Lesson 4

QUAKERY AND
HEALTH FADS
Example of
Quackery
Example of Health Fads
What is Quackery?
Quackery, a form of a health fraud, is any
advertisement, promotion, or sale of products
and services that have not been scientifically
proven safe and effective (Meeks, et al, 2011). It
is being operated by a quack. A quack is an
individual that has little or no professional
qualifications to practice medicine. He/She
also pretentiously uses meaningless medical
jargon and relies on scare tactics, paranoid
accusations, and quick fixes.
 There are three major characteristics
of health quackery (Schaler & Carroll,
undated). First, it is a big business. A
huge amount of money is spent on
fraudulent health products and
services. Second, it multiplies and
spreads fast. Lastly, it thrives on
individuals who are diagnosed with
illnesses that are known to have no
cure.
 The three forms of quackery
are:
a. Medical quackery - includes cures, treatments,
and remedies of various health conditions that are
drugless or bloodless in nature.
b. Nutrition quackery - involves promotion of food
fads and other nutritional practices that claim to be
all-natural. These are believed to have beneficial
properties of multiple plants in one product.
c. Device quackery - makes use of miraculous
gadgets (such as dials, gauges, electrodes, magnets,
and blinkers) that are believed to cure certain health
conditions.
 What is Health Fads?
Health Fads - (consumer craze or consumer myths)
refers to beliefs about health that gain instant
popularity, stay on briefly, then die down eventually.
Examples of health fads:
1. Some supplementary foods like unproven herbal
drinks or energy drinks that give extra strength and
increase the body’s resistance to diseases.
2. Organic or natural foods are better than regular
foods available in stores.
3. Wearing a copper bracelet can alleviate pain or cure
diseases.
 When evaluating health information and
products, you must check for:
1. CREDIBILITY - This tells about the source
and recency of the information.
2. CONTENT - This tells about the accuracy,
disclaimer, and completeness of information.
3. DISCLOSURE – This tells about the purpose
and caveat of the information.
4. INTERACTIVITY - This tells about the
feedback mechanism and means of
information exchange between the source and
the consumer.
Possible Effects of Quackery
1. A person who is terribly ill may die in the hands of a
quack.
2. A side person who goes to a quack for treatment instead
of a doctor may only be prolonging this or her illness.
3. Even if no actual healing has been done, the patient get
well merely by his own faith, either in the quack or in the
remedies given. This phenomenon is called “placebo
effect”.
4. Money waste since a patient’s condition will not improve
under quack.
5. The patient’s family may only get false hopes if the quacks
assures them of the patient’s complete healing.
How to Identify Medical Quacks?
1. Some of them utilized advertisements to promote their
products. In other cases, people come to know about their
services by word of mouth.
2. Most of them perform their services in their own homes.
A few go to the patient’s home for the treatment
3. Some claim to have secret formula’s which cannot be
obtained from drugstores.
4. Some of them perform their services without regard for
sanitation. They use apparatuses and other materials that
have not been sterilized.
5. Some utter vague prayers or incantations while treating
their patients.
6. Most of them use the some procedure or medical formula
for all kinds of illness.
Who are the Usual Victims of
Medical Quackery?
1. Those who suffer from serious ailments
or diseases, like cancer and heart problem.
2. Those afraid of doctors of those who
refuse to undergo surgery, although they
have been advised to do so by doctors.
3. Those who suffer from severe pains.
4. Usually put a high premium on vanity.
Possible Effects of Following Health Fads
1. These can lead to spending money of less
important or unnecessary products.
2. These can lead to wasteful spending on
usually overpriced specialty products.
3. These can lead to spending so much on
worthless forms of therapies.
4. These can cause harm to the body.
Traditional Medicine
Traditional medicine is defined by the
World Health Organization (WHO) as “
medicine that refers to health practices,
approaches, knowledge and beliefs
incorporating plant, animal and mineral –
based medicines, spiritual therapies,
manual technique and exercise, applied
singularly or combination to treat,
diagnose, and prevent illness or maintain
well being”.
Practitioners of Traditional
Medicine
a) Albularyo – uses plants to cure illness.
Studies have proven that the plants used by the
albularyo do contain substances which can cure
various illness. This are called medicinal plants or
herbs. According to Michael L. Tan , an anthropology
professor from the U.P. the term “albularyo” is
misleading. It is a Spanish – Filipino word which
means “herbalist”. Many licensed health experts now
a days recommended medicinal plants for treatment of
a large number of ailments diseases.
Practitioners of Traditional Medicine
b) Hilot – assist in giving birth, provide
cure for sprains and muscle pain, and
even give advice on family matters.
The skills of hilot are recognized by
many people, including the authorities
of the DOH. The DOH conducts
training for hilots to enrich their
knowledge and improve their skills.
DOH List of Medicinal Plants
1. Lagundi (Five – leafed chaste tree) – for cough,
asthma & fever

2. Tsaang Gubat (Wild Tea) – for diarrhea

 3. Sambong (Blumea camphor) – for kidney stones,
edema or manas, and hypertension.

4. Yerba Buena (Mint) – for body pain

5. Akapulko (Ringwom bush) – for skin diseases
caused by fungi such as ringworm or buni, tinea flava
or an-an, and scabies or galis aso

6. Ampalaya (Bitter gourd) – for diabetes mellitus

7. Bawang (Garlic) – for high cholesterol level

8. NiyOg-niyogan (Burma creeper, Chinese honey

suckle) – for intestinal worms
9. Ulasimang Bato or Pansit – Pansitan (Peperomia) –
for high uric acid level that causes
arthritis and gout

10. Luya or Ginger (Zingiber officinable Roscoe) – good

for soar throat
11. Banaba or Queen Flower (Musa acuminate Colla) –
good for diabetes

12. SLK cough syrup (Sampalok, Luya, and Kalamansi)

good for cough

13. ABC (Abukado, Bayabas, Caimito) – used for diarhea

Importance of Traditional Medicine
On December 9, 1997 , then President Fidel
V. Ramos signed into law Republic Act No.
8423 or the traditional and alternative
Medicine Act, which created the Phil. Institute
of Traditional and Alternative Health Care
(PITAHC), an attached agency of the DOH.
This government recognition of the important
role played by traditional medicine in
providing cures to ailments and contributing
to the health and well being of the Filipinos.
The traditional medicine is very important
for the following reasons.
1. Medicinal plants are cheap alternatives to
expensive medicines, particularly the poor.
2. It is final resort for those who have
incurable diseases.
3. It is more holistic approach to treatment.
4. The albularyo and hilot play, to some
extent, the role of doctors in rural areas.