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by Kathy Gibbons
In the mid-1980s, a physician interested in yeast-related problems told me about an instrument he had obtained from Germany designed by Dr. Reinhold Voll. During a visit to his office I saw him put an electronic probe on various parts of a patient’s hands. He told me that with this instrument he was able to determine the foods his patient was sensitive to and the therapies he would use in treating him. Although I did my best to pay attention to his demonstration, I did not understand the technique and why or how it would work. To summarize, it didn’t interest me.
Several years later, along with a half-dozen other physicians interested in food allergies/sensitivities and yeast problems, I visited the office of James O’Shea, a board-certified pediatrician who received part of his training at the Massachusetts General Hospital. During our mini-conference, Dr. O’Shea demonstrated a special filter which removed chemicals from tap water. He also showed us how he carried out serial dilution testing to determine the proper dose of allergy extracts.
Then he had one of his patients demonstrate muscle testing. In carrying out this testing, an object (such as an apple) was put in the person’s hand. Or the person would drink a sip of milk and hold it in their mouth. The person being tested would then hold her arm out at a right angle while the technician administering the test would apply pressure to push the arm down.
If the apple, milk (or whatever substance being tested) disagreed, the arm could be pushed down with only a minimal amount of pressure. By contrast, if the substance caused no problem, the person being tested could resist the pressure and the arm would remain extended. Using the same muscle testing technique he also showed how he could determine the strength of an allergy extract to use in treating a patient with pollen, mold and dust mite allergy. Although I was amazed, I did not pursue this method of testing in my own practice.
A few months later, my good friend Elmer Cranton, M.D., who at that time was living and working in a small community in southwest Virginia, told me about muscle testing. He said that a patient (a woman with a Ph.D. degree and member of the faculty of a neighboring university) had found that muscle testing was an effective way to identify the foods that were causing her problems.
During the decade of the 1990s, other people, including both professionals and non-professionals, told me that muscle testing and electroacupuncture provided them with valuable diagnostic and therapeutic information. I did not discuss either of these techniques in my lectures or books because I said to myself,
“I’m already involved in writing and talking about other controversial subjects, including food and chemical sensitivities and yeast-related problems. Although these methods of testing and treating people seem to have merit, they would be even more controversial than ‘the yeast connection.’ And gaining credibility and acceptance for the yeast hypothesis is my main mission.”
While gathering material for Tired – So Tired!, I called and wrote to many knowledgeable and experienced professionals. Questions I asked included, “Which prescription and non-prescription anti-fungal agents have you found to be most effective?” One of the professionals, Susanna Choi, M.D., a board-certified Colorado gynecologist, rather than discussing anti-fungal medications said,
I’m very excited about electroacupuncture testing and diagnosis. Call our mutual friend, Dr. Kathy Gibbons, and she’ll tell you more about it.”
So I called Kathy on July 18, 2000, and with her permission I recorded our conversation. Here are excerpts.
WGC: Kathy, when did you first become interested in electroacupuncture testing?
KG: Last fall, when I was working with Dr. Choi, we had three or four patients who came into the office and said, “Please write a prescription” for a particular product. When we asked why, each said, “The machine says I need it.” So after hearing this request several times, Dr. Choi came in to me and said, “Kathy, what is this machine?” So we started looking into electroacupuncture and meridian stress testing.
We had the salesman come in and demonstrate his equipment. Before he came in, Dr. Choi and I were convinced we were not going to buy the machine, and the meeting with him would convince us not to buy it. However, we were really surprised. We came out of the demonstration meeting, where he tested both of us, saying, “We have to buy it.” The instrument gave a correct test result for every substance we tested, and the salesman knew nothing about us ahead of time.
WGC: It can test not only for foods you’re sensitive to, but also for hormones and medications?
KG: Yes. The instrument can be used to see if progesterone is needed, and to see which type of progesterone is best tolerated. It can also be used to see if other hormones are needed, such as testosterone. The instrument is not approved by the FDA as a diagnostic tool, but it sure helps guide you along as to what a patient needs. Of course you would back the instrument up with blood work. For example, we found people whose thyroid meridian was really stressed according to the instrument. So based on that we did blood work on those patients. And 70 to 80% of the time we picked up thyroid problems. We would not have normally done blood work on those types of patients, and so those are thyroid problems that we would have missed.
WGC: Amazing – almost unbelievable. Kathy, tell me again about your credentials – I know they’re impressive.
KG: I received my Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Illinois. I’ve worked in nutritional counseling for ten years, and, as you know, I worked for Dr. Choi for the last five years. Just two months ago I decided to set up my own office so that I could use the instrument on all family members, not just the OB/GYN patients that Dr. Choi treats. The instrument is just so powerful that I wanted to be able to use it for anyone.
WGC: Kathy, I’m excited about what you’re telling me. Does testing with this instrument tell you whether or not you need more magnesium, or more B1 or more B6?
KG: The instrument will definitely indicate whether or not magnesium, for example, will reduce stress on the body. The same is true for B1, B6, or any other vitamin or supplement. You can use the instrument to stress test on magnesium, and the instrument will tell you if your magnesium level is off. It won’t tell you whether the level is too high or too low. It’ll do the same thing for your vitamins and minerals. Once the instrument tells you there’s something wrong, you can figure out by doing various other tests whether you have been taking too much or too little. You can also test amino acids, digestive aids, vaccines, and essential fatty acids – there are just so many ways you can use it.
What I do when I first test a patient is to do a baseline and then a nutritional analysis. I go into all the libraries of data stored in the instrument and determine what is out of balance. Many times you’ll find all the vitamins are fine but the minerals are really out of balance, or the essential fatty acids are really off. Once I’ve determined that, I go back and decide if that person has too much or too little of each vitamin or other supplement, and then I start coming up with a nutritional program for them that incorporates what I’ve learned.
Electroacupuncture testing also helps me to evaluate allergies to inhalants and chemicals. Using it I found that one of our chronically ill patients was sensitive to chlorine.
The person doing the testing must be knowledgeable, skilled and experienced. You have to know what you’re doing. You have to know what you’re looking for and you have to go look for it. What you’re able to do is just look “all over the place” so much more quickly than ever before.
Here’s one example. Maybe you wonder if the patient has parasites. The electro testing helps provide you with a clue. That doesn’t mean you don’t need to run the Great Smokies Lab stool tests to identify the parasites. You do need to do those tests. But the instrument gives you a really quick way of searching to find out which directions you should go and what would make the most sense.
The instrument I use is made by BioMeridian, a Salt Lake City company that combined the technologies from several smaller companies and put them together. I did not check into instruments made in Europe.
WGC: What does the Colorado Medical Society say about this kind of testing?
KG: The instrument is an FDA-approved instrument, and from what I understand it meets all of the new guidelines for the most recent FDA certification level. But it is not approved for diagnostic work. So if you pick up that someone has a stressed thyroid, you need to run the conventional medical tests before prescribing thyroid. The key is this – the instrument just gets you so much quicker to the right treatment for a patient. That’s why I’m so excited about it.
WGC: A final thing. How about your patients with a yeast-related problem? Does it help you tell whether Diflucan or Sporanox is the way to go?
KG: Definitely. You can stress test on candida. In fact, I have a library of about 22 yeast-related organisms and we can stress test on all of those very quickly. Then you can test a drug or herbal remedy and see which one works best for that patient.
My Comments: Because of the personal and academic credentials of Dr. Choi and Dr. Gibbons, two friends I’ve met and visited with during trips to Colorado, I am impressed with the validity of electroacupuncture and muscle testing.
If you call or write me and say, “Dr. Crook, should I go to a health professional who uses these machines?” I would repeat and expand on the comments of Dr. Gibbons who said, “The person doing the testing must be knowledgeable, skilled and experienced.”
I’d also say, “Check on the person’s credentials and reputation in your community. Find out if the professional is kind and caring and professionally competent in caring for patients. Also get an idea about what her/his services will cost and whether you feel comfortable with her/his ability to provide you with continuing care.” Still another question, “Would he/she provide you with the results of your test findings so that you can share them with your own personal physician?”
A final comment. Whether it’s for electroacupuncture testing or any type of diagnostic studies or therapy, your goal is to find a health professional who exemplifies these qualities: COMPETENCE, UNSELFISHNESS, KINDNESS, and CARING.
From Tired – So Tired and the yeast connection, Crook, William G., Professional Books, Inc., 2001, Pages 264-269.
