“Naturopathy, a little, a lot… to the point of madness”, France 5: Dive into the poisonous promises of alternative medicine

France 5 – Tuesday 16 April 21:05 – Documentary

“Whatever the problem is, I don’t care if it’s endometriosis, asthma, autism, whatever… it’s a lymph problem! », says naturopath Miguel Bartheler, his face is blurry, but his voice is sure. “The diseasehe continues without hesitation, It’s just one thing: it’s a manifestation of the body trying to cleanse itself, but it can’t do it through the natural means of feces and urine. Whatever the symptom, we bury and purge until it gets better. »

This follower of the “local pope”, naturopath Irene Grosjean, was sentenced in June 2023 to two years in prison and banned from practicing in France for usurping the title of doctor and practicing medicine illegally after the death of one of her clients. Despite this, it continues to provide vague advice to citizens in their diagnostic wanderings, warns the program Enquête de santé, with a review that is both empathetic and critical of naturopathy. About 6,000 carry it out in France, who can be self-employed and claim it.

Traditional or new age, the use of alternative care methods has been popular since the late 2010s, both by executives in the midst of an existential crisis and by patients suffering from incurable chronic diseases. This wide range of soothing esoteric approaches worries both health professionals and experts in the fight against sectarian deviation.

Without the slightest semblance of control

Without emphasizing the share of responsibility for conventional medicine—whose technoscientific discourse has sometimes replaced listening and support—this balancing documentary highlights both the allure and the dangers of these attractive propositions. From harmless diet retreats in nature, accompanied by a life coach, crazy medical diagnosis with iris taromancy (iridology), irresponsible fasting against cancer, she runs the gamut of this field to poisonous promises.

All suffer from the same original disease: if they most often present themselves as a simple preventive alternative to conventional medicine, or “allopathy” in naturopathic jargon, they are often tempted to replace it, often with their own diagnosis. Esoteric and their remedies, the scientific validity of which is fragile to say the least. All without the slightest control. With the risk of delaying (real) diagnosis of patients and losing opportunities, especially in the field of oncology.

Without trying to offend users, Clemens Gardale does a great job of playing a fake, sincere user. This further illustrates the dangerous reliance of health fakers, who are often themselves trapped by their cognitive biases and the need to amortize expensive pseudo-training. Public health documentary.