Jul 18, 2025 10:47 PM
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/your-te...nial-2025/
INTRO: Two weeks ago I reflected on an old but still relevant blog post by Peter Lipson titled Your Disease, Your Fault. His argument was simple but compelling: Alternative medicine often frames illness as personal failure. Today, that same sentiment is gaining more traction than I would have thought possible, but with new names and in new contexts. Terrain theory is making a comeback, rebranded with terms like “body sovereignty” and “internal terrain”.
According to terrain theory, germs don’t cause disease – it’s your body’s failure to maintain internal purity. If you’re healthy enough, pathogens can’t hurt you. It’s an idea with roots in reality, but goes well beyond the science of disease: terrain theory proponents ignore biology, chance, and social determinants of health. You can see terrain theory beliefs in the statements and worldview of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has publicly rejected germ theory. He is an open proponent of miasma theory, an obsolete 19th century idea that attributed disease to “bad air,” poor hygiene, and moral weakness. With major changes underway in health care in the United States, it’s worth taking a closer look at the language, the rhetoric, and the science... (MORE - details)
INTRO: Two weeks ago I reflected on an old but still relevant blog post by Peter Lipson titled Your Disease, Your Fault. His argument was simple but compelling: Alternative medicine often frames illness as personal failure. Today, that same sentiment is gaining more traction than I would have thought possible, but with new names and in new contexts. Terrain theory is making a comeback, rebranded with terms like “body sovereignty” and “internal terrain”.
According to terrain theory, germs don’t cause disease – it’s your body’s failure to maintain internal purity. If you’re healthy enough, pathogens can’t hurt you. It’s an idea with roots in reality, but goes well beyond the science of disease: terrain theory proponents ignore biology, chance, and social determinants of health. You can see terrain theory beliefs in the statements and worldview of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has publicly rejected germ theory. He is an open proponent of miasma theory, an obsolete 19th century idea that attributed disease to “bad air,” poor hygiene, and moral weakness. With major changes underway in health care in the United States, it’s worth taking a closer look at the language, the rhetoric, and the science... (MORE - details)
