Are Naturopaths Health Charlatans?

“Remedies” boosted by the health crisis and the questioning of scientific discourse. ©AdobeStock

The case caused a stir in France. In one of her videos, published in 2018, Irène Grosjean gives her advice for lowering fever in young children. The naturopath recommends “Louis Kuhne’s friction sitz bath”, a cold bath accompanied by rubbing on the genitals. “It won’t look very good at first“, he warns. We are hallucinating. Especially since this follower of naturopathy is not an obscure stranger. Very influential, it trains and has trained hundreds of “practitioners”, including many Belgians. In the turmoil, Doctolib, number 1 in making medical appointments in France, decides to suspend 17 profiles formed by Irène Grosjean and her partner Thierry Casasnovas. The start of a big fall cleanup. In fact, many other profiles worry health professionals. Naturopaths, personal development coaches, magnetizers, mediums… Professions empowered by the health crisis. At the end of October, it’s the great schism. Doctolib decides to reserve its platform for people whose diplomas are officially recognized and fires 5,700 practitioners from its site.

In Belgium? Are naturopaths present on the Doctoranytime platform, whose slogan is: “Find a doctor in your area”? Yes, the site in reference 88. Is the advice they provide that radical? We rubbed our energy stones well and consulted two therapists in Walloon Brabant and Hainaut for a “naturopathic evaluation.” Under the guise of joint pain, an advanced state of fatigue and depressive thoughts.

The first profile selected, a forty-year-old officiating in a multidisciplinary center in Brabant (physiotherapists, speech therapists, therapists, psychologists), seems reassuring. After making an appointment, this naturopath sends us two questionnaires to fill out for the day of the consultation. The first is an Ayurveda questionnaire (traditional unconventional medicine from India) where we need to evaluate our proportion of “vata energy” from 1 to 6. “Is my walk brisk and light?”, “Do many people find me stubborn?” or “Do I tend to sleep too much?”. At the end of the three pages, obviously, the addition of the points gives us a “total Kapha”. We lose our Latin. The second set of questions aims to establish a metabolic profile. “Do my eyes look pretty dry or moist?”, “Is my appetite big, little, or almost none?”, “Am I a deadpan profile or am I heartbroken?” On the day of the consultation, this naturopath begins by reviewing our responses and counting the points.

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The eyes are the mirror of the soul, says the proverb. According to this iridology specialist, they would also reflect our health capital. This technique aims to study the colored part of the eye, the iris, to evaluate the general state of a person. That has never been scientifically proven. The man takes his magnifying glass, his mini-torch and begins to scrutinize our eyes. For 25 minutes he identifies the spots in our irises and reproduces them on a diagram. “Now I will tell you what I have observed and you will tell me if it speaks to you, he announces in a language that seems rather borrowed from that of the seers. I see an inflammatory state in the spine, back, pelvis, legs, but also in the throat and cerebellum. It’s those orange and brown spots.In general, it also says to write down a “low energy state. “You are flat but you still have resilience. If you pull the string, this ability will gradually decrease and disappear. So you can sleep 24 hours a day, you will always be tired. Does all this speak to you?However, this is more or less the announced reason for our visit.

The fake ass pendulum

“It does not make sense, comments Professor Christian Melot, vice president of the National Council of the Medical Association. An ophthalmologist can detect diabetes in the back of the eye because they look at arterial changes there. But iridology, this pseudo-predictive medicine that associates spots in the eyes with disease, is quackery.“After this session, to say the least original, and a 60-minute interview on our eating habits, intestinal transit, sleep, family history or sensitivity to electromagnetic rays, the last question asked does not, however, suggest a return to Solid ground. “You are open?“He then takes out a pendulum and swings it between two cards to select the appropriate treat. This falls on ginseng. “This plant will solve all your problems.” Remember that the effectiveness of dowsing has never been proven by serious scientific studies.

Quackery? And also the illegal practice of medicine? At FPS Health, Justine Cerise recalls the legal framework. “Any activity offered to the public to assess the state of health, prevent or treat health problems is reserved for operators of recognized health professions.Which is not the case for naturopaths, whose title is neither protected nor defined. To FPS Health, these healers are nothing more than traders. and there is no plan to frame them. “Carrying out the aforementioned activities without authorization is therefore illegal and punishable.This first naturopath would therefore already be outlawed. Especially since he made a diagnosis – he “saw” the inflammation – and recommended a cure. Two constituent elements of the abusive practice of medicine, even if the cure is non-pharmacological.

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Carrot, condom, same fight?

The second appointment with a naturopath in the Charleroi region proves to be even more worrying. “I was trained by Irène Grosjean in living foodsthis thirty-year-old woman specifies right from the start. I invite you to watch his videos.We grab the pole and ask him about the controversy surrounding the French naturopath. “He suffers from it because he removes people from the medical system! She’s called a pedophile because she recommends rubbing baths on children’s genitals, but it makes sense because these organs are filled with nerve endings and this helps revive the body’s energy. And then she uses a glove and does not touch but rubs the vulva and the tip of the glans. Impossible to have such an orgasm!“

Here, not the slightest question. Not even our age or weight. Only explanations of the origins of our ailments. Explanations for the less unlikely. “The body is made up of various fluids, including lymph, which is of no concern to doctors, except in the case of autoimmune diseases. All the toxins we ingest are stored in the lymph. If we are unable to evacuate them by natural means, they will cause cancer, leukemia and AIDS. A diet richer in “live foods” (raw vegetables and fruit – ed) helps prevent these diseases.” Excuse me? If today we know that a good diet can reduce risk factors for cancer, claiming that a few raw fruits and vegetables prevent them seems to be a very risky shortcut. So preventing AIDS, a consequence of HIV which is transmitted through blood transfusions or sexual intercourse… Carrot, condom: same fight?

“These words are uplifting and very dangerous, insurgents Christian Melot. If this person were a doctor, they could be subject to disciplinary action.“But you’re not a doctor. The College of Physicians can therefore do nothing. Ditto for the Ministry of Health, except in cases of illicit practice of medicine. However, it seems likely to us that this practitioner’s actions could fall under criminal law. For fraud, abuse of weakness or lack of assistance to a person in danger in the case of a patient suffering from a serious illness? Pending hypothetical verifications by these new health gurus, shouldn’t we, as in France, remove these profiles from medical dating sites?

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Not that easy. “These private platforms enjoy the freedom of enterprise and therefore have the right to refer to the professions they want, explains Justine Cerise. However, it would be desirable to be able to intervene when they contribute to the commission of offences, such as the abusive practice of the medical profession.” For Dr. Melot, sorting is essential. “We need to remind these platforms of their ethical duty and remove these dubious profiles. Mixing doctors and iridologists, for example, doesn’t seem healthy to me for patients, especially the most vulnerable. Because with their observation techniques, their devices, their diagrams, these naturopaths without medical training could appear serious.“However, it is not a question of further widening the gap between pro and non-conventional medicine. “Some alternative medicines like hypnosis are used in hospitals today. If a person really wants to try naturopathy, I recommend going to a naturopathic doctor. Or a naturopath without medical training but in addition to your doctor. Because, contrary to what this healer will probably tell you, he won’t be able to detect a serious illness or heal you.“Specify it we paid 80 and 100 euros for these two appointments. Payments in cash only. This is equivalent to about ten consultations with a specialist doctor covered by health insurance. It should also be noted that neither the Doctoranytime platform nor the Belgian Federation of Naturopaths have responded to our requests for a reaction.