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Hair analysis

SquishyDave

Graduate Poster
S
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May 27, 2003
Messages
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Bogus, valid, or both (ie some are valid some are bogus), anyone know?

Specifically, this place...

http://www.interclinical.com.au/

They do hair analysis. Does anyone with any experience in this have some facts?

Thanks muchly. I am also looking into Dr David L. Watts who is their Director of Research. I will post any information I find on his PhD or him in general, just in case anyone is interested.
 
After 13 odd pages of google (phew) I found this. I think it's the same guy.

Dr. Watts is a graduate of Logan College, and received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree in 1974. He received a Doctorate in Nutrition, in 1984, from the International University of Nutrition. He holds a Certification in Clinical Nutrition, and is a Diplomat of the American Chiropractic Board of Nutrition. Furthermore, Dr. Watts is a Fellow of the American College of Eclectic Physicians and the International and American Association of Clinical Nutrition.
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Doesn't look too promising.

I also found this on quackwatch.

Shoud have checked there first, but now the information is here if anyone else needs to check it. If anyone has any comments, personal stories to add, I'd like to hear them. Or read them anyway.
 
My Ex-wife used to be (still is, I imagine) quite the hypochondriac. That's the demographic that makes up most of the customer base for all those quacks, I'm sure. One of the things that many of these "healers" would generally submit her too was a hair analysis. And guess what the results generally were?

"You have a deficiency of _______(insert BS here) and you will need to start taking this dietary supplament that only I sell. That will be $172.50"

She never caught on.

I DO know that there is another type of hair analysis where drug use is concerned. A friend of mine had it done for a pre-employment screening. I don't know if it's legitimate or not, but it seems plausible enough to me.
 
Certain substances, for example mercury, lead, and DDT are deposited (among other places) in our hair. So a long-term lead poisoning (or high exposure to lead) can be found by analyzing a hair sample. We must remember, though, that hair grows about 2mm/week, and once it has left the hair follicle, it is dead. So, depending on hair length, a hairs ample or part, of it can be months, if not years old. So expecting a hair analysis to reflect anything recent is folly.

Hans
 
Yeah the one I'm looking at has told my uncle "You have a deficiency of _______(insert BS here) and you will need to start taking this dietary supplament that only I sell" They have also mentioned he has too much copper.

I just had a thought, when they tell you take their supplement, someone should ask if anyone else sells it. I would be interested in their answer.
 
Even if it probably can be considered a different field hair analysis have been used for animals as well. In Sweden a television show named Insider sent a couple of hairs to one "expert" to get an analysis made.
The answear was what could have been suspected, your hoars are generally well but suffers from some deficiency etc.
Only problamn was that the analysis failed to find that the hair came from a hoarse that had been dead for 300 years.
 
I just had a thought, when they tell you take their supplement, someone should ask if anyone else sells it. I would be interested in their answer.
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In the case of my ex-wife, the supplement was a custom blend of chinese herbs, so, no, there was never a place for her to get the "generic" equivilant. The other thing these "healers" would do is sell her so many suppliments that she was, literaly, required to take more than 25 pills every evening. More than she could swallow with one glass of water. I don't think she EVER managed to take her entire "perscription" on any day, as there were always a half dozen pills on the nightstand every morning. Of course,she wouldn't get better (well, she wasn't sick in the first place, she's still a nationally ranked amature tennis player) so they'd send her home with MORE F@$%ing pills that she wouldn't take.
 
I read somewhere that an analysis of Napolean's hair led to the conclusion he had been assassinated by arsenic poisoning.
 
SquishyDave said:
Bogus, valid, or both (ie some are valid some are bogus), anyone know?
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Seems to me that there's nothing implausible about detecting certain chemicals in hair, fingernails, or otherwise dead parts of the body. Particularly chemicals (think poisons, heavy metals) that don't normally belong there.

I rather doubt it's accurate enough to indicate minor problems, but major ones, sure (in the sense that a skeleton -definitely alive, but go with me- won't tell you if a person was skinny, but WILL indicate long term malnourishment).
 
Luke T. said:
I read somewhere that an analysis of Napolean's hair led to the conclusion he had been assassinated by arsenic poisoning.
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Actually, I think the consensus is that he suffered some degree of arsenic poisoning - not the same thing - and was not necessarily killed by it.

Arsenic was commonly used in medicants of the day, so it is just as likely that he was provided arsenic containing medications by his physician. Likewise there is some evidence that there was a not insignificant amount of arsenic in his immediate environment - wall paint, local mineral deposits, and the like. Enough, perhaps, to have been detected in his hair.

As I recall, and I read this many years ago so I should really refresh my memory, the evidence suggests an extended period of exposure of varying degrees, perhaps over years.

Not really consistant with assasination - although it is definately not ruled out.
 
Metullus said:
Actually, I think the consensus is that he suffered some degree of arsenic poisoning - not the same thing - and was not necessarily killed by it.

Arsenic was commonly used in medicants of the day, so it is just as likely that he was provided arsenic containing medications by his physician. Likewise there is some evidence that there was a not insignificant amount of arsenic in his immediate environment - wall paint, local mineral deposits, and the like. Enough, perhaps, to have been detected in his hair.

As I recall, and I read this many years ago so I should really refresh my memory, the evidence suggests an extended period of exposure of varying degrees, perhaps over years.

Not really consistant with assasination - although it is definately not ruled out.
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"The Murder of Napoleon," by Ben Weider and David Hapgood, 1982.

I have a 1st edition (yawn), but haven't read it since it first came out. Amazon is selling it for ~$15. As I recall, the general verdict on the book was that it made a compelling case for the murder, but failed to convict the authors' prime suspect. Oddly enough, the "detective" was in actuality a Norwegian dentist whose hobby was poisons.

You're correct, though, that the arsenic was administered over several years. The hypothesis was investigated by collecting several of Napoleon's locks of hair, which had been given out as keepsakes. Because of whose hair it was, the locks were pretty well documented as to date, making it possible to chart the amount of concentration from month to month.

Well, that's a general idea. Maybe I'll reread the book. IIRC, it was facinating the first time around.
 
Yeah, I read Weider's book. And heard him speak.

I am far from convinced...

There has been actual scholarly research done on the subject since then, most questioning not his suggestion that Bonaparte was exposed to arsenic, but rather, questioning his conclusions.

Quite a stretch, I think, from arsenic in the hair to murder at Longwood...
 
SquishyDave said:
Bogus, valid, or both (ie some are valid some are bogus), anyone know?

Specifically, this place...

http://www.interclinical.com.au/

They do hair analysis. Does anyone with any experience in this have some facts?

Thanks muchly. I am also looking into Dr David L. Watts who is their Director of Research. I will post any information I find on his PhD or him in general, just in case anyone is interested.
Click to expand...

Oh for dog's sake....! This is the same crap I have to deal with concerning people who are erroneously led to believe they might have some sort of toxic metal (or mineral or crayan or shoe wax) poisoning. Most of these labs also require the patient take receive their damn kit, take that damn kit home, put in some stuff from the damn kit, and send it to them. And then you gotta wonder "wouldn't the samples be better prepared if, you know, a real lab were to take them, package them, and send them? And wouldn't a real lab be able to read the results when they were brought back?" And then you have to wonder "why is it this one testing lab out of so many testing labs are the only ones to offer this unique service, especially since these problems seem so common (as the site would advertise)?" And "why aren't the more mainstream labs (such as in hospitals) not doing this?" I mean, they have the capability.
Doesn't the idea that this lab offers such unique services for a supposed common, life-threatening condition not ring and alarm bells?!?!
Damn it... I deal with this crap all the time. The poor people who call me are scare-mongered into trying this stuff and then they wonder why my company won't cover this pathetic excuse for a lab test.
PLUS, the lab has supplements to sell. Uh huh.

*walks off angrily, pulling hair and ranting about yet another crap-ass lab I might end up contending with...*

Although, I wonder what their certifications are.
 
Jeff Rense

Speaking of Hair Analysis

Jeff Rense

http://www.ehfr.co.uk/jeff.gif

You'd spot him at any UFO convention :D

Hosts an 'Art Bell' like radio show during the week

Regular guests include Dr Lorraine Day, i've read some interesting things about her from JREF

UFO's / Chemtrails - and all the rest are discussed as if they are all real subjects with Rense & Guests

Nothing personal against the guy, just classic 'Woo' material
 
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