Bio-Lyfe Immune Booster

This bullshit came to me from an unusual place; this very blog. You've probably noticed those "Ads by Goooooogle" things on every damn page. I stuck 'em on here to try to make a tiny bit of money. And this Parazapper™ rip-off was one of the ads. So I clicked on it... And it made me laugh. So, here we go!!!

The bullshit Bio-Lyfe Immune Booster (Patent Pending) hails from Australia. And, although I've never been there, I like Australia. So this isn't a rant against the country/continent.

The device, which delivers a "high voltage, muti-wave electrical signal," was studied by Australian scientists in Afria during a grueling, intensive study in Africa. Their results showed marked improvment in the large test sample.

Ok, now it's time to define a couple words for the purpose of this blog entry. "Grueling" and "intenstive" means it was studied for two months. Two whole months. "Marked Improvement" means a measly 6% improvement (which could just be normal fluctuations; it's difficult to tell over such a short time period). "Large test sample" means 26 people. So, in reality, these "scientists" "studied" just over 50 people (half were the control group and the other half did the bullshit) for two months and consider that enough fucking evidence to claim their bullshit device works. And, to be completely fair, they do publish their, uh, "research" paper on the "study" on the site.

I'm no research scientist but even I can find problems with their methodolgy. They say nothing of the even the most basic demographics of the test sample other than age and sex (only two females). Nothing at all about their general health, nothing about how long they've been infected with HIV, whether or not they have any active infections, whether or not they've been diagnosed with AIDS, whether or not the patient is doing anything to treat their HIV infection... NOTHING.

Further, in the "research" paper, they say, "...Many AIDS-infected patients in Angola go without any anti-viral treatment." Any self-respecting doctor would know to call it "anti-retroviral" treatment. Further, nobody is "infected" with AIDS; one is infected by HIV which causes the syndrome which is called AIDS. And, for the "control group" they simply randomly chose patients--without their knowledge nor consent--at the hospital who were HIV positive but not taking any medications for their HIV infection.

I picked a test-sample patient at random; #25. His Viral load at Months 0, 1, and 2 were, respectively, 737,138, 547,288, and 685,214. While I didn't know they could get that kind of precision at those levels--all I've ever seen is round thousands at those levels (i.e., 708,000, 570,000, etc.)--I'm willing to let that precision go. However, those numbers simply REEK of standard fluctuations in one's Viral Load!

It goes on. With silly graphs and someone's drawing--a drawing, not a picture--of the Bio-Lyfe device. Ultimately, if this were a serious study of the effects of the device on HIV-infection, the "research paper" only indicates a need for further, more complete, peer-reviewed, double-blind study and not these idiot's claims that the thing actually works. In almost any research, you always find what you're looking for. (Cold Fusion, for example.) And these people wanted this device to work, so it does. For them. So long as they interpret the data.

And, Finally, they claim this bullshit device "can be used by an individual or shared by up to 100 other people." I assume in some sort of hand-holding circle around the device.... Kum-bye-ya, baby!