Last Updated on February 2, 2023 by Neelam Singh
Quick Take
A social media post claims foot massage stops Alzheimer’s disease. We fact-checked and found the claim to be False. No evidence shows foot massage reduces plaque formation in and around brain cells. But foot massage can reduce the severity of stressful symptoms such as stress, confusion or anxiety.
The Claim
A website claims massaging feet for seven seconds, as shown in the video, can stop memory loss and prevent Dementia.
Fact Check
Is the video presenting information correctly?
It does not seem so. Massaging feet as shown in the video for seven seconds will not stop Alzheimer’s disease. Also, no evidence shows how foot massages reduce plaque formation in and around brain cells – a hallmark condition of Alzheimer’s disease.
We even got this confirmed by Dr Abhishek Juneja, Neurologist who said “As per current clinical evidence, massage therapy may help relieve the emotional and behavioral symptoms in patients with dementia. But it has not been scientifically proven to improve cognitive or memory functions”.
During our fact check, we found that the claimant is a website HealthForUsNow.com. This website redirected us to GetNeuroTonix.com, which sells supplements for brain fog with a bogus claim ‘Memory Loss = Type 3 Diabetes’. Also, while hovering the cursor on the video, we found that it was published on YouTube with the account name Sugar Memory Fix. However, there is no account on YouTube with such a name.
Besides this, the website (promoted in the claimed video) quotes experts named Dr Joshua Carr and Dr Anthony Capasso. We searched for the profile of Dr Joshua Carr and found that it is fake. No published evidence confirms this doctor has formulated a seven second treatment to cure dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
In context with Dr Anthony Capasso, we found a 2022 article published in Outlook India that shows this doctor has claimed propolis can lower inflammation to reduce brain fog. However, nothing is mentioned about whether he claimed diet causes brain infection to induce Alzheimer’s disease.
Can foot massage stop Alzheimer’s disease?
No. Foot massage cannot stop Alzheimer’s disease. The available evidence only suggests that regular foot massages may reduce the severity of stressful symptoms such as stress, confusion or anxiety to increase awareness and alertness.
Foot reflexology involves massages that may relax older people with dementia and reduce agitated behaviour of pacing, wandering, and resisting care, stress, confusion and anxiety. However, massage cannot replace the regular line of treatment as it does not reduce plaque formation in and around the brain cells. Replacing treatment with massages can worsen the condition rather than improving it.
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