A friend of mine who suffers from Lyme disease recently informed me that he is going to be treated using something known as a Rife Machine. From what I could gather online, it appears that this machine bombards the patient with electromagnetic radiation at specific frequencies and is supposed to ‘destroy’ the infection. It is clear that this is ‘alternative’ medicine, but I’m curious as to a couple of things:
Is this a legitimite medical treatment, an experimental therapy, or just a load of BS?
What frequencies and power does this machine operate (I do realize it is different for each disease, which makes me even more skeptical) and are there any potential side effects of the exposure?
Any insights or experiences would be highly appreciated.
The folks at Quackwatch say it’s bunk. Australia has also battled against it - that article also cites efforts by both Wisconsin and Minnesota to put Rife clinics out of business.
Bottom line: your friend should get medical treatment. There’s no such thing as “alternative medicine.” If a treatment has been shown to be safe and effective, it’s “medicine.” If it hasn’t, it’s just quackery.
So, it won’t do your friend any harm, other than draining his wallet. If he foregoes real medical treatment in the meantime, however, it will certainly do him a great deal of harm.
I should mention that my friend is getting traditional treatment for his lyme disease (antibiotics I believe), but is thinking of trying this as a supplement. I am mainly concerned that there could be negative effects to the exposure…
Well, from what I can tell, it sounds like the treatment won’t do him any harm, since it has no measurable effect whatsoever. Tell you what, though, why not have him take the money he was going to spend on the Rife machine treatment, send it to me, instead, and I’ll project healing thought waves through the ether to him.
As long as he sticks with the antibiotics, he should be fine.
