Credible or Crackpots?

As a health and medicine journalist, my e-mail box often overflows with press releases that are meant to get my attention. Many end up in the trash before I even look at them, but one came through today that piqued my curiosity.

The subject line read: “Impacts 50% of Americans Suffering from Medical Issues”—not a very well-written headline, but I took a look. Here are a few excerpts of that press release:

“According to Newsweek, March 31, 2008, the cancer survival rate in the United States is well below that of certain countries in Europe. Doctors practicing in many European countries know that treatment cannot be effective or even work at all if a patient is being exposed to earth radiation called ‘geopathic stress.’”

Geopathic stress, the release explained, “is the scientific term for the electro-magnetic field created by the friction of underground water as it moves through the earth.”

After doing an Internet search, I found more.

Geopathic stress, according to believers, “blocks healing” and “influences” such chronic conditions as cardiovascular deficiency, attention deficit disorder, immune deficiency disorders, chronic fatigue and cancer. Also influenced by geothermal stress, but to a lesser degree, are “chronic body pains, headaches, sudden signs of physical aging, irritability and restless sleep.”

Geopathic stress, one site said, is also a culprit to a limited extent in cases of “infertility and miscarriages, learning difficulties, behavioral problems and neurological disabilities in children.”

An affected home, workplace or person—one that is situated or lives over a “geopathic zone” —must be “neutralized” before the body can begin healing, according to geopathic stress apostles. This neutralization has something to do with burying copper wire perpendicular to the center of the “interference lines,” which must be determined by a practitioner.

I’ve never heard of geopathic stress, but I think I’ll put it and all the other mumbo-jumbo pseudo-sciences way down on my list of Things to Worry About.

But what about your patients?

Do they come to you for advice about questionable treatments?

If so, what do you say?

Some questionable or quack treatments can be harmless, but some may not, so how do you impart correct information without alienating patients or losing their trust?