Should I spend $400 to magic my Parkinson’s away? Don't be daft...

Beware anecdotes about miracle cures

It’s a complex condition with a wide range of symptoms, no cure, and medication which can give some relief but can have troubling side-effects. But what if the best treatment for my Parkinson’s Disease was a swig of some herbal mixture? That’s what someone called Kerry Browman thinks - or at least that’s what he said in a comment on an article on this newsletter.

It popped up the other day on an old post “An app for Parkies”. Kerry told me and my many thousands of subscribers that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s 12 years ago and none of the medication prescribed by his doctor had worked. Then he’d tried a “natural” treatment from the Health Herbs Clinic and it had changed everything:

“It has been a complete turnaround with my balance, mobility, double vision, swollen feet, speech and tremors this is the best that I've felt in years….”

Go try it yourself, he urged us. I thought this sounded familiar and that other people had commented to the same effect on my Substack. When I checked that out there were indeed three similar comments on other posts about Parkinson’s - all of them from Kerry. I sent him a message asking him to get in touch so I could learn more, and while I waited for a reply, I visited the Health Herbs Clinic’s website.

The outfit, based in South Africa, promised treatment for all sorts of conditions and encouraged visitors to email if they had queries. So I told the clinic that I had been recommended their treatment for Parkinson’s and wanted to know more. Back they came very quickly:

“Hi Rory, you have absolutely nothing to worry about, we have recorded a very high success rate treating this condition through our 100% natural organic PD Herbal formula treatment

For your condition, we recommend 2 bottles of our Parkinson's herbal formula to last the 5 months treatment plan. The Herbal remedy is 100% natural herbs and MCC approved, a composition of African and Chinese herbs. The remedy is taken 2 times daily (Morning/Evening) after meals with a teaspoon (1x each). The remedy cost $200.00 USD per bottle ($400.00 USD for the 5 months treatment plan).”

Twice a day, you say, with a teaspoon? But before I splashed out $400 I wanted a bit more detail on this magic medicine. So I rang the clinic and a man picked up straightaway. Perhaps it was a bad line, perhaps we didn’t understand each other’s accents, but the conversation did not go well, especially when I started asking for scientific evidence rather than anecdotes from happy customers about the herbal elixir. The man suddenly remembered he had another caller on the line and snubbed me.

I got off the phone and wrote an email asking these questions:

• What evidence have you that your product is an effective treatment for Parkinson’s?

• Can you point to any peer-reviewed research showing that your treatment works?

• Does any reputable neurologist recommend your product?

• Has your product been approved by the FDA or any other medical regulator?

• Isn’t $200 rather a lot to pay for a bottle of herbs?

• Has Kerry Browman got any connection to your company?

So far, I have received no reply. As for my new friend Kerry - he never writes, he never calls, though I have spotted him on a couple of other forums devoted to Parkinson’s, making similar comments about the benefits of the same herbal remedies.

I have always been sceptical about alternative medicine but know all too well that people with Parkinson’s are desperate for some medical breakthrough and therefore vulnerable when they are offered one. The key is to consult your doctor and to ask searching questions about the evidence backing up claims about products. Any reputable business in the health sector will be eager to provide answers - if they won’t, their claims should be dismissed.