Medicine has always been a realm of debate. From the the Four Humors giving way to Germ Theory, to Dr. John Snow proving to doctors that cholera was transmitted through drinking water instead of bad air, medicine is a science of proving ourselves wrong.
Which is why I can understand when people might question certain cures or procedures, but the key here is that science proved previous theories wrong.
I have a rule that I usually apply to any trendy new “cure”: the more things it claims to fix, the less likely it is to be real.
As the hosts of the Sawbones podcast always say: “Cure-alls cure nothing.”
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So I immediately raised an eyebrow upon hearing about “Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS).”
The miracle cure isn’t a new idea, but it’s recently come back into the limelight thanks to the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing.
The “church” sells MMS, which they call “sacraments,” in a kit and were intending to hold a resort retreat where for a “donation” of $450, attendees could learn about the cure and get a kit of their own.
Thankfully, that event seems to have been canceled now that the truth of what MMS actually is has been made public.
It’s bleach.
Specifically, it’s chlorine dioxide , a form used in large scale water treatment and industrial bleaching.
You may be thinking that since it’s used in water treatment, it’s okay to ingest, but we’re talking about a small amount in an entire city’s water system.
Fun fact: In the U.S., chlorine dioxide is illegal to transport and must be made on-site. This is because it can explode.
If not properly diluted, the gas can ignite from even a small jolt. This is likely why the “sacraments” are sold in a two-part kit that you have to mix together yourself.
The base of the kit is sodium chlorite (“sacramental cleansing water”). Sodium chlorite can be fatal in doses as small as 10 grams, or about 0.35 ounces.
It can also explode when it comes in contact with a reducing agent, such as powdered sugar . So sure, mix this cure up in your home kitchen.
The “church” linked to a video documentary as “proof” that MMS works.
In it, a church Bishop and a “natural medicine practitioner” visit a hospital in Uganda and perform an experiment to prove that MMS will cure malaria in just two hours.
The video shows them going through the process of testing patients to ensure they are currently infected. They they have them drink two doses of MMS diluted in water, an hour apart. After two hours, they tested for malaria again and all the patients tested negative.
Sounds great, huh? Too bad their video “proves” absolutely nothing.
Here are just some of the issues I wrote down while watching the video:
They also claim to have cured more than 50,000 people in Africa with MMS, including HIV.
Of course, they provide no proof of these claims and I think that if that many people in a country were suddenly being cured of all their ailments, we would have heard of it through more trustworthy channels.
MMS isn’t new.
In fact, the FDA issued a public health warning in 2010 after a number of incidents where people ended up hospitalized.
“High oral doses of this bleach, such as those recommended in the labeling, can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and symptoms of severe dehydration.”
There’s one silver lining, though. Since the church’s latest attempt to push their product, public outcry hasn’t just forced them to cancel their event, but their web host has shutdown sales of their kit.
h/t: The Guardian
