J writes: "Are you familiar with this technique invented by a Dr. Bob Marshall called QRA (Quantum Reflex Analysis)?" 

I did not have to read very far before the red flags began flapping in the wind of this so-called scientific "breakthrough".

QRA is supposedly an "amazing biocommunication technique" in which the body can "talk to you" and tell you what it needs."

Proponents call it "the union of science-based kinesiological testing, time-proven ancient therapies, systematic analysis of the body’s quantum biofield, and outstanding nutrition and detoxification breakthroughs of the 21st century."

Sounds great, doesn't it? Too bad it doesn't mean anything.

First of all, biofield can mean anything from a universal life force to electrophysiology; however, in this case, because QRA relies on the body's alleged "meridians" which are exclusively associated with the scientifically unfounded New Age energy better known as "qi", "chi", yin yang, etc. In addition, what they refer to as "science based kinesiological testing" is known as muscle testing which is not, and never has been, "science based." It's a well known pseudo scientific method employed mostly by New Age chiropractors. In other words, QRA is founded upon thin air. 

QRA was developed by Dr. Bob Marshall, a clinical nutritionist who believed that "the secrets of optimal health and restoration lie not within costly treatments or procedures, but in the body’s own theorized energy field – the Quantum Energy Biofield." Proponents claim QRA uses the brain's feedback mechanisms "to identify your specific organs and systems that are functioning at less than optimal frequencies" and relies upon "the body's wisdom to inform what it needs to heal..."

This is classic New Age thought which posits that "The source of healing is said to be within ourselves, something we reach when we are in touch with our inner energy or cosmic energy" (No. 2.2.3, Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life.) 

How does a practitioner typically employ QRA? According to their brochure: "To test you, your practitioner will ask you to create an 'O-Ring' position with the fingers on one hand. With your other hand, your practitioner will ask you to place your fingers on key organ and gland control points on your body. Next, your practitioner will test each of these points using classic QRA O-Ring testing methods."

What is this testing method?

Called the Bi-Digital O-Ring test, it was created by Dr. Omura, a Japanese medical doctor. In this test, the patient makes a circle with their fingers. The test ascertains how difficult it is to open the fingers, which supposedly gives an accurate assessment of one's health.

According to Dr. Caroline Crocker, Immunologist and Microbiologist writing for the American Institute of Technology and Science Education, "this test is totally without scientific method."

As she explains, science relies on being able to take accurate and repeatable measurements and the difficulty of opening the patient’s fingers is a very subjective measurement. "It is akin to the physician taking your temperature by kissing your forehead instead of using a thermometer . . . "

In fact, she cites the case of one doctor, named R. Gorringe, who lost his medical license when he used the test to treat a patient who then died.

And just because the method relies on the classical acupuncture meridian system designed 4,500 years ago doesn't mean it works.  . . . "(T)he fact that people use it, or even that they have used it for years, does not mean that the system works any more than a placebo," Dr. Crocker writes.

Scientific studies have shown that this system has no diagnostic power, nor does it provide any medical benefits, she writes, which is why QRA should be considered to be nothing more than "quackery based."

© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®  http://www.womenofgrace.com