Network Killers
Doctors: Bloggers are killing people by recommending treating cancer with coffee enemas
Daria Sidelnikova, "Doctor Peter"
On the Internet, they write not only about love or friends. There is a whole movement of bloggers who pretend to be doctors (sometimes they even have diplomas) and offer to forget about medicines. They promise to cure cancer with diets, good thoughts and meditation. They are exposed, branded in social networks, but the problem remains – they are believed.
Coffee enemas and a diet against all diseases
Eating with sunlight, giving up medications and coffee enemas – so many bloggers advise treating almost any disease, including cancer and HIV. One of the famous representatives of modern "healers" is Ekaterina Filatova (Katia Txi).
For several months, the families of seriously ill people who believed in the blogger's advice have been demanding that she be punished. But it is difficult to do this – the girl lives in London. Ekaterina calls herself a nutritionist, a "naturopath" and a "health coach". There are 382 thousand subscribers on Instagram, on which she earns quite well: she conducts webinars where she teaches to meditate and clear the mind of bad thoughts, and personal consultations. Online communication with the "guru" costs from $ 17 to $ 85. But he often gives out advice for free.
So, Ekaterina "prescribed" dietary supplements and a strict diet to one of the patients, which, according to the "healer", were supposed to save the girl from progressive cancer and launch a certain cleansing mechanism. But sprouted wheat, raw eggs and seaweed only aggravated the girl's condition. She died soon after.
At the same time, the blogger claims that he can talk to cancer. She says people die from chemotherapy.
In addition to dieting, the girl actively advises all subscribers to try coffee enemas. According to her, they will help to cleanse the body of toxins. Ekaterina says that heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic, etc.) are present in the environment, which enter our body through water, food and air. They are supplemented by medicines and vaccines "with their metals, carcinogens and viruses." In the blog, Filatova shares stories from practice and tips on choosing coffee beans for the procedure.
Ekaterina assures subscribers that Russians are "hooked" on medicines because of the "conspiracy of pharmacists". Similarly, by the way, HIV dissidents who deny the existence of the virus and anti-vaccinators believe.
"Buy medicines from me that will help with everything"
Another example is Elena Kornilova, whose scandal has thundered throughout the country. The 29-year-old girl stated that she graduated from Anhalt University, where she received a master's degree in biology, the Technical University of Munich with a degree in organic chemistry and is now a graduate student at the National University of Singapore.
In her Instagram blog, Elena told how to deal with intoxication and aging. To do this, she even created a special dietary supplement intake scheme. By the way, you can buy them on a specialized website with a promo code from Elena – this is how she receives a commission from sales (the site is already required to be closed by a court decision for trading in non-certified dietary supplements). The girl also explains how to cleanse the body, adjust the work of the intestines, make up for the lack of vitamins and trace elements.
Soon RBC journalists became interested in the "expert" and wrote an article about her. After the publication, it turned out that she had no declared diplomas, and the recommendations were dangerous to health.
As a result, the Commission of the Russian Academy of Sciences on countering the falsification of scientific research achieved the removal of the article from the site. Instead, they posted a text about the scientifically proven harm of pseudoscientific recommendations for the health of pregnant women. Experts note that Kornilova's schemes are especially dangerous for pregnant women. She herself increases dosages, does not diagnose and offers dangerous remedies.
"A decent oncologist should not prescribe surgery and chemistry"
Boris Grinblat is a well–known online naturopathic oncologist, an opponent of classical medicine. He offers his subscribers to treat oncological diseases with herbs, homeopathy and autosuggestion. He claims that he has an oncological clinic in Kazakhstan that uses only alternative methods of treatment. It will not be possible to find her address on the site — there are only phones where you can contact some people. That is, the clinic literally does not exist, it is virtual.
Like the aforementioned "colleagues", Greenblatt is an ardent anti-vaccination and HIV dissident. For "patients" with serious and often fatal diseases, he insistently suggests giving up surgery and chemotherapy. Advice and treatment can be obtained in social networks, but for money.
"Internet healers don't even understand the basic basics of oncology"
Pavel Borisov, Deputy Chief Physician of the City Oncological Dispensary
– The level of trust in doctors in the country is deplorable. This is partly influenced by the press – medical errors and scandals are actively covered, but good news is not. While in oncology, the level of trust in the doctor on the part of the patient is of great importance.
Most Internet healers use this, although they do not even understand the basic basics of oncology and offer almost the same treatment to everyone. The biggest problem is bloggers who recommend giving up drugs and traditional medicine. In this case, of course, nothing good will happen. But if you combine some tips with treatment prescribed by a doctor, the effect will be positive. For example, diet, meditation, which teaches proper breathing, the same positive attitude.
Recently, the so–called herbalists have been gaining popularity on the web - people who offer to treat all diseases not with medicines, but with herbs. But it can be very dangerous, the oncologist warns. Herbal preparations may conflict with therapy, some types of herbs are toxic to the liver, which also affects the digestibility of tablets.
An adequate specialist in the field of alternative medicine should first of all ask the patient for a doctor's certificate, where his diagnosis and treatment would be written and on this basis give some recommendations.
Why do they believe them?
Ekaterina Vyalykh, psychologist
– To convince a person to follow their advice, Internet healers do not even need to strain themselves - those who are ready to deceive themselves turn to them, says psychologist Ekaterina Vyalykh. – As a rule, scammers use classic demagogic techniques, for example, "survivor's mistake", when conclusions are drawn based on data describing the situation from only one side, substitution of concepts and "creation of a straw scarecrow", that is, deliberate distortion of the opponent's position to create the impression that his arguments can be defeated much easier, than in fact. Most of us use these methods in everyday life, but bloggers do it consciously and cause harm.
Vlada Dutchak, psychoanalyst
– A serious illness invariably exhausts a person not only physically, but also mentally, – says psychoanalyst Vlada Dutchak. – A person who has lost hope for traditional medical treatment (or who did not have it at all) begins to seek help in other areas, for example, in healing, medicine, ESP. In fact, there is a regression of the psyche, infantile attitudes and primitive defense mechanisms are gaining strength, one of them is magical thinking, the omnipotence of thought, characteristic, for example, of children.
Unconsciously, the patient wants to reduce the level of anxiety caused by a prolonged stressful situation, for example, a serious illness. Representatives of non-traditional methods of treatment act as some kind of carriers of magical knowledge and skills, something like guides between the world of ordinary people and the world of higher powers. This situation is reminiscent of the times of paganism and totemism, which were based on a mandatory ritual. For example, having tasted the meat of a sacred animal, ancient man was filled with its power. This can be found in the practices of healers and healers: often the patient is offered some drugs and herbs that should cure him and fill him with health. The figure of the healer, however, is independently endowed by a person with those qualities of omnipotence and a halo of mystery, believes him unconditionally and thereby is filled with confidence in his imminent cure. At the same time, in the best case, the physical condition of the patient will not change, only for some time he can expect a spiritual uplift in connection with colorful ritual actions. For him, this is important because, unlike healers, doctors, as people of science, can rarely promise a 100 percent cure.
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