The search for easy solutions to health and wellbeing continues to fuel a market in which commercial promises are not always matched by scientific evidence.
A scientific study may find that a molecule affects markers associated with cellular ageing. Before researchers can determine what that actually means for humans, the finding can take on a commercial life of its own, spawning products, advertising campaigns and promises of youthfulness.
According to Dr Myrtani Pieri, associate professor of human physiology at the University of Nicosia, the pseudoscience industry does not always need to invent something from scratch.
As she explains in the latest episode of the Politis podcast Without a Toga, it is often enough to take a genuine scientific finding, exaggerate it and present it as a ready-made solution for weight loss, anti-ageing or the elimination of so-called toxins.
A single study, she says, can be enough for “ten companies to emerge” and begin marketing a molecule, even though the gap between a laboratory finding and a proven benefit for humans may remain substantial.
The result is a marketplace that speaks the language of science while promising something science itself cannot provide: absolute certainty.
Convenience becomes a product
The question is not only who sells these promises, but why so many people are willing to buy them.
“We live in an era where everyone is looking for an easy solution,” Dr Pieri says.
People want a detox juice, a pill to fix problems they are unwilling or unable to address in everyday life, or a supplement that can do the work for them.
Around that desire, she says, a vast industry has been built.
She points to a paradox. Human beings evolved in conditions where obtaining food required effort and movement was an inseparable part of daily life.
Modern lifestyles, by contrast, are characterised by abundant food, often heavily processed, alongside sedentary habits, elevators and escalators.
When the consequences become apparent, many people seek yet another quick fix.
At the same time, research into longevity and the human microbiome is making genuine advances.
The study of biological ageing, she says, can contribute to understanding diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, while some probiotics are supported by scientific evidence.
That, however, is very different from promises that an expensive supplement will reverse ageing or solve every problem in the human body.
When treatments acquire a new market
The issue becomes more serious when marketing claims are attached to legitimate medical procedures.
Dr Pieri cites plasmapheresis as an example.
The treatment can be lifesaving for patients with specific medical conditions, yet it is increasingly promoted to healthy individuals as an anti-ageing or detoxification practice.
In such cases, she says, evidence demonstrating comparable benefits is lacking, while the risk of side effects remains.
She also warns that misuse of the treatment could ultimately undermine public confidence in a therapy that some patients genuinely need.
Protecting vulnerable patients
Behind many of these promises are highly vulnerable people.
Individuals with chronic illnesses, or parents of children suffering from serious conditions, may encounter someone willing to dedicate time to them, listen to their concerns and, most importantly, assure them that a solution exists.
According to Dr Pieri, this is where both the state and the scientific community bear a significant responsibility.
