MEDICAL MYTH: ZAPPING PARASITES

SEARCH THE WEB for a parasite zapper, a device that is supposed to rid the body of pesky parasites, and you'll likely get over 10,000 hits. Or try shopping for a zapper on Amazon and you'll find a couple pages of various devices with names like The Ultimate Zapper, SyncroZap, Harmonic Quad Zapper, and Auto Zap 5, ranging in price from $60 to nearly $600.

These useless devices, part of a long line of electrically-based quackery, trace their modern roots to Hulda Clark. She earned a Ph.D. in animal physiology ( University of Minnesota ) and a Naturopathic Degree from a now-defunct learn-by-mail school. She initially claimed zappers work by electrocuting parasites, the "true" cause of almost every human disease including HIV/Aids, cancer, and even Alzheimer. She also assured folks that zappers also work on pets and you can use them on fruits and vegetables to ensure you aren't ingesting those any parasites.

Zapper backers and companies selling them claimed the devices worked because, as everyone knows, electricity can kill living things. To quote one zapper site, "If a lot of electricity can kill a man, why can't a little parasite be killed with a smaller amount?" Engineers and medical doctors have proven that charges delivered by these pads, rods, or clips from these devices, most of which are powered by a 9-V battery, can't kill anything inside a human body. If they could, they'd be dangerous.

The evidence didn't phase zapper companies or "Dr." Clark. They just switched gears, unencumbered by research, and conjured up a host of new claims for how zappers work. In fact, some now claim their zappers also kill bacteria, viruses, molds, and fungi.

One of these new theories is that the electric charge "wakes up" white blood cells so they can track down and kill disease-causing invaders. But scientists disagree. For example, Prof. T. Patterson, who teaches clinical research methods, immunology and host of other topics at the Texas State University says: "I've seen thousands upon thousands of white blood cells during my long career in the medical laboratory, but I don't believe I have ever witnessed a sleeping (or even drowsy) one."

Another, equally fanciful theory is that it's not the zapper's voltage or amperage that matters; it's the frequency. You see, every living organism gives off radio signals at a unique frequency, according to the scammers. The herpes virus, for example, emits at 300 kHz while the salmonella bacteria can be tuned in at 400 kHz. Zappers send "offsetting" frequencies into the body and presto, the offending organism is "stunned, which disrupts its ability to hide from white blood cells."

But there's also controversy among quacks as to the best approach for using frequencies. One sect insists that suckers, er patients, can cleanse their bodies by regularly dosing with two particularly effective frequencies, 2.5 and 30 kHz.

Another group says you have to nail each and every bug with its own unique frequency. This group naturally backs zappers that are actually frequency generators users must set to the right frequency for their affliction. Less-than-honest companies sell manuals that list parasites and diseases with their offsetting frequencies.

A third group scoffs at the other two, claiming that resistors and capacitors in all zappers are inaccurate so they never emit the exact frequency indicated on their dials and controls. Their solution is a frequency scanner that sends in RF that goes from around 70 to 900 kHz (and not all agree on the optimal range).

None of these devices have been scientifically tested and there is no proof they work. It is highly possible, however, that users are parasite-free after using a zapper. After all, they usually don't go to the trouble of having doctors determine they had any parasites in the first place.

And in an ironic side note, Hulda Clark, the mother of modern zapping, died of cancer in Mexico where she had opened a clinic after being chased out of the U. S. by the FTC.

Name that GADGET

The puzzle and gadget posted in the last issue (Sept. 19, were so tough, no one has correctly identified the gadget or solved the puzzle. So we're still waiting for correct answers. But there will be new puzzles and gadgets next issue.