Ex-drone
8th April 2007, 10:31 AM
No news here, just a personal experience. Featured in this week’s Swift is an article on ion detox footbath therapy – Dirty Foot Cure (http://www.randi.org/jr/2007-04/040607mi.html#i9). One of my co-workers had, a few months ago, related to me the benefits of this therapy, which he was following. He explained that the electrolysis process supposedly ionized the water in order to change the pH of the blood and force toxins and parasites to leech out of the body through the skin and into the footbath.
I was astounded and asked what evidence led him to believe in the therapy’s claim. He pointed to the change in water colour, the vials of small worms that had been extracted from other patients, the endorsement of the friend who introduced him to the therapist, and his own affirmation of well-being after his treatments.
Since we are both electrical engineers, I reminded him that the water would change colour by electrolysis alone. He agreed and, in fact, stated that before his first treatment, he had the therapist run the footbath on its own and witnessed the colour change. However, he believes that the water is significantly darker after treatment. I did not bother pointing out that time (and perhaps dirty feet) was the obvious reason for this.
I informed him that blood pH is tightly regulated such that any variance would kill the patient. He thought that perhaps the change in pH is within the narrow bounds tolerated by the body. I indicated that internal fluids and especially parasites could not leech through the skin unless the skin was seriously compromised. I asked him if it would not be more likely that the therapist palmed the worms. He was taken aback and refused the suggestion. In his view, the therapist was above fraud because he trusted her.
After our discussion, I sent him the relevant link at quackwatch.org (http://www.chem1.com/CQ/FootBathBunk.html). His reply was that, nevertheless, he trusted his therapist and the treatments made him feel better. For the sake of our working relationship, I decided to go no further.
I was astounded and asked what evidence led him to believe in the therapy’s claim. He pointed to the change in water colour, the vials of small worms that had been extracted from other patients, the endorsement of the friend who introduced him to the therapist, and his own affirmation of well-being after his treatments.
Since we are both electrical engineers, I reminded him that the water would change colour by electrolysis alone. He agreed and, in fact, stated that before his first treatment, he had the therapist run the footbath on its own and witnessed the colour change. However, he believes that the water is significantly darker after treatment. I did not bother pointing out that time (and perhaps dirty feet) was the obvious reason for this.
I informed him that blood pH is tightly regulated such that any variance would kill the patient. He thought that perhaps the change in pH is within the narrow bounds tolerated by the body. I indicated that internal fluids and especially parasites could not leech through the skin unless the skin was seriously compromised. I asked him if it would not be more likely that the therapist palmed the worms. He was taken aback and refused the suggestion. In his view, the therapist was above fraud because he trusted her.
After our discussion, I sent him the relevant link at quackwatch.org (http://www.chem1.com/CQ/FootBathBunk.html). His reply was that, nevertheless, he trusted his therapist and the treatments made him feel better. For the sake of our working relationship, I decided to go no further.