The Electronic ItchStopper
A review of the anti-psoriasis claims for the Electronic Itchstopper.
I’ll let Ed Anderson’s Hall of Pshame discussion of the ItchStopper tell most of the tale, except that I’d like to emphasize that the other forms of hyperthermia which have undergone studies don’t use heat of the extreme that the ItchStopper creates.
Note that the “scientific data” displayed on the ItchStopper web sites completely ignores the immune suppression caused by UVB light, and also uses some of the same research I’ve quoted in my hyperthermia article. The difference between the true scientific research and the ItchStopper is that the research used controlled methodologies and controlled heating, whereas the ItchStopper just seems to heat up as much as possible (one Newsgroup reader tried to measure the temperature, but her thermometer maxed out at 125°F). Also, the science behind hyperthermia doesn’t need to resort to “specific changing electronic energies,” or any of the other pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo which fills the ItchStopper advertising. The theory on which the ItchStopper is supposed to work may very well be something other than just raw heat, but the comparisons to other forms of hyperthermic therapy don’t make it seem so.
Also note that the sites still use some of the claims that got the FDA to issue its warning letter (see the Hall of Pshame links). The manufacturer may have supplied the FDA with the required evidence, but this is unknown. Some of the advertising is simply self-contradictory. “Once you have this device, you and your family will be itch-free forever,” yet the itch relief is supposedly only good for 24 hours.
Anyone who has an ItchStopper and is willing to give it up (I’d like to “disect” one or two of them), please email me. I will gladly cover the postage after receipt of the device, but no other compensation will be made, except my thanks.
