Daily Mail - 21.08.2019

Daily Mail, Wednesday, August 21, 2019 Page 13

... and other ‘implausible’ remedies

THE Queen’s pharmacist is

selling a ‘lamentable’ homeopathic

remedy said to contain essence of

the Berlin Wall.

Enthusiasts of alternative medicine

claim the concrete wall between former

West and East Germany can help

improve relationships when consumed

in a highly diluted form.

But the extraordinary treatment, on sale

at Ainsworth’s, the pharmacist by appoint-

ment to the Queen and Prince Charles,

was highlighted by homeopathy critic Dr

Edzard Ernst as an example of far-fetched

claims made by alternative medicine.

His attack was the latest salvo in the sim-

mering row over the efficacy of these often

costly treatments, many of which are avail-

able online. The professor of complemen-

tary medicine at Exeter University said

those behind the Berlin Wall ‘treatment’

claim it carries a ‘spiritual force’.

Incredibly, and with no appar-

ent irony, they say it will help

‘break down walls’ between

people, he added.

He explained that pieces of the

Berlin Wall are ground down and

mixed with lactose before being

tion concrete?’ Dr Ernst said the

Royal Warrant gives treatments

such as the Berlin Wall therapy

‘credibility’ they do not deserve.

Charles is patron of the Faculty

of Homeopathy and has lobbied

ministers to make more alterna-

tive treatments available on the

NHS. But he has been accused of

promoting disproven and danger-

ous medical treatments while

taking an ‘anti-science’ position.

Other unusual homeopathic

remedies available on the market

include ‘vacuum’ and ‘sunlight’

which involves exposing tablets

made of the milk sugar lactose to

a vacuum and sunlight.

Alternative treatments such as

chiropractic physical therapy also

have their critics. Dr Ernst said

that while these kinds of treat-

ment may not directly harm some-

one taking them, research shows

the patient may not seek effective

conventional medicine.

The British Chiropractic Asso-

ciation said: ‘Chiropractic is a

registered primary healthcare

profession and a safe form of

treatment.’ Ainsworths, based in

central London, sells the Berlin

Wall remedy on its website from

£4.20 for a 1g vial of lactose tab-

lets, up to £120 for 1,000ml in liq-

uid potency (23 per cent alcohol).

A spokesman said: ‘I would not

want to comment on any individ-

ual remedy. Every remedy has a

large spectrum of activity.

‘They are non-toxic, non habit-

forming, non-addictive and gentle

and curative. It’s not like

paracetamol is for pain, it doesn’t

work that way.’

Clarence House has previously

defended the Prince’s support of

alternative medicine.

A spokesman said: ‘The prince

believes that safe and effective

complementary medicine can

play an important role in health-

care systems, as long as

approaches are integrated with

conventional treatments, a posi-

tion he has reached after years of

talking to experts in many differ-

ent areas of medicine.’

Homeopathy

HOMEOPATHY is a ‘treatment’ that uses

highly diluted substances which practition-

ers claim can cause the body to heal itself.

It is based on the idea that a substance

that causes certain symptoms can also help

to remove those symptoms. But a report by

the Commons science and technology

committee said that homeopathic remedies

perform no better than dummy treatments

and that the principles on which they are

based are ‘scientifically implausible’.

Chiropractic therapy

Dr Edzard Ernst, professor of complemen-

tary medicine at Exeter University, has

warned this therapy is ‘the most directly

dangerous treatment’. It involves manipu-

lating bones thought to be out of alignment

and it is feared the movements could rup-

ture arteries in patients’ necks.

Acupuncture

Mild to moderate side effects occur in one

in ten patients, Dr Ernst said. He warned

that the needles can give patients infections

such as hepatitis, and dangers include the

lungs collapsing, having been pierced.

Colloidal silver

Drinking colloidal silver, a liquid containing

silver particles, is claimed to be effective

against everything from the common cold

to cancer. However, drinking it can cause

argyria – a condition which turns the skin

blue. Paul Karason, from the US, was

nicknamed ‘Papa Smurf’ after his skin

turned blue after drinking colloidal silver.

Slapping therapy

This treatment involves slapping different

parts of the body until the skin starts to look

bruised. This is claimed to stimulate energy

flow or ‘chi’ in the body and eliminate

toxins. Dr Ernst said: ‘There is not a single

clinical trial testing whether slapping

Turned blue: Paul Karason therapy is effective.’

Outspoken: Dr Edzard Ernst

‘People are being

misinformed’

Your medicine by order of

the Queen’s pharmacist...

ground-up Berlin Wall dust

Expert debunks

homeopathy

and quack cures

By Colin Fernandez

Science Correspondent

Pill, bitter? Dissolved

fragments of the

Berlin Wall are used

in the remedy, inset

‘Any medicine made from

ground up bits of wall makes

me a little nervous...’

diluted multiple times until they

are soluble. The final product

does not contain a ‘single mole-

cule from the wall’, but is claimed

to contain its essence, he said.

He added: ‘The lamentable

thing is not that shops sell it, the

lamentable thing is that people

are being misinformed.’

Another critic of Berlin Wall

therapy, writing in the journal

Medical Science Monitor wrote:

‘What therapeutic advantage does

Berlin Wall have over ordinary

garden wall, or Spaghetti Junc-