The Decline of 20th Century High-Frequency Therapeutics

: The use of high-frequency currents as a therapy for treating various medical conditions gained momentum during the late 19th-century but began to decline about 30 years later. Around this time various researchers discredited the reputation of high-frequency currents (HFCs) by indicating that HFCs produced their therapeutic effects through the action of heat alone, without a “specific effect” of HFCs. The rejection of the Rife machine by many physicians, due to a lack of understanding of its principles, along with the rise in fraudulent Rife machines, also added doubt to the validity of electrotherapeutics. Furthermore, the simultaneous rise in popularity of the pharmaceutical industry and X-ray therapy ensured the decline in popularity, and hence funding for the research of HFCs.