Natural Solutions, Inc.

Some medical quacks are easy to spot, but other health fraud promoters make promises that appear to be based on science, exploiting popular misconceptions about health to make a profit. A healthy dose of skepticism and a little investigating can help you avoid wasting money or jeopardizing your health. To help spot health quackery watch for these signs; promises of a "quick and painless" cure; extraordinary promises such as a claim that a single remedy will cure all diseases; a "special," "secret" or "ancient" formula available only for a short time and only from one supplier; testimonials reporting incredible medical results from "satisfied users," especially if no substantive medical support for the claim is offered, or "Scientific breakthroughs" that a promoter says have been held back or overlooked by the medical community.

A government study on health-care fraud found that the majority of victims are older persons, and the three largest areas for medical quackery are the aging process, arthritis and cancer. In a youth-oriented society quacks find it easy to promote products that promise to stop or reverse the aging process. Be wary of claims that cosmetics erase wrinkles, vitamins enhance virility or creams reverse baldness. More than 30 million Americans suffer from arthritis or cancer. Although there are legitimate, effective treatments for arthritis, there are no known cures.