"The healer looked at me for a long time, then walked around with a candle." How do healers treat and what does it lead to?

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-13 00:26

They had not heard of evidence-based medicine. But they know a lot about vile methods of treatment.

This article is part of the "" project. In it, we declare war on everything that prevents people from living and becoming better: breaking laws, believing in nonsense, deceit and fraud. If you've come across a similar experience, share your stories in the comments.

Traditional medicine is trusted by the Levada Center: Health and trust by 52% of Russians. At the same time, almost a third are skeptical about traditional doctors. And someone prefers to turn to healers and healers. Demand creates supply: to see this, you just need to type in the corresponding query in a search engine.

The first thing that comes to mind when you hear the phrase "traditional medicine" is herbs, powders, a hot boiled egg to warm up the sinuses, oak bark, which recently suggested Tolstoy advised to be treated with oak bark instead of Western drugs to be treated for hypertension by a State Duma deputy. But the matter is not limited to herbs. Those who call themselves healers and witch doctors practice much more bizarre and disgusting techniques. They can cause irreparable harm to health, lead to psychological trauma or end in the death of a gullible patient.

What methods are used by traditional healers

Urine therapy

When it first occurred to people to drink urine or smear it on themselves for medicinal purposes, it's hard to say. Perhaps this brilliant idea was contained in Ayurvedic texts, but the issue is not clear.

In the early 20th century, Briton John Armstrong began using urine to treat toothache and inflammation from insect bites. Later he published the book "Living Water", which became a reference book for many Western fans of urine therapy.

Around the same time in the USSR, the doctor Alexei Zamkov decided that urine of pregnant women could be used to treat sexual dysfunction, and created a Forgotten Story: Gravidan, a drug called Gravidan. Surprisingly, this peculiar method has become very popular. The madness went so far that Zamkov was even appointed head of the newly created laboratory of urogravidanotherapy, and gravidanotherapy centers were opened throughout the country.

"Gravidan" supposedly could heal almost anything. It was prescribed to increase potency, lower intraocular pressure, accelerate the healing of ulcers with croupous pneumonia, typhoid and typhus, malaria, diseases of the cardiovascular and digestive systems, bronchial asthma and polyarthritis.

Later, under pressure from sober doctors and scientists, all laboratories, institutes and state farms associated with urine treatment were quietly closed. The production of "Gravidan" was stopped in 1964. And in 1994, the "telezoon" Gennady Malakhov revived interest in urine therapy by publishing a book of the same name.

This interest, apparently, will not fade away soon, because on the forums and in social networks, no, no, and yes, there are Wheatgrass, children's urine, burnt alum - these are your doctors' recommendations to drink urine as a remedy for all diseases. Although the effectiveness of urine therapy has not been proven, and doctors are skeptical about it, to put it mildly. What Are the Risks and Benefits of Drinking Urine? …

Drinking urine is unsafe, if only because it contains creatinine, acetone and phosphates, which would not occur to anyone in their right mind to use. Well, urine is also not so sterile Urine is Not Sterile: The Urinary Microbiota of Overactive Bladder Patients, according to the adherents of urine therapy.

But, unfortunately, in some life situations you don't think about all this.

From the age of twelve I suffered from acne. I hoped that when I grow up, they will disappear on their own. But they did not disappear - neither at 18, nor at 20, nor at 25. Huge red eruptions on the face, chest and shoulders. I was terribly shy, I could not go to the sea, I was afraid to meet men.

By that time, I had already learned that in my case, acne is not just the difficulties of adolescence, but an acne disease that needs to be treated. I decided to go to the doctor, got tested, and they told me to follow a diet, to use only special means for skin care. And they prescribed hormonal drugs.

It scared me: I immediately remembered horror stories that hormonal pills can make you get fat, that hair begins to grow in the wrong places, and acne can get even more. I couldn’t make up my mind to start taking them. Mom's friend added fuel to the fire, who said that all hormonal drugs are a terrible evil and chemistry and you need to go to a healer grandmother. Gave a contact to a healer, whose niece allegedly recovered from infertility.

Instead of a decrepit grandmother in a kerchief and bundles of dried herbs on the walls - as I imagined a healer and her house - I saw an ordinary retired woman with short hair and a perm. The apartment was also ordinary: old wallpaper, red carpets, a Soviet lacquered wall, icons with an icon lamp in the corner.

The healer looked at me for a long time and intently, then walked around with a lit candle, whispered some words - probably conspiracies, but I did not understand. As a result, I "wrote out" to drink herbal decoctions: calendula, chamomile. And wipe your face with your own urine. Collect urine in the morning, evaporate and rub the skin with it three times a day.

To say that I was in shock is to say nothing. I left with a firm conviction that I would never do such nasty things. But the next day my mother's friend called - the one who sent me to my grandmother - and said that all this is prejudice, that urine has many healing properties, it is almost divine nectar. Several of her acquaintances even drank urine and, thanks to this, were cured of serious illnesses. And doctors hide everything, because if people are treated with such a simple and free remedy, then they themselves will be left without money.

And I gave up. I even do not know why. Probably, I really wanted to finally become beautiful, start wearing open clothes, establish a personal life. I do not want to go into details, but I very scrupulously followed the recommendations of the healer: I collected, evaporated, wiped. It was disgusting, and these cans in the bathroom … As I remember, I shudder.

At first nothing changed, but after a week of such "treatment" I woke up, looked in the mirror and almost burst into tears. There are even more acne! They covered almost the entire face. The skin itched and burned.

I rushed to the doctor, reluctantly admitted what was the matter. The doctor, of course, was shocked. He said that I had an infection (apparently, there were invisible wounds on the skin), and the salts in the urine made the situation even worse.

The inflammation healed for three weeks. It is still a shame that I, a person with a higher education, believed in this obscurantism and was engaged in such nonsense. And I still managed to cope with acne - with the help of the treatment that the doctor initially prescribed.

Witch beetle

Someone in pain goes to the doctor and takes medicine, and someone eats Residents of Bashkortostan began to have breakfast with live beetles. Sometimes - dried Medvedka Medvedka: use in folk medicine for tuberculosis. Sometimes - beetles-medicine men, in the world of darkling beetles “The medicine-beetle” will cure cancer for only 2000 rubles …”.

According to entrepreneurs who sell insects for 5-10 rubles apiece, darkling beetles can cure gastritis, diabetes mellitus, bronchial asthma, cancer and AIDS. They even came up with a scheme for taking darkling beetles: they need to be swallowed alive, washed down with milk or wrapped in a bread crumb. Start with one beetle a day, gradually increasing the number to 60–70.

Doctors warn that eating beetles can be dangerous. One lover of such therapy in the intestine was found to have "Chinese weevils" (Ulomoides dermestoides) found incidentally during colonoscopy of live darkling beetles, another due to beetle eating fell ill with Acute Eosinophilic Pneumonia Associated with Ingestion of Ulomoides dermestoides Larvae ("Chinese Beetles") pneumonia.

Soda

In 2018, the former Italian doctor Tullio Simoncini was sentenced to five years for Doc gets 5 yrs for treating cancer. Although he received a classical medical education, he sympathized with alternative medicine (that is, methods of treatment with unproven effectiveness) and treated Dangerous ideas of doctor who defies baking soda cancer cure with injections of soda solution. According to his theory, cancer is caused by the fungus Candida albicans, and baking soda destroys this fungus and helps get rid of the tumor.

Simoncini was stripped of his doctor's license, but he has many followers. For example, the former trucker Vladimir Luzai on his YouTube channel told how he fights cancer (with the help of soda, of course), and recommended that others do the same.

Alternative methods of treating cancer are ineffective and dangerous: using them, patients lose precious time.

True, the version with cancer, fungus and soda still haunts scientists. There are studies that say Cancer risk in patients with candidiasis: a nationwide population-based cohort study that the risk of contracting various types of cancer in patients suffering from candidiasis is higher than in the control group. Or that sodium bicarbonate slowed down Bicarbonate Increases Tumor pH and Inhibits Spontaneous Metastases tumor growth in mice.

But the effectiveness of such treatment for humans has not yet been proven. And you certainly can't be treated with baking soda instead of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or hormone therapy prescribed by an oncologist.

Daria, 41 years old, an official. The heroine's name was changed at her request.

Eleven years ago, my cousin was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. It was discovered late, at the fourth stage - metastases to the liver had already started. Ovarian cancer is very rapid and aggressive; if it is not detected in time, there is almost no chance of being cured. So the doctors explained to us then. They even refused to operate my sister. Chemotherapy was prescribed, but the tumor progressed anyway.

We couldn't believe that nothing could be done. At first we went from one specialist to another, but everyone said about the same thing. Then one of the relatives offered to go to the healer. Allegedly, there were cases when people, after treatment with him, were healed of cancer, AIDS, infertility and other serious diseases. The family was driven to despair, so they were ready to try anything to help.

I myself have not been to the healer - only my sister went there with her mother, my aunt. But, as I understand it, he instilled confidence in them. The man was serious and convincing, according to his sister, more like a doctor or scientist than a traditional healer. He led her hands and a lit candle over her stomach, gave her some powders and decoctions to drink, urged her to repent and let go of grievances, because of which a tumor could arise. And then he said that there is a proven remedy for cancer, which is actually known for a very long time, but oncologists do not want to publish it, because then people will stop being treated in their clinics for big money. And that remedy is regular baking soda. It seems like a tumor is actually a fungus that dies because of soda.

We were very excited at that moment and really believed that this could help. Well, it is understandable: when a loved one dies, any tiny hope is like a breath of fresh air. They began to look for a nurse who would agree to injections or droppers with a solution of soda, but no one agreed without a prescription from a real doctor.

The healer himself offered to give injections, but we had enough sanity to refuse: he did not have a medical education, they were afraid that he might bring an infection or somehow harm. Now I understand how stupid it is: we did not entrust him to give injections, but for some reason we entrusted him with prescribing treatment. Probably, they have completely lost the ability to think soberly.

In general, the injections did not work out: my sister began to drink soda solution three or four times a day. I went to the healer, who again did some passes with his hands and claimed that the cancer was receding and the sister would soon be completely healed. But the miracle, of course, did not happen. After a couple of months, the sister became worse, she was admitted to intensive care and soon died.

Kerosene

Apparently, the idea to drink kerosene, as well as to make lotions out of it, also came from the books of Gennady Malakhov. Allegedly, kerosene can be cured The last century. How kerosene became a medicine and is it worth using it for sinusitis, tuberculosis, joint pain, problem skin and, of course, cancer. Probably, the adherents of such treatment are not aware that kerosene is not a medicine, but a flammable liquid. If you drink it, then instead of getting rid of ailments, you can get severe poisoning. Clinical guidelines for the provision of emergency medical care for acute poisoning in children.

Heavy metals and mold

Of course, no one recommends treatment with heavy metals. Although after kerosene it would not be so surprising. But some healers specialize not in roots, beetles and urine, but in Chinese traditional medicine and Ayurveda.

Heavy metals can easily be found in drugs prescribed by doctors Combined DNA, toxicological and heavy metal analyzes provides an auditing toolkit to improve pharmacovigilance of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM): lead, mercury, cadmium. And in some plants that are used in oriental medicine, scientists have discovered Herbal medicines could contain dangerous levels of toxic mold toxic mold.

And of course, most of these "medicines" are not registered anywhere as medicines and everything is very suspicious with their composition. The manufacturers assure that everything is natural, without your terrible chemistry, but in fact, Combined DNA is still added to Chinese tablets, toxicological and heavy metal analyzes provides an auditing toolkit to improve the pharmacovigilance of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) some real drugs. Apparently, even manufacturers understand that without this miracle drugs will not work.

Self-harm and sexual abuse

Yes, some healers as a treatment beat "Healed with sweets": in Kazakhstan, the market for folk healing of their patients is flourishing. Or strangled In Primorye, a child died during a rite of exorcism. Or raped. Fortunately, this is rather an exception, but it does a good job of showing what a lack of control, impunity and a desire to profit from someone else's despair can lead to.

Is it possible to trust traditional healers

It may seem that above we are talking about charlatans who simply declared themselves healers and went to cut money from naive citizens. And real healers do not do any harm and peacefully heal people with their own gift and age-old wisdom passed down from generation to generation. However, it is not so easy to distinguish a “real” healer from a “fake” one.

Traditional medicine in Russia is regulated by Article 50 of the Federal Law “On the Basics of Health Protection of Citizens in the Russian Federation”. In order to become a traditional healer, you need to get permission. It is issued only with the approval of medical associations. But healers are in no hurry to legalize: about 10% of such "specialists" have permission. How they got it is also a big question. Perhaps not without the participation of the Legal Practice of the Traditional Medicine Specialist of the Traditional Medicine Association, which, through a partner, helps with the paperwork.

In 2016, the Ministry of Health once again proposed Legal healers: the Ministry of Health plans to issue licenses for practicing traditional medicine to somehow legitimize traditional healers: to issue them a license after training with traditional doctors. But in practice, this idea was never implemented.

In any case - with or without permission - most of those who call themselves healers and healers do not have any medical education - neither higher nor even secondary. You can call yourself a healer without even graduating from school. And such people may easily not have the slightest idea about the pathogenesis of diseases and methods of their treatment. They may not even know human anatomy and physiology. And nevertheless, patients are accepted, diagnosed and "treated". Without clinical guidelines, protocols and pharmacological reference books.

If healers are caught in illegal occupation of traditional medicine, they are shone by the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation Article 6.2. Unlawful practice of traditional medicine, a fine of several thousand rubles or, if the patient's health is harmed, a punishment of up to two years in prison. Only the victim will still have to prove that he turned to a healer, and this will be difficult to do without medical documentation, which such doctors usually do not keep.

But it helped me

Yes, it sometimes happens that herbal teas, walking on coals and magical passes really help. The patient feels better, the symptoms of the disease recede. The person makes a logical conclusion: it works! And he begins to bring the good news to the whole world about how he was healed with the help of urine, soda or Chinese tablets. But you shouldn't blindly believe such stories, even if they happened to you. And that's why.

Some confuse "after" and "after"

Suppose the high blood pressure decreased after the patient ate a beetle, drank urine and, to be sure, swallowed a couple more spoons of Ayurvedic powders. Do we have reliable evidence that these two phenomena are related? No. The pressure could drop for other reasons. For example, a person breathed correctly and deeply Just Breathe: How to Use Breathing Exercises to Lower Blood Pressure or kept his feet warm and his hands cold Scientific Evidence-Based Effects of Hydrotherapy on Various Systems of the Body.

The ability of urine to lower blood pressure has not been proven. There are no representative studies demonstrating that this effect is observed in a large number of patients. So, all assumptions about the effectiveness of a miracle cure are just theory. Most likely erroneous.

The disease went away by itself

There is a common medical joke: "Without treatment, ARI lasts for seven whole days, and with treatment - only a week." It is very convenient: you can take any roots, leaves and dietary supplements, and then say that thanks to them you were healed.

Another situation: some disorders in the body are considered age-related and do not require correction. For example, the menstrual cycle is established by Pediatric and adolescent gynecology within a year and a half from the time of menarche, and before that menstruation may be irregular. If some kind of treatment is carried out during this period, one can easily attribute the establishment of the cycle to him, which will be wrong.

Placebo effect worked

It explains A history of the placebo 90% of the success of alternative medicine. A placebo is a dummy that does not contain an active substance, but at the same time it is prescribed to a person under the guise of a medicine. And if the patient is confident that he is being treated, a placebo can really bring him relief.

Is traditional medicine always quackery?

Any drug or treatment method must pass through the filter of evidence-based medicine before being widely used. That is, to confirm its effectiveness and become part of an officially recognized therapy. For this, the Federal Law of the Russian Federation - On the Circulation of Medicines - is a series of large-scale trials - preclinical (on animals) and clinical (on volunteers).

If the drug is effective in the treatment of certain diseases and the benefits of its use do not exceed the harm, it is registered in the State Register of Medicines and gradually included in clinical guidelines. In these recommendations, of course, there is not a word about treatment with conspiracies, urine or the laying on of hands. Occasionally phytotherapy is found there, but only as an auxiliary method of treatment.

The WHO Strategy in the field of traditional medicine and experts from the World Health Organization also speak about this. They see great potential in traditional medicine, but they call many of the alternative methods "complementary" and insist that all of them must be thoroughly studied and tested before being applied to patients. And specialists practicing traditional and alternative medicine must be educated and licensed.

Traditional medicine and quackery are not synonymous. Some of the methods do work. Mint tea lowers the Effects and Safety of Menthol on Blood Pressure and Metabolic Parameters in Prehypertensive and Mild Hypertensive Patients (ESMAB) blood pressure, and chamomile infusion soothes Chamomile: A herbal medicine of the past with bright future and helps to fall asleep. But taking any medications is better to agree with a doctor who has a diploma and a certificate confirming his qualifications.

Healers and healers do not have such documents. They also do not have sufficient knowledge and suitable conditions for treating patients and cannot provide scientific evidence for the effectiveness of their methods. Turning to them, you are at great risk to your health and you can consider yourself lucky if such treatment at least did not bring harm.