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Imagine being able to detect problems in your organs long before trouble in the form of disease starts to show. Well, the "hadoscan" is said to do just this.
Curious to see whether it really works, Health24's Carine Visagie gave it a shot.
What it is
The hadoscan technique falls into the category of "energy medicine". In other words, like Reiki and acupuncture, it's based on the principle that illness is related to imbalances in the body's energy fields. Its proponents say that by rebalancing these energy levels, health can (at least temporarily) be restored.
The scan is done through a device that's able to detect and manipulate energy levels in the body. Developed primarily by an Austrian researcher, the machine can be used for diagnostic and treatment purposes, and is said to be able to pinpoint disease, underlying allergies, infection and more. It can also give an indication of how well a person will respond to certain treatments.
According to natural-health practitioner Dr Jeremy Taylor, who uses the hadoscan in his practice at the Cape Town Medi-Spa, the device can only be used effectively in the hands of an experienced healthcare practitioner who has a good understanding of clinical medicine. "You need to be able to decipher which results make sense, and which don't, and you have to put it all in context."
Dr Taylor notes that results he obtained with the help of the hado machine correlate quite accurately with symptoms he picked up in patients through more traditional diagnostic means. "The machine also picks up problems that could lead to disease in future," Taylor says.
The hado machine has just been introduced to South Africa and vaguely resembles frequency-based prognostic devices such as Quantec, Vega and Prognos.
How it works
When you go for a hadoscan, the practitioner first takes a detailed medical history, which gives him a pretty good idea of your health problems and the areas of your body to focus on. He then uses the hado machine to pick up on the energy levels in the various organs and other body structures (e.g. connective tissue). Your energy levels are assessed by means of a set of headphones that make faint, almost Morse code-ish sounds.
As the machine scans the different areas of your body, energy levels show up on a computer screen by means of coloured dots and triangles on generic pictures of the various organs. The lighter the colour of the dots (yellow is the lightest), the greater the energy flow in that organ. The darker the colour (dark red to black), the less energy is picked up by the hado machine – something which could point to disease.
According to Dr Taylor, who performed my hadoscan, the yellow dots are usually a good sign. These dots mean that your energy levels are optimal for your age and gender. But they can also point to a health problem, especially if your energy levels are mostly in the intermediate range (indicated by orange-coloured dots), like mine. Then lots of yellow dots could be a sign of abnormal activity, such as cancer.
In my case, the machine picked up low energy levels in my heart and pancreas, and high levels in my brain. Through my health assessment, Dr Taylor knew I was experiencing a significant amount of stress. The related high cortisol levels, he said, could explain why my heart seemed to be under strain. The stress was most likely also at the root of the high energy levels in my brain. My mind seemed to be working overtime!
The low energy levels picked up in my pancreas was a bit strange. But Dr Taylor explained that this could possibly be related to my awareness of the organ's association to disease in my family. He knew that I had a family history of pancreatitis.
After the machine scanned every part of my body (fortunately not picking up any other major problems), Dr Taylor moved on to the treatment arm of the hado session. With a few mouse clicks, he sent "neutralising" frequencies to the appropriate organs, all via the headphones. Through this, he restored the energy balance in my heart and brain – at least if the results indicated on the computer screen were to be believed.
Noting that the positive effect of the frequencies on my heart and brain will last no longer than a day, Dr Taylor then started looking at long-term stress-managing strategies.
To determine what would be the best course of action, a function of the hado machine that relates to the work of Japanese researcher Dr Masaru Emoto was put into action. Dr Emoto's controversial research seems to show that water reacts to positive or negative words. (Read more about the theory here.) As our bodies are primarily made up of water, it's believed that our organs too react to certain words.
According to its proponents, the hado machine picks up the effects of different words, thus giving practitioners a way to fine-tune their treatments. "You can type in any word and actually see how it changes the body," Dr Taylor explains.
So, Dr Taylor typed in different words and found that "exercise" seemed to have a far better impact on my brain than "meditation", "valium" or "alcohol". The word "ashwaganda" (Indian ginseng) also seemed to make a substantial difference. Dr Taylor noted that this herb, which is known for its stress-relieving properties, as well as exercise could be of benefit to me.
The verdict
Going for a hadoscan sure was a very interesting experience.
However, I'm not convinced that it added any real value to my session with Dr Taylor. From our conversation beforehand, he already deduced that I was stressed and didn't really need the machine to confirm it. And while the device seemed to suggest that I'd benefit from ashwaganda, Dr Taylor already knew this would probably be a good treatment option.
As to the observations regarding my pancreas, the machine just made me a little bit paranoid about something I've probably got no reason to be worried about.
I'm furthermore concerned that neither the efficacy nor safety of the device has been tested in randomised, controlled clinical trials. In fact, research on the machine is sparse and proponents seem to fall back on anecdotal evidence to highlight its benefits.
While hadoscan could perhaps be a useful tool – and I sure am hoping it will prove to be – I'm personally waiting for the science to back it up before I can recommend it.
For more information, contact:
Ubuntu Wellness
Cape Town Medi-Spa
99 Kloof Street, Gardens,
8001, Cape Town, South Africa
Tel: +27 21 426 1156
Fax: +27 21 426 1136
e-mail: info@ubuntu-wellness.co.za
