waiting list (control). Quality of life improved significantly (p < 0.0005) in the treated group (10 points), while it remained stable in the control group. Positive expectation was significantly correlated with outcome.
Conclusion: Chronically ill patients who want to be treated by distant healing and know that they are treated improve in quality of life.
2002: Distant Healing and Diabetes Mellitus. A Pilot Study
Background: The Institut für Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene, Freiburg (IGPP) in cooperation with the Abteilung Naturheilkunde, University Hospital, Zürich investigated whether Distant Healing has a beneficial effect on patients with diabetes mellitus regarding the state of the disease and quality of life.
Objective: The goal of the pilot study was to observe the progression of the disease with various medical and psychological measures and to explore which of them might be sensitive for measuring possible treatment effects.
Patients and methods: 14 diabetic patients were observed for a period of 16 weeks. Within this time they underwent a treatment of 4 consecutive weeks (weeks 9-12) by 5 experienced and trustworthy healers each. Patients were informed about the duration of the treatment but not about the time point of its beginning. Patients and healers never met and there was no contact between researchers and patients during the study period.
Results: With regard to medical parameters, reduction in fructosamine level was observed during the healing period, increasing fructosamine level after the end of the healing period. Sensitivity, measured only at the beginning and at the end of the study period, decreased significantly. The other parameters showed some significant changes but there was no correlation to the Distant Healing intervention. Regarding the psychological data, only improvements were observed.
Conclusions: The results indicate the possibility that a Distant Healing intervention could have certain effects on patients with diabetes mellitus.
Background: Distant healing, a form of spiritual healing, is widely used for many conditions but little is known about its effectiveness.
Methods: In order to evaluate distant healing in patients with a stable chronic condition, we randomised 409 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) from 14 private practices for environmental medicine in Germany and Austria in a two by two factorial design to immediate versus deferred (waiting for 6 months) distant healing. Half the patients were blinded and half knew their treatment allocation. Patients were treated for 6 months and allocated to groups of 3 healers from a pool of 462 healers in 21 European countries with different healing traditions. Change in Mental Health Component Summary (MHCS) score (SF-36) was the primary outcome and Physical Health Component Summary score (PHCS) the secondary outcome.
Results: This trial population had very low quality of life and symptom scores at entry. There were no differences over 6 months in post-treatment MHCS scores between the treated and untreated groups. There was a non-significant outcome (p = 0.11) for healing with PHCS (1.11; 95% CI -0.255 to 2.473 at 6 months) and a significant effect (p = 0.027) for blinding; patients who were unblinded became worse during the trial (-1.544; 95% CI -2.913 to -0.176). We found no relevant interaction for blinding among treated patients in MHCS and PHCS. Expectation of treatment and duration of CFS added significantly to the model.
Conclusions: In patients with CFS, distant healing appears to have no statistically significant effect on mental and physical health but the expectation of improvement did improve outcome.
So, Walach first conducted an RCT and found that patients who were told that they received the healing experienced improvements. These improvements were therefore due to the expectations of these patients and had nothing to do with the distant healing per se. Next Walach conducted a study with diabetics and found that distant healing might have some significant effects. This study not only lacked a control group but its sample size was also tiny. Therefore, he called it a ‘pilot study’ and never followed it up with a proper trial with diabetic patients – all in the good old SCAM tradition of abusing the term. Finally, Walach conducted a multi-centre RCT with 409 CFS-patients and found that distant healing is ineffective. Subsequently, he seems to have stopped initiating further studies of distant healing.
The sequence of publications is remarkable on several levels. To me, it demonstrates the importance of running a proper trial at the outset of conducting research into a subject. This avoids wasting resources and betraying the trust of patients in clinical research. To a more hard-nosed sceptic, it would probably prove how utterly futile it usually is to conduct any studies of treatments that are too implausible for words.
But the story also reveals something more intriguing. I think it displays the mindset of a pseudoscientist in an exemplary fashion. Walach conducted three studies of distant healing. They were all very different in design, patient population, outcome, etc. But they all are entirely consistent with what both common sense and science would have told even the most open-minded scientist: distant healing is neither plausible nor effective beyond placebo. Yet Walach seems to refuse drawing such a conclusion. His last publication on the subject was a qualitative analysis of some of the data from his CFS-RCT. In it he states that our results support data that imply the existence of a psychophysical pathway in healing through spiritual rituals…
If your own studies fail to that a therapy works would you then use weasel-words to promote the idea that your results support data that imply the existence of a psychophysical pathway in healing through spiritual rituals? Or would you openly declare that the therapy in question is useless and therefore potentially dangerous?
Perhaps this is the difference between a scientist and a pseudoscientist?
When I previously wrote about Pranic Healing I boldly asked whether it is a hoax. This prompted several furious reactions of believers who thought my question was insulting. Meanwhile, I informed myself more thoroughly and am happy to confirm that Pranic Healing is not a hoax at all. In fact, it is much worse.
What, you forgot what Pranic Healing is?
How could you?
According to one website, Pranic Healing is a
no touch, non-invasive healing technique that was founded by Grand Master Choa Kok Sui. It is a synthesis of healing techniques from ancient China, Tibet and India in which Prana is used to heal a wide variety of illnesses. Pranic Healing is not only used to cure illness or physical ailments but also can be cure person of his psychological ailments. To be very simple in this computer age as the computer contains the hardware and the software. In human body hardware is our physical body and the software’s are the Human emotions which includes Anger, Grief, Anxiety, Stress , fatigue, our karmas, pride, fear, Phobias and many more.
These human viruses affect the physical body of a person. In Pranic healing Grand Master Choa kok Sui has taught to remove these negative emotions from our system in a very simple but powerful and effective way. Grand Master Choa Kok Sui did lot of research and experiment for treating different diseases and ailments and made is very simple so that anybody can learn it. Today Pranic healing is taught and practiced in more than 80 countries of the world and its books are available in more than 34 languages. Pranic Healing is not intended to replace orthodox western medicine, but rather to complement it. Countless people and their families have been treated and are enjoying a better quality of life through Pranic Healing.
‘Grand Master’ Choa was born August 15, 1952, in the Philippines. His parents were of Chinese descent and became successful business people. Choa was raised in this environment of business and absorbed its lessons only too well. Sadly, he seemed to have been immune to his own healing innovation, as he died young in 2007. But his Pranic Healing empire lives on and today it is a hugely profitable business.
Prana Crystals sell a wide range of products, for instance ‘healing wants’ which they advertise as follows:
Healing Wands made from various stones and crystals have been used round the globe 
for healing purposes since ages. They help in cleansing of the entire body or aura or they can also be used to heal an affected part of the body or chakra. These wands can also be used for massaging purpose. They absorb the negative energy and release stress and pressure and help in transferring the positive energy of the stone. Healing Wands are available in variety of stones and crystals in different sizes. Each one of them have specific characteristics and uses. We have a variety of Wands available to meet your requirements.
My favourite wand is the one pictured on the right here. It is the Rolls Royce of all the wands on offer and therefore it can obviously not come cheap. But at US$ 1999 (yes, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine American dollars) it is still a bargain, because it rids you of all the diseases and negative energy that you can dream of.
During my recent crash course in Pranic Healing, I came across dozens of websites, hundreds of testimonials, uncounted comments and a plethora of curious things. Let me share just one of them with you:
Pranic Weight Loss Body Sculpting Face Lift is a fascinating area of the applications of the teachings of Master Choa Kok Sui for health and beauty. This workshop helps you look prettier and loose weight without surgery, exhausting exercises and medicine, just by using the knowledge of subtle energy.
Using specific combination of colour pranas and techniques, your skin can look 10 to 20 years younger. In fact the lines and wrinkles of the face are storage of negative and unpleasant feelings and experiences such as anger, fear and grief. When this emotional garbage is cleared and released, the face will look younger, brighter and revitalized.
Certain colour Pranas have the power to disintegrate and remove fat, wrinkles and lines from your system to create a healthier and better-looking body. In fact the lines and wrinkles of the face are storage of negative and unpleasant feelings and experiences such as anger, fear and grief. When this emotional garbage is cleared and released, the face will look younger, brighter and revitalized.
No, Pranic Healing is most certainly not hoax, and I was wrong to imply it. My sincere apologies! It is pure and simple exploitation of vulnerable people who have not had the opportunity to learn how to think critically.
When tested rigorously, the evidence for so-called alternatives medicine (SCAM) is usually weak or even negative. This fact has prompted many SCAM enthusiasts to become utterly disenchanted with rigorous tests such as the randomised clinical trial (RCT). They seem to think that, if the RCT fails to generate the findings we want, let’s use different methodologies instead. In other words, they are in favour of observational studies which often yield positive results.
This line of thinking is prevalent in all forms of SCAM, but probably nowhere more so that in the realm of homeopathy. Homeopaths see that rigorous RCTs tend not to confirm their belief and, to avoid cognitive dissonance, they focus on observational studies which are much more likely to confirm their belief.
In this context, it is worth mentioning a recent article where well-known homeopathy enthusiasts have addressed the issue of observational studies. Here is their abstract:
Background: Randomized placebo-controlled trials are considered to be the gold standard in clinical research and have the highest importance in the hierarchical system of evidence-based medicine. However, from the viewpoint of decision makers, due to lower external validity, practical results of efficacy research are often not in line with the huge investments made over decades.
Method: We conducted a narrative review. With a special focus on homeopathy, we give an overview on cohort, comparative cohort, case-control and cross-sectional study designs and explain guidelines and tools that help to improve the quality of observational studies, such as the STROBE Statement, RECORD, GRACE and ENCePP Guide.
Results: Within the conventional medical research field, two types of arguments have been employed in favor of observational studies. First, observational studies allow for a more generalizable and robust estimation of effects in clinical practice, and if cohorts are large enough, there is no over-estimation of effect sizes, as is often feared. We argue that observational research is needed to balance the current over-emphasis on internal validity at the expense of external validity. Thus, observational research can be considered an important research tool to describe “real-world” care settings and can assist with the design and inform the results of randomised controlled trails.
Conclusions: We present recommendations for designing, conducting and reporting observational studies in homeopathy and provide recommendations to complement the STROBE Statement for homeopathic observational studies.
In their paper, the authors state this:
It is important to realize three areas where observational research can be valuable. For one, as already mentioned, it can be valuable as a preparatory type of research for designing good randomized studies. Second, it can be valuable as a stand-alone type of research, where pragmatic or ethical reasons stand against conducting a randomized study. Additionally, it can be valuable as the only adequate method where choices are involved: for instance, in any type of lifestyle research or where patients have very strong preferences, such as in homeopathy and other CAM. This might also lead to a diversification of research efforts and a broader, more realistic, picture of the effects of therapeutic interventions.
My comments to this are as follows:
- Observational research can be valuable as a preparatory type of research for designing good randomized studies. This purpose is better fulfilled by pilot studies (which are often abused in SCAM).
- Observational research can be valuable as a stand-alone type of research, where pragmatic or ethical reasons stand against conducting a randomized study. Such situations rarely arise in the realm of SCAM.
- Observational research can be valuable as the only adequate method where choices are involved: for instance, in any type of lifestyle research or where patients have very strong preferences, such as in homeopathy and other CAM. I fail to see that this is true.
- Observational research leads to a diversification of research efforts and a broader, more realistic, picture of the effects of therapeutic interventions. The main aim of research into the effectiveness of SCAM should be, in my view, to determine whether the treatment per se works or not. Observational studies are likely to obscure the truth on this issue.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that observational studies are useless; quite to the contrary, they can provide very important information. But what I am trying to express is this:
- We should not allow double standards in medical research. The standards and issues of observational research as they exist in conventional medicine must also apply to SCAM.
- Observational studies cannot easily determine cause and effect between the therapy and the outcome.
- Observational studies cannot be a substitute for RCTs.
- Depending on their exact design, observational studies measure the outcome caused by a whole range of factors, including the therapy per se, the placebo-effect, the natural history of the disease, the regression towards the mean.
- Observational studies are particularly useful in effectiveness research, AFTER the efficacy of a therapy has been established by RCTs.
- If RCT fail to show that a therapy is effective and observational studies seem to indicate that they work, the therapy in question is probably a placebo.
- SCAM-enthusiasts’ preference for observational studies is transparently due to motivated reasoning.
In 2012, we evaluated the efficacy/effectiveness of lavender for the reduction of stress/anxiety.
Our systematic review included 15 RCTs. Two trials scored 4 points on the 5-point Jadad scale, the remaining 13 scored two or less. Results from seven trials appeared to favour lavender over controls for at least one relevant outcome. We concluded that methodological issues limit the extent to which any conclusions can be drawn regarding the efficacy/effectiveness of lavender. The best evidence suggests that oral lavender supplements may have some therapeutic effects. However, further independent replications are needed before firm conclusions can be drawn.
Since 2012, more evidence has emerged. The latest study on the subject aimed to investigate the effects of lavender oil on sleep and quality of life of menopausal women through steam inhalation. It was quasi-experimental with pre-test/post-test placebo control groups. It was conducted with 57 women, 27 of whom were subject to aromatherapy and 30 to a placebo. Data were collected using the Questionnaire Form, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL).
For the intervention group, the PSQI median scores after the administration of aromatherapy were found to be significantly lower than those before the administration (p < 0.001) and those of the placebo group (p < 0.001). Similarly, for the intervention group, the total median MENQOL scores after the administration of the aromatherapy were found to be significantly lower than the scores prior to the administration (p < 0.001) as well as the scores of the placebo group (p < 0.001). 
The authors of the new study concluded that that aromatherapy involving lavender-scented steam inhalation increased sleep quality and quality of life in women with sleep deprivation problems during menopause.
Hurray, this seems to be a decent trial with a positive result for SCAM!
And why not? It is not at all implausible that lavender has hypnotic effects. There are now quite a few reasonably sound trials that suggest it works. Moreover, it is safe and not very expensive (or even free, if you can grow it yourself).
I for one am more than happy to report a positive finding for a SCAM and merely regret that I cannot do so more often.
