# Rife Machine **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rife-machine/270498 "2004-10-21T22:23:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![luke418](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@luke418](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luke418)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rife-machine/270498/1 "2004-10-21T22:23:50Z")
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: 1. Is this a legitimite medical treatment, an experimental therapy, or just a load of BS? 2. 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. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rife-machine/270498/2 "2004-10-21T22:45:38Z")
The folks at Quackwatch say [it’s bunk](http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/News/rife.html). Australia has also [battled against it](http://www.healthwatcher.net/Quackerywatch/Cancer/Cancer-news/smh001230rife-aus.html) - 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. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rife-machine/270498/3 "2004-10-21T22:51:48Z")
From that Australian cite: > [@](#): > > The device was invented a century ago by Albert Abrams (1864-1924), an American physician who became a millionaire and was branded by the American Medical Association “the dean of gadget quacks”. His theory was that every medical condition was caused by an organism that had a specific frequency - by building a machine to generate and beam that frequency back into the body it would be destroyed, much as an opera singer can shatter a glass. > > His research was refined by a Californian pathologist, Raymond Royal Rife (1888-1971), and a New Mexico chiropractor, James Bare, who drew up tables giving the frequency of 30,000 organisms they said caused every condition from dandruff to leprosy, strokes and syphilis. AIDS, for instance, is said to be cured by a frequency of 2,489 kilohertz in as little as three three-minute sessions. > > Electronics Australia magazine, which has been campaigning against the gadgets, analysed one and found that it consisted of a nine-volt battery, some wiring, a switch, a timer and two short lengths of copper tubing - components worth about $15. The electrical current delivered was “almost undetectable” and unlikely even to penetrate the skin, let alone kill any organism. 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. ---
**Author:** ![luke418](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@luke418](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luke418)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rife-machine/270498/4 "2004-10-21T23:04:35Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rife-machine/270498/5 "2004-10-22T00:33:59Z")
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.