Alternative Therapies - Do They Work?

More people are trying these medically unproven treatments, but the authorities urge caution 

ONCE a fortnight, Mr Richard Gavriel turns up at a Tanjong Pagar spa, lies under a pile of towels and allows himself to be set on fire. Actually, a therapist pours rubbing alcohol over his mid-section and sets the liquid alight. About 30 seconds later, Mr Gavriel will murmur that it is getting too hot and the therapist will put the flame out with a wet towel.  The 41-year-old director of a corporate training firm undergoes this “fire therapy treatment” to lose weight. The treatment is based on the belief that the body is regulated by five elements : fire, wood, metal, earth and water.The heat supposedly balances the energy of those who have too much of the water element in their bodies that could cause digestive problems or joint pain. In Mr Gavriel’s case, easing his digestive problems is supposed to help trim his waistline. 

At a clinic at The Adelphi, naturopath Saravanan Ganesan claims to have developed a programme which can transfer energy to various objects. Paste one of his stickers – slightly bigger than a 50-cent coin –below your collar bone for 24 hours, and you will have a healthier digestive system, he said. Unusual as they may sound, such alternative health and beauty treatments - which are not regulated by the authorities - are popping up islandwide.  

Helming them are wellness practitioners such as naturopaths and homeopaths. Spa and beauty therapists form another group. There are no available figures on the number of outlets that offer alternative health treatments, but data from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) showed that 351 beauty salons and spas - including slimming centres - opened last year, compared with 172 in 2006. 

Mr Sundardas Annamalay, 47, president of the Society of Natural and Alternative Health Therapists in Singapore, said: “On my worst days 10 years ago, I’d see five people.” Today, he gets about 20 clients every day at his Sundardas Naturopathic Clinic in Bugis Village. But the surge in all these services has also brought about a rash of complaints. The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) said that up till Nov 30 last year, there were 250 complaints lodged against businesses in the medical industry and 2,935 in the beauty industry.  

In 2007, the medical and beauty industries saw 166 and 1,105 complaints respectively. Case’s figures for the medical industry include complaints levelled at regulated practitioners such as doctors, dentists, hospitals and clinics. Case executive director Seah Seng Choon said the grouses were mostly linked to allergic reactions, adverse reactions to treatments such as vomiting and pain, and ineffectiveness of treatment. Unlike doctors, practitioners without a medical background do not fall under the purview of the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) and are allowed to offer services that may not be medically proven. 

Doctors, however, are rapped when they do so. In October last year, a general practitioner was fined by the SMC for using a bioresonance machine to treat smokers and patients who suffered from allergies and had autism. He was fined $5,000 and ordered to stop providing the treatment. But at least six bioresonance centres here - not run by doctors - are still operating. Associate Professor Koh Hwee Ling, who teaches a complementary medicine and health module at the National University of Singapore, said a lot of complementary and alternative medicine treatments have not been clinically tested in proper trials. Hence, there is still a large degree of apprehension and even scepticism towards such treatments, especially by doctors. She noted that the more established complementary and alternative medicine are traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and ayuverdic medicine. 

A spokesman for the Ministry of Health (MOH) urged caution. The public, she said, should be aware of the nature of the treatments and possible complications and side effects. Currently, the only health-care professionals regulated by MOH are doctors, dentists, oral-health therapists and hygienists, nurses, pharmacists, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, optometrists and opticians. 

But a proposed Allied Health Professions Bill, which seeks to regulate the conduct and practice of various allied health professions, is under way. Regulation will start with occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech language therapists, said the MOH spokesman. The ministry is also studying how complementary and alternative therapies are practised in other developed countries before deciding if regulatory measures should be put in place. 

The Health Sciences Authority, meanwhile, regulates some health products such as medical devices. A spokesman said that all therapeutic claims made by these devices must be substantiated by objective evidence. Any unverifiable claim or statement is considered as false and misleading and potentially contravenes the Health Products Act. Unlike regulated health-care professionals - who need to obtain licences from the relevant authorities – applicants of such businesses need only to fulfil relevant business law requirements. They are not required to produce any proof of certification of their qualification for the registration of their business, said a spokesman for Acra. 

Not all service providers are out to make a quick buck, of course. Naturopath and hypnotherapist Ganesan, 42, for one, studied four years at the Nature Care College in Australia, a school for natural therapy education which is accredited by the Australian government. He said his role as a therapist involves doing tests to find the root cause of clients’ problems and giving a holistic perspective, as opposed to the “car parts” approach in Western medicine. “There’s no harm in such complementary treatments,” he said. “We often hear about side effects and huge drug recalls in Western medicine. It’s a choice people have to make.” Sometimes, the choice can turn bad. In 2009, a housewife was left with a 20cm welt across her abdomen after slimming therapy involving fire went wrong at a slimming centre. 

Until a regulatory framework is in place, Dr Lam Pin Min, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health, calls on therapists to be professional and ethical, and not overpromise the benefits of these therapies and prey on customers’ desperation. “Non-medical practitioners such as beauticians and spa therapists must not perform procedures that are invasive in nature, that can result in disfigurement and complications,” he said. Often, customers visit these practitioners through word-of-mouth recommendations. 

Take accountancy lecturer John J. Williams, 67, who suffered a chronic shoulder pain for months until he saw Mr Justin Morais of Sports Acupuncture Centre in Hougang Central, at the suggestion of a colleague. Mr Morais, 79, employs a variety of techniques, including acupuncture, bioresonance therapy, and homeopathy. “Western doctors just gave me a lot of painkillers and couldn’t say what the problem was,” said Dr Williams, who has so far spent $100 on two sessions over the last few months. “Justin promised I’d be well in three months’ time, and I am delighted with the results so far.” Mr Gavriel said he was sceptical at first about the “fire therapy treatment”. But after completing 10 sessions, he is happy with the results and will be paying about $2,000 for another 10 sessions. “My waistline has reduced by about 7.5cm in six months and my appetite has decreased. I eat about one-third the amount of rice I used to.”

Rubbing out menstrual cramps? By: Fiona Low 

Other related articles:
Diagnosing health woes with a machine
One-stop clinic for range of treatments