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The of Live Blood Cell Analysis Of the many aspects of , one of the most bizarre is live blood cell analysis. This unapproved blood test supposedly identifies nutritional deficiencies and other nebulous conditions.

THOMAS PATTERSON

connected to the microscope and feeds a ake a simple scientific fact or term, build an elaborate video monitor so that the enlarged image fantasy on top of it, promote it, and you have pseudo- is visible on the screen. For a fee, the Tscience. Live blood cell analysis by darkfield mi- practitioner will offer the test to a patient croscopy is an example. It sounds like a legitimate and valu- or attendee at a health fair. The customers may be asked to prick able evidence-based diagnostic procedure; it is not. their own fingers with a sterile lancet to Darkfield is a microscopic darkfield is by definition dark, most of obtain blood. It is illegal in some states technique in which light strikes the ob- the detail that is apparent in brightfield for an alternative medicine practitioner served material from the side rather than examination is invisible. The use of dark- to perform any invasive procedure on the from underneath and through the mate- field techniques in examining live blood public. In these states, the customers rial. The background is dark with the ob- for cellular shape and detail is suspect must perform the invasive procedure by served material highlighted by the lateral and is not offered by most reputable collecting their own blood samples. light source. In normal brightfield mi- medical laboratories because it has little After a drop of blood oozes to the croscopy, the background is white or very diagnostic value. surface of the skin, the practitioner will light and the material is usually darkly That fact has not deterred some alter- dab it onto a glass cover slip and place stained to bring out fine details and col- native medicine practitioners from pro- the slip on a glass slide for observation ors not normally visible. viding live blood cell analysis (darkfield under the darkfield microscope. The In medicine, the most common use of blood analysis) to the unsuspecting pub- practitioner will then scan the slide and brightfield microscopy is in diagnostic lic. In a typical scenario, the alternative point out various features of the sample applications. The commonly or dered medicine practitioner will have the dark- as the customer observes the screen in complete blood count (CBC) is often field microscope set up at a health fair or confused wonderment. partly done with stained smears of the in his or her office. A video camera is The problem is that most of these patient’s blood observed under bright- field microscopy. With this technique, the clinical laboratory scientist can ob- serve very fine details about the size and shape of the red blood cells; the shape, size, and relative numbers of the white blood cells; and the presence or absence of platelets, those small cell fragments that cause blood to clot. Darkfield microscopy is useful in the medical laboratory for identifying living spirochetes collected from an infected patient. These are corkscrew-shaped bac- teria that can be seen wiggling and corkscrewing their way through the liq- uid or material in which they are sus- pended. However, the use of darkfield microscopy as part of a CBC or analysis of live blood is questionable. Because

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practitioners are not trained medical pro- The rouleaux observed by alternative level of slight alkalinity; blood is never fessionals and are not qualified to exam- medicine practitioners are almost always acidic unless the person is very ill. ine a blood sample. Microscopes and artifacts due to the slight drying of the Rouleaux are not caused by acidic video set-ups are available for purchase blood sample around the edges of the blood, and people who are actually in by anyone for $3,500 to $6,000. With coverslip or due to clumping in areas of severe acidosis would certainly not be the purchase of the set-up, a two- or the slide where there is a large concen- well enough to be wandering around an three-day training course is offered. No tration of red cells. In micro scopy, an ar- alternative medicine health fair. Curi- one can be adequately trained in a couple tifact is something that looks abnormal ously, other practitioners will state that of days to properly evaluate a blood sam- or odd but is actually insignificant and is rouleaux are actually caused by a slug- ple. Laboratory professionals and pathol- ignored by a trained professional. Blood gish or weak pancreas that is not digest- ogists must take years of training through cells will normally start to clot and stack ing protein properly. accredited educational programs before upon coming in contact with glass. Alternative medicine practitioners they can competently perform a micro- Observa tion of red cell rouleaux on a often demonstrate a complete lack of scopic examination of blood cells. darkfield microscope from a finger-stick knowledge concerning basic — not to mention pathology or medicine. They will comment that the red cells are beginning to bud off from the edge of the red . These A high school biology student would know that small artifacts near the cell membrane one form of life cannot instantly transform are interpreted as bacteria being born. A high school biology student would into another; it’s completely implausible. know that this idea is implausible. One form of life cannot instantly transform into another. It is a biological impossi- bility for a to transform into a bacterium. Each biological organ- ism, from a blue whale to a Vidalia Businesses that provide these micro- sample obtained from a customer or pa- onion to a coliform bacterium, has a scope/video set-ups are careful in de- tient is diagnostic of nothing. completely different genome or set of scribing the purpose of their product. If the slide is observed near the cen- DNA that makes the unique. Most will say that their equipment is to ter of the coverslip, rouleaux are rarely If the practitioner could actually identify be used for educational purposes only. seen. The red cells are free floating and bacteria in the blood, the customer is in Customers will supposedly be moti- are not attached to each other. The danger and should request immediate vated to improve their lifestyles after practitioner will often identify these red transfer to the nearest emergency room seeing their blood on the video screen. cells as “healthy.” The customer can be to be treated for septicemia, a poten- The product is not to be used to diag- misled by the practitioner moving the tially life-threatening infection of the nose, evaluate, or treat any disease or slide near the edge of the coverslip bloodstream. disorder. Undoubtedly, the purpose of where false rouleaux are common or Some artifacts are mistakenly iden- this disclaimer is to prevent legal entan- showing the field near the center where tified by the practitioner as cells, glements. Providing an unlicensed, non- rouleaux are rarely seen. The practi- one of the most common “findings” by validated test to diagnose disease or ill- tioner can show the customer whatever alternative practitioners. Yeast cells can- ness is unprofessional if not illegal. he or she wants the customer to see by not be seen in the blood of a healthy However, in actual practice, most al- selecting a specific area of the slide. person for the simple reason that they ternative practitioners will come close to According to some alternative prac- are not there. An actual fungus (yeast) a diagnosis as they review the blood sam- titioners, rouleaux are indicative of acid in the blood is seen in patients who are ple. While reviewing the sample with the in the blood. Anyone who has taken a critically ill with some type of severe customer the practitioner will often ob- real anatomy and physiology course immune system deficiency. These indi- serve “rouleau” formations of the red cells. knows that blood is not acidic unless viduals also will not be well enough to Rouleaux occur when the red cells stack the person is acutely ill with respiratory be wandering about at a health fair. on top of one another and appear like or metabolic acidosis, conditions that Often a microscopic shard of glass stacks of coins. True rouleaux can be seen are life-threatening. The kidneys will from the slide will be present in the mi- in patients with plasma protein abnor- normally excrete excess metabolic acid croscopic field. These tiny shards are malities like multiple mye loma, but this into the urine while the lungs continu- present on most slides unless the slide is is rare. Myeloma is a life threatening con- ally rid the body of excess carbon diox- carefully cleaned before use. The alterna- dition and requires medical attention. ide to keep the blood at the normal tive practitioner will usually identify

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these glass shards as uric acid crystals or influence after eating a doughnut. The formed by qualified personnel and that plaques, which are simply not light spots are actually artifacts and are all laboratory tests offered must be con- visible in a blood sample. not visible on many of the red cells ob- tinually validated by special programs. Surprisingly, a “parasite” is often served throughout the microscopic field. Out of ignorance or to avoid these re- found in the blood during live blood cell Conveniently, most of the serious- strictive regulations, live blood cell ana- analysis. Some of these so-called para- sounding conditions discovered by the lysts simply do not register their activity sites appear to be slightly deformed red practitioner can be resolved by waving a with the federal government and there- cells or microscopic particles of dirt and special “zero-point energy wand” over fore are not inspected. The actual en- debris commonly visible on a glass slide. the body, eating special alkaline foods, forcement of medical laboratory stan- Legitimate medical laboratories never re- drinking alkalinized water, or by taking dards in most cases falls under statutes port “parasites” as a laboratory finding. a that the practi- set by each state. Some states have closed The species of parasite must be identified tioner just happens to sell. Although no down live blood cell analysis when they by carefully observing individual anat - “diagnoses” are supposedly made, the are aware of such activity. Other states omical features of the parasite’s body or practitioner will let the customers know have not investigated the issue or simply eggs so appropriate treatment can be im- that they have one or more of the fol- allow alternative medicine practitioners plemented. The presence of real parasites lowing: an imbalance in their acids, free to continue their practice. in the bloodstream indicates a very seri- radical damage, a weakness in the liver There are several websites that cur- ous medical condition. or pancreas, a problem with their alka- rently demonstrate live blood cell analy- The parasites (actually artifacts) seen lophile organs (this mysterious classifi- sis. These sites have the trappings of real by the live blood cell analyst simply can- cation of organs cannot be found in any science with the doctor title thrown not be identified because they do not reputable anatomy textbook), blood tox- about as if the procedure is being per- have anatomical features. Addi tionally, ins, stress, poor lymphatic circulation, a formed by a medical doctor. Most of people with real parasitic infections in tendency toward allergies, yeast in the these “doctors” have PhDs or medical de- the bloodstream are ill enough to seek le- blood, bacteria in the blood, blood par- grees from schools of nutrition, herbal gitimate medical treatment and are asites, hormonal imbalances, and a host medicine, natural healing, or . treated with antimalarial or antiparasitic of other vaguely worded but serious- They have not published any peer-re- drugs, the normal standard of care. Any- sounding conditions. viewed research findings in legitimate one with worms, trypanosomes (sleeping If the customer takes the prescribed scholarly journals, have not produced a sickness), protozoa (malaria), or other supplement or submits to a bizarre zero- doctoral-quality dissertation, and have free-living parasites in the bloodstream point energy wand waving session and not graduated from any recognized aca- is in danger and is in need of immediate returns for a repeat darkfield examina- demic university or accredited school of medical attention, not a nutritional tion, the original disorder has, more often medicine. Many of these sites are inter- herbal supplement that supposedly rids than not, miraculously disappeared. Or esting to watch. The Internet demonstra- the body of pesky blood-borne parasites. was the practitioner examining the area tions of live blood analysis are sprinkled Light spots seen on the red cells are of the sample near the center of the cov- with quasi-scientific terms that can easily often identified as “fermentations” by the erslip where the red cells appear normal, fool an unsuspecting public into thinking practitioner. Supposedly these are areas there are no rouleau formations, and few there is actual science involved. of the red cell undergoing fermentation if any artifacts are seen at all? The idea that wand waving, dietary due to the high content of the Live blood cell analysis is not cur- supplements, and alkaline diets can cure blood. This fermentation interpretation rently recognized by the laboratory pro- the host of strange disorders identified demonstrates a lack of understanding of fession as a worthwhile laboratory test during live blood cell analysis is certainly basic chemistry and physiology. Fermen- because it reveals very little diagnostic in- pseudoscience at its worst. The hope is tation occurs when yeast produce en- formation. One can only imagine the that we are not slowly traveling backward zymes that convert sugar to ethyl alcohol chaos that would ensue if legitimate lab- in time toward Sagan’s demon-haunted and gas. This causes grape oratory tests had to bear the disclaimer: world through the eyepieces of our dark- n juice to turn into sparkling wine but does “This test is for educational purposes field microscopes. not cause red blood cells to develop white only and cannot be used to diagnose, Thomas Patterson is currently spots. Red blood cells do not contain evaluate, or treat any disease or disorder.” a professor in the Clinical Lab- yeast and cannot ferment anything; red Laboratories that perform evidence- oratory Science Program at cells have also never been observed to be based medical laboratory testing in the Texas State University where full of alcohol and carbon dioxide gas United States are regulated by the Clin - he teaches Clinical Research bubbles. If yeast cells were actually fer- ical Laboratory Improvements Amend - Methods, Molecular Diagnos- menting sugar and forming alcohol in ment (CLIA) passed by Con gress. This tics, Immunohematology, Immunology, and Clinical Laboratory Manage- the bloodstream, one could be legiti- legislation requires that all highly com- ment. E-mail: [email protected]. mately charged with driving under the plex medical laboratory tests be per-

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