They’ve done it again. Last October CTV Calgary News had (alongside an infectious disease expert) a homeopath espousing the virtues of discarding tried-and-true methods of fighting H1N1 – such as vaccination – in favor of untested and evidence unsupported ‘nosodes’. Now this. On last night’s 6 o’clock news segue called Medical Watch (done by Karen Owen), a homeopathic treatment for food allergies was presented (link).

We’re not told at all how the ‘patient’ (Nathan) came to be diagnosed with having ‘food allergies’, but testing specific allergens involves placing suspected compounds in a sealed vial and seeing how the ‘patient’ responds:

“We’re doing organophosphates and we’re noticing his arm is not able to hold so he is allergic to this vial,” says Dr. Meghji who is still treating Nathan.

Huh? No testing for histamine-triggered inflammatory responses (which is what causes the symptoms of allergies)? Of course, since the vial is sealed, the ‘patient’ is not actually exposed to what is supposedly causing health problems. So how can there be a reaction to diagnose? And “Dr.” in the current context, by the way, means ‘naturopath’, not MD. Surprise, surprise.

So, just how does this technique (NAET) work? Placing vialed allergens near the ‘patient’ purportedly desensitizes the patient to the allergen. Does this involve an immune response to the allergen, causing a desensitization to the culprit compound over time by direct repeated exposure to small amounts? Oh, no. This is homeopathy. Any explanation for how it works must bear no relation to what we have evidence for. The explanation is much more grandiose than something as banal as an “immune response”:

Dr. Meghji says the homeopathy, combined with acupressure, seems to reprogram the brain and get rid of the allergy. “I’m still skeptical…but what I can tell you is it works.”

That’s right. The ‘patient’s’ brain magically gets reprogrammed. Despite all the evidence and understanding of the biochemical pathways involved in allergies, it is all in the ‘patient’s’ mind. No one, it seems, has told Meghji that the real culprit histamine is produced in mast cells and basophils found in connective tissue and has nothing whatsoever to do with the brain. We know this from doing actual laboratory experiments. What laboratory and clinical evidence is there for this paradigm shift in our understanding of allergies? None.

And I love that despite Meghji’s supposed skepticism she continues to ply this quackery at $600+ a pop when the only thing she can bring to the table is a bare assertion that ‘it works’. Color me unconvinced, but I find that insufficient.

CTV Calgary News is supposed to present accurate information, not misrepresent ‘alternative medicine’ (there is no such thing – either it is medicine or it is not…) as being valid. People who are not science-savvy will take this story at face value and potentially suffer harm by opting for treatments based not on evidence as to efficacy, but on anecdote. The only disclaimer came after the segue – a single sentence saying the medical community doesn’t think this works. This is irresponsible reporting and we need to call CTV Calgary News out on this.

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