The Amazing Australian “silver bullet” that kills herpes I & II on contact and rapidly removes humiliating signs of breakouts Welcome to Skeptical Pharmacy Friday! I'll be your host, Pharma Bawd. With 25 million Americans suffering from oral herpes (cold sores or fever blisters) and about 45 million suffering from genital herpes infections, herpes is the most widely spread sexually transmitted disease in the US. Between 500,000 and one million new cases of herpes occur each year and the rate of infection is on the rise. There is no cure for herpes and the infection is lifelong. The huge number of people infected with herpes as well as the acute physical, emotional and psychosexual symptoms of the disease creates a tremendous demand for products that treat herpes. Big Pharma has responded by developing antiviral drugs that target the herpes simplex and related viruses. Unfortunately, this opportunity has also attracted less scrupulous operators who make bold claims and charge high prices for products of dubious efficacy. One of these is Choraphor. WARNING: Don’t spend another dime on herpes medications, lotions or potions no matter how slick their website or ads are until you read this life-changing message! What you’re about to discover is the closest thing there is on planet earth to becoming 100% absolutely free from herpes! Besides noteing that there is currently no way to become 100% free from herpes, I think Choraphor's warning message is even better applied to this blog post. Chorphor’s claims: ”Choraphor works by eliminating the virus on direct contact with the outbreak. It is an antiviral topical solution that helps to rapidly heal herpes lesions, blisters and sores rapidly, and then reduces any further recurrences.” This is a pretty direct claim, do you have any evidence? No? Well, lets continue. P Choraphor is PROVEN to “eliminate” the herpes virus on contact P Most users report their outbreaks have STOPPED completely and have --never come back! P Users report if symptoms do reappear, they’re typically less frequent and less severe! P PAIN and HUMILIATING LESIONS VANISH! Choraphor speeds up the recovery process from outbreaks so you can get on with your life P Results seen almost IMMEDIATELY! (That's why this product is unquestionably the closest thing there is to a cure.) "Proven", "STOPPED", "never come back", "Results... IMMEDIATELY!", sounds like great stuff! Where's the proof? The evidence? The data? The independent testing? We already agreed there is no cure for herpes and Choraphor certainly isn't one either. With the application of Choraphor you can expect: 1. A mild to strong stinging sensation as the Choraphor molecule eliminates the virus ... When applied, a sharp tingling sensation is expected as the Choraphor travels down the peripheral nerves and begins to attack the herpes virus. ... Choraphor will not sting when applied to normal, healthy skin, however, it must produce a stinging sensation when you apply it to the infection (this will be an indication that the application is working). ... The solution will sting as the Choraphor eliminates the virus that it comes into contact with. This feeling is not always pleasant but it is short in duration and may result in a total end to the herpes outbreaks. ... (All bold is mine for emphasis, words are all theirs.) They seem to make a lot out of that stinging sensation don’t they? "Stinging sensations are usually an indication that the application is working." OK, just what the heck is in this stuff? Choraphor is an sulfate based solution with copper as a trace metal in an aqueous herbal base. It is applied to the site of an active condition. Choraphorcontains the herb St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum), ammoniated acid in deionised water. [Time out for a Moment of Science Laboratory Safety Advisory: Please watch this short educational film about combining acids and bases. Carry on.] The Choraphor molecule is an essential factor in the make-up of the product. It is this combined effect that causes the Choraphor to penetrate the membrane of the herpes virus, hence the destruction of the herpes virus on contact. Oh, so now Choraphor is a molecule? I thought it was a solution. Do you want to know what I think it is? Let’s see, the St. John’s Wort and what-not are probably just that, marketing gimics. Then there’s copper, and sulfur, and the solution is blue. Could it be... Copper Sulfate? “Copper sulfate is a fungicide used to control bacterial and fungal diseases of fruit, vegetable, nut and field crops. Some of the diseases that are controlled by this fungicide include mildew, leaf spots, blights and apple scab. It is used in combination with lime and water as a protective fungicide, referred to as Bordeaux mixture, for leaf application and seed treatment. It is also used as an algaecide, an herbicide in irrigation and municipal water treatment systems, and as a molluscicide, a material used to repel and kill slugs and snails.” Many people who’ve used Choraphor say that it stings like the “dickens.” Yeah, I'll bet it does! “Copper sulfate can be corrosive to the skin and eyes. It is readily absorbed through the skin and can produce a burning pain, along with the same severe symptoms of poisoning from ingestion.” So, to the writers of the testimonials claiming Choraphor helped them, I suggest this experiment: The next time you have an abrasion similar in sensitivity and size to a herpetic lesion test Choraphor on it. Is the burning sensation the same/similar? Then it is unlikely that this sensation is do to Choraphor “destroying the herpes virus”. It is more likely destroying your nerves, or at least stimulating them to no good effect. "The fact that the herpes virus will retreat into the nervous system makes it extremely difficult to eliminate completely. What can be done is to attack the virus each time that it surfaces, depleting it with every encounter and diminishing the amount of virus retreating back into the nervous system. This can lower the virus levels in the body which helps your immune system have greater control over future outbreaks. This is why some users of Choraphor have had no further outbreaks. Other users have reduced the severity of their monthly outbreaks down to mild, infrequent recurrences." “. As well as speeding up the recovery time, Choraphor also reduce recurrences. if outbreaks return, the symptoms are typically smaller, less intense and happen less often.“Also, if you use Choraphor persistently (only once per outbreak) the symptoms tend to reduce with each application and it is reported in many cases that little to no further symptoms occur after treatment.” This is all very deceptive, many people infected with the Herpes virus report a decrease in the number and severity of their outbreaks over time. So with or without Choraphor outbreaks are likely to lessen with time, and occur with less frequency. Also, the idea that destroying some virus depletes some reserve of viruses hiding out in the sacral nerve ganglion is ridiculous. The virus, like all viruses, replicates itself during an active infection. It doesn't matter if a product could destroy some virus in the body, a single virus can replicate millions or billions more at anytime. Why does Choraphor seem expensive? Choraphor is priced at US$93.00 per bottle plus delivery. The product comes in a 12mL bottle of concentrated solution that only needs to be applied once per outbreak. Only a few drops of the formula are needed per application / outbreak. At $93.00 for a 12 mL bottle Choraphor doesn't seem expensive it is outrageous! Right now I can buy 50 pounds of dry copper sulfate for $59.99 on E-bay. OK so where is the Evidence of Choraphor’s effectiveness? You see, Choraphor is so effective -- the manufacturer has a filing cabinet overflowing with testimonials from real people ecstatic how their lives have been changed dramatically for the better. (No other product on the market boasts this level of success.) Wow a whole filing cabinet you say? Any clinical trials, or studies of any kind in that filing cabinet? You see the reason I ask is because herpes is self limiting. The outbreak goes away after a short time on its own, so users of your product may attribute the healing of lesions to the effects of Choraphor when, in fact, the infection has simply run its course. This is called confirmation bias and is the reason we can't accept anecdotal evidence like testimonials. And of course, what alternative medicine treatment would be complete without an endorsement by a doctor of naturopathy? "I have been in full time professional practice since 1984 and during that time have treated the herpes lesions on many occasions. Choraphor is by far the best herpes treatment that I have come across to date." -- Dr John Spurge ND. B. Com. Doctor of Naturopathy ND (AAI) Bachelor of commerce B.Com. (UNSW) The fact of the matter is, this product is a scam. Topical anti-herpes medications are largely ineffective. Yes, even the ones sold by large pharmaceutical companies with mountains of clinical trial data that prove their effectiveness. Just look at the package insert for Denavir, a topical product containing the antiviral compound penciclovir and sold by Novartis: “In both studies, the mean duration of lesions was approximately one-halfday shorter in the subjects treated with Denavir (N=1,516) as compared to subjects treated with placebo ( N=1,541) (approximately 4.5 days versus 5 days, respectively).” ½ a day. That’s all it gives you for putting the ointment on every two hours for four days. Yes, in certain cases, like on your wedding day, that ½ a day may be crucially important. But if a “proven” product like Denavir only provides this level of efficacy, how can a completely unproven product with a hodepodge of nonspecific chemicals do even this well at reducing the duration of an outbreak? Answer: It can’t. Therefore, using Choraphor to treat a cold sore you can expect it to take much closer to five days for the lesion to heal, like exactly five days on average. In my opinion, this product is targetting people who are having their first experience with genital and or oral herpes and are unwilling or embarrassed to visit their doctor for a prescription antiviral drug. This is unfortunate, not only because the product itself is highly unlikely to benefit the consumer, but because herpes is more than just an occasional physical disease, it is a psychosexual disease with occasional physical symptoms. Patients would be better served if both the psychological and the physical symptoms of herpes infection were monitored and treated appropriately by a physician. Choraphor is available from these and other unscrupulous retailers: http://www.choraphor-herpes-solution.com/index.html http://www.choraphorlabs.com/ http://www.choraphor.com/ I would suggest either of these sites to learn about proven treatments for herpes: http://www.famvir.com/info/living/with/life.jsp http://herpeshelp.com/ Choraphor was not the worst sham herpes treatment that came up on Google but it was slick and the web site seemed professional enough that I’m sure many people desperate to do something about a herpes outbreak might be “willing to do anything” to make it go away. This includes spending their hard earned money on something that if they looked at it critically they would know better. 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