
                            THE HOLISTIC HUSTLE

                             By PAUL BENEDETTI
                             Hamilton Spectator

     HAMILTON - The booths at Total Health '91, Canada's annual
     alternative medicine convention, take you back to the future of
     medicine.

     Super Blue-Green Algae Liquid Brain Food promises energy, mental
     clarity and alertness. The amazing 714X, developed by a
     controversial Quebec inventor, protects against cancer.

     The hand-held MRT-Bioenergizer pumps ``ionized plasma energies''
     from a coil to treat everything from ulcers to cardiovascular
     disease to cerebral palsy - all for the bargain-basement price of
     $248.

     Booth after booth of the dubious and bogus. Remedies that can cheat
     you of money and health.

     You can buy crystals, colon flushers, pendulums and pond scum, all
     promising to promote wellness, cure disease, detoxify, balance,
     rejuvenate and revitalize.

     Two thousand people have flocked to the 14th annual alternative
     medicine show, sponsored by the Consumer Health Organization of
     Canada. Founded in 1974, the 5,000-member organization promotes a
     ``holistic approach'' to health and ``freedom of choice in health
     care for all Canadians.''

     Holistic or alternative medicine includes everything from natural
     herbal remedies to practices such as homeopathy, energy medicine
     and iriodology. With a focus on the whole person - body, mind and
     spirit - the idea is to promote gentle, natural healing without
     drugs or surgery.

     In its philosophy, holistic medicine has had positive effects. It
     has helped change peoples attitudes towards smoking and alcohol and
     has encouraged them to exercise regularly, eat less fat and take
     more personal responsibility for their health.

     But to its critics, holistic medicine is just plain bunk - medicine
     of the past repackaged for the future, outdated, unproven and
     dangerous.

     ``Holistic has become a cover phrase for promoters of fraud,'' says
     Dr. Victor Herbert, a professor of medicine at Mount Sinai School
     of Medicine in New York and an outspoken critic of health fraud.
     ``It's all a scam.''

     Even so, holistic or alternative medicine has moved from the
     fringes of popular culture into the mainstream, fuelling a $2-
     billion-a-year business that is claiming to draw increasing numbers
     of supporters each year.

     A poll of 2,000 Canadians by the Canada Health Monitor found that
     one in five Canadians used some form of alternative therapy in the
     first six months of 1990. Half of those patients saw a
     chiropractor, but other treatments included naturopathy, herablism,
     acupuncture, homeopathy and advice given in health food stores.

     The same survey found one in four people visited a mainstream
     health professional during the same period.

     U.S. medical authorities say holistic medicine is bigger business
     south of the border, worth about $30 billion a year.

     Whatever its failings, even its critics agree alternative medicine
     is growing in popularity.

     ``There's a general increase in the whole thing,'' says Dr. Donna
     Stewart, a Toronto physician and a member of the U.S. National
     Council Against Health Fraud, a non-profit professional
     organization.

     Observers say people are clearly disillusioned with the government-
     backed health care system, viewing it as cold and expensive, and
     overly preoccupied with disease, drugs and technology.

     ``I think people are missing the hands-on skills, the art of
     medicine,'' says Dr. Larry Ohlhauser, registrar of the Alberta
     College of Physicians and Surgeons.

     As well, people's faith in medicine is shaken when they hear that
     70 to 80 per cent of medical technology has never been fully
     evaluated and that scientists are years away from cures for
     arthritis, multiple sclerosis, diabetes and many forms of cancer.

     Renewed interest in traditional natural remedies - such as garlic
     and ginseng - is spurring scientific experimentation and evaluation
     of potential healing agents. And some therapies, such as massage
     and chiropractic care, have gained wider acceptance among health
     professionals, and are now even partially covered by provincial
     health insurance plans.

     But one of the big problems with holistic medicine is
     distinguishing well-intentioned practitioners from the most
     unscrupulous quacks.

     ``I think people find it tough to distinguish between legitimate
     treatments and phony claims,'' says Dr. John Carlisle, deputy
     registrar of the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons.

     Dr. Herbert of Mount Sinai has no such difficulty. ``There are only
     two kinds of practitioners - responsible and irresponsible,'' he
     says in completely rejecting alternative medicine and those who
     espouse it as ``con-men extraordinaire.

     ``People want to believe in magic,'' he says, adding that there
     will always be people willing to sell it to them.

     Holistic medicine fails in every way, agrees William Jarvis,
     professor of preventative medicine at Loma Linda University in
     California and president of the U.S. National Council Against
     Health Fraud. Its remedies are useless and often dangerous, and
     even when they are innocuous, they may delay or prevent people from
     seeking proper care.
     
     So despite its professed good intentions, holistic medicine in
     Canada suffers a severe credibility gap. Its methods, many of which
     have been exposed as worthless, include:

      - Iridology, a system of medicine based on a belief that the
     eyes provide a map of personal health. An iridologist reads the
     iris of the eye - each section of which represents part of the body
     - then recommends herbs or nutritional supplements to cure
     imbalances.

     In one test, leading American iridologist Bernard Jensen was given
     50 color photographs of irises and asked to identify the sufferers
     of kidney disease. He scored no better than chance.

      - Homeopathy, an 18th century medical system devised by German
     physician Samuel Hahnemann. It postulates that a substance, such as
     strychnine, that produces symptoms in a healthy person can be used
     to cure the same symptoms in a sick person. The smaller the dose,
     the more potent the cure.

     Recently in Barrie, a child died and two others had to be
     hospitalized after they were treated with homeopathic medicines for
     meningitis.

      - Energy medicine, widely used in holistic medicine to boost and
     balance the body's energy systems. Herbalist Gerhard Hanswille, who
     treated 17-month-old Laurie Atikian before her death from
     malnutrition last year in Toronto, used electric machines to test
     her energy levels.

     The credibility of some of its leaders is also a serious problem
     for the holistic health movement. Some have dubious credentials and
     checkered pasts, including criminal convictions. Among them:

      - Dr. Leo Roy, a naturopath and a leader of the alternative
     health movement in Canada.

     Roy had his doctor's licence pulled for life after a royal
     commission found he treated a woman in 1961 with breast cancer
     using therapeutic foods, injections and an electric machine. The
     woman died.

     In 1964, Roy was found guilty of deceiving a patient by promising
     to cure cancer, endangering her life and grossly overcharging her.
     He was also convicted of receiving kickbacks from a local health
     food store.

      - Trudy Bricker, a well-known holistic healer who recently co-
     founded a centre in Waterloo, Ont.

     Bricker claims she has a medical degree from the World Health
     Organization and that the organization recognizes her work. WHO
     officials in Geneva deny both statements.

     Bricker's degree is an honorary one in alternative medicine from
     the Open International University for Complementary Medicine in Sri
     Lanka.

      - David Rowland, a nutritional consultant and founder of the
     Canadian Nutrition Institute Inc. in Uxbridge, Ont., a training
     centre for holistic nutrition.

     Widely published and featured on radio and television as an expert
     on alternative health and health food, Rowland's PhD is from
     Donsbach University, a defunct, unaccredited school in California
     that offered PhD programs by mail for about $4,000.

      - Kurt Donsbach, a chiropractor and founder of the Donsbach
     University.

     He has numerous convictions for health fraud and illegally
     practising medicine. All his degrees are from unaccredited schools
     and last year his naturopathy degree from the Hollywood College of
     Naturopathy was discovered by Oregon officials to be counterfeit.


