The benefits of tai chi are those of physical exercise and vacuum cupping to relieve pain poses a “risk” for patients. These are some of the conclusions of the Ministry of Health, which this Thursday published eight new reports on as many pseudotherapies, within the Plan for the protection of health against pseudotherapies (ConPrueba).
It is an initiative that began in 2018, when Health identified 73 pseudotherapies to analyze them through reports. He had done it with 16, to which another eight have now been added: vacuum therapy, tai chi, light therapy, conscious breathing, chi-kung/qigong, zerobalancing, aromatherapy and relaxation techniques based on the induction of sensations. corporal.
The objective of the plan is to analyze its foundations and check if they make any sense; disseminate these evaluations; run information campaigns that raise awareness among citizens about the dangers of pseudotherapies; make a series of legislative modifications to make it easier to pursue the promotion and sale of therapies or gadgets with health claims that were really useless; and reinforce guarantees so that all health activities are carried out by professionals with officially recognized qualifications; in addition to eliminating pseudotherapies from health centers.
Last week, after a controversy over a pseudotherapy based on a cold plasma bed promoted by presenter Pablo Motos, the Minister of Health, Mónica García, warned that pseudotherapies, in addition to damaging the pocketbook, "can put health at risk." ”.
This does not mean that all the techniques I analyze are dangerous or not recommended. On the contrary, there are some that have benefits and improve well-being. Physical exercise is probably the most effective and cheapest health intervention available for the general population and many techniques based on it can lead to improvements in health. The problem comes when they promote themselves by claiming solutions that they cannot demonstrate, or even cures for diseases that they do not actually cure.
An added problem is that, when people turn to these pseudotherapies with the idea of curing pathologies for which they have not demonstrated evidence, they often leave aside the true therapies that can solve their diseases. A famous example is that of Apple founder Steve Jobs, who chose to treat his cancer with natural remedies. No one knows what would have happened if he had undergone real medicine, but after turning to the
alternative
, he died. A 2017 survey showed that two million Spaniards had replaced medical treatments with pseudotherapies.
The eight new reports that Health now publishes have been carried out by the Spanish Network of Agencies for the Evaluation of Health Technologies and Benefits of the National Health System. Are these:
Vacuotherapy ('cupping' or cupping therapy)
It is used in musculoskeletal pathologies and consists of applying cups, usually made of glass or plastic, heated to the skin to create suction cups, at different points of the body. The report concludes: “Cupping therapy cannot be considered a safe therapy due to the inherent risks of applying the technique to the human body, mostly in wet vacuum therapy, and the benefit they could show is based on low-quality studies.” quality that does not allow its effectiveness to be sustained, so its use in this indication would not be recommended.”
Tai Chi
It is a type of exercise that consists of mobilizing all the muscles of the body through gentle movements and without external loads. The Health report estimates that as physical activity carried out in various pathologies, especially those of the musculoskeletal area, "it is beneficial with respect to perceived well-being and various functions such as pain reduction." “The perceived improvement or neutral effect in various pathologies, when compared with other modalities of exercise appropriate to the problem treated, suggests that the benefit is linked to performing physical activity,” he adds.
Luminotherapy
It is about the use of light for therapeutic purposes in mental health problems. It is commonly applied with the use of a light box placed approximately one meter away at a height within the field of view. “Due to various methodological limitations of the included studies, it is not possible to draw definitive conclusions about the effectiveness and safety of light therapy in mental health problems. There is insufficient evidence to support its use in the treatment of different clinical mental health conditions,” says the document that analyzes it.
Conscious breathing
It consists of being fully present at the moment when breathing is performed and feeling its effects on the body. It is used to relieve the feeling of anguish or stress in the person who performs it, since it reduces the heart rate and respiratory rate on a physical level. The report concludes that “studies on conscious breathing should be interpreted with caution, with no guarantee that their results on efficacy can be extrapolated to clinical practice.”
Chi Kung/qigon
It combines breathing and movement exercises with some possible health benefits due to physical exercise and breathing education. As with tai chi, the study commissioned by Health determines that it could have the benefit of a low-impact physical activity on people with musculoskeletal diseases and in those where it can contribute to reducing stress levels and improving quality of life with a low risk of adverse effects. “It must be taken into account that the evidence supporting this claim is of low quality,” he adds.
Zerobalancing
It is a bodywork technique that uses finger pressure and stretching. According to its founder, Fritz Frederick Smith, it involves “energy and structure” to achieve “a balance in the individual.” The report considers that with the information currently available, there is no scientific evidence on the safety and effectiveness of the technique in any clinical condition.
aromatherapy
It uses essential oils (extracted from plants) with the aim of improving well-being, reducing anxiety, stress and other clinical symptoms, both emotional and physical. “The low methodological quality of many of the studies included in the identified systematic reviews does not allow definitive conclusions to be drawn. Aromatherapy may be a complementary resource of some value for the treatment of physical and psychological symptoms in cardiovascular diseases and dysmenorrhea. Essential oils are natural, but not harmless, and a series of mild adverse events associated with their use have been identified,” warns Health.
Relaxation techniques based on the induction of body sensations
They are a series of techniques, such as autogenic relaxation training (or autogenic training), which consists of achieving a state of deep relaxation through mental representations of physical sensations (heat, cold, heaviness) in different parts of the body. The report concludes that autogenic training “could be beneficial in improving psychological and physical symptoms in different health conditions.” “The conclusions cannot be definitive due to the low number of studies for each health condition and their high or unclear risk of bias. It is necessary to continue evaluating the safety of these techniques,” he adds.