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Bioresonance therapy (including MORA therapy) is a pseudoscientific medical practice in which it is proposed that electromagnetic waves can be used to diagnose and treat human illness.
History and method
Bioresonance therapy was invented in Germany in 1977 by Franz Morell and his son-in-law, engineer Erich Rasche. Initially they marketed it as "MORA-Therapie", for MOrell and RAsche. Some of the machines contain an electronic circuit measuring skin-resistance, akin to the E-meter used by Scientology, which the bioresonance creators sought to improve; Franz Morell had links with Scientology.
Practitioners claim to be able to detect a variety of diseases and addictions. Some practitioners also claim they can treat diseases using this therapy without drugs, by stimulating a change of "bioresonance" in the cells, and reversing the change caused by the disease. The devices would need to be able to isolate and pinpoint pathogens' responses from the mixture of responses the device receives via the electrodes. Transmitting these transformed signals over the same electrodes is claimed by practitioners to generate healing signals that have the curative effect.
Effectiveness
In a survey of 538 practitioners and 680,000 cases, 50.5 percent of clients with a range of health problems reported that they were free of symptoms after bioresonance treatment; 31 percent reported a significant improvement; 11.7 percent experienced a slight improvement; and 1 percent suffered a deterioration (plus a small proportion of cases whose outcomes were not reported). Almost half of 241,664 individuals for whom extensive orthodox treatment had failed, experienced complete remission of their symptoms. Taken together, the typical effectiveness of treatment is summarised in Figure 1.3, with success rates for allergic conditions higher again.
Bioresonance devices are in wide use throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Russia by medical doctors, homeopaths, naturopaths, dentists and veterinarians. However, they are not licensed in the United States for use with humans (but they are for animals).
Scientific criticism
The gold standard of research into the effectiveness of drugs is the ‘double blind’ study, in which neither the patient nor the doctor knows whether the patient is receiving an active medication or an inactive placebo. This form of research is not possible with bioresonance, because practitioners will always know which programs they are delivering. A less rigorous standard of evidence is achieved when groups receiving treatment are compared with those with similar conditions who receive a different treatment.
Using this format, in a meta-analysis of a number of studies on the use of bioresonance, Rahlfs concluded that the results were both statistically significant – with clients improving at better levels than with orthodox treatment or no treatment at all – and clinically significant – that is, clients experienced a marked improvement in their conditions.
Some researchers have classified bioresonance therapy as pseudoscience. Some scientific studies did not show effects above that of the placebo effect.
WebMD states: "There is no reliable scientific evidence that bioresonance is an accurate indicator of medical conditions or disease or an effective treatment for any condition."
Proven cases of online fraud have occurred, with a practitioner making false claims that he had the ability to cure cancer, and that his clients did not need to follow the chemotherapy or surgery recommended by medical doctors, which can be life-saving. Ben Goldacre ridiculed the BBC when it reported as fact a clinic's claim that the treatment had the ability to stop 70% of clients smoking, a better result than any conventional therapy.
In the United States of America the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies "devices that use resistance measurements to diagnose and treat various diseases" as Class III devices, which require FDA approval prior to marketing. The FDA has banned some of these devices from the US market, and has prosecuted many sellers of electrical devices for making false claims of health benefits.
According to Quackwatch the therapy is completely senseless and the proposed mechanism of action impossible.
See also
References
- Ernst E (June 2004). "Bioresonance, a study of pseudo-scientific language". Forsch Komplementärmed Klass Naturheilkd. 11 (3): 171–3. doi:10.1159/000079446. PMID 15249751.
- "FAQ". www.bioenergeticmedicine.org. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
- "Scientology und die Bioresonanztherapie" [Scientology and the theory of bioresonance] (PDF). ABI INFO (in German). Stuttgart: Aktion Bildungsinformation e.V. 2003-11-14. p. 1. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
Die Bioresonanztherapie geht auf eine angebliche Entdeckung des im Jahr 1990 verstorbenen Frankfurter Arztes und hochrangigen Scientologen Dr. Franz Morell zurück.
- "Efficacy Study into Bioresonance Therapy". Bioresonance.com. 26 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
- ^ Stephen Barrett, M.D. (6 November 2004). "BioResonance Tumor Therapy". Quackwatch. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- Brügemann 2006: 59
- Brügemann 2006: 61
- Brügemann 2006: 61
- Galle M (Oct 2004). "". Forsch Komplementärmed Klass Naturheilkd (in German). 11 (5): 306, author reply 306. doi:10.1159/000082152. PMID 15580708.
- Wüthrich B (2005). "Unproven techniques in allergy diagnosis" (PDF). J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol. 15 (2): 86–90. PMID 16047707. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-05-12.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - Schöni MH, Nikolaizik WH, Schöni-Affolter F (Mar 1997). "Efficacy trial of bioresonance in children with atopic dermatitis". Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 112 (3): 238–46. doi:10.1159/000237460. PMID 9066509.
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"BIORESONANCE Overview Information". WeMD. WebMD, LLC. 2014. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
There is no reliable scientific evidence that bioresonance is an accurate indicator of medical conditions or disease or an effective treatment for any condition.
- "BioResonance" Promoter Settles Charges
- Who's holding a smoking gun to bioresonance?
- Alan E. Smith (2007). "Bioresonance Therapy (BRT)". UnBreak Your Health: The Complete Guide to Complementary & Alternative Therapies. Loving Healing Press. p. 29. ISBN 1-932690-36-0.
{{cite book}}: External link in|chapterurl=|chapterurl=ignored (|chapter-url=suggested) (help) - "BioResonance Therapy". Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
Further reading
- "Your Friday Dose of Woo: MORA the same ol' same ol' woo". ScienceBlogs. 16 May 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
- Wandtke F, Biorensonanz-Allergietest versus pricktest und RAST, Allergologie 1993, 16, p. 144
- Wille A, Bioresonance therapy (biophysical information therapy) in stuttering children, Forsch Komplementärmed, 1999 Feb; 6 Suppl 1:50-2
- Hörner M, Bioresonanz: Anspruch einer Methode und Ergebnis einer technischen Überprüfung, Allergologie, 1995, 18 S. 302
- Kofler H, Bioresonanz bei Pollinose. Eine vergleichende Untersuchung zur diagnostischen und therapeutischen Wertigkeit, Allergologie 1996, 19, p. 114
- Niggemann B, Unkonventionelle Verfahren in der Allergologie. Kontroverse oder Alternative? Allergologie 2002, 25, p. 34
- Schultze-Werninghaus, paramedizinische Verfahren: Bioresonanzdiagnostik und -Therapie, Allergo J, 1993, 2, pp. 40–2
External links
- An overview of the pseudoscience behind "bioresonance therapy": "Electrodiagnostic" Devices