Sticking a needle in your arm for a large dose of vitamins isn’t the pick-me-up of choice for most of us, but it’s popular enough in Vancouver that a mobile service is taking IV therapy to clients anywhere. Dustin Vioen runs a tiny tech startup called Joiiin in a hip heritage building in Gastown and hires Vancouver’s IV Wellness Boutique to come by every two weeks to hook him up to a drip, along any of his staff who are willing to pay about $100. “A lot of people probably look at the things I’m doing and think I’m crazy. Their version of health is reactive and this is definitely proactive,” says the rapid-fire 31-year-old. “It’s contrarian to their view of health. Most people think about health when they have problem. “I want be on the front side of that. How can I maximize my health and use that to my advantage in every possible angle of life?” Vioen is slim and muscled, and says he exercises, eats healthy food and doesn’t drink anymore.
Yet he wants any edge he can get to achieve his business dreams, including “bio-hacking” his body so he can work longer, harder. “I know that I’m probably pushing my body to its limits,” says Vioen. “By using something like IV I think I can gain an advantage and it makes a difference.” That’s exactly the mindset that pulls some people toward alternative approaches like intravenous drips, says Bernie Garrett, a professor in the University of British Columbia’s School of Nursing who studies deceptive health-care practices. “There’s a substantial growth in the marketing at these designer and boutique therapies, particularly by alternative health practitioners such as naturopaths, and they’re aimed people who want to try experimental things that aren’t available in mainstream medicine and have the money to do so. That makes a substantial market. “This is basically X-Files medicine.” says Garrett. “I’ve been surprised by the growing popularity of what is in reality a dangerous lifestyle fad that currently has no good scientific basis.”
IV therapy is among the most-promoted services of naturopaths in Alberta and B.C., according to research from the University of Alberta published in 2011. The most commonly offered infusion is known as the Myers’ cocktail, named for developer Dr. John Myers of Baltimore, who championed it in the 1970s as a cure for everything from fatigue to asthma. It contains magnesium, calcium, B vitamins, and vitamin C. Other IV drips marketed as disease-prevention tools include glutathione, an antioxidant naturally produced by cells in the body. There is no scientific proof that flooding the bloodstream with liquid supplements provides health benefits — besides perhaps hydrating the body, which can also be done by drinking fluids — because excess vitamins are expelled quickly through the urine, producing no lasting effect, says Garrett. A 2009 American study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine looked at the effectiveness of IV micronutrients, specifically the Myers’ cocktail, for treating those with fibromyalgia syndrome.
Both study groups – one of which had been given micronutrients, while the other had been given a placebo – reported experiencing relief. But researchers reported there were “no statistically significant differences” that proved the micronutrients was any more effective than a placebo or other treatments. Heidi Rootes is the naturopathic doctor who founded IV Wellness Boutique two years ago, followed by its mobile unit in April, because of growing demand. “We’ve doubled our business from what we were doing this time last year,” Rootes says of her in-clinic IVs. “The reason we launched the mobile is because we’ve had so many requests.” Her clients range from tired mothers and stressed executives to people training for a sporting competition — although it should be noted that non-emergency IVs are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency among elite athletes because they can mask performance-enhancing drugs. “In the last five or six years, it’s become increasingly popular,” says Rootes.
“There are more options that can be administered intravenously. Here we only use water-soluable vitamins, minerals and amino acids. We don’t get involved in using any herbs. That keeps risks down.” Garrett cautions that there’s a small risk of infection in getting an IV outside of a hospital setting if equipment is somehow contaminated, or a severe allergic reaction to the infusion itself, both of which should be dealt with by a doctor, nurse or paramedic, he says. Naturopathic practitioners are allowed to call themselves doctors in Canada, he notes, but they have neither medical degrees nor PhDs, but rather four years of training in naturopathic treatments in one of two private Canadian training centres, following an undergraduate degree. “I think it’s quite confusing for the public because they see the title naturopathic doctor and they assume that’s the same as a medical doctor and it’s quite a different level of qualification and quite insubstantial in my view.”