| Introduction
A quarter century
of intense research in the field of medicine has convinced
me of the importance of electrodermal screening. I believe
that it can and should be used to help recognize a patient's
organ dysfunctions even before physiological symptoms manifest
themselves. It can identify pathogens and toxins that are
making the patient sick, and ascertain what medicines, supplements
and other remedies are helpful-or harmful-to the patient.
It can even determine the dosages that should be administered
for maximum effect. It does all this quickly, inexpensively
and non invasively.
First developed
50 years ago in Germany, electrodermal screening (EDS) has
been continually improved and refined, and is now estimated
to be used by more than 100,000 medical doctors and health
care practitioners around the world. There is still considerable
resistance to EDS in mainstream medicine in the United States
because it is based on principles of quantum physics and traditions
of energy medicine, neither of which is understood or taught
in our medical schools.
I first became
aware of EDS soon after I began studying alternative medicine.
It sounded like hocus-pocus to me, and I said so to a doctor
acquaintance I respected, Joseph McGovern, M.D. "Don't laugh
at it," he said, "it cured one of my failures."
Dr. McGovern related
how he had a farmer in the hospital, dying, and no one could
figure out why. A doctor there used EDS to determine that
the farmer was ill from the effects of exposure to a particular
pesticide, and was also able to identify what remedies would
neutralize the toxin and expel it from the body. The farmer
made a full recovery.
I was later able
to witness the efficacy of EDS firsthand. Harold Whitcomb,
M.D., my family's primary care physician in Aspen, Colorado,
was suffering from a number of severe allergies. Finally,
he spent two weeks and $3,000 to go through painstaking allergy
skin testing. Shortly thereafter we visited the clinic of
Fuller Royal, M.D., in Las Vegas, Nevada, where Leonard Haines,
M.D., tested Dr. Whitcomb using EDS. In 20 minutes Dr. Haines
came up with exactly the same results that had taken two weeks
to determine using traditional means.
Years later I
took my son, Blake, to Dr. Whitcomb for testing before his
first vaccination. Now a convert, and well trained in using
EDS, the doctor determined that the first shot was safe but
would cause a mild negative reaction. Further, he used EDS
to identify homeopathic remedies we could use to counter these
side effects. Sure enough, 24 hours after we gave Blake his
vaccination he began to act uncharacteristically cranky. We
administered the remedies and he soon returned to his usual
cheerful self.
When it came time
for Blake's DPT shot, Dr. Whitcomb tested Blake again and
saw that a full-strength shot would cause a severe adverse
reaction, but that a half-strength shot would be tolerated.
We went ahead and gave Blake the reduced dose with no ill
effects, and afterward used a homeopathic remedy to pull out
the vaccination residue.
I have witnessed
hundreds of successful diagnoses and treatments with physicians
using EDS. It has revealed undetected gum infections causing
chronic fatigue; mercury toxicity causing paralysis; parasites
underlying immune disorders; and the hidden causes of many
other health conditions that had eluded conventional physicians.
I am an instrument-rated
pilot, and to use the vernacular, I consider any physician
not using EDS as "flying blind." Anyone who is taking supplements,
especially individuals with health problems, should have their
vitamins, minerals, herbs, etc. tested to make sure that they
are actually necessary and doing good. If someone needs to
undergo surgery, then the type of anesthesia to be used should
be tested. The list goes on and on.
In this article,
our editor-in-chief, Tom Klaber, interviews Scott Moyer, an
internationally acknowledged expert in the field, discussing
the development, use and scientific basis for EDS. It is my
hope that this will help take the mystery out of EDS for doctors
and patients alike, and that physicians will become adept
in and utilize this marvelous modality as commonly as they
now use their stethoscopes. -Burton Goldberg
Tom Klaber: First
of all, Scott, just what is electrodermal screening?
Scott Moyer: Electrodermal
screening is an overall term for instrument-based methods
that provide information about the health of the body via
electrical measurements of the skin at various points on the
hands and feet.
TK: Is this a
new technique?
SM: Not at all.
Electrodermal screening, or EDS, unites 20th century technology
with the ancient healing arts of homeopathy and acupuncture.
It was first developed around 50 years ago in Germany. It
has been continually improved since then. The technique was
originally and still is sometimes called "ElectroAcupuncture
according to Voll," or EAV
TK: Voll was a
person?
SM: Reinhard Voll
was a German medical doctor. In the late 1940s he was studying
the Chinese acupuncture meridian system when he had an interesting
idea. He reasoned that if acupuncture theory was correct and
channels of energy did run throughout the body--coming to
the skin's surface at various "points" along the way--there
should be a way to measure this energy. So Dr. Voll constructed
a device to measure the electrical conductivity of acupuncture
points on the skin using a stylus-shaped electrode made of
brass. It was basically an ohmmeter.
TK: And he found
he was able to actually measure this energy?
SM: He didn't
measure the energy itself, but rather the body's ability to
conduct this energy. And in so doing he made two important
discoveries.
First, Dr. Voll compared the acupuncture point measurements
of healthy patients to those of patients who had conventionally
diagnosed diseases. He found that the electrical conductivity
of healthy acupuncture points measured within a given "normal"
range, while readings outside of this range revealed disturbances
in the tissues and organs traditionally associated with these
points. In addition, he also noticed that major disturbances
in the body produced a downward drop, or steady decay, of
the conductivity indicator as the point was being measured.
This became known as the "indicator drop. Second, he discovered
that medicines placed in the proximity of the patient could
change acupuncture point readings. He discovered this by chance.
Let me read to you how this happened, in his own words: "I
diagnosed one colleague as having chronic prostatitis and
advised him to take a homeopathic preparation called Echinaceae
4x. He replied that he had this medication in his office and
went to get it. When he returned with the bottle of Echinaceae
in his hand, I tested the prostate measurement point again
and made the discovery that the point reading, which was up
to 90, had decreased to 64, an enormous improvement of the
prostate value. I had the colleague put the bottle aside and
the previous measurement value returned. After holding the
medication in his hand the measurement value went down to
64 again, and this pattern repeated itself as often as desired."
This became known as the "medication test."
TK: So, it sounds
like EDS can help pinpoint both health problems and possible
remedies.
SM: Yes. EAV started
a revolution in medicine. Doctors now had a noninvasive method
that allowed them to evaluate their patients at the core energetic
level. EAV also helped practitioners prescribe the best medicines
for each patient by testing them first "in circuit" to confirm
their effectiveness.
TK: Has the correlation
between "normal" and "abnormal" readings of acupuncture points
been confirmed by researchers outside of this field?
SM: Oh yes. Remember
that using electrical measurements for evaluation purposes
is not unique to EDS. Conventional medical devices that use
electrical current for patient evaluation include the commonly
used electrocardiograph (ECG), to measure heart rhythms, and
electroencephalograph (EEG). The biofeedback instruments commonly
used by contemporary psychologists are based on galvanic skin
response (GSR) circuitry-that is a change in the electrical
resistance of the skin in response to a change of emotional
state. From a technical viewpoint, EDS machines are essentially
biofeedback instruments, since both use a GSR circuit with
visual and/or auditory displays to signal a change in the
patient's state.
TK: What about
research specifically using EDS?
SM: There have
been many studies. For instance, in 1985, S.G. Sullivan and
her colleagues at the UCLA School of Medicine reported in
the American Journal of Acupuncture that patients with lung
disease-confirmed by chest X-rays-had 30% lower electrical
conductivity readings at lung points. I also have research
papers on studies performed in the late '90s that supply the
cellular basis for this finding. [See list of resources at
end of this article.] Acute diseases such as viral and bacterial
infections, as well as chronic diseases such as cancer, affect
the electrical charge and water content of the cell and the
pH of extracellular fluids, thereby influencing cell membrane
potentials and tissue conductivity. Also, Julia J. Tsuei,
M.D., Fred K. Lam, M.D., and their colleagues at the University
of Hawaii must have two dozen papers published establishing
the correspondence of EAV readings with physiological disturbances.
For example, a
study of theirs published in 1990 in the American Journal
of Acupuncture looked specifically at the treatment of diabetes.
It showed how the bioenergetic measurement of acupuncture
points was a beneficial adjunct to the physician in determining
the proper dosages of medicines to the patient. It helped
determine the correct dosages of both allopathic medicines
such as glybunde and insulin as well as homeopathic remedies
and nosodes.
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