After much discussion here on my blog, within myself, with Joe, with people in my family and some of my friends, I decided to go ahead and sign up. It makes the most sense for me since the patches are working for me and there are other people that want to sign up under me. I’ve made peace with the fact that I’m now a member of an MLM.
From inside sources, I now know that the distribution system is something that in the future they are planning on changing in some way so that the patches get through as what they are instead of part of some money-making scheme. I so look forward to that. But in the meantime, I’m happy to have access for myself and anyone else that would like to try them.
Part of what was discussed here from Sassy, a friend whom I respect, was that, ‘the LifeWave website says that nothing enters the body – that transmittance is via “the human magnetic field”… so this is in the same category as the copper bracelet and other such life-changing pseudoscience.’ I think I initially agreed with this thought, which caused me some angst as I struggled to explain to myself how I felt better using them and how I actually felt something happening ‘inside’ which made no sense if there is really nothing going on inside those patches that interacts within me. I mean, if there is no connection between the two, then it has to be just a placebo effect. Only, I knew it was more than just that.
So, first I researched nanotechnology. Is it a real science? I guess if The University of Cambridge is working with Advance Nanotech, Inc. to create an electron beam lithography (EBL) tool and Burlington CEO George Henderson is using it in his textile business and Wired has all these articles about it, especially this one about Ray Kurzweil, then I guess I’ll take it seriously as a real science. Next I’m going to study exactly how the energy fields work so I know exactly what is going on between me and the patches.
I’m the kind of person that tends to overanalyze and over scrutinize and look for the hidden agenda. I’m sure that the people that created Lifewave patches are trying to make a profit. But if the product works, isn’t that fair? And since I don’t mind paying them for a product that is improving my life, I don’t mind representing it. But I truly can’t wait until the structure of distribution is changed.
Also, leahpeah reader Ray commented, ‘The Lifewave people lay claim to all kinds of college research, double blind testing and such, and there is also supposed to be newspaper articles that have been done about this product, but when you do an on line search you come up completely empty handed.’ A totally valid thought. So, I tested it and found these:
Physician.com
Lifewave
Esquire
San Fransisco Chronicle
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Cycling Innovations
Energy Rich
Some are all pro Lifewave and some are con and some are both. But, there does seem to be some validity to them.
**UPDATE**
If you’d like to try the patches or want more info, find the link to the right or click here.
So much to say here… first of all – Nanotechnology has nothing to do with the LifeWave patch. Nanotechnology is the science and engineering of _really _small _things. That’s it. The research you found is about making tiny little machines with lasers, primarily for heavy industry,
The LifeWave claim that they are using Nanotechnology makes littlee sense – given that they claim that the contents of the patch alter the body’s electrical field and nothing enters the body. If there was an actual nanometer-sized machine inside the patch – that would be one very expensive piece of nanotechnology.
Also, the links you site are hardly independent – several of them contain highly similar claims and sport LifeWave order forms just a click away. In the SF Chronicle article it’s stated:
Dr. Bryan Frank, past president of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture, called the concept “interesting” but said he wondered about the claim that nothing goes into the body.
“When you say amino acids, that could be anything under the sun,” Frank said. “It sounds to me like a real vague description because they don’t want to say what it is. It would not surprise me to see the IOC or sporting federations ban that type of thing unless the company comes forth with specific data showing exactly what it is.”
Said Dr. Joseph Acquah, a licensed acupuncturist at UCSF’s Osher Center for Integrative Medicine: “The question is whether or not it’s stimulating the electrical field of the body. You can stimulate the body electronically and get changes, we see that all the time. … But I’ve never seen a scientific study that shows you can use amino acids to change electrical currents.”
The reality is that untill LifeWave ‘comes clean’ with the workings of it’s product, and independent studies exist to back up those claims, this is looking like contemporary snake oil.
I’m glad you feel better and I hope you continue your research, but (my opinion of course) – there is nothing in the info you’ve posted that indicates any validity to this product.
Ah…then the search continues. : )
There does, at least, seem to be some attempt to describe what LifeWave’s patches do at http://www.lifewave.com/studies_evaluation_haltiwanger.asp. I’m not sure how to take much of their descriptions. Some of it sounds reasonable and intelligent, while others sound like a bit of a stretch (which could be a red flag, given that the best lies contain elements of truth in them). And some terms (like “nanotechnology”) seem to be thrown around with limited understanding of their real meanings. But this could be a simple need for editorial proofreading as much as anything else.
Their basic claim appears to be vaguely related to magnetic field therapy (without using those terms), and they claim to be able to “program” their patches for various difficult effects, the current stamina-improvement products being only their first. The idea that static magnetic fields can have regulating effects on the human body has been around for awhile. These are highly debatable, but I’ve seen it (seem to) significantly reduce the pain condition of a long-term perpetually-in-pain fibromyalgia patient, so… what do I know?
Also, there’re lots of very interesting LifeWave-related comments at
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/forum/forum_comments/2526/P220/
I’m still using them and they are still my favorite health-aid I’ve ever found. My energy level is high. My attitude is more optimistic. And there are health benefits, like pain relief, that I had no idea would happen but nonetheless did. My sister has used them, and her husband, both with really great results. My sister told me that the other day, she smiled for ‘no reason’ and that *that* hadn’t happened to her in years. So, I’m happy that we’ve found something that works really well for us and others that I know. I’d recommend it to anyone. And I still haven’t met or heard of anyone that has had a negative result.