In the fourth post in this series on Viva Mayr and related subject matters, we will delve into the heart of the Mayr cult, and also into the core of the diet industry.
Origins:
When visiting the biographies section of the website mayrtherapy.com (6) , (just to check whether Franz Mayr was conveniently invented because of his Mayo-esque name), one cannot help but notice that it is never specifically stated where Franz Mayr attained his medical degree.
It is discomforting to see that the only evidence the good doctor’s effectiveness is in the statement that
“thousands of prominent people came there to regain good health and good looks.”
(Whether they had good looks to
regain is not known to me, likewise is whether they actually regained
anything. They did lose money, however, as is still the case with
clients of Mayr’s acolytes.) I could also not help but note the banner which read, “Spa medicine
utilizing the MAYR®cure”.
Cures and Registered Trademarks
Years of scepticism has taught me to distrust any health advice with a little superscript “R” next to any part of its wording.
Goldacre writes at length on the subject, but to paraphrase and to add a bit of my own fizz, I will say this: Good health advice is not hard to find. Eat balanced meals with lots of fruit and vegetables, exercise regularly and avoid a sedentary lifestyle.
There. Simple as that. And its not going to cost you a thing because it is common knowledge. (Okay, perhaps it is not as simple, but until compelling evidence emerges to suggest otherwise, I suggest we stick to these guns).
But that’s exactly the problem for an industry which aims to make money out of people’s desires to live longer, feel better and, most importantly, get all of this as part of a quick fix. In order to make people believe that they need to pay you for such advice or buy your diet book, you must overcomplicate things and sciencey-fy everything, using vague and ill-defined terms like “haematogenous oxidation” and “nasal reflex therapy” and a favourite of many crusaders of bad science, “detox” – but more on that later.
Most importantly, you need to patent, register and copyright this advice in order to maximize profits.
Viva Mayr is by no means special. Nor is the fact that it is run by doctors (Harald and Christine Strossier). People are easily impressed by what they perceive to be relevant qualifications.
Just because an engineer is running a hot dog stand, does not mean that his wors will be mathematically perfect.
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| Well done internet! When I searched for "Engineer hot dog", this is what came up. This coincidentally also proves the point I was trying to make. |
Similarly, just because someone happens to have a “Dr” in front of their name, does not make them an authority on anything health related (or even an MD or PhD, as you will find by reading any of Goldacre’s other work). And even if they are an MD, they may still stray from the straight and narrow of evidence-based medicine into the shadow of the valley of homeopathy and the like.
The medical profession is, contrary to popular belief, not a very efficient way of making money, especially with the average person becoming more educated and gaining access to virtually unlimited information at their fingertips (information which, say, might encourage people to exercise and eat their greens to stay healthy - for free).
This has led many in the healing profession to seek greener pastures by dabbling in alternative medicine. It is a lucrative pastime, filled with the mystery of vague terms and unsubstantiated theories that science and medicine have attempted to dispel for the better part of five centuries. In a way, alternative medicine has become a safe haven for arts and remedies which don’t stand up to well against the rigors and demands of actual science.
What do you call alternative medicine which has been proven to work? Medicine.
