Lipid therapy

Lipid therapy, fat therapy, or theraputic lipovenous injections is a controversial medical technique that entails the injection and expulsion of fats and lipids, which proponents claim can improve cognitive and memory function. The technique recently gained notoriety, when it was revealed it had become a popular technique with French and Italian celebrities, and more recently a rumored handful of American celebrities.

Description

Patients who choose to undergo the controversial therapy are injected once a week for two months with a high-density animal fat.

Since most toxins in the body are fat soluble (according to practitioners), this causes the patient to defecate a translucent slime, which is claimed to carry out the body's toxins, in turn boosting energy, increasing concentration, and improving memory. Many medical experts who oppose the technique have pointed out the slimy discharge how the body deals with any excess of intestinal and intravenous lipids, and it is a sign of high risk of artery damage and poor water absorption.

Legal regulations

Marketing of any therapy as effective treatment for any condition is heavily restricted by law in many jurisdictions unless all such claims are scientifically validated. In the United States, for example, FDA regulations prohibit marketing any lipid therapy using medical claims, as such claims are unfounded.

Additionally, clinicians and doctors who perform the therapy have drawn scrutiny from the Department of Agriculture for questionable documentation on their acquisition of the animal fat.

Efficacy

Blinding of patients and assessors to the therapy is difficult since lipid therapy can be easily discerned by the painful pressure in the thoracic cavity engendered by the sudden dip in plasma viscosity. Globules of lipid polymers also produce a significant shear strain on capillaries, causing the skin to pale and the tongue to swell.

However, many patients claim to feel full of energy and stamina after undergoing therapy. Medical scientists are quick to point out this side effect is likely the result of rapid lipolysis, as free fatty acids are freed from glycerol, and forcibly diffused into blood and muscle fiber due to artificially elevated blood pressure.

See also

* Detoxification
* Pseudoscience
* Magnet therapy
* Quackery
* Acupuncture

Bibliography

* Nentwich, Phyllis Fichtelman. "Intravenous Therapy: A Comprehensive Application of Intravenous Therapy and Medication Administration." Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 1990. ISBN 0867204192

* Vance, Dennis E. "Biochemistry of Lipids, Lipoproteins and Membranes". Elsevier, 2008. ISBN 0444532196

* Yagi, Kunio. "Lipid Peroxides in Biology and Medicine". Academic Press, 1982. ISBN 9780127680507.