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HISTORY
Many functional or energy medical devices are based on the research of
Dr. Reinhold Voll. In the early 1950s, Reinhold Voll, a German medical
doctor, developed an electronic testing device for finding acupuncture
points electrically. He was successful in finding acupuncture points and
demonstrating that these points, known to Chinese acupuncturists for ages,
had a different resistance to a tiny electrical current passed through
the body, than did the adjacent tissues. Many other researchers have also
verified these results. Voll proved that there is a network of energy
channels, called meridians, flowing through the body and that the body's
organs are associated with different energy meridians. Imbalances in various
organs are believed to manifest themselves as energetic disturbances in
the associated meridians.Voll was successful in identifying many acupuncture
points related to specific conditions and published a great deal of information
about using acupuncture points diagnostically.4 (Until Voll, these points
had been used mainly for treatment).
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MSA
Meridian Stress Assessment (MSA) testing measures the energy at the
meridian points, which directs the practitioner to probable areas of
imbalance, It gives practitioners more information to consider, while
trying to bring their client's energetic disturbances into balance
INSTRUMENTS WHICH MEASURE PASSIVE ELECTRICAL ENERGY:
Electrocardiograph
Electroencephalograph
Chinese gastrointestinal analysis
Chinese Pulse Analysis
In 1984, researchers from the University of Hawaii compared 6 different
diagnostic modalities for assessing food allergies- history, food challenge,
skin, RAST, IgE antibodies, and meridian stress assessment on 30 volunteers.
In over 300 tests, meridian stress assessment matched the history 74
percent of the time, the food rechallenge test 77 percent of the time,
skin testing 71 percent of the time, and RAST 69 percent of the time.
The authors conclude that "the EAV(or MSA) data obtained in this
experiment demonstrates the highest degree of compatibility with the
food challenge test, which is considered to be the most sensitive of
the currently available diagnostic techniques for food allergy. In addition,
the EAV (MSA) results were comparable with both skin and RAST tests.34
(see appendix 3).
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When trying to evaluate the accuracy and dependability
of meridian stress assessment for food allergy testing, a number of
factors about food allergy must first be understood.
FOOD ALLERGY CHARACTERISTICS
1. Food allergy is a complex issue. Various types of food reactions
have been described, including the following:
A) Fixed allergy-A person with a fixed food allergy will react to that
substance each time they come into contact with it.
B) Cumulative allergy-A person with a cumulative allergy to foods will
only react to a specific food when they ingest enough of it to exceed
their allergy threshold for that food.
C) Variable allergy-A person with variable allergies may react at certain
times when eating a food, but tolerate it well on other occasions. Some
people react to specific foods when certain pollens are in the air,
but not at other times. This may represent a complex cumulative response
to common antigenic material in several foods, or a reaction to a combination
of a food and a pollen. Some women react adversely to certain foods
during a particular phase of the menstrual cycle, or during pregnancy.
In most cases, the reason for the variability is not clear.
2. The mechanism or mechanisms causing adverse reactions to foods are
not clear.
3. There is no 100 percent reliable test for food allergy to which other
tests can be compared.
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DISADVANTAGES AND ADVANTAGES OF MERIDIAN STRESS ASSESSMENT
Disadvantages-Antihistamines, corticosteroids, and other medications
may suppress a person's immune reactivity, resulting in false positive
readings on the instrument. Skin testing may also be suppressed in the
same way. False positive reactions may occur in response to chemicals
in the environment in which the testing occurs (such as reactions to
perfumes, cleaners, etc.) Occasionally, for unknown reasons, the instrument
fails to identify a food, chemical or inhalant to which a person by
history repeatedly reacts. The instrument may also occasionally identify
an allergen as positive, even though avoidance and re-exposure fails
to confirm that finding.
Advantages-Meridian stress assessment seems to be at least as reliable,
and probably more reliable, than other forms of allergy testing available.
It is much safer than skin or challenge testing, since exposure to the
allergenic substance is minimal. It is also much more pleasant for the
patient than skin testing, since the testing itself is completely painless.
There are also no unpleasant adverse reactions, which may last for many
days with skin or challenge testing.Meridian stress assessment is usually
less expensive than other forms of testing.
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Center for the Healing Arts