Biological decoding (biodecoding): what it is and what it isn't

Biological decoding, also called biodecoding (décodage biologique in French, biodescodificación in Spanish), is a family of methods built on one idea: that every illness is the body's biological answer to an emotional shock, and that finding and resolving that conflict is what heals. It grew out of the "German New Medicine" of Ryke Geerd Hamer, a German doctor who lost his licence to practise. Medicine rejects these claims, and people have been seriously harmed when they turned down treatment because of them.

Because this site also talks about the emotional side of symptoms, readers sometimes ask whether we "do" biological decoding. We do not. This guide explains what the movement is, where it comes from, why it worries doctors, and how our approach differs.

What is biological decoding?

Under its various names, biological decoding usually makes these claims:

• An illness starts with a sudden, intense psychological shock.
• Which organ falls ill, and how, is tied to the layer of the embryo that organ developed from.
• An illness runs in two phases: an active phase, then a repair phase once the conflict is resolved.
• The symptom is the body's "solution" to the conflict, a programme of nature rather than a malfunction.
• Once the conflict is identified and resolved, the body heals.

In practice, this means searching a person's life for the shock that is supposed to explain a diagnosis.

The Spanish fact-checking site Maldita.es describes the claims of biodescodificación as follows: that the body's cells store past experiences, that illnesses have emotional origins, and that, as such, they would not really exist. It notes that its ideas derive from another pseudotherapy, the German New Medicine.

Where does it come from? Ryke Geerd Hamer and "German New Medicine"

Ryke Geerd Hamer was born in Mettmann, Germany, in 1935. He was licensed as a doctor in 1963 and worked at university clinics in Tübingen and Heidelberg.

In 1978 his son Dirk was shot while asleep on a boat off the island of Cavallo, and died of his wounds in December of that year. Hamer then developed testicular cancer. He came to believe the two events were linked, and from this he built a system he later called the "Germanic New Medicine" (Germanische Neue Medizin).

The system rests on what Hamer called five "biological laws". The first, which he called the "iron rule of cancer", holds that every cancer comes from an extremely brutal psychological shock. Another holds that every disease is a "special meaningful programme of nature". Hamer claimed that the cure is always to resolve the conflict, and he described chemotherapy and morphine as deadly.

French Wikipedia notes that from the 1980s onwards many methods inspired by his theories appeared under other names, among them décodage biologique, bio-décodage, "Total Biology of Living Beings" (Biologie Totale des Êtres Vivants) and psychobiology. The names and methods vary. What they share is the premise taken from his work: a psychological shock behind illness, and healing through resolving it.

What does medicine say?

Medicine does not accept Hamer's claims, and the methods derived from them have no serious scientific support.

• No evidence of cures. The Swiss Cancer League called Hamer's approach dangerous because it lulls patients into a false sense of security, and stated that no case of a cancer cured by his method has appeared in the medical literature. German cancer and medical bodies have also strongly disagreed with his theories.
• The "laws" are not laws. They are the doctrines of a system, not laws of nature or of medicine, and they conflict with what is known about how the body works. The rings on brain scans that Hamer presented as proof of his theory are identified by radiologists as common scanning artefacts.
• His thesis was rejected. A thesis presenting the theory was rejected by the University of Tübingen.
• For biodecoding today. Maldita.es reports that these practices have no serious scientific publication on their supposed curative effects, and quotes a psychiatrist who says that blaming emotions for every illness has no scientific basis.

What medicine does recognise is more modest and two-way: stress and emotion can trigger, worsen or prolong physical symptoms, and illness can, in turn, weigh on mood. Our guide to psychosomatic illness explains what is known. That is very different from saying that every illness, including cancer, is caused by a conflict and cured by resolving it.

Has it harmed people?

Yes. This is the most important thing to know about it.

Olivia Pilhar. In 1995 in Austria, a six-year-old girl named Olivia Pilhar was diagnosed with a Wilms' tumour, a childhood kidney cancer. Her parents turned down conventional treatment and followed Hamer's method. Her health worsened and the tumour grew. A court ordered conventional treatment, including chemotherapy, and she survived. Her parents received a suspended eight-month prison sentence.

Hamer's own convictions. His licence to practise medicine was withdrawn by a court in 1986, a decision confirmed in 2003. He went on treating patients regardless.

• In Germany, he was arrested in 1997 after the deaths of seven cancer patients and sentenced to a year in prison.
• In France, after his arrest in Spain and extradition, he was sentenced to three years in prison for fraud and the illegal practice of medicine, following the deaths of several French patients. He was held at Fleury-Mérogis prison from September 2004 to February 2006.
• In 2007, Spanish medical authorities held him responsible for dozens of preventable deaths. He moved to Norway, where he died in 2017.

The wider risk. Maldita.es names the main danger of biodecoding as people stopping or giving up effective, scientifically tested treatments, which can worsen their condition. It also points out that the approach treats sick people as responsible for their illness. In 2023, France's national council of nurses stated that practising Hamer's method and its derivatives counts as the illegal practice of medicine in France.

Hamer also spread antisemitic conspiracy theories about cancer medicine and denied the existence of HIV. We mention this because it shows how far the system drifted from care, not to judge everyone who has been drawn to it.

Is biological decoding the same as the symbolic approach on this site?

No. Both talk about feelings and the body, and some of the books in this field cross-reference each other. The Jacques Martel dictionary we draw on mentions Hamer's work in a footnote to its cancer entry, and "Total Biology" in a footnote to its breast entry. We do not use or repeat either footnote. The difference lies in what each approach claims and what it asks of you.

Our rules are set out in our editorial policy. Every condition page opens with what the illness is medically and the care that exists, and ends with when to see a doctor, including emergencies. The emotional interpretation is written as something a symptom "is often linked with", never as its cause. We leave out claims that could harm people, such as the idea that emotions cause cancer or that a treatment is useless. How we use Jacques Martel's work is explained in our guide to his dictionary, and the same limits apply to the Louise Hay list.

Put simply: we offer questions, not explanations. "What am I living right now, and does this part of my body echo it?" is a question you are free to answer, or to leave. It is never a reason to wait before seeing a doctor.

Why do these ideas appeal?

It is worth being fair to the people who turn to biological decoding. Many arrive frightened, exhausted by a long illness, or feeling unheard in short medical appointments. A method that listens for hours, takes their life story seriously and promises that their suffering makes sense can feel like a relief.

Those needs are real. They can be met safely: by a doctor who has time to explain, by a counsellor or psychotherapist, by a support group, by palliative and supportive care teams, and by honest reflection on what an illness is stirring up. Cancer Research UK draws a useful line here. A complementary therapy is used alongside conventional treatment. An alternative therapy is used instead of it. Reflection on feelings can be complementary. Biological decoding, when it asks you to resolve a conflict in place of treatment, becomes an alternative, and that is where the harm happens.

If you are curious about the symbolic approach

If the idea that the body and feelings are connected speaks to you, here are safe places to start on this site. Each page begins with the medical facts.

• Start here. What is my body trying to tell me? gives a six-step method, medicine first.
• The science, plainly. Psychosomatic illness and can emotions cause physical pain? explain what stress does to the body.
• By body part. The spiritual meaning of pain in body parts goes head to toe, and the emotions body map shows where feelings are often said to settle.
• Left and right. The left and right sides of the body.
• Common symptoms. Headaches, fatigue, insomnia, lower back pain, stomach pain, irritable bowel syndrome and eczema.
• Feelings. Stress, anxiety, grief and guilt, or browse all emotions.
• The wider picture. The mind-body connection and affirmations by body part.

A gentler way to use this

• If someone offers to "decode" a serious illness, ask them plainly whether they want you to change, delay or stop any treatment. If the answer is yes, or vague, walk away and talk to your doctor.
• Keep reflection and treatment together. You can explore what an illness stirs up in you while following every part of your medical care.
• Drop the blame. If a method leaves you feeling that you caused your illness, it is not helping you. Illness has many causes, most of them nobody's fault.
• Find someone to talk to. A counsellor, a psychotherapist or a support group can hold the emotional side of an illness safely.
• Tell your care team about anything you are trying alongside treatment, so they can check it is safe.

This guide is for general information. It does not diagnose or treat any condition. If you have a symptom or a diagnosis that worries you, please see a doctor, and never stop or delay a prescribed treatment because of anything you read here. In an emergency, call your local emergency number (999 in the UK).