When it comes to alternative medicine, France seems to be the “promised land”. A staggering 45% of the population uses some form of these “therapies”. France is thus ahead of the rest of Europe, followed by Germany, where this figure rises, according to the same source, at 38%. But what is even more impressive is the particularly high number and bizarre nature of alternative treatments launched by French innovators. Few countries can boast such an abundance of creativity! Let us judge…
Aromatherapy: the application of essential oils for medicinal purposes was invented by French chemical engineer René-Maurice Gattefossé. In 1910, while the young René-Maurice was carrying out research in his laboratory, an explosion occurred and seriously injured him. His wounds becoming infected and not healing, he applies lavender essential oil. This application would have been followed by an almost miraculous healing. This experience convinced Gattefossé that essential oils could cure most, if not all, health problems. For the rest of his life, he promoted their healing properties, with some success: today, aromatherapy is one of the most popular alternative treatments.
Auriculotherapy: we owe it to the French doctor Paul Nogier, who lived in Lyon from his birth in 1908 until his death in 1996. He first studied engineering, then medicine. He postulated that man’s outer ear was an area where the entire body was projected. By stimulating points in the outer ear, Nogier claimed to influence the health and functioning of internal organs and other parts of the body. After Nogier published his ideas in the 1950s, his concepts were enthusiastically adopted by proponents of alternative medicine. Auriculotherapists were quick to publish maps indicating the organs located in this or that place in the external ear. The therapist then just had to stick a needle in the right place to resolve this or that problem. Today, auricular therapy is touted as a treatment for most conditions.
Miraculous therapies
Biokinergy: it was developed by the French physiotherapist and osteopath Michel Lidoreau. Impressed by shiatsu and traditional Chinese medicine, he decided to combine elements of all these therapies. In the 1980s, he discovered the importance of specific tissue tensions in our body, associated with joint blockages and energy imbalances. Lidoreau biokinergy is a manual therapy that would work wonders: it would eliminate these blockages, restore mobility to the patient’s body, increase the elasticity of their tissues, support the circulatory and nervous systems as well as biological and psycho-emotional balance. And, of course, it doesn’t just treat the symptoms but addresses their root causes.
The etiopathy: it was invented in 1963 by the French physiotherapist and osteopath Christian Trédaniel. It is a manual therapy described as “non-instrumental surgery” by its inventor. Etiopathy would identify the causes of a health problem and remove them by treating their origin. It aims to cure everyday ailments without medication, using only manual techniques. Etiopathy is mainly used in addition to conventional medical treatments and recommended for almost all conditions that affect humans: from asthma to urinary problems, from migraine to insomnia. The stated goal of etiopathy is to reduce the risk of developing chronic problems or to find a natural solution to avoid surgical intervention.
An almost constant pattern
Visceral osteopathy: it is the work of the French osteopath Jean-Pierre Barral. In the 1980s, he said his clinical work with thousands of patients allowed him to discover that many health problems were caused by our internal organs being stuck and immobile. Barral therefore created an organ-specific fascial mobilization technique. According to its proponents, visceral manipulation is based on the specific application of gentle manual forces that encourage normal mobility, tone, and function of internal organs and their surrounding tissues. In this way, the structural integrity of the entire body is believed to be restored. Visceral osteopathy is practiced mainly by osteopaths and, more rarely, by chiropractors and physiotherapists. It includes several different manual techniques, both for diagnosing health problems and treating them.
Oscillococcinum: he is the absolute star of French inventions in the field of alternative medicine. It dates back to French physician Joseph Roy, who in the 1920s thought he had discovered the Spanish flu virus. As it oscillated under his microscope, he called it “oscillococcus.” According to him, this virus was not only responsible for the flu, but also for a large number of other diseases, including cancer, for example. Roy then decides to make a homeopathic remedy from this imaginary microbe. According to the precepts of homeopathy, he assumes that his remedy will cure all illnesses caused by the virus. He makes his remedy from the liver and heart of a duck, because he is convinced that the fictitious virus is present in this animal’s organs. The duck’s organs are so diluted that they do not contain a single duck molecule. Oscillococcinum is sold in “C200 power”, which means that organ extract is diluted in a report of 1: 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000. This dilution is so extreme that it is equivalent to one molecule for a multitude of universes. Despite this extraordinary level of implausibility, Oscillococcinum became a worldwide bestseller. The French manufacturer Boiron sells approximately $15 million worth of this product per year in the United States alone.
You may have noticed: most bizarre French alternative inventions are characterized by an almost constant pattern. It usually starts with a charismatic would-be genius who believes he has discovered a previously unknown phenomenon as the root cause of poor health. Ignoring science, rationality and current medical knowledge, the inventor then embarks on an adventurous journey which leads him to consider the phenomenon he has just discovered as essential to human health.
Blinded by his own enthusiasm, he is determined to develop a treatment that attacks the cause of the disease at its roots and eradicates it once and for all. And he does just that by finding therapy. Until the end of his life, our genius is determined to convince us that he has found the Holy Grail. There’s just one small problem in all this: all these seemingly brilliant innovations don’t work. But please, let’s not let the truth get in the way of a fantastic story!
Edzard Ernst, Emeritus Professor, University of Exeter, United Kingdom.
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