here, I cite the oxymoronic language used by an Ontario ND who describes his diagnostic-yet-nondiagnostic live blood cell dark-field microscopy sCAM [see 001. and 002., below]:
001. chch.com's Maria Hayes reports in the video "Naturopathic Blood Test Can Help Diagnose Problems" [vsc 2011-07-20]:
"[from the description] if you're serious about preventative medicine, there is a blood screening procedure [that makes it a diagnostic tool] you might want to consider. It's a centuries old concept, that's been given a boost by newer technology. Maria Hayes explains [...] this blood screening process isn't funded by the province. You will have to pay out of pocket, about $150 per test [...and we're told in the video: reporter] this is not your standard blood test [a blood test is a diagnostic tool]. Burlington naturopath Dr. Philip Lee is performing a live blood analysis. [Lee:] This test is really good for a person say they come in they're really healthy, they say they're really healthy. Cholesterol looks good, sugar looks good, but still tired, 'I'm not sure what's going on with my body.' [Reporter] Shawn Jones falls into that category: serious about nutrition and improving his health, he turned to Dr. Lee when he experienced unexplained symptoms like bloating and bouts of diarrhea. [Jones] I saw that he was doing live blood analysis. I'd heard of it before and I knew it was a better way of getting a three dimensional picture of what's actually going on inside you [really!]. [Reporter] The process involves a tiny blood sample being placed under a microscope. The image is photographed and displayed on screen. In Shawn's case, images from a test in April show oddly shaped red blood cells and indications of excessive parasites in the blood [really!]. Today's images show a significant improvement thanks to a change in his diet. [Jones] I focused more alkaline, I've added in a lot more sea vegetables, a lot more green juices. I use a lot of medicinal herbs like tonic herbs in my diet to help boost my immune system [powerful stuff!]. [Reporter] Lee says the analysis can show difficiencies in the blood but isn't a diagnostic tool for specific illness. [Lee] I wouldn't look in the blood and say you have the cancer, like that. But I would say from the blood cell I can see that you might have low B12 or low in folic acid or low in iron [diagnostic findings due to this diagnostic tool]."
Note: so, the test is claimed in the article's title and description as being DIAGNOSTIC, and then we're told all the ways it is useful to figure things out [diagnosis], and then we're told it isn't a diagnostic tool at all yet it was used for follow-up to measure changes from a course of naturopathic treatment. This is the height of the big burning stupid: sCAM, so-called complementary and alternative medicine wherein something is both itself and what it is not. I'm sure the pills behind the ND shown in the video are quite a source of income. NDs classically pull in half their income from their dispensories. And the treatment sounds so typically naturopathic. The supposed parasite KIND isn't mentioned.
002. at his own web page, the video's Lee, P.K.L. (ND CCNM) states:
002.a. in "Live Blood Cell Analysis" [vsc 2011-07-20]:
"in live blood analysis, a small drop of blood is taken from the fingertip and placed on a slide under a dark-field microscope [...] we can observe the blood in its natural terrain environment [yeah, because blood lives on glass usually!...and] generally through live blood microscopy, we can determine [such is diagnosis!]:
sluggish immune system, liver, heart and pancreas stress, nutritional status [...] possibilities of parasites / candida, digestive issues, atherosclerotic predisposition, toxicity and pH imbalances, signs of excess free radical and oxidative damage, predisposition to chronic and degenerative disease [...] this test may be of value in the early assessment of: any health problem of unknown cause, chronic fatigue syndrome, compromised immunity, cardiovascular or stroke family history, anemia, yeast related health issue [sounds like the reading of tea leaves if ever!...yet]
live blood screening with microscopy is not a diagnostic procedure [...but] it can often point you in a direction to take for further diagnostic testing [it's nondiagnostic in that diagnostic kind of way!...and] is indicated for anyone that would like preventative medicine [...] it is also particularly useful in tracking patient's response over time to their treatments indicating at the earliest moment a need to change their medication or therapy [...] we can watch over time how a patient is responding to their treatment [...] the cost of the live blood cell microscopy is $150."
Note: so, diagnostically speaking, dark-field live blood cell analysis is claimed to be a VERY USEFUL tool while, at the same time, it is stated as NOT DIAGNOSTIC. This is a microcosm of naturopathic absurdity, if ever: an endless oxymorony. The ND also does mistletoe injections . Quackwatch has demolished this pseudodiagnostic, by the way. And so has Science-Based Medicine, which states:
"live blood analysis [...] is more akin to high tech reading of tea leaves or the entrails of [a] pig to divine the future. It is the cargo cult of quackery [sCAM!], with the trappings of science but none of the substance."
perfect for naturopathyland.
