This page was last updated on 2nd August 2012.
Related links
Applied Kinesiology: Muscle-Testing for 'Allergies' and 'Nutrient Deficiencies'
Article by Stephen Barrett, M.D. (Chirobase)
Diagnosis by Applied Kinesiology
What thought process is going on in people who casually accept the impossible as true? Take, for example, a recent news report of a Canadian man who apparently has suffered from pain for years. The reporting in the article, not surprisingly, is horrific. There isn’t a hint of journalistic skepticism, no consultation with a medical expert, and not even a token attempt at balance…The core of the story is that Eric Bertrand, who has suffered muscle pain for years despite treatment from real doctors, was finally pressured by his family to consult an alternative practitioner….Bertrand consulted Ottawa practitioner, Tony Brunelle, who is a chiropractor…Brunelle used a technique known as applied kinesiology to diagnose Bertrand’s problem…
Bertrand was told to keep an outstretched arm held strong while answering questions about various organs in his body. He was to reply that the organ in question was healthy and if Brunelle couldn’t easily budge the arm that would prove it. When the doctor asked about Bertrand’s liver, the arm slid down with ease. He repeated the process, listing different liver ailments until the arm once again slid down.
Diagnosis: liver parasite.
…This is a good description of applied kinesiology, which was developed by a chiropractor. The idea is that the body is all connected in some vague way by magical life energy (the kind of vitalistic force that traditional chiropractors believe in), so that when there is a problem with one part of the body (like the liver) then the muscle that corresponds to that organ through this mysterious energy connection will be weak. Not only that, just thinking about your unhealthy organ will make your muscles generally weak (the whole “mind-body” thing), or (as in this case) falsely stating that the organ in question is healthy will significantly weaken your muscles…I have no idea how accurate this report is, but even if we accept the report what can we make of that? Since Bertrand was treated for his apparent underlying condition, he may have been on the mend in any case. Chronic pain is also tricky, and often has a huge psychological component. Chronic pain medications also have an effect, and we have no idea from the article what other variables were changed recently. But all of those variables aside, we often see similarly profound subjective effects from pure faith healing. People with chronic conditions walk out of the faith-healer’s tent feeling much better. I have personally seen this myself. There are physiological and psychological mechanisms for this – the release of endorphins, for example. Essentially this is just a placebo effect, and tends to be short lived. In cases that I have seen the recipients of the faith healing were impressed by their reduction in symptoms (even though objectively they were no different), but paid for their short term pain reduction with later worsening. The power of self deception is well documented, and pain is particularly subject to psychological factors. Even an improvement in mood from the offer of a treatment is enough to reduce the experience of pain…This irresponsible article will now drive more people to consult pseudoscientists for their medical conditions, and to believe in magic.” Steven Novella, MD, Neurologica blog (25th June 2012)
How Applied Kinesiology Can be Used to Justify any Quack Treatment
“You may not be surprised to learn that Applied Kinesiology was invented by a chiropractor. It is a technique where customer and practitioner get locked into the mutual delusion that muscle strength can be altered in the presence of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ substances. It is widely used to diagnose allergies and other health problems, and then on the back of a fake diagnosis, sell lots of vitamin pills, diets and dubious devices. It is an unconscious fraud caused by suggestion and the ideomotor effect. The beauty of applied kinesiology is that it can be used to diagnose anything – even non existent problems – and then be used as a justification to sell anything –including nonsense quartz crystal sticky buttons. It lies at the heart of much quackery…” The Quackometer blogspot (19th May 2011)
Applied Kinesiology — How it's done
A look at the tricks of Applied Kinesiology. The Skeptic Zone Podcast (12th May 2010) [9:59min video segment]
Applied Kinesiology for non–NMS conditions
“Applied Kinesiology (AK) is not established as clinically effective, is not professionally recognized, poses a health and safety risk through Substitution Harm and Labeling Effects, and is considered to be scientifically implausible.” American Speciality Health Clinical Guideline (Revised 27th October 2009) [pdf]
Applied Kinesiology and Self Deception
"Without putting to fine a point on it, AK is utter nonsense — as close as we get in CAM to pure magical thinking. It is based upon no legitimate biological, physiological, or medical principles or evidence." Steven Novella, MD, NeuroLogica (7th December 2007)
Disentangling manual muscle testing and Applied Kinesiology: critique and reinterpretation of a literature review
"When AK is disentangled from standard orthopedic muscle testing, the few studies evaluating unique AK procedures either refute or cannot support the validity of AK procedures as diagnostic tests. The evidence to date does not support the use of MMT for the diagnosis of organic disease or pre/subclinical conditions." Chiropractic and Osteopathy (23rd August 2007)
Double-blind Study on Materials Testing with Applied Kinesiology
The working hypothesis of this study was the assumption that the reliability of Applied Kinesiology (AK) would not exceed random chance. The outcome confirmed the hypothesis. Clinical research report published in the Journal of Dental Research (October 2005)
Another disappointing test of applied kinesiology
The authors conclude that AK cannot be recommended for diagnosing nutritional intolerance. Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies [FACT] (June 2002)
Applied Kinesiology
"Applied kinesiology has been suggested for many conditions. But high quality research is limited, and applied kinesiology has not been shown to be effective for the diagnosis or treatment of any disease." Intelihealth (2002)
Test-retest-reliability and validity of the Kinesiology muscle test
CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the use of Health Kinesiology as a diagnostic tool is not more useful than random guessing. This should at least be true in patients with insect venom allergy that are tested by examiners with average skills. Complementary Therapies in Medicine (September 2001)
Applied Kinesiology
Article by William T. Jarvis, Ph.D., National Council Against Health Fraud (December 2000)
An assessment of the reliability and validity of the kinesiological muscle test in patients allergic to wasp venom
The results suggested that its use as a diagnostic tool was no more useful than random guessing. German study reported in Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies [FACT] (2000)
A review of the research papers published by the international College of Applied Kinesiology from 1981 to 1987
"As none of the papers included adequate statistical analyses, no valid conclusions could be drawn concerning their report of findings." Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (May 1990)
Kinesiology and food allergy
"Our experience indicates that the kinesiology response is not reproducible under conditions of blind testing and therefore cannot be a reliable indicator of food allergy." J S Garrow, British Medical Journal (4th June 1988) [pdf]
Applied kinesiology unreliable for assessing nutrient status
The results of this study indicated that the use of applied kinesiology to evaluate nutrient status is no more useful than random guessing. Journal of the American Dietetic Association (June 1988)
Applied Kinesiology: A waste of time and money
Applied Kinesiology does not conform to known facts about the causes or treatment of disease. Controlled studies have found no difference between the results with test substances and with placebos. Differences from one test to another may be due to suggestibility, distraction, variations in the amount of force or leverage involved, and/or muscle fatigue.
Applied Kinesiology
"AK has been tested thoroughly, and has always been found useless." James Randi (An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural)
What's the harm in Applied Kinesiology?
Reports of people harmed by Applied Kinesiology.
Applied Kinesiology
"There is little doubt that the muscle movements detected by AK are unconsciously triggered (Hyman 1999), but there is scant evidence that they are triggered by amazing databases of truths. In short, AK practitioners are deluding themselves and mistaking ideomotor action for access to hidden truths." (The Skeptic's Dictionary)