Live Blood Analysis (LBA) - Junk Science!

[Adrian Wong]

Guys, watch out for health scams like Live Blood Analysis (LBA). Remember - if it's too good to be true, it is often too good to be true!

PETALING JAYA: There’s a scam going around and what they are after is your blood. With just a drop, unscrupulous doctors, sinsehs and alternative medicine practitioners claim they are able to diagnose a host of illnesses, ranging from vitamin deficiencies to cancer.

They are able to convince their unsuspecting patients by using an impressive but discredited test method called Live Blood Analysis (LBA).

It is believed that thousands have fallen victim to this scam over the past 10 years. Alarmed by the growing number of centres offering such services, medical associations are now urging the authorities to take action against those offering LBA.

Up to press time, Health Ministry’s director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican had yet to respond to requests for comment on this practice.

The test is currently available in the Klang Valley, where some centres advertise the service, and in several other states, including Malacca, Terengganu and Sarawak.

It is also known as Nutritional Blood Analysis or Live Cell Analysis. All methods require a drop of the patient’s blood to be put under a high resolution darkfield microscope.

Those using LBA claim they are able to assess a patient’s health and detect infections, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, toxic substances, weak kidneys, bladders and spleens, and even cancer earlier than standard laboratory tests.

LBA, however, has been deemed “unestablished” and “experimental” by US health authorities.

Robert W. Bradford, who invented the microscopy system used for the test in 1996, is facing charges in the US Federal Court for fradulently marketing it as a diagnostic test for an infectious disease.

Medical doctors also criticise the test as a fraudulent practice to mislead unsuspecting people into buying unnecessary and expensive supplements or alternative therapies for non-existent medical conditions. (See ‘A bloody encounter’)

Malaysian Society of Haematology president Dr Ng Soo Chin said: “The society’s stand is very clear - LBA is junk science. It is a mixture of a little bit of science that is unsubstantiated and interpretations that are erroneous.

“We think that this sort of practice should not be condoned, and action should be taken against those who prey on patients.”

Although LBA has been available in Malaysia for at least a decade, it appears to have attracted little concern from the authorities because, as a doctor who asked for anonymity observed, the test itself is harmless.

In fact, currently, most LBA practitioners offer the test free with the purchase of certain products. But there are others who charge up to RM1,200 with consultation sessions and reports thrown in.

StarProbe was alerted to LBA after a member of the public sent an e-mail to express his outrage after a relative was duped into taking the test.

He said his relative had the LBA test done by a Chinese sinseh in Kuala Lumpur recently.

“The sinseh told my relative he was in ill health and could die anytime. Subsequently, he was told to buy supplements amounting to RM500 monthly from the sinseh to cure these ‘illnesses’.”

He added the supplements were to help the relative “detox the colon, clean the liver of bad blood, remove bad cholesterol clogging up blood cells, promote weight loss, and boost energy.”

According to Dr Ng, this was the modus operandi of some LBA practitioners. Many would also claim the patient had a blood infection caused by a type of yeast, which they would then proceed to treat with costly supplements and alternative treatments.

Dr Ng said the public should know that if yeast was truly present in a patient’s blood, he would be very sick and require hospitalisation.

However, a Klang Valley medical doctor, who only wishes to be known as Dr Lim, defended the test, saying that it was done by many medical doctors in countries such as Taiwan, but here it has been misused to sell nutritional supplements.

Dr Lim insisted that the problem lies in the fact that non-medically trained people were performing the tests.

LBA practitioners claim a high resolution dark field microscope, which is a valid medical tool, uses special lighting to view specimens against a dark background, enabling a trained eye to see abnormalities that cannot be detected by a regular microscope.

But Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr David K.L. Quek said looking at something under a microscope cannot scientifically determine diseases, however powerful the microscope.

According to reports, authorities in the United States, Australia and elsewhere have warned or prosecuted health practitioners, including chiropractors and naturopaths, for misleading their clients with LBA tests.

On whether the MMA would take action against such practices in Malaysia, Dr Quek said that without a patient’s official complaint, or proof that such tests or therapies had caused harm, there was little the MMA could do.

He urges the public to be more aware, less gullible, and more discerning when dealing with claims about unproven therapies, which are not always what they seem. He also said those affected by the scam can forward their complaints to the MMA or Malaysian Medical Council.

[Adrian Wong]

More on the issue...

SURFING the Net, I found three such centres – two private clinics and one wellness centre, all in the Klang Valley. I decided to pick one private clinic and made an appointment for a “check-up”.

The doctor asked detailed questions about my eating habits and sleeping patterns. I was given a physical examination, and she then lanced my finger. A drop of blood was placed on a slide. She proceeded to look at the slide under a microscope. That’s the LBA test. The whole process took 10 minutes.

According to the doctor, my red blood cells were of unequal size, which is a sign of vitamin deficiency. There were crystal-like structures seen in between the cells, which according to her, is a sign of early liver problems. Apparently, my white blood cells were not moving – a sign of a weak immune system.

Her diagnosis – I had some vitamin and antioxidant deficiency, early liver problems and a lack of “good organisms” in my colon.

I left the centre with a month’s supply of supplements to correct those abnormalities, which cost about RM200. I was told to go back to the clinic in a month’s time.

I couldn’t help but wonder if it is possible to deduce so much about my health just by looking at a drop of blood under a microscope.

With that in mind, I did a laboratory blood test to check whether I had those conditions mentioned. As vitamin and antioxidant levels are not routinely tested and colon health can often only be assessed by endoscopies and faecal examinations, I did a blood and liver function test – the results were normal.

Still unsure, I went to consultant haematologist Dr Ng Soo Chin with my results. He did not think that anyone could come to those conclusions just by looking at a drop of blood.

For instance, without testing the levels of vitamins in a person’s blood, one could not check for the presence of a deficiency. Specialised tests are also needed to study the number, appearance and the function of blood cells.

“I wished the process of diagnosing those conditions were so simple,” he said.

For him, using unestablished science on a commercial basis is misleading.

“And not only that, you are endangering the health of some of the patients who come forward because they may have some serious illness that may not be picked up by these tests,” he added.

But what about some people who actually got better after undergoing these tests and subsequent therapies?

Dr Ng said it may be due to the placebo effect.

The mere fact that a healthcare provider is doing something – even though the treatment does not have any therapeutic effect – is enough to make 30-40% of patients feel better, he added. — By LIM WEY WEN

[The_YongGrand]

Yes - I've heard many of those already. Especially in the shopping centres and advertisment flyers which have those kinda stuff.

A few days ago I read in some advertisment about detox - if the person is clean, the close-up view of the cornea is smooth, but if he/she's not, the cornea looks rough. I don't remember the name of the test though. Could these be any indicators too?

Or, better still, a real blood test done in hospitals/clinics/pathology labs?

[Adrian Wong]

Corneal inspection now??? Seriously, if only health tests were SO easy!