Radionics
Radionics is a neologism originated in medicine during the early 20th century which, according to some sources, is credited to Dr. Albert Abrams (1863–1924) and his followers. Dr. Abrams became a millionaire by leasing radionic machines which he designed himself.[1] Medical radionics is not based on any scientific evidence, and contradicts the principles of physics and biology. As a result it has been classed as pseudoscience and quackery by most physicians.[2] The United States Food and Drug Administration does not recognize any legitimate medical uses for such devices.[3][1][2]
The etymological definition of radionics uses a combination of ‘radiation’ + ‘electronics’. However, because that definition of radionics includes use of the word ‘electronics’, a noun associated solely with electrons and electrical matter, and is thus exclusive of other types of ions, the field of physics accommodates alternative definitions using combinations inferred from ‘radio’ + ‘ionic’ and ‘radiation’ + ‘ionic‘. The suffix in both, ‘ion’ + -'ic', originates c. 1885-1890 and is defined primarily as “of, or pertaining to ions”, and secondarily as “pertaining to, or occurring in the form of ions”. When used as adjectives, the singular form ‘radionic’ and plural form ‘radionics’ both mean the same thing: "of, or pertaining to radionics". However, the singular form is also taken to mean ‘something radionic’ and when pertaining to radio in the contexts of Physics, Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering, wireless broadcast, or Environmental Science is --- to a considerable extent --- interchangeable with 'radiologic' and 'radiological'. By default and definition, for certain industries, concepts of 'electronics' are included within 'radionics'.
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[edit] Radionics in Science & Industry
Since the 1930s, applications of radionics have most closely been associated with registered trademarks, brand names, and company names associated with manufacture, distribution and sale of radionic ballasts used for gas-filled tubes and lamps, and of other types of electrical ballasts used in lighting systems and components. In medical technology, radionics is associated with devices and components used in radiology, medical diagnostics and imaging, laparascopy, surgical instruments, surgical lighting systems, and a number of other applications.
Radionics is also found in registered trade marks, brand names in the computer and electronics industry; as well as associated with security networks and applications and alarm systems. Sinclair Research Ltd., a British microelectronics development and manufacture company owned by Sir Clive Sinclair, which began by producing some of the first 8-bit home microcomputers had, in 1979, evolved from Sinclair Radionics Ltd., a company established in 1961. Sinclair Radionics Ltd. was renowned for development, production and sale of hi-fi products, televisions, pocket radios, scientific instruments; and of electronic components and devices such as calculators and pocket radios and televisions.
Synonyms of, and words related to radionics are associated with the following scientific fields: Newtonian physics, acoustics, aerophysics, applied physics, astrophysics, automation, avionics, basic conductor physics, biophysics, chemical physics, cryogenics, crystallography, cytophysics, electron microscopy, electron optics, electron physics, electronic engineering, electronics, electrophysics, geophysics, macrophysics, mathematical physics, mechanics, medicophysics, microphysics, natural philosophy, natural science, nuclear physics, optics, philosophy, photoelectricity, physic, physical chemistry, physical science, physicochemistry, physicomathematics, physics, psychophysics, radar, radiation physics, radio, solar physics, solid-state physics, statics, stereophysics, television, theoretical physics, thermodynamics, transistor physics, and zoophysics. Since the latter part of the 20th century, radionics is also associated with the Electrical Engineering fields of plasma science and superconductance.
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[edit] Early 20th Century Medical Radionics
An early proponent of use of electronic and radionic devices for diagnosis and treatment of disease was Dr. Albert Abrams (1863-1924), the US physician dubbed ‘Dean of the 20th Century Charlatans’. Persons associated with adoption of Dr. Abrams methods included Dr. Ruth Drown. In 1916, Dr. Abrams introduced the use of electronic and radionic devices on samples "of blood, hair, a signature, or other substances unique to the person as a focus to supposedly heal a patient from afar".[3] According to radionics practitioners, a healthy person will have certain energy frequencies moving through their body that define health, while an unhealthy person will exhibit other, different energy frequencies that define disorders. Radionic devices are purported to diagnose and heal by applying appropriate frequencies to balance the discordant frequencies of sickness. Radionics uses "frequency" not in its standard meaning but to describe an imputed energy type, which does not correspond to any property of energy in the scientific sense.[4]
In one form of radionics popularised by Abrams, some blood on a bit of filter paper was attached to a device Abrams called a Dynamizer, which was attached by wires to a string of other devices and then to the forehead of a healthy volunteer, facing west in a dim light. By tapping on his abdomen and searching for areas of "dullness", disease in the donor of the blood was diagnosed by proxy. Under this scheme, handwriting analysis was also used to diagnose disease. Having done this, the practitioner would use a special device known as an Oscilloclast or any of a range of other devices to broadcast vibrations at the patient in order to attempt to heal them.[3]
Albert Abrams claimed to detect such frequencies and/or cure people by matching their frequencies, and claimed them sensitive enough that he could tell someone's religion by looking at a drop of blood.[3] He developed thirteen devices and became a millionaire leasing his devices,[3][5] and the American Medical Association described him as the "dean of gadget quacks,"[5] and his devices were definitively proven useless by an independent investigation commissioned by Scientific American in 1924.[6]
Modern practitioners now conceptualize these devices merely as a focusing aid to the practitioner's proclaimed dowsing abilities, and claim that there is no longer any need for the device to have any demonstrable function. Indeed, Abrams' black boxes had no purpose of their own, being merely obfuscated collections of wires and electronic parts.[6]
[edit] Scientific Assessment of Medical Radionics
Radionics devices contradict principles of biology and physics, and no scientifically plausible mechanism of function is posited. In this sense, they can be described as magical in operation. No plausible biophysical basis for the "putative energy fields" has been proposed, and neither the fields themselves nor their purported therapeutic effects have been convincingly demonstrated.[7]
No radionic device has been found efficacious in the diagnosis or treatment of any disease, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not recognize any legitimate medical uses of any such device.[1] According to David Helwig in The Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine, "most physicians dismiss radionics as quackery."[2]
Internally, a radionic device is very simple, and may not even form a functional electrical circuit.[6] The wiring in the analysis device is simply used as a mystical conduit.[8] A radionic device does not use or need electric power, though a power cord may be provided, ostensibly to determine a "base rate" on which the device operates to attempt to heal a subject.[9] Typically, little attempt is made to define or describe what, if anything, is flowing along the wires and being measured. Energy in the physical sense, i.e., energy that can be sensed and measured, is viewed as subordinate to intent and "creative action."[8]
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[edit] Medical Radionics in Alternative Medicine
The field of Alternative Medicine has, since the mid-20th century, evolved using concepts of radionics as "a healing system that uses symbolic and energetic correspondences to diagnose and deliver treatment". Since the 1940s, it has also been referred to as "a system of alternative medicine based on the study of radiation supposedly emitted by living matter". Previous concepts of radionics use in Alternative Medicine referred to "a dowsing technique using a pendulum to detect the energy fields that are emitted by all forms of matter". Dowsing is a far older, and presumably ancient alternative medicine and therapy practice also used in radiesthesia. Devices used in known forms of Alternative Medicine do not involve bodily or cellular invasion, and may be required by law to be sold with a disclaimer stating that the devices do not serve as substitutes for professional medical and psychiatric treatment.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "Electromagnetic Therapy". American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_5_3X_Electromagnetic_Therapy.asp. Retrieved 2008-02-06.
- ^ a b c Helwig, David (2004-12). "Radionics". In Longe, Jacqueline L.. The Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine. Gale Cengage. ISBN 978-0787674243. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g2603/is_0006/ai_2603000616. Retrieved 2008-02-07.
- ^ a b c d e Fishbein, Morris, The New Medical Follies (1927) Boni and Liverlight, New York Pages 39-41
- ^ Smith, Crosbie (1998). The Science of Energy - a Cultural History of Energy Physics in Victorian Britain. The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-76420-6.
- ^ a b Article on Royal Rife at Quackwatch
- ^ a b c Pilkington, Mark (2004-04-15). "A vibe for radionics". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2004/apr/15/farout. Retrieved 2008-02-07. "Scientific American concluded: 'At best, [ERA] is all an illusion. At worst, it is a colossal fraud.'"
- ^ "Energy Medicine: an overview". National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. http://nccam.nih.gov/health/backgrounds/energymed.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-09. "In the aggregate, these approaches are among the most controversial of CAM practices because neither the external energy fields nor their therapeutic effects have been demonstrated convincingly by any biophysical means."
- ^ a b Franks, Nick (2000-11). "Reflections on the Ether and some notes on the Convergence between Homeopathy and Radionics" (PDF). Radionic Journal 46 (2): 4–21. http://radionic.co.uk/PDFs/Franks_Ether.pdf. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
- ^ Scofield, Tony. "The Radionic Principle: Mind over Matter" (PDF). http://radionic.co.uk/PDFs/Mind%20in%20Radionics.pdf. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
