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What Is a Vega Machine?

Andy Josiah
Andy Josiah

A Vega machine is an instrument that some people purport to be a diagnostic tool for various ailments. More specifically, the Vega machine is classified as an electroacupuncture device. This means that it administers acupuncture, an alternative healing practice of Chinese origin characterized by insertion of needles in the body, with electrodes that generate uninterrupted electrical pulses. Several members of the medical community, however, question its effectiveness, or denounce it as a product of pseudoscience.

With its debut in 1978, the Vega machine is credited in some quarters as the first bioelectromagnetic or bioelectric-based therapeutic device. It is designed as an observer of changes in the electromagnetic fields created by the body's tissues or cells that determine one's mental and physical condition. The concept of the device itself, known as the Vega test, actually originated in the late 1960s.

A Vega machine administers acupuncture via electrodes, rather than needles.
A Vega machine administers acupuncture via electrodes, rather than needles.

The Vega machine mainly consists of a galvanometer. This is a sort of box used for finding and measuring electric currents. It acts as a resistance-measuring instrument through an electrical circuit created by a conductor touching the patient's skin and the other conductor held in the patient's hand.

The measurement itself comes from the body's electrical resistance to substances placed in the circuit such as food, drink or certain chemicals. This makes the Vega machine an agent of homeopathy, a form of alternative medicine that involves using small doses of a substance to produce signs of the disease that the tester aims to treat. A drop in the body's electrical resistance is supposed to denote a problem with the substance being used, meaning that it is the cause of the ailment.

Vega machines may be used to pinpoint allergens and diagnose allergies.
Vega machines may be used to pinpoint allergens and diagnose allergies.

The Vega machine is mostly used to diagnose allergies, as well as deficiencies in vitamins and minerals. Some people, however, use it for detecting the causes of disease, particularly certain types of cancers. Proponents of the Vega machine claim that they can use it to identify the most stressed or adversely affected organs or cells of the body, the level of effectiveness of the immune system, the precise location of dental problems, and acupuncture's line systems that connect pressure points known as meridians.

The device has been met with some criticism. In 2003, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) ran an investigation that could not establish the validity of the Vega machine's claims as an effective medical instrument. Reports from the Medical Journal of Australia and Quackwatch were even more denunciatory, suggesting a criminality of people who call themselves medical professionals while relying on a machine that is fraudulent.

Discussion Comments

Animandel

@mobilian33 - I disagree with you about acupuncture in general. I know plenty of people who have been helped by these treatments. I work in the medical profession and I see examples everyday of how Eastern and Western medicines work together to help patients.

I don't know enough about the Vega machine to make a judgment, but think of all of the people who would benefit if the machine did actually work?

mobilian33

@Dentel - I agree with you. If you ask me, sticking needles in different parts of people's bodies isn't exactly scientific and I doubt that acupuncture has much real medical value. You might convince yourself acupuncture is helping you, but I bet it's mostly in your head. So I really doubt that this acupuncture machine is worthwhile.

I think the use of the Vega machine is just another example of someone trying to make money off of other people when they are ill and grasping for straws, trying to find something to make them feel better or live longer. These people using these machines are no better than witch doctors and elixir salesmen.

Drentel

The last paragraph in this article says that the British Broadcasting Corporation did an investigation and could not prove that the Vega machine was actually capable of doing what people claim it can do. Did we need an investigation to tell us this?

Does it seem logical that we can have a machine that measures "the body's electrical resistance to substances placed in the circuit such as food, drink or certain chemicals"? I don't even know what that means, but it sounds sketchy to me.

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    • A Vega machine administers acupuncture via electrodes, rather than needles.
      By: Alfred Wekelo
      A Vega machine administers acupuncture via electrodes, rather than needles.
    • Vega machines may be used to pinpoint allergens and diagnose allergies.
      By: FedeCandoniPhoto
      Vega machines may be used to pinpoint allergens and diagnose allergies.