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'I don’t understand how this isn’t parody': Cristina Cuomo says she took Clorox baths in attempt to treat coronavirus
She says she used alternative treatment to 'combat the radiation and metals in my system and oxygenate it'
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Your support makes all the difference.Cristina Cuomo - wife of CNN anchor Chris Cuomo - is facing criticism after sharing a list of alternative treatments that she claims helped her recover from coronavirus, which included taking Clorox baths.
Last week, the TV newsman revealed that he had passed the virus to his wife after testing positive two weeks earlier.
But, according to Ms Cuomo, unlike the weeks-long battle that her husband endured, she was able to beat the virus after just nine days thanks to “natural remedies”.
Writing in a blog post for her wellness website The Purist, Ms Cuomo said: “Since there is no proven treatment and I did not want to embark on a side-effects nightmare of unproven drugs, I was ready to try alternatives… I am sharing this, but this isn’t a debate. If you think these are far-fetched treatments, think again.”
In the post, Ms Cuomo explains that, in addition to consuming a variety of vitamins and using a pulsed electromagnetic field portable machine to heal cells, she took baths with bleach to “combat the radiation and metals in my system and oxygenate it”.
“At the direction of my doctor, Dr Linda Lancaster, who reminded me that this is an oxygen-depleting virus, she suggested I take a bath and add a nominal amount of bleach. Yes, bleach. So, I add a small amount - 1/4 to ½ cup ONLY - of Clorox to a full bath of warm water (80 gallons),” she wrote, referring to the founder of the Light Harmonics Institute, an “Energy Medicine Clinic and Educational Centre”.
According to Dr Lancaster, who is a board-certified “energy medicine and homeopathic physician,” according to her website, the bleach baths are used to “neutralise heavy metals because they slow up the electromagnetic frequency of our cells, which is our energy field, and we need a good flow of energy”.
Ms Cuomo also included a quote from Dr Lancaster claiming that “Clorox is sodium chloride - which is technically salt” and that “there is no danger in doing this”.
However, the guidance goes against what is recommended by Clorox’s website, which states that bleach is “NOT recommended for personal hygiene of any kind” and that consumers should “always avoid direct skin and eye contacts with both undiluted bleach, as well as prolonged contact with the various bleach solutions we recommend for household cleaning and laundry.”
Experts have also warned against the advice, with Dr Jose Luis Ocampo, a board-certified emergency medicine physician at Kaiser Permanente in Baldwin Park, California, telling USA Today: “As a physician, I would never recommend something that was not proven efficacious and safe for patients to use or do.
“As such, I have never recommended Clorox baths as my knowledge of its medicinal use and safety is limited.”
LaMar Hasbrouck, a former senior medical officer at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), also reiterated the potential dangers, telling the outlet that bleach baths can be harmful because of the “abrasiveness of the chemical on your skin”.
Previously, the US Department of Health and Human Services urged the public against attempting “alternative” treatments for coronavirus.
“There is no scientific evidence that any of these alternative remedies can prevent or cure Covid-19,” the organisation said.
On social media, Ms Cuomo's blog post was met with backlash, with many comparing the 50-year-old’s advice to President Trump’s suggestion that coronavirus may be cured by injecting disinfectants into the body.
“Donnie is telling us to shoot up Fantastik and Cristina Cuomo said adding Clorox to her bath helped her cure her Coronavirus...get me on the next spaceship to Mars. I’m done,” one person tweeted.
Another said: “If you think Trump's comments were bad, check out Cristina Cuomo’s treatment on #thepuristonline. She makes Trump sound like a Harvard professor.”
Dr Jen Gunter, a gynaecologist, also weighed in, tweeting: “I still don’t understand how this isn’t parody. I just can’t even.”
In a statement to The Independent, Dr John Sherdon of Light Harmonics said the institute "cannot comment on specific recommendations given to any of our patients" but that it does not recommend Clorox baths as a treatment for coronavirus.
"There is no known cure for the Covid-19 illness and we do not recommend Clorox baths as a treatment or cure for any virus including the novel coronavirus," he said.
The Independent has contacted Ms Cuomo for comment.
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