What we consider \u201cfringe\u201d or \u201cmainstream\u201d changes over time. That applies to health and medicine too.<\/p>\n
For instance, massage was once considered a fringe therapy but in the 19th century it morphed<\/a> into what we know today as physiotherapy.<\/p>\n Likewise, Swiss doctor Maximilian Bircher-Benner wasn\u2019t taken seriously when he said we should eat oats and fruit for breakfast. But he was onto something: he invented muesli<\/a>. <\/p>\n There has also been traffic in the other direction. Legitimate medical therapies have turned up in the weird health borderland of beauty and \u201cwellness\u201d. <\/p>\n When untrained or barely trained people use these therapies, they can do real harm.<\/p>\n Here are five examples of wellness trends that borrow from mainstream medicine.<\/p>\n 1. Ozone therapy<\/p>\n Ozone (O\u2083) is a form of oxygen. Ordinary oxygen (O\u2082), sometimes with ozone added, can be applied to wounds via a bag or sealed chamber to help them heal<\/a>. It does this by helping the body fight infection and form collagen<\/a>. <\/p>\n But \u201cozone therapy\u201d \u2013 the weird, unlicensed version \u2013 puts ozone, or ozone and oxygen, directly into the person\u2019s body<\/a>. It can go in via the lungs, or via intravenous injection, or it can be pumped into the rectum or vagina. <\/p>\n Practitioners claim it can reduce inflammation, or even treat cancer or HIV\/AIDS<\/a>, despite no evidence for such health benefits. <\/p>\n It can also cause fatal air embolisms<\/a> \u2013 bubbles of gas in the bloodstream that can block blood flow to vital organs.<\/p>\n 2. Vitamin drips<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t get enough of a certain vitamin or mineral through your diet, you can take a supplement. But if that doesn\u2019t work, in some cases, you might need to go to hospital or a doctor\u2019s surgery<\/a> to get a medically supervised infusion that\u2019s delivered into the vein (an IV infusion). <\/p>\n For instance, iron infusions<\/a> help people with serious iron deficiencies.<\/p>\n But celebrity endorsements<\/a> have helped fuel the rise of \u201cvitamin drips\u201d at wellness centres and therapy lounges. These drips promise<\/a> all sorts of outcomes, from boosting your immune system, to treating pain or depression.<\/p>\n IV needles in untrained hands can be dangerous. They can cause<\/a> phlebitis (inflammation of the vein) and infiltration (when the IV fluid or medication leaks into the surrounding areas). They can also lead to infection<\/a>. <\/p>\n And unlike therapeutic vitamin IV infusions administered in hospital, these non-traditional treatments are not regulated by Australia\u2019s Therapeutic Goods Administration. So you might also not be getting the magic IV potion you\u2019re paying for.<\/p>\n 3. Botox<\/p>\n The bacterium Clostridium botulinum<\/a> produces a neurotoxin \u2013 a poison that affects nerves. For decades, it\u2019s been used therapeutically to treat excess sweating and migraine, among other conditions. Today, we call this neurotoxin Botox. <\/p>\n Since about the 1990s<\/a>, health professionals have been injecting it into people\u2019s faces to temporarily paralyse the muscles that cause wrinkles.<\/p>\n It\u2019s legal, it\u2019s a registered product, and in trained hands it\u2019s safe to use. <\/p>\n But as of September 2 this year, it\u2019s been wrapped in an extra layer of regulation. <\/p>\n People who deliver any non-surgical cosmetic procedures \u2013 including Botox \u2013 will now be required to demonstrate higher skill levels under tougher policies<\/a>.<\/p>\n This comes after several cases<\/a> where nurses allegedly imported injectables<\/a> from overseas. But these products weren\u2019t registered for use in Australia and may not have been safe to use.<\/p>\n 4. Apheresis<\/p>\n Apheresis is the process of separating blood into its component parts by spinning it at high speed in a special machine.<\/p>\n Clinicians use this process to separate out and remove specific molecules or antibodies in some diseases \u2013 what\u2019s called \u201cselective apheresis<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n For example, if a person has very high cholesterol that doesn\u2019t respond to normal treatments, they can undergo lipid apheresis<\/a> to \u201cwash out\u201d harmful lipoproteins from their blood.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to see how the idea of \u201cwashing\u201d your blood could be misunderstood and misapplied. <\/p>\n English actor Orlando Bloom announced earlier this year that he\u2019d undergone apheresis to remove microplastics from his blood<\/a>. <\/p>\n Microplastics in the body are a cause for concern<\/a> \u2013 but there\u2019s no evidence to suggest apheresis can cleanse human blood of them. <\/p>\n 5. Hyperbaric therapy<\/p>\n When a diver gets \u201cthe bends<\/a>\u201d from too much nitrogen forming in their body, they can be treated in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber<\/a>, where they receive 100% oxygen in a pressurised chamber. <\/p>\n But hyperbaric therapy is also touted as a treatment for autism<\/a>, Alzheimer\u2019s disease, cancer<\/a>, strokes, and post-traumatic stress disorder<\/a>. <\/p>\n There isn\u2019t enough good science to back up any of these claims. There also isn\u2019t enough science to suggest it makes your skin look younger<\/a>.<\/p>\n The key message?<\/p>\n The history of medicine is full of stories<\/a> about when mainstream forms of medicine have harmed instead of healed. <\/p>\n Humans have also always wanted to manage their own health<\/a>. This has been going on for centuries, with both risks and benefits. <\/p>\n But just because a therapy has been used in a hospital for one reason doesn\u2019t necessarily mean it works in a wellness clinic for another.<\/p>\n People can be easily convinced<\/a> by aggressively marketed wellness therapies, which can be magnified by social media and celebrity endorsements. <\/p>\n