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'''Natalia Demkina''' (]: Наталья Демкина; born 1987), usually known by the diminutive '''Natasha''', is a young woman from ], ], who claims to possess a special vision that allows her to look inside human bodies and see organs and tissues, and thereby make medical ]. Since the age of ten, she has performed readings in Russia. In 2004 she appeared on television shows in the ] and on the ]. | '''Natalia Demkina''' (]: Наталья Демкина; born 1987), usually known by the diminutive '''Natasha''', is a young woman from ], ], who claims to possess a special vision that allows her to look inside human bodies and see organs and tissues, and thereby make medical ]. Since the age of ten, she has performed readings in Russia. In 2004 she appeared on television shows in the ] and on the ]. Since 2004 Demkina is a full-time student of the ], ]. | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||
According to her mother, Tatyana Vladimovna, Natasha was like any other child growing up, although perhaps a bit more mature than other kids her age. A quick learner, she was able to talk at six months, by one year of age she was able to recite Pushkin and Nekrasov from memory, and by the time she was three she had learned the Russian alphabet and how to operate a snow mobile. <ref name="Discovery">The Discovery Channel, 2004, </ref> “Overall,” her mother says, “she was just a normal kid. Never was she able to see through humans!" <ref name="Pravda">Pravda, January 2004 </ref> | According to her mother, Tatyana Vladimovna, Natasha was like any other child growing up, although perhaps a bit more mature than other kids her age. A quick learner, she was able to talk at six months, by one year of age she was able to recite Pushkin and Nekrasov from memory, and by the time she was three she had learned the Russian alphabet and how to operate a snow mobile, her mother claims. <ref name="Discovery">The Discovery Channel, 2004, </ref> | ||
Natasha’s family is not sure about the exact origin or cause of Natasha’s gift, but it began when Natasha was ten years old and was admitted into a hospital to have her appendix removed. There were complications when cotton swabs were accidentally left in her abdomen, and a second surgery was necessary to remove them. About a month after the surgery, she began to comment on the fact she could see inside people. She told her mother she saw “a crimped tube similar to our vacuum cleaner inside of you. I also see two beans and a tomato that resembles a bulls' heart.” Because Natasha didn’t know the proper names for internal organs, her mother believed that she was describing her intestines, kidneys and heart, comparing them to fruits and vegetables. | |||
In Natasha’s hometown of Saransk in Western Russia, doctors at the children’s hospital performed a number of tests to see if Natasha actually did have some type of “x-ray vision.” In one test, Natasha drew a picture of what she said she saw inside a doctor’s stomach, marking the exact spot where he had an ulcer. She also disagreed with the diagnosis of a cancer patient, saying all she could see was a small cyst. Further tests on the woman proved that Natasha was correct. | |||
Natasha claims to be able to distinguish even the tiniest pathology on a molecular level in the deepest corners of a human body, which are usually left undetected by regular ultrasound. <ref name="Pravda"/> “It's like having double vision. I can switch from one to the other in no time if I need to know a person's health problem,” said Natasha. “I see an entire human organism. It is difficult to explain how I determine specific illnesses. There are certain impulses that I feel from the damaged organs. The secondary vision works only in daytime and is asleep at night.” | |||
Natasha became an icon in Russia, receiving dozens of phone calls every day with people lined up outside her parents small apartment to wait for consultations, paying around 400 rubles (about $15 USD) for each visit. This was a boon to Natasha because it helped her in her goal to attend medical school in Moscow so she would be able to continue helping people. The income from her talent provided her family with the financial ability to send her to a university. Natasha often had headaches after these sessions and found it emotionally exhausting because of the illnesses she diagnoses. | |||
Natasha was invited to London, New York and Tokyo for scientific experiments. The British researchers unanimously acknowledged Natasha's remarkable gift, whereas American scientists working for the Discovery Channel came to a different conclusion. The American researchers set a high statistical level of success that Natasha failed to meet, finding only four of seven conditions instead of the five required to pass. Natasha later passed a similar test in Tokyo, where Japanese scientists confirmed her paranormal vision. | |||
Demkina has since graduated from school and passed entrance examinations to Semashko State ] University, ], where she is currently a full-time student. | |||
According to Natasha's Web site, she works with the Center of Special Diagnostics and a team of experts that possess unusual abilities, folk healers as well as professionals of traditional medicine. | |||
They believe that such an association will help not only to raise methods of diagnostics and treatment to a new level, but also to make breakthroughs in many different scientific directions connected with health. <ref name="NDWeb">Natasha Demkina Official Webpage {{ru icon}}</ref> | |||
==Appearance in London== | |||
In January 2004, British journalists brought Natasha to ] ] where she successfully identified all the fractures and metal pins in a woman who had recently been a victim in a car crash. The woman was fully clothed and had no visible signs of how or where she had been injured. | |||
In London, journalists tested her ability but no doctors were present at the examination. Natasha was told to specify diagnoses of patients, from six to eight people; then her predictions were compared with official medical diagnoses of the patients. She identified each one correctly. As a result of the success, Natasha soon appeared in a live show where she "X-rayed" patients in front of large audience. And again the girl performed successfully. Unfortunately, there was no scientific confirmation of the phenomenon. <ref name="Pravda"/> | |||
== Discovery Channel Appearance == | == Discovery Channel Appearance == |
Revision as of 01:04, 22 June 2006
Natalia Demkina (Russian: Наталья Демкина; born 1987), usually known by the diminutive Natasha, is a young woman from Saransk, Russia, who claims to possess a special vision that allows her to look inside human bodies and see organs and tissues, and thereby make medical diagnoses. Since the age of ten, she has performed readings in Russia. In 2004 she appeared on television shows in the United Kingdom and on the Discovery Channel. Since 2004 Demkina is a full-time student of the Semashko State Stomatological University, Moscow.
History
According to her mother, Tatyana Vladimovna, Natasha was like any other child growing up, although perhaps a bit more mature than other kids her age. A quick learner, she was able to talk at six months, by one year of age she was able to recite Pushkin and Nekrasov from memory, and by the time she was three she had learned the Russian alphabet and how to operate a snow mobile, her mother claims.
Discovery Channel Appearance
In May 2004 she was brought to New York City by the Discovery Channel to appear on a documentary titled The Girl with X-Ray Eyes, and to be tested by researchers under partially controlled conditions. The preliminary test was arranged by Ray Hyman and Richard Wiseman of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) and Andrew Skolnick of the Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health (CSMMH). The test required Demkina to correctly match six specified anatomical anomalies to seven volunteer subjects. The cases in question included six specified anatomical anomalies resulting from surgery and one "normal" control subject.
Because of limitation in time and resources, the preliminary test was designed to look only for a strongly demonstrated ability. The researchers explained that while evidence of a weak or erratic ability may be of theoretical interest, it would be useless for providing medical diagnoses. In addition, the influence of the "Clever Hans effect" cannot be ruled out under the lax conditions of the test . Demkina and the investigators had agreed that she needed to correctly match at least five of the seven conditions to warrant further testing.
In the 4-hour-long test, Demkina correctly matched conditions to four volunteers, including the control subject. The researchers concluded that she had not demonstrated evidence of an ability that would warrant their further study. The design and conclusions of the experiment were subsequently the subjects of considerable dispute between Demkina's supporters and those of the investigators. For example, Brian Josephson charged that Demkina's four matches represented a statistically significant result in favor of her abilities, since the odds against her matching that many at random were 50 to one. Professor Hyman responded that Bayesian inference requires higher levels of statistical significance when testing paranormal claims. The investigators posted a detailed rebuttal of typical objections
In the Discovery Channel program, Demkina offered a number of explanations for why she failed to see the specified conditions in three of the subjects and reported seeing those conditions in three wrong subjects. She said that she should have looked longer and deeper to find the subject who has a metal plate covering a missing section of his skull, even though the outline of the large metal plate could be seen beneath the scalp from up close. She said surgical scars interfered with her ability to see the resected esophagus and removed appendix, though the researchers countered that those surgical scars should have helped her identify the correct subjects. Demkina also claimed that appendixes can grow back after an appendectomy, which is impossible.
References
- ^ The Discovery Channel, 2004, The Girl with X-Ray Eyes
- ^ Hyman R, Skeptical Inquirer, May 2005, Testing Natasha
- ^ Skolnick AA, Skeptical Inquirer, May 2005, Testing Natasha: The Girl with Normal Eyes
- ^ Hyman R, CSICOP, Statistics and the Test of Natasha
- Scientists fail to see eye to eye over girl's "X-ray vision", Times Higher Ed. Supp., 10 Dec 2004
- CSMMH, Answer to Critics
External links
- Special Diagnostic Center of Natalya Demkina Official webpage of Natasha Demkina Template:Ru icon
- "Visionary or fortune teller? Why scientists find diagnoses of 'x-ray' girl hard to stomach ", The Guardian, 25 Sept 2004
- "Respected Scientists? The Natasha Demkina Case", Skeptical Investigations, 1 Dec 2005
- The Demkina File at Skeptical Investigations
- The Girl With X-Ray Eyes at Museum of Hoaxes
- The Girl with "X-Ray" Vision at James Randi Educational Foundation Forum