ENAR: Chiropractic sham??

[EHLO]

I caught a bit of an infomercial today touting the great health benefits of the "ENAR" product - an abbreviation of "Electro Neuro Adaptive Regulator".

The acronym alone spiked my BS meter along with many buzzwords that typically accompany sham treatments - It even has pedigree as it was originally designed by the Russian space program!

Their website is quite pretty and peppered with buzzwords, chiropractic pseudo science and quotes from famous people that are almost certainly taken out of context, but seems quite elusive as to what the device is supposed to do, and how it does it. For example;

The ENAR™ Personal Healer is a hand-held, battery operated, therapeutic medical device, for either therapist and/or personal use.

The ENAR or Electro-Neuro-Adaptive-Regulator, delivers non-invasive, non-toxic, computer modulated, therapeutic electro-stimulation, onto and through the skin.

They do however have the names and contact info for a PhD student and supervisors who have apparently tested and subsequently support the theraputic claims (based on a very small study). I think one of them even appeared on TV to endorse it.

Any thoughts as to whether this is worth pursuing as a scam?

Do we have attack dogs, or do I have to do the work myself

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

Sounds like the same sort of device that was discussed in the thread on Edmund Scientific.

If you google words like electro-stim and acupuncture, you'll find dozens of these things.

Yes, it's first class hokum.

 

[JJM]

The words "chiropractic" and "sham" are redundant.

Gallup Poll: Americans Have Low Opinion of Chiropractors’ Honesty and Ethics
http://www.chiroweb.com/archives/25/03/06.html

The poll asked people to evaluate ethics of various professions, including seven health professions. The percent of people rating each profession as “high” or “very high” is:

• Nurses 84%
  Pharmacists 73%
  Veterinarians 72%
  Medical doctors 69%
  Dentists 62%
  Chiropractors 36%

Chiropractors did rank above car salesman.

It is encouraging to note that the majority peg chiropracty for what it is; despite its enthusiastic adherents.

 

[Lothian]

The ENAR™ Personal Healer is a hand-held, battery operated, therapeutic medical device, for either therapist and/or personal use.

Isn't this how 'The Sport' and other such 'newspapers' advertise vibrators ?

 

[Flit]

I had a look at the Macquarie University site to find out some more about the study. They used the ENAR on just 9 people and for the sham treatment group they simply used a turned off device. Pretty easy to see that none of the lights are flashing on the gizmo and work out which group you are in.

I can't see any value in the study at all, other than as a marketing tool to sell this AU$1400 piece of junk.

I also emailed the company to see if they can name the Lenin Prize winning scientist who they claim invented this.

 

[EHLO]

Hi Flit, welcome to the Forum.

You're right, the study is rubbish and as I recall was part of a PhD thesis, so it really makes you wonder what the University/Supervisors are thinking.

This device got an airing on one of our stellar current affair shows recently - "Today Tonight" I think, so I imagine it's selling quite well.

I think I'm in the wrong business! Let us know if you get a response from the company.

 

[Eos of the Eons]

I ran the quackometer on the site and got:

The quacking noise is deafening. This web site is riddled with loosely defined terms and possibly pseudoscientific language. It is full of scientific jargon that is out of place and probably doesn't know the meaning of any of the terms. It also looks like this site is trying to sell stuff. Buyer Beware!

Then I checked out how it is supposed to work:

The ENAR is used to find and treat ‘asymmetries’

Uh huh. Vague terminology that is meaningless beyond belief.

The Bio-Chemical explanation suggests the ENAR prompts the release of neuro–peptides, generating a cascade of natural healing hormones

There are no studies showing that it works, and there isn't any reason why it should. "Restoring the flow of energy"? Yah, okay. If the "flow of energy" were truly indicated, then there would be irreversible nerve damage that no gimmicky device could "fix". I'd like to know exactly what "natural healing hormones" it supposedly causes a cascading release of.

There is no "interrupted flow of energy" in the human body that needs to be treated. It's just as bad as suggesting that minor subluxations need to be fixed regularly to keep you "aligned" and healthy.

Typical chiroquackery. 7 Canards for their home page.

 

[Flit]

This device got an airing on one of our stellar current affair shows recently - "Today Tonight" I think, so I imagine it's selling quite well.

I'm too little to post URLs but you can find that segment and an infomercial for this piece of junk on YouTube. The IDs are 5i9dJ7CYATs and 4Ea5t0RwPmA. The best line is: "It's like acupuncture without the needles". Comedy gold.