My wife was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 18, after the “natural” vitamin shots failed to resolve the symptoms and an actualdoctor finally suggested imaging. Fast forward… my wife and her parents are sitting in the surgeon’s office discussing options. As her mother was explaining the supplements/natural treatments, the PA is flipping through the Physicians Desk Reference trying to find them. The surgeon said, “Forget it… you’re not going to find it in there. It’s voodoo medicine”.
This one hit home! In high school, our quiverfull community drank the koolaid on this “electromagnetic balance therapy.” A lady would “snan” your electromagnetic field and the computer would show all the areas in your body out of balance. She would then sell you these “drops” (literally just water) to help balance everything. You would come back in 6 weeks and new layers of issues would be ready to address, which of course needed new drops. Cutting out diary products and going gluten free was also a part of the “treatment.” My best friend saw straight through it and I quit taking the drops. As an adult I can’t believe the adults fell for it. It’s one of my favorite, “How I grew up was really weird” stories. Wild.
It really is wild! I have so many questions when I think back on my experience with one chiropractor who had me place my bare feet on his lap so he could probe my big toe with a metal rod that would send signals to a device stacked with supplements that would heal me.
Did he have a foot fetish? How much of a commission did he make peddling those expensive supplements? Where did he disappear to?
(And if anyone runs across Dr Jeffrey Sima who used to operate in Libertyville, IL—run in the opposite direction.)
Ewww!! That is crazy. The psychology behind it all is what fascinates me. Why do really smart people fall for it? What conditions you to check your brain at the door when it comes medicine?
My wife was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 18, after the “natural” vitamin shots failed to resolve the symptoms and an actualdoctor finally suggested imaging. Fast forward… my wife and her parents are sitting in the surgeon’s office discussing options. As her mother was explaining the supplements/natural treatments, the PA is flipping through the Physicians Desk Reference trying to find them. The surgeon said, “Forget it… you’re not going to find it in there. It’s voodoo medicine”.
Mom wasn’t happy about that.
Yeah I bet she wasn't. Ha!
But seriously, it's so dangerous.
This one hit home! In high school, our quiverfull community drank the koolaid on this “electromagnetic balance therapy.” A lady would “snan” your electromagnetic field and the computer would show all the areas in your body out of balance. She would then sell you these “drops” (literally just water) to help balance everything. You would come back in 6 weeks and new layers of issues would be ready to address, which of course needed new drops. Cutting out diary products and going gluten free was also a part of the “treatment.” My best friend saw straight through it and I quit taking the drops. As an adult I can’t believe the adults fell for it. It’s one of my favorite, “How I grew up was really weird” stories. Wild.
It really is wild! I have so many questions when I think back on my experience with one chiropractor who had me place my bare feet on his lap so he could probe my big toe with a metal rod that would send signals to a device stacked with supplements that would heal me.
Did he have a foot fetish? How much of a commission did he make peddling those expensive supplements? Where did he disappear to?
(And if anyone runs across Dr Jeffrey Sima who used to operate in Libertyville, IL—run in the opposite direction.)
Ewww!! That is crazy. The psychology behind it all is what fascinates me. Why do really smart people fall for it? What conditions you to check your brain at the door when it comes medicine?
Smart people have vulnerabilities too—cults, quacks, and politicians know how to exploit them.