# Glen Beck has had chiropractic brain rehab. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 12, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394 "2014-11-12T00:46:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/1 "2014-11-12T00:46:52Z")
Guess that bone of contention has been realigned? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/2 "2014-11-12T00:56:43Z")
So… someone twisted his neck until his head popped? And wasn’t prosecuted? And was probably paid for it? What a country. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/3 "2014-11-12T00:58:36Z")
Article: [Glenn Beck reveals mystery illness and says doctors had to 'reboot' his brain | Glenn Beck | The Guardian](http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/nov/11/glenn-beck-mystery-illness-brain) Beck confessed his neurological problems made him look crazy. He started losing the ability to connect memories and facts, names and faces. Then he started chiropractic brain rehab: [INDENT]After asking: “Am I done? Can I put my sword down now?”, Beck reached a “pivot point” and found the Carrick Brain Centers, a rehabilitation center in Texas that deals largely with patients who have suffered brain trauma and degenerative conditions. Beck attributes the work of clinicians there, who employ electrical stimulation, mirrors and non-surgical, alternative therapies such as the “Off Vertical Axis Rotational Device”, which is a patented chair that spins to “stimulate the brain”. [/INDENT] Some doctors have criticized Carrick for dealing in placebo treatments. IANAD. I’m curious about what the underlying condition actually is/was. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/4 "2014-11-12T01:02:45Z")
Yea, it certainly sounds like woo, but IANAD. On the other hand, if a crazy person goes to other crazy people to get crazy treatments for his craziness, maybe all the craziness cancels eachother out and it ends up working. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/5 "2014-11-12T01:10:35Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Yea, it certainly sounds like woo, but IANAD. > > On the other hand, if a crazy person goes to other crazy people to get crazy treatments for his craziness, maybe all the craziness cancels eachother out and it ends up working. Or it’s all just crazy. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/6 "2014-11-12T01:28:00Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > IANAD. I’m curious about what the underlying condition actually is/was. You’re a better man than me. Given the source and the weirdness, I’m curious if the “underlying condition” even ever existed. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/7 "2014-11-12T01:57:31Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > IANAD. I’m curious about what the underlying condition actually is/was. Long term exposure to total BS while having to keep a straight face? He’s lucky his brain didn’t explode. …or maybe it did… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/8 "2014-11-12T02:11:10Z")
Anyone listening long enough to that nutter would eventually go nuts. Looks like he listened to himself. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/9 "2014-11-12T02:11:32Z")
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/11/11/glenn-becks-dramatic-revelation-hes-been-hiding-a-mysterious-brain-illness/](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/11/11/glenn-becks-dramatic-revelation-hes-been-hiding-a-mysterious-brain-illness/) > [@](#): > > Beck said, for the first time, the answers started coming. He said doctors told him his immune system was seeing his adrenaline as an infection and attacking it. He said they told him that the final sign of adrenal failure is hyperextension of his adrenal glands, which is why he didn’t need sleep during his time at Fox News. “But now that I had blown out my system, all I could do is sleep,” he added. I’m no doctor but the term “hyperextension of his adrenal glands” makes no sense to me, and when I Google that phrase all I get are links to pages about this story. My impression is that either Beck, or his “doctors”, are full of crap. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/10 "2014-11-12T02:13:48Z")
It is hard to imagine anything Beck did at Fox News that “honestly made me look crazy”. :dubious: Apparently Beck got to ride in a spinning chair called a gyrostim, one of the treatments offered by “chiropractic neurologist” Ted Carrick. The “scare quotes” are justified based on Carrick’s record, as reported in the following articles: > **[Gyrostim and the Infrastructure of Quackery](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/gyrostim-and-the-infrastructure-of-quackery/)** > > It's frustrating to read yet another story of the process of developing a potential new medical treatment derailed by the current infrastructure of quackery that we have in this and other countries. T > **[Chiropractic Neurology](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/chiropractic-neurology/)** > > Chiropractic is a diverse collection of beliefs and practices occurring under a broad regulatory label. The differences among various chiropractics are so stark that it is difficult to make general st > **[Blind-Spot Mapping, Cortical Function, and Chiropractic Manipulation](https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/blind-spot-mapping-cortical-function-and-chiropractic-manipulation/)** > > Steven Novella recently wrote about so-called "chiropractic neurology" and its most outspoken proponent, Ted Carrick.  In 2005 I published an article in The Scientific Review of Alternative Medic > [@Simplicio](#): > > Yea, it certainly sounds like woo, but IANAD. Yes, it certainly does, and IAD. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/11 "2014-11-12T02:18:37Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Some doctors have criticized Carrick for dealing in placebo treatments. Well, isn’t chiropractic all placebo at best, and actually dangerous at worst? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/12 "2014-11-12T02:26:04Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I’m no doctor but the term “hyperextension of his adrenal glands” makes no sense to me, and when I Google that phrase all I get are links to pages about this story. My impression is that either Beck, or his “doctors”, are full of crap. Trust your instinct. Really, how in the world can you hyperextend an adrenal gland. When seeing this thread my thought was, wait… how the hell can you do chiropractic on the brain? It’s _inside_ the skull… Oh, I see… _electrical stimulation, mirrors and non-surgical, alternative therapies such as … a patented chair that spins to “stimulate the brain”_ …this has so much “woo” in it, it could sing backup on a 1960s girl-group record. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/13 "2014-11-12T02:27:55Z")
I think he may be hyperextending our legs. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/14 "2014-11-12T02:39:57Z")
To be fair there is something called Hyperaldosteronism where the adrenal glands produce too much aldosterone. > **[Hyperaldosteronism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperaldosteronism)** > > Hyperaldosteronism is a medical condition wherein too much aldosterone is produced by the adrenal glands, which can lead to lowered levels of potassium in the blood (hypokalemia) and increased hydrogen ion excretion (alkalosis). > This cause of mineralocorticoid excess is primary hyperaldosteronism reflecting excess production of aldosterone by adrenal zona glomerulosa. Bilateral micronodular hyperplasia is more common than unilateral adrenal adenoma. > It can be asymptomatic, but these symptoms ma... Beck may simply have the word wrong. Of course, that doesn’t excuse the quackiness of his treatments. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/15 "2014-11-12T02:56:31Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Well, isn’t chiropractic all placebo at best, and actually dangerous at worst? I went to a chiropractor once. Once. In actuality, something painful happened to my back. One visit to the chiropractor, and it was fixed. I know basically nothing about chiropractic, but I’ve heard ‘woo’ complaints. I suspect the charges are valid; but the stretching and kneading worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/16 "2014-11-12T03:22:51Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Given the source and the weirdness, I’m curious if the “underlying condition” even ever existed. I dunno. If Glen Beck says he was crazy, I’m inclined to say he’s backed it up. Now if he’s claiming he’s not still crazy, I’m going to want to see proof. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/17 "2014-11-12T05:10:14Z")
Pretty sure he’s using woo terms for “being under a lot of stress.” Seriously. “overtaxed adrenals” means running on adrenaline. Memory/cognition problems are typical anxiety symptoms. He got burnt out and thus was tired all the time. And of course, placebo treatments have a long history of working with anxiety sufferers. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/18 "2014-11-12T11:43:27Z")
Well, lets look at some of his reported health complaints: “my hands or feet or arms and legs would feel like someone had just crushed them or set them on fire or pushed broken glass into my feet” “just two to four hours of (sleep) per night” “doctors told him he hadn’t had any REM sleep in about a decade” “time collapse,” or the inability to remember if he had met someone just a week ago or years earlier" “macular dystrophy and vocal chord problems” “seizures that would strike while flying and in times of exertion” “hands will start to shake or my hands and feet begin to curl up and I become in a fetal position” “couldn’t figure out simple math problems or remember a series of words” (I presume these are things he was asked to do during neurological testing) “looked into the possibility that he was being poisoned” And at the “Carrick Brain Centers, a brain rehabilitation center that specializes in experimental therapies that are not covered by insurance” he was “diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder and adrenal fatigue.” Most of these symptoms suggest a mental health issue to me. As far as I know, “adrenal fatigue” is not a “real” diagnosis. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/19 "2014-11-12T12:38:20Z")
In light of Robin Williams post mortem diagnosis of Lewy Body Dementia, perhaps Glenn Beck should get an autopsy to see if he, too, has this diagnosis. Perhaps that could explain many of his unusual symptoms. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394/20 "2014-11-12T13:02:19Z")
The cynic in me thinks this is Glenn’s attempt to rehab his ‘insane, attention seeking asshole’ image. It won’t work. It’s a terminal condition. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glen-beck-has-had-chiropractic-brain-rehab/704394.md?page=2)