March’s Voter Topic: The Battle over Germ and Terrain

Does Germ Theory reign supreme, or does Terrain Theory hold merit?

COVID has revealed a lot of faults within our medical industry. When any inquiry into alternative therapeutic options are shut down for pseudoscience quackery, or when vaccines are considered the only saving grace to bring us out of the pandemic-which we know not to be true by now- then we can see why many people have become hesitant to view the medical community with the same gleaming eyes as they once did. When trust is lost it becomes hard to repair, and it is very obvious that the medical community has lost a lot of trust with the public. People who originally would not dare to question the narrative put forth by the NIH or FDA are now skeptical as to whether they can consider any of the everyday drugs and annual vaccines that they may not have ever given a second thought about.

When trust is lost many people may turn to alternatives or other avenues of information. The COVID pandemic has been no different, with more people turning to alternative forms of media and online channels in order to get their information. As such, the common response by the mainstream is to denigrate the independent and the alternative.

It is here where several of you have pointed me to the idea of Terrain Theory. I will be frank and state that I have never heard of Terrain Theory until a few of you pointed it out to me, and honestly the name “Terrain” sounded a bit ridiculous. But I came to find out that Terrain Theory is considered an alternative to the Germ Theory of Disease, at least in some regard. Of course, alternative things are not things to meddle in, and many of the articles I found were highly critical of this so-called Terrain Theory.

As we all try to search for rational, well-reasoned ideas and information it should be considered perfectly apt to see what theories hold water out there.

This post will dive into the world of Terrain Theory, compare and contrast it to Germ Theory, and see if one theory wins out or if a nuanced approach that combines both is the best option.