I just saw on a Saturday morning tv program lots of testimonials from people who ordered this ionized metal bracelet, and were skeptical. However, when they actually wore it, it cured their aches and pains, and they were amazed. It is about 49 bucks and I thought I’d try it for my occasional elbow problem, adding the required amount for postage and handling. Has anybody tried this thing? The infomercial said it has been imitated, but it is the ionized one called the Q bracelet or anyway there is a Q in the name.It will cure any paint, not just one near your wrist.
Also, another query: how do I get the ionization periodically renewed, assuming that it will eventually wear off? Do I go to a kiosk in the middle of a mall hall to have a teenager who replaces watch batteries charge the bracelet?
Rather than being your average Doper, and placing links to Cecil’s columns debunking magnets, ions, etc. I’ll just put it this way…
If these bracelets did everything they claim to do why are they selling them on an infomercial, instead of, say, at a pharmacy? It’s probably almost entirely psychosemantic (sp?)
There is no free lunch. If it sounds too good to be true it is.
Seth meant “psychosomatic”, but the meaning of “psychosomatic” is different. Anyway, these bracelets do not do anything meaningful. “Ionized” metals do not exist, the phrase does not make sense. They may “cure” your paints, Seth, by “psychologic” mechanism, i.e., if you believe in them bracelets. For @49 + S&H.
http://www.skepdic.com/testimon.html
An item that has no “evidence” for it’s claims other than testimonials isn’t worth the powder to blow it to hell.
Save your money.
It is very easy :
Placebo effect in many medical trials approaches 40%.
For these kind of things, it is probably similar. People in general want to believe that these things work – no pain, no pills, no injection, no adverse health effects.
Now, make your infomercial. Give your bracelet to 100 people. Be sure to tell them that if it works, you will put them on TV. 30 of them come back and claim that it reduced their pain. Take the 15 most dramatic and put them on camera. Maybe some of them even get paid for doing it.
Now, you have an hour of people telling you how great the bracelet is.
What is wrong here :
This is not an experiment. It is a testimonial. You cannot tell anything scientifically from a testimonial.
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ascertainment bias – You did not take a random pool of people with pain. You made it beneficial for them to find that the bracelet worked. You showed only the people that it worked on.
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controls – There is no control. If you actually want to judge the efficacy of how something works, you need to compare it to no treatment (negative control). Give half of your crowd a bracelet that is not “ionized.” See how many report a reduction in pain. Compare “ionized” to “non-ionized” and look for a statistically significant difference.
If you want help for your elbow, the medical community holds your best avenues for success. Infomercials are this century’s snake-oil shows. It is nothing more than hucksterism, usually.
Granted, the medical community does experiments with these things and now and again one of these things are shown to have some efficacy. Until that point, I’d give no more credibility to this than snake oil or witch potion.
Approximate time until someone posts a link to Alex Chiu: 15 minutes
Approximate time until moderators delete link to Alex Chiu: 21 minutes.
Hey now… life-extending bracelets might be bunk, but there’s nothing unprofessional about his $20 time machine.