Pseudoscientific belief that germs do not cause disease
Germ theory denialism
is the pseudoscientific belief that
germs
do not cause infectious disease, and that the
germ theory of disease
is wrong.
[1]
It usually involves arguing that
Louis Pasteur
's model of infectious disease was wrong, and that
Antoine Bechamp
's was right. In fact, its origins are rooted in Bechamp's empirically disproven (in the context of disease) theory of
pleomorphism
.
[2]
Another obsolete variation is known as terrain theory and postulates that the state of the internal environment determines if germs cause disease rather than germs being the sole cause of it.
[3]
History
[
edit
]
Germ theory denialism (GTD) is as old as germ theory itself, beginning with the rivalry of Pasteur and Bechamp. Pasteur's work in preventing beverage contamination led him to discover that it was due to
microorganisms
and led him to become the first scientist to prove the validity of the theory and to popularize it in Europe.
[2]
Before him, scientists such as
Girolamo Fracastoro
(who had the idea that
fomites
could harbor the seeds of contagion),
Agostino Bassi
(who discovered that the
muscardine
disease of silkworms was caused by a fungus that was named
Beauveria bassiana
),
Friedrich Henle
(who developed the concepts of
contagium vivum
and
contagium animatum
), and others had proposed ideas similar to germ theory.
[4]
[5]
Bechamp strongly contested Pasteur's view, proposing a competing idea known as the pleomorphic theory of disease. This theory says that all life is based on forms that a certain class of organisms take during stages of their life cycles and that germs are attracted to the environment of diseased tissue rather than being the cause of it.
[6]
Proponents of this idea insist that microbes that live in an organism go through the same stages of their development. According to
Gunther Enderlein
, the stages are as follows:
[7]
- colloid
?
microbe
(primitive phase)
- bacteria (middle phase)
- fungus (end phase)
Terrain theory
[
edit
]
The terrain theory is a variation of Bechamp's ideas that is also an
obsolete medical theory
that
held
that diseases were caused by the composition of the body. The "terrain", will attract
germs
to come as scavengers of the weakened or poorly defended tissue. Bechamp believed that the
pH
of the body is important, and that an
acidic
pH will attract germs and an
alkaline
pH will repel them. Pasteur disproved spontaneous generation with a series of experiments in the 1870s.
[4]
However, understanding the cause of a sickness does not always immediately lead to effective treatment of sickness, and the great decline in mortality during the 19th century stemmed mostly from improvements in hygiene and cleanliness. In fact, one of the first movements to deny the germ theory, the
Sanitary Movement
, was nevertheless central in developing America's
public health
infrastructure. Providing clean water and sanitation reduced the environment for
pathogens
to develop, and
mortality rates
fell dramatically.
[8]
[9]
[10]
Status
[
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]
Germ theory denialism is counter to over a century of experiments and practical observations, and the prevailing opinion of almost all doctors and scientists.
[1]
[2]
[11]
GTD has significant overlap with
chiropractic
practice. Many
chiropractors
believe
immunity
to be a function of spine alignment and of the brain's ability to communicate efficiently with the body and that it has little to nothing to do with external
pathogens
.
[12]
[
better source needed
]
A common thread among many
alternative medicine
proponents is
opposition to vaccines
, and some use GTD to justify their claims.
[13]
Germ theory deniers make many claims about the biological underpinnings of the theory and the historical record
[14]
[15]
that are at odds with what most modern scientists and historians accept.
[1]
[2]
[4]
[16]
Another claim from the anti-vaccine community involves the theory that all diseases are caused by
toxins
due to inadequate diet and health practices.
[17]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Novella, Steven
(2010-11-04).
"Germ Theory Denial"
.
neurologica blog
. Retrieved
22 May
2018
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Gorski, David
(2010-08-09).
"Germ theory denialism: A major strain in "alt-med" thought"
.
Science-Based Medicine
. Retrieved
22 May
2018
.
- ^
Madigan, M.T.; Martinko, J.M. (2006).
Brock Biology of Microorganisms
. Pearson Prentice Hall.
ISBN
978-0132017848
. Retrieved
23 May
2018
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Germ Theory"
.
Contagion ? Historical Views of Disease and Epidemics
. Harvard
. Retrieved
23 May
2018
.
- ^
Guthrie, D.J.; Rhodes, P.
"Verification of the germ theory"
.
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Retrieved
23 May
2018
.
- ^
Major, D.
"Antoine Bechamp, Pleomorphism and Microzymas"
.
adistantmirror.com
. Archived from
the original
on June 17, 2018.
- ^
Poehlman, Karl Horst (1997).
"Synthesis of the Work of Enderlein, Bechamps and other Pleomorphic Researchers"
.
Explore!
.
8
(2).
ISSN
1091-8361
. Archived from
the original
on January 31, 1998.
- ^
Pizzi, R.A.
"Apostles of cleanliness"
.
the timeline
. Retrieved
22 May
2018
.
- ^
Pontin, Jason.
"The 19th-Century Crank Who Tried to Tell Us About the Microbiome"
.
Wired
.
- ^
Madigan M; Martinko J, eds. (2005).
Brock Biology of Microorganisms
(11th ed.). Prentice Hall.
ISBN
0-13-144329-1
.
- ^
Gorski, David
(2010-08-09).
"Yes, there really are people who don't accept the germ theory of disease"
.
Respectful Insolence
. Retrieved
23 May
2018
.
- ^
Barrett, Steven
(10 March 2016).
"Chiropractors and Immunization"
.
Chirobase
.
Quackwatch
. Retrieved
23 May
2018
.
- ^
Crilip, Mark
(2008-11-07).
"It's just a theory"
.
Science-Based Medicine
. Retrieved
23 May
2018
.
- ^
Fielder, J.L. (2001).
Handbook of Nature Cure Volume One: Nature Cure vs. Medical Science; Chapter One: That Fallacious Germ Theory
. Academy of Natural Living.
ISBN
0958661146
. Retrieved
23 May
2018
.
- ^
"Vaccinations ? Overview"
.
Arizona Advanced Medicine
. Retrieved
23 May
2018
.
- ^
Hodkinson, J.
"The history of germ theory"
.
Big Picture Education
. Archived from
the original
on 16 April 2019
. Retrieved
23 May
2018
.
- ^
Hall, Harriet A.
(2008-12-09).
"
'I Reject Your Reality' ? Germ Theory Denial and Other Curiosities"
.
science-based medicine
. Retrieved
22 May
2018
.