Contact Reflex Analysis (CRA) is an elaborate pseudoscientific system whose codeveloper and leading proponent is Dick A. Versendaal, D.C., of Holland, Michigan. According to Versendaal:
Research has proven the human body to be like a computer, made up of the brain (electrical generator and memory bank) and thousands of miles of electrical wires called nerves. These nerves connect every organ, gland and tissue of the body. These nerves also connect with "fuses" or "breaker switches" called contact reflexes. By contacting these reflexes, using the body's muscular system as an indicator, we are able to monitor the function of body systems.
Versendaal claims that CRA can "test every conceivable condition in the human body . . . help that patient, and know how long it will take for that patient to get well." Testing is done by pulling on the patient's outstretched arm while placing one's finger or hand on one of about 75 "reflex" points on the patient's body. The nine main "reflexes" pictured below, are the "right master allergy reflex," "left master allergy reflex," "metabolic reflex," "master heart/blood quality reflex," "hemoglobin reflex," "coronary reflex," "virus reflex, and "yeast reflex." Others include the "parasite reflex," "vaginal tract reflex," "pineal gland reflex," "virus reflex," "blood quality reflex," "gouty arthritis reflex," "pus reflex," and "yeast infection reflex." In a recent article, Versendahl stated that "independently conducted physical examinations, pre- and post-treatment blood chemistry, urine studies, and electrocardiograph comparisons" have enabled him to identify about 30 "major reflexes" and 45 "subreflexes" from an earlier compilation of 350 of them [1]
Versendaal states that the front of the hand is electrically "positive," the back is "negative," and the fingers are "neutral." If the arm is weak and can be pulled downward, the reflex "blows," indicating that disease corresponding to the reflex is present. "Nutritional" products—most manufactured by Standard Process Laboratories—are then prescribed to correct the alleged problems. His 199394 schedule listed 27 seminars "given under the auspices of Parker College of Chiropractic" at locations throughout the United States. (Parker's Division of Post-Graduate and Continuing Education assumed sponsorship in 1993.) Seminar attendees are invited to bring a patient for a free examination by Versendaal. One of Versendaal's disciples has designed software for practitioners who want to "maximize their effectiveness in balancing body chemistry" and "heighten the professional atmosphere" of their examining room.
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Versendaal's textbook Contact Reflex Analysis and Designed Clinical Nutrition contains reflex charts, testing instructions, and lists of recommended supplements. for both humans and animals. A flyer for practitioners calls it a reference manual for over 1000 syndromes and their treatments." However, a flyer for patients states:
CRA is not a method of diagnosis. It is a means by which a doctor uses the body's reflexes to accurately determine the root cause of a health problem. CRA is also a marvelous preventative technique, used to find a problem before it becomes a full-blown health issue. Find it early and correct it [2]
Doctors who contact Versendaal about his work may receive a stack of testimonials, including one from a chiropractic client who states:
Versendaal claims his method is so efficient that it can generate a million dollars a year working only 15 hours a week. At a 1992 seminar, he stated that he saw a patient every three minutes in his office at a cost of $35 for the initial visit, $25 for weekly follow-up visits, and $10 for additional weekly visits if a patient was seen more than once per week. His writings and seminars are loaded with bizarre statements about the body in health and disease. For example:
During the seminar, Versendaal tested a parade of patients and recommended a Standard Process product for each problem he alleged, typically six or twelve per day of each one. He explained that, "Standard has a product for practically everything that can happen to a man." Since most patients had multiple problems, the typical regimen ranged from twenty to forty pills per day, which would cost the patient from five to twenty-eight cents each. The highest number prescribed was seventy-three, which would have cost about $14 per day. Most of the magic pills are made of dehydrated vegetables and animal organs.
In no case did Versendaal obtain a detailed history of a patient's problem or perform any standard type of physical examination. When one woman he examined said she had neurofibromatosis, he asked her what it was. (It is a group of hereditary disorders in which multiple noncancerous tumors appear in the skin and/or elsewhere in the body.) After she displayed some tumors, he tested her reflexes and concluded they were "almost the same thing as fatty tumors" and were caused by "staph." When a woman who smoked asked him to check whether her lungs were damaged, he found a slightly weak "lung reflex," concluded that she had only "slight damage," and advised taking one Pneumotropin pill daily to repair the damage. (He did not suggest that she stop smoking!) When a woman described pain in her hip and leg, Versendaal said it was sciatic nerve pain caused by a "ruptured disk" pinching a nerve in her neck. (The sciatic nerve runs from the lower part of the spine down each leg.) When a teenage girl complained of bronchitis and stomachaches, Versendaal told her the cause was "parasites." When a woman complained of discomfort in her knee and fingers, he diagnosed "carpal tunnel syndrome" in both wrists, concluded that she had rheumatism, and said: "You have adrenal failure, and that's causing your rheumatism. Your body is filling up with poisons from poor circulation from weak adrenals."
In other cases, Versendaal diagnosed heart disease, prostate disease, and "infections" of the eye, ear, liver, lung, and knee without examining any of the body parts involved-merely by pulling on the patient's arm while touching the corresponding "reflex" points.
After several patients said to have recovered from disabling illness were presented, Versendaal said:
In 1992, a 50-year-old Pennsylvania woman, in apparently good health, was treated by a chiropractor for hip and leg pain resulting from an automobile accident. When the pain resolved, the chiropractor checked a "thyroid reflex," said she had a "thyroid problem" and recommended dietary supplements that contained iodine. The chiropractor ordered no laboratory tests, standard or otherwise, to measure how well the woman's thyroid was functioning. The prescribed amount of iodine was more than ten times the Recommended Dietary Allowance. Within three months, it stimulated the woman's thyroid to produce excessive amounts of thyroid hormone, which triggered weight loss, severe diarrhea, and other symptoms of thyroid toxicity. The iodine also triggered Graves disease, a thyroid condition in which the eyeballs bulge. The swelling became so severe that, despite medical treatment, the woman's optic nerves were crushed and she is now legally blind. Her lawsuit against the chiropractor was settled out of court with undisclosed terms.
I believe that CRA leads inevitably to misdiagnosis. Patients who trust its practitioners are likely to waste hundreds or even thousands of dollars treating nonexistent conditions. Patients who seek medical confirmation (or refutation) will face additional cost. The number of CRA practitioners is unknown but is probably a few hundred, most of whom are chiropractors. I believe that all of them should be delicensed.