Neural therapy

A syringe being held upright; the plunger is being depressed and liquid droplets debouching from the needle tip
In neural therapy anaesthetic is injected to try and disrupt a type of electrical energy said to cause illness

Neural therapy is a form of alternative medicine in which local anesthetic is injected into certain locations of the body in an attempt to treat chronic pain and illness.[1]

There is no good evidence that the therapy works and it carries some risk; it has not been found to be of overall benefit.[2][3]

Description and history

Neural therapy has been described as a form of holistic medicine for treating illness and chronic pain.[1] According to Quackwatch, neural therapy is "a bizarre approach claimed to treat pain and disease by injecting local anesthetics into nerves, scars, glands, trigger poins, and other tissues".[4]

The idea underlying the therapy is that "interference fields" (Störfelder) at certain sites of the body are responsible for a type of electric energy that causes illness.[3] The fields can be disrupted by injection, allowing the body to heal.[5]

The practice originated in 1925 when Ferdinand Huneke, a German surgeon, used a newly launched pain drug that contained procaine (a local anaesthetic) on his sister who had severe intractable migraines. Instead of using it intramuscularly as recommended he injected it intravenously and the migraine attack stopped immediately. He and his brother Walter subsequently used Novocaine in a similar way to treat a variety of ailments.[1]

In 1940 Ferdinand Huneke injected the painful shoulder of a woman who also had an osteomyelitis in her leg which at that time (before antibiotics) threatened her with amputation. The shoulder pain improved somewhat but the leg wound became itchy. On injecting the leg wound the shoulder pain vanished immediately – a reaction he called the "phenomenon of seconds" (Sekundenphänomen).[1][3]

Reception, effectiveness and safety

Neural therapy is practiced mostly in South America and Europe.[2] A 2007 survey of family physicians in Germany found neural therapy to be among the most used of alternative medical techniques.[6]

Quackwatch includes neural therapy on its list of "questionable treatments".[7]

According to the American Cancer Society, "available scientific evidence does not support claims that neural therapy is effective in treating cancer or any other disease".[2] Overall the risks of the treatment, such as of needle damage to organs, outweigh any benefit it may have.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Diamond, WJ (2000). The Clinical Practice of Complementary, Alternative, and Western Medicine. CRC Press. p. 229. ISBN 978-1-4200-4021-0.
  2. 1 2 3 "Neural therapy". American Cancer Society. 1 November 2008. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ernst, E, ed. (2007). Neural Therapy. Complementary Therapies for Pain Management: An Evidence-based Approach. Elsevier. p. 149. ISBN 0-7234-3400-X.
  4. ↑ Barrett, S (28 December 2012). "Stay Away from "Holistic" and "Biological" Dentists". Quackwatch. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  5. ↑ Mantle, F; Tiran, D (2009). Neural Therapy. A-Z of Complementary and Alternative Medicine: A guide for health professionals. Churchill Livingstone. p. 167. ISBN 0-7020-4999-9.
  6. ↑ Joos S, Musselmann B, Szecsenyi J (2011). "Integration of Complementary and Alternative Medicine into Family Practices in Germany: Results of a National Survey". Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2011: 1. doi:10.1093/ecam/nep019.
  7. ↑ "Index of Questionable Treatments". Quackwatch. 20 November 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2014.

Further reading

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