YouTube is profiting from bogus STI cure videos that wrongly claim you can treat gonorrhoea and syphillis by rubbing VINEGAR on your genitals
- Bogus vids claim antibiotics not needed to cure sexually transmitted infections
- Remedies include getting in bath with cocktail of baking soda and tee tree oil
- Experts said men and women risked going infertile if they avoided seeing doctor
YouTube is profiting from bogus STI cure videos which recommend rubbing vinegar on your genitals.
MailOnline can reveal the website is running adverts on clips that contain unproven remedies for gonorrhoea and syphilis.
One video advocated chewing garlic cloves three times a day to treat the infections, claiming the veg ‘will clean you from the tip of your mouth to the anus’.
It also tells people to get in a bathtub with apple cider vinegar, baking soda and tee tree oil for 10 minutes each day.
Another clip told people washing their private parts with vinegar and warm water would ‘disinfect the body until the condition is cured’.
We found two ad-sponsored videos promoting the bogus cures, which have been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people, and several more without ads.
Experts claim people risk going infertile if they follow the advice given in the videos instead of going to a doctor and being prescribed antibiotics.
It comes after MailOnline reported last month that YouTube was also running ads on videos which promoted giving pills containing the discharge of men infected with gonorrhoea to children with ADHD.
A video by the channel Home Veda has racked up 216,000 views and claims to cure gonorrhea by eating plants
The video also says rinsing apple cider vinegar on your penis can get rid of the nasty infection
It claims a mixture of babul leaves and amar bel ingested along with yoghurt can cure the STI
Dr Rick Viney, a consultant urologist in London, told MailOnline: ‘These are serious infections both for the man and his partner(s).
‘There is no evidence that the treatments being recommended will be of any benefit at all.
‘And by not seeking proven treatments, men run the risk of impaired fertility and other more significant consequences of untreated STIs.
‘There is one possible benefit from the proposed treatments. The large amounts of garlic will at least make it harder for the man to pass his STIs on to other partners.’
The two videos with adverts overlaid on them had been viewed 270,000 times at the time of writing.
The adverts ranged from small start-up companies to clothing outlets, skincare products and hotel comparison sites.
YouTube earns its money from advertisers based on the number of views the advert and video get. The online giant places adverts on videos that have been monetised by the uploader.
The videos promoting bogus cures were easily accessible – with a simple ‘STI home remedy’ search leading to videos advocating avoiding antibiotics.
MailOnline has approached YouTube for comment.
A separate video, that had amassed nearly 54,000 views, said chewing garlic cloves three times a day could cure ‘syphilis, gonorrhoea or HIV’
The channel, Kartia Velino Beauty & LifeStyle TV, also recommends mixing getting in a bathtub full of apple cider vinegar, baking soda and tea tree oil
In one, titled Home Remedies for Gonorrhea, a woman recommends two methods for improving symptoms of the STI – which can cause burning with urination, discharge from the penis and testicular pain.
One remedy involved mixing apple cider vinegar with water and ‘rinsing your private parts with this liquid’ every day to ‘disinfect the body until the condition is cured’.
WHAT IS GONORRHOEA?
Gonorrhoea is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae or gonococcus.
This bacteria is usually found in discharge from the penis or vaginal fluid.
It is passed through unprotected vaginal, oral or anal sex, as well as sharing vibrators or sex toys that have been used without a condom.
The bacteria can infect the cervix, urethra, rectum, throat or eyes.
It can also spread from pregnant women to their unborn babies.
As the bacteria cannot survive outside the body for long, gonorrhoea is not spread by kissing, hugging, sharing towels, toilet seats or swimming.
Around one in 10 men and half of women experience no symptoms.
However, these can include:
- Thick green or yellow discharge from the genitals
- Pain when urinating
- Bleeding between periods in women
Treatment is usually a single antibiotic injection and tablet.
Gonorrhoea can be prevented by using condoms during sex and not sharing sex toys.
Source: NHS Choices
The other included grinding up 30 soft babul leaves and one amar bel plant. Viewers are told to consume one teaspoon of this with yoghurt every morning for 15 days.
The clip, viewed by 216,000 people, was uploaded by Homeveda, which boasts 755,000 subscribers.
The channel has hundreds of home remedy videos, most of which are skincare related.
A separate video, that had amassed nearly 54,000 views, said chewing garlic cloves three times a day could cure ‘syphilis, gonorrhoea or HIV’.
The host Kartia Velino, whose channel focuses on ‘beauty & lifeStyle’, says the vegetable is the ‘number one infection killer… it will clean you up.’
She says you ‘need to chew or each as much as you can – one in the morning, one in the afternoon, one at night.’
The host claims an organic garlic is better because ‘it’s sure to cleanse you and decrease all the itchiness and the redness and the swollenness that you have on your genital areas.’
The video also recommends mixing getting in a bathtub full of apple cider vinegar, baking soda and tea tree oil.
A third video, also by Homeveda, recommends cleaning your private parts with garlic-soaked cotton wool balls to clear a yeast infection, which is not regarded as an STI. That video, viewed 92,000 times, also featured adverts.
YouTube’s algorithm works by suggesting similar videos to the one you have just watched. This means one fake STI cure video often leads to another.
It has been accused in the past of radicalising viewers by leading them down rabbit holes of conspiracy theories.
The Google-owned site says in its Community Guidelines that it will ban content that if found to be ‘promoting dangerous remedies or cures’ and ‘content which claims that harmful substances or treatments can have health benefits’.
It comes after a MailOnline investigation found dozens of videos glorifying the use of medorrhinum, pills containing the discharge of men infected with gonorrhoea, on YouTube.
The videos, largely from channels based in India, have clocked up more than half a million views.
YouTube ran adverts for various companies — including the food delivery service Hello Fresh, erectile dysfunction support app Mojo and funeral plan provider Age Insider — during the videos.
In one video, filmed by a Mumbai-based ‘doctor’, advocated giving medorrhinum to children who have symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The homeopathic remedy, which advocates say treats asthma, diabetes and epilepsy, is made of the urethral discharge of a man with the sexually transmitted infection (STI) gonorrhea.
There is not thought to be any actual bacteria inside the pills because of the heavy dilution process, with supporters claiming only the ‘energy’ remains.
Source: Read Full Article