Quackery

Quackery


     This year, we Americans will spend billions of dollars on products that do

nothing for us - or may even harm us. And we'll do it for the same reason people

have done it since ancient times... We want to believe in miracles. We want to

find simple solutions and shortcuts to better health. It's hard to resist. All

of us, at one time or another, have seen or heard about a product - a new and

exotic pill, a device, or potion - that can easily solve our most vexing problem.

With this product, we're told, we can eat all we want and still lose weight. We

can grow taller or have bigger breasts. Or we can overcome baldness, age,

arthritis, even cancer. It sounds too good to be true - and it is. But we're

tempted to try the product in spite of all we know about modern medical science

- or perhaps because of it. After all, many treatments we take for granted today

were once considered miracles. How can we tell the difference?


     Not all advertisements for health products are false, of course. In fact,

the vast majority aren't .So just what is quackery? Simply put, quackery is the

promotion of a medical remedy that doesn't work or hasn't been proven to work.

In modern times, quackery is known as health fraud. But call it quackery or call

it health fraud, the result is the same - unfulfilled wishes, wasted dollars,

endangered health. Often quack products are fairly easy to spot, like the magic

pills you are supposed to take to stay forever young. But sometimes the products

are vaguely based on some medical report that you may even have heard about in

the news. In general, when looking over ads for medicines and medical devices,

watch out for those that seem to promise too much too easily. Quack cures rob us

of more than money. They can steal health away or even take lives. Quacks may

lure the seriously and often desperately ill, such as people suffering from

arthritis and cancer, into buying a bogus cure. When people try quack remedies

instead of getting effective medical help, their illnesses progress, sometimes

beyond the treatable stage.


     Quacks have always been quick to exploit current thinking. The snake-oil

salesmen a few generations back carried an array of "natural" remedies to sell

to a public that was still close to the frontier. And today, quacks take

advantage of the back-to-nature movement, capitalizing on the notion that there

ought to be simple, natural solutions to almost any problem. Some current target

areas for such promotions include:


        ARTHRITIS. Over 30 million Americans suffer from arthritis, and the

nature of the disease makes it           fertile ground for fraud. And

because symptoms may come and go, or the disease may be in remission for

     several years, arthritis sufferers may actually believe at least

temporarily, that they've been cured                 by a quack remedy.

     Before you add to the $2 billion spent annually on quack arthritis cures,

remember that, although           medical science offers effective

treatments, it has found no cure for arthritis. The list of fraudulent

     "miracle cures" for the disease ranges from snake venom to lemon juice,

from the harmless milk of           vaccinated cows to the dangerous use of

steroids. More dangerous and costly arthritis treatments are           offered

by legitimate-looking clinics, often located outside the United States. While

some clinics may offer      effective treatment, many prescribe untested

diets or drugs that either offer no arthritis cure or                cause

patients to have additional health problems. Beware of arthritis clinics that

offer cures. It is           important to remember that pain relief and

inflammation treatments are not the same. A product that      

advertises relief for the minor pains of arthritis does not necessarily treat

inflammation. For this reason, the serious condition of arthritis should be

treated by a
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