Beware of the Modern Snake Oil Salesman

Recently I've been reading about two "amazing cures" for headaches, one new to me and one I had forgotten about. They reminded me that there's a lot of "stuff" out there that people in pain are vulnerable to. Usually it's a case of someone who sounds authoritative taking a molehill of truth and making a mountain out of it.

One such case is an ad I saw in one of those shopper's weekly papers not long ago. "Local Doctor Releases Free Report for All Headache Sufferers!" It gave a toll-free number to call so, in the interest of this column, I called and got a recorded message from Dr. _______ asking me to leave my name and address to receive the free report.

Turns out this "free life changing report" that is supposed to forever release me "from the misery of headaches" is chiropractic treatment for the neck. The report insinuates that there is a conspiracy of pharmaceutical companies and doctors to keep this headache cure from you so they can continue to make money off of you.

The grain of truth in here is that if you have certain neck injuries, chiropractic treatment on a temporary basis may actually help alleviate your symptoms. Not all headaches, of course, have a neck injury as their cause (and not all neck injuries call for chiropractic treatment for that matter). Next week I'll be writing about a treatment for headaches caused by neck disorders that actually seems to work.

The other cure-all has been around for quite some time. Periodically the press discovers it all over again and there is a flurry of publicity before everyone realizes it doesn't mean a heck of a lot and the excitement dies down again. This is Dr. F. Batmanghelidj's famous water cure. According to the web site run by a faithful follower in northeastern PA near where I live, this "greatest health discovery in history cures or prevents most illnesses."

The doctor, an Iranian who lives in the U.S., claims that most illnesses are symptoms of dehydration. Therefore, his "cure" calls for you to drink half your body weight in water every day.

Also, you ingest 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. of sea salt for every quart of water you drink and use salt liberally on your food. In addition, you stay off of caffeine and alcohol because of their diuretic effects.

The web site from my area carries testimonials of cures of migraine headaches, ulcers, chronic fatigue, edema, digestive complaints, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, and even cancer.

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