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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy medicine | 3/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:19:26.409139+00:00 | kb-cron |
== Bioresonance therapy == Bioresonance therapy (including MORA therapy and BICOM) 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 isolate and pinpoint pathogens' responses from the mixture of responses the device receives via the electrodes. These transformed signals transmitted over the same electrodes has a healing effect, claim practitioners.
=== Scientific evaluation === Lacking any scientific explanation of how bioresonance therapy might work, researchers have classified bioresonance therapy as pseudoscience. Some 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 could 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 could 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 before 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 nonsensical and the proposed mechanism of action impossible.
== Explanations for positive reports == There are several, primarily psychological, explanations for positive reports after energy therapy, including placebo effects, spontaneous remission, and cognitive dissonance. A 2009 review found that the "small successes" reported for two therapies collectively marketed as "energy psychology" (Emotional Freedom Techniques and Tapas Acupressure Technique) "are potentially attributable to well-known cognitive and behavioral techniques that are included with the energy manipulation." The report concluded "Psychologists and researchers should be wary of using such techniques, and make efforts to inform the public about the ill effects of therapies that advertise miraculous claims." There are primarily two explanations for anecdotes of cures or improvements, relieving any need to appeal to the supernatural. The first is post hoc ergo propter hoc, meaning that a genuine improvement or spontaneous remission may have been experienced coincidental with but independent from anything the healer or patient did or said. These patients would have improved just as well even had they done nothing. The second is the placebo effect, through which a person may experience genuine pain relief and other symptomatic alleviation. In this case, the patient genuinely has been helped by the healer – not through any mysterious or numinous function, but by the power of their own belief that they would be healed. In both cases, the patient may experience a real reduction in symptoms, though in neither case has anything miraculous or inexplicable occurred. Both cases are strictly limited to the body's natural abilities. Positive findings from research studies can also result from such psychological mechanisms, or as a result of experimenter bias, methodological flaws such as lack of blinding, or publication bias; positive reviews of the scientific literature may show selection bias, in that they omit key studies that do not agree with the author's position. All of these factors must be considered when evaluating claims.
== See also ==
== References ==
== Further reading == Bioresonance therapy 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 oracknows (May 16, 2008). "Your Friday Dose of Woo: MORA the same ol' same ol' woo". ScienceBlogs. Retrieved February 22, 2014. Schultze-Werninghaus, "paramedizinische Verfahren: Bioresonanzdiagnostik und -Therapie", Allergo J, 1993, 2, pp. 40–2 Wandtke F, "Bioresonanz-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
== External links ==
NIH Energy medicine: overview. Miracle Machines: The 21st-Century Snake Oil: a Seattle Times series on fraudulent energy medicine devices What Is Complementary and Alternative Medicine? "biofield". An overview of the pseudoscience behind "bioresonance therapy": "Electrodiagnostic" Devices