The Chronicles of Yolandia: an Investigation of CLD – Part II: Pseudoscience Treatments Emerge

The Chronicles of Yolandia

An Investigation of Chronic Lyme Disease

Part II: Pseudoscience Treatments Emerge

UPDATE

I am adding screenshots of the instagram posts, in addition to the links in order to preserve them after it was bought my attention that Yolanda began taking some down. 1/6/16

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Please check out Part I before proceeding to Part II.

Recap: As I noted last time, the timeline for Yolanda Hadid Foster’s Lyme Disease is not very clear. She claim she got in 2012, but at a gala in 2013, she said she had symptoms for 2 1/2 years, which would pin her time in late 2010. In this instagram post (screenshot), she notes 2 years 9 month nightmare, which would pin it during August 2012.

Additionally, Yolanda has never shown to have Lyme Disease proper, rather she has Chronic Lyme Disease, after effects/issues with Lyme Disease is generally called Post-Treatment Chronic Lyme Disease Syndrome. Chronic Lyme Disease may or may not refer to PTLDS, but we have seen a growing issue since the late 2000s of people and “Lyme-Literate” practitioners claiming individuals have Chronic Lyme Disease, yet never ever exhibiting actual Lyme Disease.

Treatments Timeline

This is only a brief breakdown, from a cursory look through her social media timeline and articles. I did not include every possible thing shown. Please feel free to note for ones I missed.

December 2012 – Port Inserted

April 2013 – Port Removed

• This was shown on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

July 2014 – Traveled Tijuana, Mexico for unknown treatments (also  #DallasBuyersClub) [screenshot]

• Dallas Buyers Club refers to the recent movie about the man in the 1980s that smuggled non-FDA approved  medications into Dallas for AIDS patients from Mexico
• During the 1980s, the country was definitively more homophobic and linked AIDS to homosexuals. I personally find this comparison disingenuous and dangerous to encourage people to go get illicit drugs and treatments that have no evidence.

September 2014 – Picture of pills  [screenshot]

• As some commenters, including nurses and doctors, have noticed, these pills all appear to be herbs, vitamins, or unknown supplements.
• PFAFFIA is Brazilian ginseng.
• VFT likely refers toe ‘Venus Fly Trap’ – yes that one- and there are claims that it can fight cancer, amongst a million other uses. A good way to know if something is likely bogus is if it claims to cure multiple diseases with different bio-mechanics.
• Uña De Gato – another folkloric remedy; questions of safety exist  with immune system and blood pressure issues.
• Clarkia is used to get rid of parasites (bacteria =/= parasite) and is comprised of walnut, cloves, and wormwood.  The inventor claims it can kill 100 parasites- it is all nonsense and lies, Clarkia is basically bullshit.
• Majority of herbs and supplements are not FDA regulated or tested for quality. It is well known the ingredients can vary and sadly, most of the treatments are bogus money grabs.
• These pills and supplements could possibly be interacting with each other in negative ways, perhaps exacerbating symptoms.
• Posting these also lends legitimacy to treatments that are unfounded and potentially harmful.

November 2014 – Stem cell Therapy

December 2014 – About a month after RHOBH, Yolanda  claims her Lyme Disease relapses.

KEY POINT: Relapsing is not something the medical community acknowledges happen with Lyme Disease (though again, Yolanda claims she has Chronic Lyme Disease, which is different and contested.) Studies show it is a new infection that occurs, not a relapse.

2015 – the year Yolanda Foster’s social media feeds pick up on listing treatments and focusing on her illness.

January 2015 – Traveling to Singapore for unknown treatments

**Yolanda took down this picture on instagram, so I found an article which has pics and talks about her travels to Singapore**

February 2015 – Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment [screenshot]

April 2015 – Colon cleansing (on Real Housewives, she mentions receiving these weekly.) [screenshot]

April 2015 – Yolanda claims she also got Q Fever when she was younger

April 2015 – Ozone RHP (Recirculatory Hemoperfusion) [screenshot]

May 2015 – Stem cells treatment[screenshot]

May 2015 – Heavy Metal Detox, Portable InfraRed Sauna, Chelation [screenshot]

• The chance of Yolanda having heavy metal poisoning is so incredibly low it is nearly impossible. The only individuals who could possibly have it work in industrial trades where they are exposed to potentially dangerous and hazardous materials.
• Even something like lead poisoning is rare and involves being exposed due dangerous or neglectful situations (like what is currently happening in Flint, Michigan.)  Low income people are among the most likely to be exposed to lead and other environmental hazards.

July 2015 – Hyperbaric chamber treatment [screenshot]

• This treatment has been shown before on Real Housewives of New Jersey to treat autism. It’s also expensive pseudoscience.

Summer 2015 – Removed breast implants, hair extensions, mercury fillings. Also vows to not get highlights, botox, or wear nail polish. [screenshot] The tooth removal picture is exceptionally gruesome. [screenshot]

August 2015 – Cryotherapy [screenshot]

• Cryotherapy simply refers to anything that involves using coldness as part of the treatment, like icing a swollen ankle.
• What Yolanda engaged in is technically a cryosauna.
• It claims to “strengthen the immune system” which is basically a code word for pseudoscience. The immune system cannot be boosted. For a pretty good in-depth, but easy to understand explanation, I suggest reading this– it breaks it down what the immune system is and the myths surrounding it.
• As far as Yolanda’s comments for anti-inflammatory treatment goes, an ice pack would work just as well and not cost as much money.

September 2015 – Neurofeedback [screenshot]

• Essentially consists of reading EEG waves in real time. Practitioners determine what is a ‘normal’ vs ‘abnormal’ state.
• Commonly, when you are ‘relaxed’ your neurofeedback comes back as ‘normal’, so the goal is to get the patient to a relaxed state and viola, you’ve given a treatment. This shares common techniques with cognitive behavioral therapy (what people think of as “talk therapy” but is a psychotherapy approach to manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave.)

September 2015 – The Posterboards

October 2015 – LDI Therapy [screenshot]

• The idea behind LDI therapy if your Lyme Disease is “chronic”, it has essentially turned into an auto-immune disorder. (This is already complete nonsense.)
• There is also an issue with the dosing of the medication. Too much and it will make your symptoms flair up, too little and you will feel nothing at all. Even though this medication requires a Goldilocks approach, it claims a 90% success rate of treatment. Of course, none of this has been verified or validated.

November 2015 – UVBI Treatment [screenshot]

• Ultraviolet Blood Irradiation – essentially this involves putting in an IV, then blood is drawn through a UV machine then back to your body. It was a popular treatment in the 1930s and 1940s, but now has come back into vogue with alternative medicine practitioners, despite limited evidence.

December 2015 – LDI Therapy for her, Bella, AND Anwar [screenshot]

• A number of interesting things about LDI Therapy as I noted above, but there are some issues specifically with this medication, like Bella’s birth date  being incorrect.
• In searching for the doctor, there is no record of a doctor in California that does LDI Therapy. There is a Dr. Vincent in Alaska with a Brittany LPN that runs an alternative medicine clinic.

December 2015 – Cannabis Oil

Inconsistencies

Claim: Lost the ability to drive a car for the past three years

• On instagram, in August of 2013, Yolanda is pictured with a car and talking about how she has beat Lyme and excited to drive.
• At the beginning of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Season 5, Episode 15 called “Welcome to Amsterdam?”, Yolanda is seen getting into a car and driving it. (Scene occurs right after the opening lines at Yolanda’s home before the scavenger hunt)

Claim: Lost the ability to read, write, or watch TV

• Completes Bravo blogs, has done numerous ones since appearing on the show in 2013, after Chronic Lyme Disease diagnosis.
• Posts on instagram, twitter, etc. nearly every day
• In May 2014, posted on instagram a picture of herself carrying a 600 page book
• Reminds us frequently of all the books (over 100) and research she has done

Claim: Her and two of her children, Bella and Anwar, all have Chronic Lyme Disease.

• As mentioned in Part I, it would be very unlikely to have 3 members of the same family all come down with the same condition, unless it is something like the flu or a hereditary illness.
• What adds to the inconsistency is the fact that Anwar has been playing sports, like football, in school. Commonly, schools require pass of a physical in order to be allowed to play for insurance and player safety reasons.
• If he had joint pains and the brain fog Yolanda claims, it would be nearly impossible for him to play and no school would sign off on allowing a student to participate in a sport that in quite physical in nature.
• Yolanda also claims that Bella got it from a horsefly. There is ZERO credible evidence of any mosquitoes, flies, etc. that carry Lyme Disease. It is only through ticks and must be attached for around 36 or more hours to actually transmit the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease.
• Bella claimed that Lyme Disease also caused her accident. Her DUI accident which she had a relatively high BAC level. Lyme Disease does not potentiate alcohol in your blood.

Claim: Implant rupture discovered. (But Lyme still present) [screenshot]

• An implant rupture is very serious. In her post, she claims her implants are 20 years old, which is quite old for implants. It is recommended to get new ones every 10-15 years at max because the older the implants get, the more likely they are to cause problems.
• Leakage from an implant initially causes an inflammation and complications can rise from an untreated condition.

Claim: Has not worn makeup in a year.

• 1 minute on instagram could dispel this- every red carpet event, gala, etc., like the Victoria’s Secret fashion show her daughter Gigi Hadid was in, she is pictured wearing makeup.
• Claims makeup is part of the problem- well, what is it? No one cares if you do or do not wear makeup in your pictures. What we care about is your consistency- if you say you haven’t worn makeup in a year, we can easily see that isn’t true. Why would you make that up?

Next post in the Chronicles of Yolandia: Yolanda’s recent blog post full of misleading and incorrect claims and some of the current theories. Proceed to Part III.