electromed vs. allopathic

[Guest guest]

Hi Duncan,

This article was in today's New York Post just so you can see what you're up

against. The bad news is that some people might read an article like this

and believe it.....note the references to Aspartame. The good news is that

as of December 1999, 34.7 million Americans sought medical advice on the

Internet, a 56 percent jump over the previous year, according to the FTC.

CYBERQUACKS PITCH BOGUS CURES ON WEB

Monday,January 1,2001

By AL GUART

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Warning: Browsing the Internet for medical information could be hazardous to

your health - and possibly fatal.

The 'Net is bustling with Web sites that offer medically unproven treatments

and cures for a slew of serious diseases.

The Federal Trade Commission has identified 800 sites and news groups with

" questionable promotions for products or services " purporting to cure, treat

or prevent heart disease, cancer, AIDS, diabetes, arthritis and multiple

sclerosis.

Internet sites, replete with convincing testimonials, tout " psychic surgery "

for almost any ailment, a rocket-fuel chemical as a cure for cancer, highly

toxic herbs to treat liver disease, and magnets for those suffering from

ulcers or dementia.

A number of patients around the nation reportedly have died or suffered

life-threatening setbacks after dabbling in alternative cures hawked in

cyberspace.

Malone, of Fort Worth, Texas, had a cancerous tumor removed from her

breast in September 1997, and, fearing chemotherapy as a follow-up treatment,

turned to the Internet.

Typing in the words " breast cancer, " she found numerous sites promoting

hydrazine sulfate, a compound used in making rocket fuel.

They " made it sound like it was a miracle cure for cancer, " Malone, 58, said.

" It was supposed to kill any cancerous tumors that might try to appear. "

During the three years she took the chemical under the care of a local

naturopath, the cancer returned to her breast and spread to her liver.

She was given less than a year to live when she checked into a hospital Sept.

25, and is now undergoing chemotherapy.

Malone warned anyone cruising the Web for medical information to confirm what

they find with a reputable medical doctor.

An unidentified 55-year-old Hawaiian man reportedly died of liver and kidney

failure after taking hydrazine sulfate - obtained online without a

prescription - to treat his sinus cancer, according to doctors at the

Moncrief Army Community Hospital in Fort , S.C.

In 1997, the journal of the American Medical Association reported that a

patient died of kidney failure after taking " oil of wormwood " obtained

online.

Many cases in which patients are harmed by using treatments found online are

believed to go unreported because the victims are embarrassed. But medical

experts say such incidents are likely to increase with the number of people

using the Internet and as the number of health-related sites swells to meet

the demand.

As of December 1999, 34.7 million Americans sought medical advice on the

Internet, a 56 percent jump over the previous year, according to the FTC.

Meanwhile, health-oriented Web sites jumped from 2.8 million to 9.5 million

between 1998 and 2000, one study found.

Sites offering medical advice and treatment openly hawk herbs and dietary

supplements in what is now a $15 billion-a-year industry.

The FTC has targeted a handful of sites that hawk miracle cures and products,

forcing them to stop making unfounded claims.

In April, the FTC settled fraud charges with two sites that pushed the

chemical CMO (cetylmyristoleate), at $65 per bottle, to treat arthritis,

cancer and asthma, and a third site that sold bottles of Essiac herbal tea,

at $14.50 per bottle, as a cancer and AIDS cure.

Among the questionable and potentially hazardous products and treatments

touted on the Web are:

* " Aristolochia, " also known as " snakeroot " and " Dutchman's pipe, " used in

weight-loss concoctions and as a treatment for liver ailments, menstrual

problems and cancer.

Studies have shown the toxic herb has caused kidney cancer and failure in

scores of cases.

* Oxygen and ozone therapy for AIDS and cancer.

* " Bio-Resonance " treatments that purport to change the " electromagnetic

emissions " from cancer cells.

* " Psychic surgery, " in which a spiritual healer claims to remove sick tissue

barehanded, without making any incisions. The late comic Andy Kaufman had

such treatment for lung cancer, and he died two months later.

There are sites that, with no apparent scientific evidence, link breast

cancer to underarm deodorants, warn that Costa Rican bananas carry a

flesh-eating bacteria, contend that cooking in aluminum pans causes

Alzheimer's disease, and claim that ingesting the artificial sweetener

aspartame leads to multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus.

An AIDS Web site, originating in the Netherlands, cites the work of a Nobel

Prize-winning chemist and other scientists in insisting that there is no

proof the HIV virus causes the disease, that AIDS is not sexually transmitted

and that victims are poisoned to death by antiviral drugs.

Even sites operated by well-respected institutions and medical schools

contain misinformation, studies have found.

A 1999 University of Michigan study found a Web site operated by the

Encyclopedia Britannica that claimed a cancer that afflicts children had a 95

percent mortality rate. In fact, the survival rate is 75 percent. The error

was later corrected.

Ohio State pediatric specialists found that 48 of 60 sites run by major

medical institutions contained inaccurate information on how to treat

childhood diarrhea.

Dr. Gerald Bernstein of Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan said he's had

his share of misinformed diabetes patients asking about unproven treatments.

" What the Internet should do is provide patients with a basis to be better

informed for when they see a professional, " Bernstein said. " It should not

lead you to be your own diagnostician. "

http://204.152.166.42/Search?eng=nypost & cb=NYPost & dest=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nypost

..com%2Fnews%2F20212.htm & engid=580 & af=0 & qtype=99 & idx=0