Fereydoon Batmanghelidj (1931 – 15 November 2004) was an Iranian doctor,

naturopath Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a form of alternative medicine. A wide array of practices branded as "natural", "non-invasive", or promoting "self-healing" are employed by its practitioners, who are known as naturopaths. Difficult ...

, HIV/AIDS denialist and writer. He is best known for believing increased water consumption is the cure for most disease, a view not supported by clinical evidence and considered

quackery Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the promotion of fraudulent or Ignorance, ignorant medicine, medical practices. A quack is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or public ...

by medical experts.

Life and family

Fereydoon Batmanghelidj was born in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in 1931. He attended secondary school in the United Kingdom, at

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational private boarding and day school in Craigleith, Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in ...

in Scotland, and later graduated from

St Mary's Hospital Medical School St Mary's Hospital Medical School was the youngest of the constituent medical schools of Imperial College School of Medicine, founded in 1854 as part of the new hospital in Paddington. During its existence in the 1980s and 1990s, it was the most ...

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

. He then practiced medicine in the United Kingdom, before returning to Iran. There he became a wealthy entrepreneur, helping in the development of hospitals and medical centres, and in sports projects, including the Ice Palace ice skating rink in Tehran. In 1979, after the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

, he was sent to

Evin Prison Evin Prison () is a prison located in the Evin neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. The prison has been the primary site for detaining Iran's political prisoners since 1972, before and after the Iranian Revolution, in a purpose-built wing nicknamed "E ...

in Tehran, which housed political prisoners; he was incarcerated there for two years and seven months. Following his release in 1982, he moved to the United States. He married Lucile, a Belgian, and they had four children: Ardeshir, Babak, Camila, and Lila, who died by suicide while he was imprisoned. His first marriage ended in divorce. He later married Xiaopo Huang Batmanghelidj. He died from complications related to

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on 15 November 2004.. Resting place:

National Memorial Park National Memorial Park is a cemetery in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Falls Church, Virginia. The cemetery is part of the National Funeral Home and National Memorial Park complex, which includes several related memorial and end-of-life services ...

Medical career

Batmanghelidj was trained at St Mary's Hospital Medical School, and practised medicine in the United Kingdom before his return to Iran. He claimed that he discovered the medicinal value of water in treating the pain of

peptic ulcer Peptic ulcer disease is when the inner part of the stomach's gastric mucosa (lining of the stomach), the first part of the small intestine, or sometimes the lower esophagus, gets damaged. An ulcer in the stomach is called a gastric ulcer, while ...

s during his detention in Evin Prison by treating inmates with water when medication was not available. He advanced this position in a guest editorial in the '' Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology'' in 1983. In 1992, he wrote ''Your Body's Many Cries for Water''. In this book, Batmanghelidj asserts that chronic

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water that disrupts metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds intake, often resulting from excessive sweating, health conditions, or inadequate consumption of water. Mild deh ...

is the root cause of most pain and many ailments, opposing the use of drugs to cure conditions that he claimed could instead be addressed by increased water consumption. He argued that water is an important provider of "hydro-electric" energy for the body and brain, by splitting into its components

hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...

and

oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

. This claim is not supported by scientific evidence.

Criticism

Batmanghelidj's ideas about water curing most disease have been criticised as

by medical experts. Hall, Harriet. (2010)
"The Water Cure: Another Example of Self Deception and the “Lone Genius”"
''

Science-Based Medicine ''Science-Based Medicine'' is a website and blog with articles covering issues in science and medicine, especially medical scams and practices. Founded in 2008, it is owned and operated by the New England Skeptical Society, and run by Steve ...

''. Retrieved 22 November 2018.Fitzgerald, Matt. (2014)
''Diet Cults: The Surprising Fallacy at the Core of Nutrition Fads and a Guide to Healthy Eating for the Rest of Us''
Pegasus Books. "No one in the medical establishment gave credence to Fereydoon Batmanghelidj's half-baked notions. He had taken the whole hydration thing too far." He also drew criticism for his

HIV/AIDS denialism HIV/AIDS denialism is the belief, despite conclusive evidence to the contrary, that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) does not cause acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Some of its proponents reject the existence of HIV, while other ...

. Physician

Harriet Hall Harriet A. Hall (July 2, 1945 – January 11, 2023) was an American family medicine, family physician, U.S. Air Force flight surgeon, author, Science communication, science communicator, and scientific skepticism, skeptic. She wrote about alterna ...

has described Batmanghelidj as a "crank who believed dehydration is the main cause of disease. He promoted his Water Cure, which was not based on any scientific evidence." Hall, Harriet. (2017)
"Do I Really Need to Drink 200 Ounces of Water Every Day?"
''

Skeptical Inquirer ''Skeptical Inquirer'' (S.I.) is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle "The Magazine for Science and Reason". The magazine initially focused on investigating clai ...

''. Retrieved 22 November 2018. His ideas have been criticised by

Stephen Barrett Stephen Joel Barrett (; born 1933) is an American retired psychiatrist, author, and consumer advocate best known for his work combatting health fraud and promoting evidence-based medicine. He founded Quackwatch, a network of websites that cri ...

, co-founder of the

National Council Against Health Fraud The National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF) was a not-for-profit, US-based organization, that described itself as a "private nonprofit, voluntary health agency that focuses upon health misinformation, fraud, and quackery as public health pr ...

and the webmaster of

Quackwatch Quackwatch is a United States-based website focused on promoting consumer protection and providing information about health related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct. It primarily targets alternative medicine, questionable health cl ...

, on several grounds, including a lack of any documented peer-reviewed research and exaggerated claims about the number of patients treated successfully. He further questions that Batmanghelidj has practiced medicine in the United States, pointing to his lack of registration as a physician. He was licensed as a

Books

*Batmanghelidj, Fereydoon, ''How to Deal with Back Pain & Rheumatoid Joint Pain'' (1991), Global Health Solutions; *Batmanghelidj, Fereydoon, ''Your Body's Many Cries for Water'' (1992), Global Health Solutions, *Batmanghelidj, Fereydoon, ''Water: Rx for A Healthier, Pain-free Life'' (1997), Global Health Solutions; Cas&Bklt edition, *Batmanghelidj, Fereydoon, ''ABC of Asthma, Allergies and Lupus: Eradicate Asthma – Now!'', (2000), Global Health Solutions, *Batmanghelidj, Fereydoon, ''Water For Health, For Healing, For Life'' (2003), Warner Books, *Batmanghelidj, Fereydoon, ''You're not sick, you're thirsty!'' (2003), Grand Central Publishing, *Batmanghelidj, Fereydoon, ''Water Cures: Drugs Kill: How Water Cured Incurable Diseases'', (2003) Global Health Solutions, *Batmanghelidj, Fereydoon, ''Obesity Cancer Depression; Their Common Cause & Natural Cure'', (2005) Global Health Solutions;

References

External links

Papers by Batmanghelidj
{{DEFAULTSORT:Batmanghelidj, Fereydoon 1930s births 2004 deaths 20th-century Iranian physicians Alternative cancer treatment advocates Deaths from pneumonia in Virginia Health and wellness writers HIV/AIDS denialists People educated at Fettes College Physicians from Tehran Iranian emigrants to the United Kingdom Iranian emigrants to the United States Iranian male writers Naturopaths Prisoners and detainees of Iran Pseudoscientific diet advocates