Ayurveda Pura - Pura Rubbish

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Simon Perry has written an excellent beginner's guide to writing ASA complaints. But where can novice sceptical letter writers find the adverts?

A great place to start is just about any "Ayurvedic Beauty Salon" - such as this one.

(Image credit)

Ayurveda Pura - a beauty salon a stone's throw from the O2 Arena in London - produce a handy 8-page booklet (available here, here, here and here) listing the treatments they offer.

It's full of dubious claims for "detox" therapies, weight-loss massages and the like. ASA complaint follows!

"I write to complain about a booklet I picked up at the CamExpo exhibition in London on 24th October this year.

The booklet promotes the "Ayurveda Pura London Health Spa & Beauty Centre".

I suspect that the booklet may be in breach of the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP Code). I can provide the original booklet by post, if necessary.

1. The UK's leading authority on complementary medicine, Professor Edzard Ernst, has recently written about "detox" therapies [1]:

"Detox, as used in alternative medicine, is based on ill-conceived ideas about human physiology, metabolism, toxicology etc. There is no evidence that it does any good and some treatments...can be harmful. The only substance that is being removed from a patient is usually money."

2. Under Section 12.1, I challenge whether the advertiser can substantiate any of the following claims:

(i) The "Aromatherapy Facial" (p3) can "eliminate toxins" from the skin

(ii) The "Detoxifying Back Cleanse" (p3) is capable of detoxifying any part of the body

(iii) The "Ayurvedic Detoxifying Face Massage" (p4) can "assist is detoxifying the facial skin..."

(iv) The "Nasya - Nasal Cleansing Treatment" (p4) is "highly effective in relieving...migraines"

(v) The "Abhyanga - Ayurvedic Whole Body Massage..." (p4) "...stimulates the immune system, detoxifies...the entire body"

(vi) The "Marma Abhyanga - Ayurvedic Energy Point Massage..." (p4) "...stimulates the...imune...systems"

(vii) The "Vishesh - Ayurvedic Deep Tissure Massage" (p5) is capable of "removing toxins and impurities from the body"

(viii) The "Hridaya Basti" treatment (p5), in which "the heart area is continuously bathed with warm Ayurvedic oils" can help with "ailments like high blood pressure and heart conditions"

(ix) The "facial treatment" included in the "Rejuvenation Package" (p6) is capable of "detoxifying" any part of the body

(x) The "Panchakarma - Ayurvedic Detoxification Packages" (p6) are capable of detoxifying any part of the body, and are capable of "internal cleansing", "restor[ing] and maintain[ing] good health", "strengthen[ing] the immune system", "protect[ing] the body against diseases by removing toxins and rejuvenating your body's internal systems"

3. Regarding Shiatsu, Ernst has written [2]:

"Shiatsu is based on the biologically implausible theory of yin and yang. There is no evidence that it is effective for any specific conditions. Shiatsu massage therefore seems to be a waste of effort and expense, which offers nothing above conventional massage."

4. Under Section 12.1, I challenge whether the advertiser can substantiate the following claim:

(i) "Shiatsu" (p7) can "help in a wide range of conditions" including "specific injuries"

5. Under Section 13.1, I challenge whether the following claim can be substantiated, under 13.4, I challenge whether the advertisers have established that weight-reduction is caused by loss of body fat, and under Section 13.9, I challenge whether the advertisers are claiming that weight or fat can be lost from specific parts of the body:

(i) The "Nabhi Abhyanga - Abdominal Massage..." (p5) "...assists in weight loss around the stomach area"

6. Under Sections 12.1 and 12.7, I challenge whether the following claim can be substantiated:

(i) The "Mukhabhyanga - Traditional Ayurvedic Face-Lift Massage" (p4) is capable of "keeping away wrinkles" and "promoting the regeneration of healthy, younger looking [sic] skin"

7. I confirm I have no connections with the advertiser. I confirm I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertiser.

Footnotes:

[1] Simon Singh, Edzard Ernst, "Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial", American edition 2008, p308
[2] Ibid., p326"

Deepak Chopra's "Science of Healing"

Deepak Chopra, the alternative medicine guru, needs no introduction.


Deepak (he's the one on the left - or is that him on the right? I can't be sure) is the author of Magical Mind Magical Body, a set of CDs offered to readers of Kindred Spirit magazine (advert available here and here).

Alongside the usual preposterous mumbo-jumbo can be found a series of altogether more serious claims.

"Doctors are baffled...Is it possible [to]...erase pain better than drugs...?"

"Dr Deepak Chopra will explain his ideas on how to: ...Say goodbye to pharamceutical drugs..."

"In the West doctors believe in the "magic bullet" - take a sleeping pill, take an antibiotic...this approach does work to some extent but only to relieve symptoms...not the underlying cause...the imbalance is still present."

That sounds suspiciously like discouraging essential medical treatment to me - an act which is specifically forbidden by the ASA's advertising codes.

Not content with this offence, the advertisers (Nightingale Connant of Torquay) boast that listening to the CDs will teach you

"How to eat whatever you wish without gaining weight"

I didn't even bother counting the sections of the code that claim breaches. Here's my complaint to the ASA!

"I write to complain about a leaflet inserted into copies of "Kindred Spirit" magazine (Issue 106, Sep/Oct 2010).

The leaflet, for Nightingale Conant, promotes a pack of six CDs entitled "Magical Mind Magical Body".

I suspect that the advert may be in breach of several sections of the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP) code (2010). I enclose a scan of the leaflet.

1. The leaflet contains the text:

"Doctors are baffled... Is it possible for the mind to create perfect health...heal illness, erase pain better than drugs, protect you against disease, reverse the ageing process, help you lose weight...?"

2. The leaflet continues:

"In this remarkable 6 hours talking book...Dr Deepak Chopra will explain his ideas on how to: Unleash the healing powers of your mind...Increase your immunity to illness...Learn a simple way to overcome addiction...Say goodbye to pharmaceutical drugs...How to eat whatever you wish without gaining weight...Create perfect health and total wellbeing..."

3. Under Sections 3.7 and 12.1 of the CAP Code (2010) I challenge whether the advertiser can substantiate any of the following claims:

(i) Listening to the CDs can "create perfect health", "heal illness", "erase pain better than drugs", "protect you against diseases", "reverse the ageing process" or "help you lose weight"

(ii) Listening to the CDs can "increase your immunity to illness", "overcome addiction", help you "say goodbye to pharmaceutical drugs", allow you to "eat whatever you wish without gaining weight" and "create perfect health"

4. The leaflet continues:

"Deepark Chopra's work combines his training in western medicine with the 6000 year old [sic] science of healing called Ayurveda from his homeland of India..."

5. (i) Despite careful searches, I have been unable to find a substantial body of clinical evidence attesting to the efficacy of Ayurveda. Nor can I find a description of the Ayurvedic methodology that seems to be congruent with the scientific method.

(ii) Therefore, under Section 3.1 I challenge whether the claim that Ayurveda is a "science" is misleading.

6. The leaflet continues:

"In the West doctors believe in the "magic bullet" - take a sleeping pill, take an antibiotic...this approach does work to some extent but only to relieve symptoms...not the underlying cause...the imbalance is still present."

7. Under Sections 3.7 and 12.1 of the CAP Code (2010) I challenge whether the advertiser can substantiate the claim that antibiotics do not treat the "underlying cause" of infections, and under Section 3.1 I challenge whether the quoted text is misleading.

8. Under Section 12.2, I challenge whether the following statements are likely to discourage essential treatment:

(i) "Doctors are baffled...Is it possible [to]...erase pain better than drugs...?"
(ii) "Dr Deepak Chopra will explain his ideas on how to: ...Say goodbye to pharamceutical drugs..."
(iii) "In the West doctors believe in the "magic bullet" - take a sleeping pill, take an antibiotic...this approach does work to some extent but only to relieve symptoms...not the underlying cause...the imbalance is still present."

9. I challenge whether the statement "How to eat whatever you wish without gaining weight" is in breach of several parts of Section 13 of the CAP Code.

10. Finally, I challenge whether the advertiser can substantiate their claim that the mind has "magical healing powers" which can be "unleash[ed]" by listening to the CD.

11. I confirm that I have no connections with the advertiser or the magazine. I confirm that I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertiser or the magazine."

*Ayurvedic Sexual Healing

Out shopping for a loaf of bread today, I thought I'd pop into my local Ayurvedic Beauty Salon.

UPDATE, 16 Sep: The ASA have been in touch to say the brochure contains many claims that seem to be in breach of the CAP Code. It has therefore been passed to their Compliance Team.

(Image credit - brochure front cover)

As I left - a brochure in each hand - I attracted a fascinated stare from one of the staff.

It's possible that she had a keen nose for a sceptic up to no good. But I prefer to believe that it was my rogueish good looks that so enchanted her.

To tell the truth, I've not had much luck with the ladies recently. I think my dry spell is over, though. According to the brochure, the salon offers an amazing "Kayasekam Oil Bath" which

"...increases body immunity and increases muscular, digestive and sexual power..."

Gosh! Also available are a plethora of treatments which "cleanse the body of toxins" (which toxins, exactly, the brochure isn't prepared to say).

For those visitors who don't share my own toned physique, the salon recommends a "Health Body Wrap - £36.00" which offers

"...instant inch loss - works by stimulating the lymphatic system with essential oils and forcing natural waste through the body using [a] unique wrapping technique..."

That sounds an awful lot like smearing faeces all over yourself. I think I'll stick with their "Vibrosaun" treatment, which is a

"...dry heat sauna and massage therapy unit to assist in relief of muscular aches and pains, stress and tension [which] at the same time detoxifies the body and reduces calorie counts (up to 300 calories per session!) This unit is designed to increase blood circulation, reduce high blood pressure and aid kidney function. It can also assist in reducing symptoms of insomnia and aid asthma sufferers..."

Dear reader, I'm still familiarising myself with the new advertising codes (which came into force yesterday) - but I reckon this brochure is in breach of a good number of them!

ASA complaint follows, and the relevant pages of the brochure are viewable here and here.

"I write to complain about a brochure promoting the "Karma" beauty salon in Luton.

The brochure was picked up from inside the salon itself and makes claims about various complementary therapies which I suspect cannot be substantiated.

1. The brochure contains the text (page 5):

"Thermal Auricular Therapy...clears sinuses, blockages and helps Hay Fever"

2. Under Sections 3.7 and 12.1 of the CAP Code (2010), I challenge whether the advertisers can substantiate their claim that thermal auricular therapy (popularly known as "Hopi Ear Candling") can "[clear] sinuses, blockages and [help] hay fever".

3. The brochure continues (page 7):

"Ahava Deluxe Dead Sea Mud Envelopment...An application of dead sea [sic] mud follows providing you with an all over [sic] detoxification aiding blood circulation and lymphatic drainage...This treatment helps to relieve joint inflammation, muscle pain and psoriasis. It also detoxifies the skin, cleanses the body of impurities..."

4. Under Sections 3.7 and 12.1, I challenge whether the advertisers can substantiate any of the following claims:

(i) The treatment can provide an "all over [sic] detoxification aiding blood circulation and lymphatic drainage"
(ii) The treatment can relieve psoriasis
(iii) The treatment detoxifies the skin and cleanses the body of impurities

5. The brochure continues (page 7, repeated page 8):

"Health Body Wrap...For instant inch loss - works by stimulating the lymphatic system with essential oils and forcing natural waste through the body using unique wrapping technique [sic]...Course of 6 wraps recommended..."

6. (i) Under Section 13.1, I challenge whether the claim "instant inch loss" can be substantiated.

(ii) Under Section 13.4, I challenge whether the brochure has shown that "weight reduction is achieved by loss of body fat".

7. The brochure continues (page 8):

"Vibrosaun...at the same time detoxifies the body and reduces calorie counts (up to 300 calories per session!...The unit is designed to increase blood circulation, reduce high blood pressure and aid kidney function. It can also assist in reducing symptoms of insomnia and aid asthma sufferers..."

8. Under Sections 3.7, 12.1 and 13.1, I challenge whether the advertisers can substantiate any of the following claims:

(i) The Vibrosaun detoxifies the body and "reduces calorie counts (up to 300 calories per session!)"
(ii) The Vibrosaun reduces high blood pressure and aids kidney function
(iii) The Vibrosaun can aid asthma sufferers

9. The brochure lists (pages 12-14) a number of Ayurvedic treatments available at the salon. Under Sections 3.7 and 12.1, I challenge whether the advertisers can substantiate any of the following claims:

(i) The "PAADA ABHYANGA FULL LEG AND FEET MASSAGE...helps those suffering from arthritis"

(ii) The "AYURVEDIC BACK MASSAGE...assists with whiplash injuries"

(iii) The "PODI KIZHI BOLUS BAG MASSAGE WITH MEDICATED POWDER" can help "treat arthritis, paralysis..."

(iv) The "KAYASEKAM OIL BATH (ROYAL TREATMENT)...slows down the aging process, helps heal fractured bones, increases body immunity and increases muscular, digestive and sexual power" and "Removes all Vata and Kapha toxins"

(v) The "SHIROABHYANGA TRADITIONAL INDIAN HEAD MASSAGE...drains any accumulated toxins"

(vi) The "KADI VASTI POURING OF OIL" is "An effective treatment for low back pain, sciatica, slipped disc and neurological diseases of the lower limbs"

(vii) The "GREEVA VASTI" treatment "helps with...paralysis and any whiplash"

(viii) The "NETRA VASTI...protects and promotes good vision, help[s] with...cataract[s], night blindness, glaucoma, and decreases any pain or secretion of lachrymal fluid"

(ix) The "NASYA" treatment "Relieves headaches, migraines, sinusitis" and "helps with diseases of the eyes, ears[,] nose, mouth and throat, with swellings, gland enlargement and tonsilitis"

10. Under Section 12.23, I challenge whether the advertisers can substantiate their claims that the "SHIROABHYANGA MASSAGE" (page 13) "relieves...baldness" and "prevents hair fall [sic]".

11. I confirm that I have no connections with the advertiser. I confirm that I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertiser."

*Ayushya Ltd - Ayurvedic Annoyance

This is Qurban Hussain, the Lib Dem candidate for Luton South in last month's general election.

Qurban ran his campaign out of an office at 351 Dunstable Road, Luton. (I live in a neighbouring constituency and don't belong to any political party).

Today's ASA complaint is about a company called Ayushya Ltd.

UPDATE, 25 Aug: ASA advise me that the advertisers have agreed to withdraw the advert and not to repeat the claims it makes.

(Image credit)

The company specialises in Ayurvedic medicine, a herbal medicine tradition from India. (According to the Quackwatch website, it's not a "tradition" at all, but the product of the Maharashi Yogi's verdant imagination.)

Ayushya's shopfront window makes a number of pseudoscientific claims - my favourite is that Ayurveda can treat diabetes - but my letter to the ASA concerns a recent newspaper advert.

The advert unwisely claims you can "LOSE 2 INCHES in just 2 WEEKS!" with Ayurvedic massage which, by the way, is also "Guaranteed to stop hair loss in just 2 months!"

By the way, Ayushya Ltd operates out of premises at... 351 Dunstable Road, Luton!

I don't know whether Qurban and Ayushya are connected - I rather hope not, given Qurban's good reputation as a local councillor. A firm of accountants also operate out of the same address.

Still, the tenuous connection enlivens an otherwise straightforward ASA complaint.

"I write to complain about an advert which appears in the "Luton Herald and Post" newspaper (Thursday, June 24, p41).

The advert, for Ayushya Ltd, promotes Ayurvedic Massage.

I suspect that the advert may be in breach of four sections of the British Code of Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP) code. I can provide an original copy of the advert by post, if required.

1. Ayurvedic Medicine is a system of traditional herbal medicine, originating in India, which commonly incorporates both yoga and massage.

2. Clinical evidence for the efficacy of ayurvedic treatments is thin on the ground, and generally of poor quality. For example, a 2007 Cochrane Review, "Ayurvedic medicine for schizophrenia", concludes [1]:

"Ayurvedic medication may have some effects for treatment of schizophrenia, but has been evaluated only in a few small pioneering trials."

The 2010 paper, "Herbal medicines for asthma: a systematic review" [2], concluded:

"No definitive evidence for any of the herbal preparations [including a number of ayurvedic herbal medicines] emerged. Considering the popularity of herbal medicine with asthma patients, there is urgent need for stringently designed clinically relevant randomised clinical trials for herbal preparations in the treatment of asthma."

3. The ASA Council has in the past upheld a complaint concerning an advert for ayurvedic medicine as a treatment for a number of conditions [3]. (The advertisers in that case were not Ayushya Ltd.)

3. (i) I have found two studies discussing ayurvedic medicine and weight loss. The first study [4] suggests:

"Hence, diets based on Ayurvedic constitution may prove useful in promoting weight loss. Though these promising findings support traditional Indian Ayurvedic scriptures, more closely controlled trials are needed to substantiate these findings."

(ii) The second study [5], an RCT, reports:

"A significant weight loss was observed in drug therapy groups when compared with the placebo."

(iii) The positive results of these two studies, both published in India, do not appear to have been replicated by anybody else.

4. I have been unable to find any clinical evidence for the efficacy of ayurvedic medicine in preventing hair loss.

5. Under Sections 3.1 and 50.1, I challenge whether the advertiser holds documentary evidence to prove the following claim, and I challenge whether the claim is backed by evidence, where appropriate consisting of clinical trials conducted on people:

(i) Ayurvedic massage is "guaranteed to stop hair loss in just 2 months"

6. Under Sections 3.1 and 51.1 of the CAP Code, I challenge whether the advertiser holds documentary evidence to prove the following claim, and I challenge whether the claim made for the effectiveness of the product is backed if appropriate by rigorous trials on people:

(i) Ayurvedic massage can make you "LOSE 2 INCHES in just 2 WEEKS!"

7. Under Section 7.1, I challenge whether the advertiser's claim that they are able to offer "FREE medical advice" is misleading.

8. I confirm that I have no connections with the advertiser or the magazine. I confirm that I am not involved in legal proceedings with the advertiser or the magazine.

Footnotes:

[1] Agarwal V, Abhijnhan A, Raviraj P. Ayurvedic medicine for schizophrenia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD006867. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006867 http://www2.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab006867.html

[2] Huntley A, Ernst E. Herbal medicines for asthma: a systematic review. Thorax 2000;55:925-929 doi:10.1136/thorax.55.11.925 http://thorax.bmj.com/content/55/11/925.abstract

[3] http://www.asa.org.uk/Complaints-and-ASA-action/Adjudications/2009/7/Kerala-Ayurvedic-Health-Clinic/TF_ADJ_46582.aspx

[4] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19161047

[5] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2278549
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