How to separate the bs from the truth when it comes to wellness.
Ever listen to a radio show on a Saturday morning and you hear someone tell you about the new breakthrough on he has discovered and now you can get it from him by being one of the first thousand callers to get free whatever-it-is? I hear it every weekend. Try calling their given toll-free number 4 days later and I'll bet you get the same "deal" those first thousand got. Or maybe the first 10,978 who called. That drives me berserk in a sense.
I used to be an engineering manager in Silicon Valley and I heard all the marketing bs. Corporate marketing people taking a single data point and extrapolating it! In other words, making a straight line from one data point. That's the way it is sometimes from the pharmaceutical industry and the supplement industry. Doctors who claim to have your best interests at heart really only have their bank account's best interests at heart.
Spare me the crap and tell me the truth. And then the testimonials come on - Amy B. from Witchita Falls, hello! "I just bought your product last month and now I am 40 pounds thinner, have so much more energy and my husband started paying attention to me! Thank you so much!" Yeah, and I'm the Queen of England too.
The truth is more like that really was Amy B. But Amy B. works for or is paid by the guy on the radio making this ridiculous claim. And while Amy B. may have taken the product, what she didn't tell you is that she lost 4 pounds last month by dieting and walking around the block every night for 30 minutes. Or something like that.
If there really was a magic pill, then why wouldn't some well financed pharmaceutical come around and buy it up? They're not stupid. They make a lot of money and they invest a lot of money into things that will bring a decent return on their investment in an industry they're familiar with.
What's worse is there are some who really are not doctors who claim to be doctors. Naturopaths in particular are not regulated in all states. There are some 16 states that do not regulate naturopaths. I heard one ad from such a person. I wrote down his name and checked his website. And this is how I discovered he was a fake. He "practices" in Texas near Dallas. He has a website and a Facebook site. On his Facebook site there are photos and videos. One particular photo shows him with his name embroidered on his scrubs (complete with a medical looking emblem), Dr. Whatever-it-is. He claimed to be a naturopath but had no ND degree. And since Texas does not regulate naturopaths, anyone can call himself a naturopath. I checked with the Texas Association of Naturopathic Doctors and he's not listed. Now if you claim to be a naturopath and a doctor, shouldn't you at least have a ND degree? I did some more checking. It turns out this guy claimed to get his doctorate from some school in Arkansas. I checked on the school. I found their website and Facebook page. They have one follower on Facebook. One follower for a college that allegedly matriculates doctors? So I phoned the school and they would not tell me if Dr X graduated from their "school". Hmmm. Very suspicious. A school apparently no one has ever heard of and a "doctor" practicing in a state that does not regulate his profession. Red flares are blazing.
One of the other photos shows Dr. X counseling a patient. Wow. Does that constitute practicing without a license? So I asked the Texas board of medicine to examine his claims and make a determination if Dr. X is practicing without a license.
My advice is beware of doctors selling a miracle in a pill. Write down his/her name. Go to their website. Find out if this person has a degree or not. Almost every doctor, when wearing a shirt, scrub, lab jacket, whatever, who has his/her name embroidered as "Dr. John Doe" there is typically a few letters after the name indicating what type of doctor he/she is. MD for medical doctor, DO for osteopath, DC for chiropractor, PT for physical therapist, ND for naturopathic doctor, and so forth. Find out if this person graduated from a college you have at least heard the name before. Some of the goofy schools may try to fool you by using a similar name to a well known school. Find out by visiting their website. Call them. Ask to speak to the registrar. Ask to speak to the Dean of Students. Are they the same person? Are you on hold forever? Red flags. Is this doctor's profession licensed by the state in which he/she practices? If not, beware. It may be legit but check with any professional associations in that state. Most doctors belong to one professional association or another. And you can check on his/her license. You can Google "check medical license California" for example. Or "check chiropractor license California". Go to the government site and check. Don't be afraid to file a complaint. That is what we pay taxes for. And no one in that profession wants scamsters in the profession. Sometimes everyone gets painted with the same brush.
