Synogenes.com

Some people will believe anything but many people will believe some odd ideas when they run out of help. This is especially the case in chronic illness where a busy GP may be unable to diagnose the cause of a problem and will offer only palliative, some would say placebo, treatment.

Suppose for example, you suffer from neuromuscular pain which is notoriously difficult to diagnose. Without expensive neurological investigation there is little hope of identifying any cause and as it often disappears for periods of time, any investigation could prove fruitless. Little wonder then that GPs will often suggest pain killers and exercise. Where this doesn't work, people will naturally turn to the alternative.

Since they think they've tried science, they now try something else and it might be homeopathy, a chiropracter, or some healing therapy suggested by a friend. That friend, having already spent money on it, will more often be a keen advocate than a sceptical assessor and will offer persuasive support.

The argument goes something like this.

1 There are things we don't know, phenomena that we haven't yet come across, lots of things we don't understand. Undoubtedly true.

2 Some people claim that these therapies have helped with x,y,z conditions and so they might help me. It may be that they work and we just don't understand how. Again true, but this is not used to suggest we put the claims to the test by studying them - it's a suggestion that we should take the claims to be true...

3 I have nothing to lose because I am still suffering. Except money and time...

Once started on the mystical route, there is a strong psychological motive for justifying the (seldom trivial) amounts spent. Instead of single sessions, they are courses of treatment and where they involve some measure of massage, the effects of increased circulation and movement of stiff muscles and joints, can work for a short time depending on the physical ailments. So with a minimum of light physiotherapy, it is possible to temporarily alleviate some conditions giving the patient a sense of wellbeing but also to build in the repeat-custom, that essential element of all successful businesses.

Now of course, there's nothing wrong with someone helping alleviate muscle and joint pain with a bit of massage (providing of course they know enough to avoid causing strain and injury through ignorance). And leaving it at that point is very close to the lowest (unspecialised) level of mainstream medical therapy known as physiotherapy, a thoroughly rational medical practice.

On the other hand, when it's laced with mystical theories about energy lines, channels, chakra and so on, what is being promoted is a mis-understanding of what is going on, confusing evidence-based diagnosis of injury with a belief-based conjecture about possible causes. Medicine relates the treatment to the diagnosis precisely to increase the likelihood of effective treatment and that requires observation, study of symptoms, understanding of anatomy and physiology, and also an understanding of how the body reacts to the proposed treatment.

All of this is deftly avoided by the introduction of mysticism. Since energy pathways and channels can't be seen or even detected, no-one can question them. Instead of a treatment based on good grounds for expecting success, we have a completely open question - try it and see. This is little better, and arguably worse, than medieval magic. It's a con-merchant's charter because anyone can make unreasonable claims and sell them to any gullible person looking for an alternative to the market medicine on offer.

Unfortunately, busy GPs who can't or won't refer people to specialists to get a clear diagnosis that will inform effective treatment, are effectively fuelling the growth of medieval mysticism in alternative medicine. As Dawkins has said, there is no alternative medicine. If it works reliably, it is medicine. The problem is that what evidence there is shows it doesn't work and there is a psychological predisposition to doubt the need for testing it.

One recent therapy that seems to have taken off in Australia and is growing in the UK is a combination of very light massage and foot rubbing which might feel nice in itself but isn't likely to cure anything or be a treatment for anything - it's called the Bowen Technique after its very wealthy founder.

Here's the official explanation of the technique from those who profit from it: The official version, and here's a useful blog questioning just one or two of the outrageous claims made.

In this apparent scam, the body is seen to be able to heal itself but the therapist in some way gives the body the information to be able to do so, not that there's any diagnosis involved. But I won't spoil the fun...

It's unfortunate that there's no protection for the psychologically vulnerable from this sort of exploitation though the best antidote is a strengthening of the critical faculties. In the UK, we still have the absurdity of a homeopathic hospital paid for by the state - fraud on a state-sponsored scale - and while we have that level of magic-worship, there's little hope for the unfortunate patients who are led to believe that if there's no pill on the prescription pad, there's no evidence-based medical cure.