# I've Been Diagnosed With Cirrhosis, Need Help, Is This a Scam? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 26, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-diagnosed-with-cirrhosis-need-help-is-this-a-scam/600883 "2011-10-26T18:07:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-diagnosed-with-cirrhosis-need-help-is-this-a-scam/600883/41 "2012-12-31T20:03:22Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > My SO has a very serious liver condition - but they were able to use a shunt - a procedure called TIPS that has saved his life. Think of it as a kind of liver bypass surgery. > > It has been about 10 years since he had that operation and yes, there are some side affects, but for the most part he has been just fine since then. You might want to ask if this is a procedure that could help you…doesn’t hurt to ask. > > Best wishes, and be careful of reading too much on the Internet - some of it is helpful, but other sites are rather dire and don’t really match 100% of your specific condition - so don’t get caught up in that hysteria…I know you are in a bit of a panic, but just wait and see what options are out there from your doctors before driving yourself crazy with self-diagnostic websites! His posts were a year ago - this is a zombie - hoping He is not. ETA - searched on posts by Gus - he has made posts since this thread, just not _in_ this thread… ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-diagnosed-with-cirrhosis-need-help-is-this-a-scam/600883/42 "2012-12-31T20:44:45Z")
A follow-the-money type question: what would motivate a doctor to tell you your disease is incurable if it’s not, in fact, incurable? ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-diagnosed-with-cirrhosis-need-help-is-this-a-scam/600883/43 "2013-01-01T17:01:39Z")
A particulary lowlife scam, giving false hope to the desperate. ---
**Author:** ![whydidntilisten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ee7513/32.png) [@whydidntilisten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whydidntilisten)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-diagnosed-with-cirrhosis-need-help-is-this-a-scam/600883/44 "2014-01-04T03:53:55Z")
Hi! Like many here, I imagine, you ended up on this message board after searching the Net for help with liver damage, and you came across this Liver Bible thing. You wondered whether it was a scam or not and tried to find out and it led you here, after pages and pages of ‘reviews’. Same for me. I have damaged my liver through years of drinking, and while I have yet to get a diagnosis, I have 4 symptoms of liver damage. I know what is going on with this ebook and why it is all over the place so let me explain. First of all, if you go to the main Liver Bible page and scroll right down to the bottom, you’ll see a link to the far right that says ‘Affiliates’. That’s key! The ebook is sold through a site called Clickbank, that, in itself, is not disreputable or dishonest - it is merely a payment processor that ebook vendors can use to sell their wares. I have used Clickbank in the past and they have been perfectly honest in their dealings. However, Clickbank also runs an affiliate program, through which anyone can sign up an earn a percentage of any sales made (this can be as much as 80% I think, depending on what the vendor sets as the affiliate’s cut. Clickbank handles all the affiliate payments too, so affiliates know they will get paid. So there’s the incentive for all these sites to promote this product. I’ll bet most of those sites are set up by people who aren’t even involved in any health or medical things - it’s all about promoting and getting paid. I have been an affiliate for certain products too, so I know just what is going on. I’ve even read ebooks in the past, sold through Clickbank and promoted by affiliates, that encourage the use of these fake reviews to lure people in and get the sale. This isn’t an advert for Clickbank or anything like that - I just want to explain why there seem to be so many sites raving about the same ebook by this obscure ‘specialist’ that noone seems to have any real information about. The site itself is a typical sales letter style trying to lead you though to the sale. I’ve learned how to write these too, so I can see where it’s going and what the tricks are. But this is a serious issue and if it doesn’t work, it’s giving people false hope. I don’t know whether it works or not, but I’m not going to bother finding out. What I will say is that Clickbank will definitely refund you within 8 weeks (I think) if you are in any way dissatisfied with a product. So that’s why it’s all over the place and all the ‘reviews’ are basically just BS leading to a link to the site. You buy it and you give the affiliate a cut of the profits. Good luck to all you folks out there with liver problems. I’ve quit drinking completely and I’m having a look at trying a detox with juicing and milk thistle, but if it’s gone too far then… Best wishes! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-diagnosed-with-cirrhosis-need-help-is-this-a-scam/600883/45 "2014-01-04T04:04:12Z")
> [@simster](#): > > His posts were a year ago - this is a zombie - hoping He is not. > > ETA - searched on posts by Gus - he has made posts since this thread, just not _in_ this thread… Last Activity: 09-29-2013 11:49 PM ETA: He only posted three times in 2012 and hasn’t posted since. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2014, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-diagnosed-with-cirrhosis-need-help-is-this-a-scam/600883/46 "2014-01-04T06:35:41Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > If you google “Ezra Protocol,” ten pages in and possibly more, there isn’t a SINGLE site that isn’t parroting the wonders of the Ezra Protocol. No scientific reviews, no debate. And the domain names coming up are incredibly diverse and many have absolutely nothing to do with liver disease or even health in general: nanetteleporeperfume.info, [www.newhomesecuritytips.com](http://www.newhomesecuritytips.com), [homedecorationstips.com](http://homedecorationstips.com), [gospelmusicgroup.blogspot.com](http://gospelmusicgroup.blogspot.com). This is an infodump intended to bury any criticism of their product. Even a couple of sites with “Ezra Protocol - Scam?” type names are simply the same text and graphs as all the others. They’ve made it virtually impossible to google their book and find any information about it except what they want you to see. I ran across a website that told one how to google and not take the top 100 000 results so if all you get are info dumps, that might help filter out the crap. Of course, if I notice a lot of dumping, I flip to the 20th page or so, and keep jumping ahead until I get something other than an infodump. ---
**Author:** ![whydidntilisten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ee7513/32.png) [@whydidntilisten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whydidntilisten)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-diagnosed-with-cirrhosis-need-help-is-this-a-scam/600883/47 "2014-01-05T18:09:01Z")
The methods also include using the word ‘scam’ as a kind of shocker. If you are thinking of buying or trying something of course you are going to click on a link that calls it a scam, but then you are led through an article that concludes it isn’t a scam and offers you a link to click on - guess what! it’s an affiliate link! It’s not even an info dump - that would be bad enough - it’s a set up to scam some money out of you by affiliates. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-diagnosed-with-cirrhosis-need-help-is-this-a-scam/600883/48 "2014-01-05T18:35:38Z")
> [@Linden\_Arden](#): > > Sulfasalazine is a drug not yet approved by the FDA but is available in Europe. Studies have shown that it may help with cirrhosis. > > A long shot but good luck. Sure, it’s available here, but using it for cirrhosis would be off-label. It was first marketed as an antibiotic, but is mostly used nowadays for Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis. If someone has autoimmune cirrhosis, this might be useful. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-diagnosed-with-cirrhosis-need-help-is-this-a-scam/600883/49 "2014-01-05T20:03:07Z")
It should again be emphasized that cirrhosis is an end result of multiple different disease processes and that scarring that has already occurred can’t be reversed. There are degrees of severity/scarring however, and treating the root cause(s) (if they can be diagnosed) can limit progression of the disease. Medications can also help manage complications of cirrhosis. Anyone promising to reverse or “cure” cirrhosis (short of liver transplantation) should be regarded as a scam artist.\* \*the odds of health scamming/woo are directly related to the length of the website’s home page. If it is constructed of a single page which you must endlessly scroll down, consider it worthless. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-diagnosed-with-cirrhosis-need-help-is-this-a-scam/600883/50 "2014-01-05T21:50:01Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It should again be emphasized that cirrhosis is an end result of multiple different disease processes and that scarring that has already occurred can’t be reversed. > > There are degrees of severity/scarring however, and treating the root cause(s) (if they can be diagnosed) can limit progression of the disease. Medications can also help manage complications of cirrhosis. > > Anyone promising to reverse or “cure” cirrhosis (short of liver transplantation) should be regarded as a scam artist.\* > > \*the odds of health scamming/woo are directly related to the length of the website’s home page. If it is constructed of a single page which you must endlessly scroll down, consider it worthless. Unless it contains a video that shows only text and has no seek bar. ---
**Author:** ![whydidntilisten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ee7513/32.png) [@whydidntilisten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whydidntilisten)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-diagnosed-with-cirrhosis-need-help-is-this-a-scam/600883/51 "2014-01-06T06:10:58Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > If it is constructed of a single page which you must endlessly scroll down, consider it worthless. One page is a standard sales-letter for Internet marketing - marketing anything from an ebook on dogs to a miracle cure for hair-loss. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-been-diagnosed-with-cirrhosis-need-help-is-this-a-scam/600883.md?page=2)