Magnet therapy

Last updated

Magnetic therapy is a pseudoscientific alternative medicine practice involving the weak static magnetic field produced by a permanent magnet which is placed on the body. It is similar to the alternative medicine practice of electromagnetic therapy, which uses a magnetic field generated by an electrically powered device. [1] Magnet therapy products may include wristbands, jewelry, blankets, and wraps that have magnets incorporated into them. [1] [2]

Contents

Practitioners claim that subjecting certain parts of the body to weak electric or magnetic fields has beneficial health effects. These physical and biological claims are unproven and no effects on health or healing have been established. [1] [3] [4] [5] Although hemoglobin, the blood protein that carries oxygen, is weakly diamagnetic (when oxygenated) or paramagnetic (when deoxygenated), the magnets used in magnetic therapy are many orders of magnitude too weak to have any measurable effect on blood flow. [6] This is not to be confused with transcranial magnetic stimulation, a scientifically valid form of therapy, [7] or with pulsed electromagnetic field therapy. [8]

Methods of application

Magnetite ring MagnetiteRing.jpg
Magnetite ring

Magnet therapy involves applying the weak magnetic field of permanent magnets to the body, for purported health benefits. Different effects are assigned to different orientations of the magnet. [9]

Products include magnetic bracelets and jewelry; magnetic straps for wrists, ankles, knees, and back; shoe insoles; mattresses; magnetic blankets (blankets with magnets woven into the material); magnetic creams; magnetic supplements; plasters/patches and water that has been "magnetized". These products generally use neodymium and ferrite magnets [10] and the application is usually performed by the patient. [1]

It is similar to the alternative medicine practice of electromagnetic therapy, which uses the weak electric or magnetic fields as well, but generated by electrically powered devices. [1]

Suggested mechanisms of action

Perhaps the most common suggested mechanism is that magnets might improve blood flow in underlying tissues. The field surrounding magnet therapy devices is far too weak and falls off with distance far too quickly to appreciably affect hemoglobin, other blood components, muscle tissue, bones, blood vessels, or organs. [3] [11] A 1991 study on humans of static field strengths up to 1 T found no effect on local blood flow. [6] [12] Tissue oxygenation is similarly unaffected. [11] Some practitioners claim that the magnets can restore the body's hypothetical "electromagnetic energy balance", but no such balance is medically recognized. Even in the magnetic fields used in magnetic resonance imaging, which are many times stronger, none of the claimed effects are observed. If the body were meaningfully affected by the weak magnets used in magnet therapy, MRI would be impractical. [13] [14] [15]

Efficacy

Several studies have been conducted in recent years to investigate what role, if any, static magnetic fields may play in health and healing. Unbiased studies of magnetic therapy are problematic, since magnetisation can be easily detected, for instance, by the attraction forces on ferrous (iron-containing) objects; because of this, effective blinding of studies (where neither patients nor assessors know who is receiving treatment versus placebo) is difficult. [16] Incomplete or insufficient blinding tends to exaggerate treatment effects, particularly where any such effects are small. [17] Health claims regarding longevity and cancer treatment are implausible and unsupported by any research. [11] [18] More mundane health claims, most commonly about anecdotal pain relief, also lack any credible proposed mechanism and clinical research is not promising. [2] [19] [20]

The American Cancer Society states that "available scientific evidence does not support these claims". [1] According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, studies of magnetic jewelry have not shown demonstrable effects on pain, nerve function, cell growth or blood flow. [21]

A 2008 systematic review of magnet therapy for all indications found insufficient evidence to determine whether magnet therapy is effective for pain relief, [2] as did 2012 reviews focused on osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. [22] [23] These reviews found that the data was either inconclusive or did not support a significant effect of magnet therapy. They also raised concerns about allocation concealment, small sample sizes, inadequate blinding, and heterogeneity of results, some of which may have biased results.

Safety

These devices are generally considered safe in themselves, though there can be significant financial and opportunity costs to magnet therapy, especially when treatment or diagnosis are avoided or delayed. [18] [2] Use is not recommended with pacemakers, insulin pumps, and other devices that may be negatively affected by magnetic fields. [2]

Reception

The worldwide magnet therapy industry totals sales of over a billion dollars per year, [11] [18] including $300 million per year in the United States alone. [16]

A 2002 U.S. National Science Foundation report on public attitudes and understanding of science noted that magnet therapy is "not at all scientific." [24] A number of vendors make unsupported claims about magnet therapy by using pseudoscientific and new-age language. Such claims are unsupported by the results of scientific and clinical studies. [19]

Marketing of any therapy as effective treatment for any condition is heavily restricted by law in many jurisdictions unless all such claims are scientifically validated. In the United States, for example, U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations prohibit marketing any magnet therapy product using medical claims, as such claims are unfounded. [25]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acupuncture</span> Pseudoscientific needling treatment

Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientific knowledge, and it has been characterized as quackery.

Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability or evidence of effectiveness. Unlike modern medicine, which employs the scientific method to test plausible therapies by way of responsible and ethical clinical trials, producing repeatable evidence of either effect or of no effect, alternative therapies reside outside of mainstream medicine and do not originate from using the scientific method, but instead rely on testimonials, anecdotes, religion, tradition, superstition, belief in supernatural "energies", pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, fraud, or other unscientific sources. Frequently used terms for relevant practices are New Age medicine, pseudo-medicine, unorthodox medicine, holistic medicine, fringe medicine, and unconventional medicine, with little distinction from quackery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rheumatoid arthritis</span> Type of autoimmune arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are involved, with the same joints typically involved on both sides of the body. The disease may also affect other parts of the body, including skin, eyes, lungs, heart, nerves, and blood. This may result in a low red blood cell count, inflammation around the lungs, and inflammation around the heart. Fever and low energy may also be present. Often, symptoms come on gradually over weeks to months.

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) is a United States government agency which explores complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). It was initially created in 1991 as the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM), and renamed the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) before receiving its current name in 2014. NCCIH is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH) within the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craniosacral therapy</span> Pseudoscientific alternative medicine technique

Craniosacral therapy (CST) or cranial osteopathy is a form of alternative medicine that uses gentle touch to feel non-existent rhythmic movements of the skull's bones and supposedly adjust the immovable joints of the skull to achieve a therapeutic result. CST is a pseudoscience and its practice has been characterized as quackery. It is based on fundamental misconceptions about the anatomy and physiology of the human skull and is promoted as a cure-all for a variety of health conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cupping therapy</span> Pseudoscience whereby suction is applied to the skin

Cupping therapy is a form of pseudoscience in which a local suction is created on the skin with the application of heated cups. As alternative medicine it is practiced primarily in Asia but also in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. The practice of cupping has been characterized as quackery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chromotherapy</span> Alternative medicine method also known as color therapy

Chromotherapy, sometimes called color therapy, colorology or cromatherapy, is an alternative medicine that is considered pseudoscience and quackery. Chromotherapists claim to be able to use light in the form of color to balance "energy" lacking from a person's body, whether it be on physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental levels. For example, they thought that shining a colored light on a person would cure constipation. Historically chromotherapy has been associated with mysticism and occultism.

Bioelectromagnetics, also known as bioelectromagnetism, is the study of the interaction between electromagnetic fields and biological entities. Areas of study include electromagnetic fields produced by living cells, tissues or organisms, the effects of man-made sources of electromagnetic fields like mobile phones, and the application of electromagnetic radiation toward therapies for the treatment of various conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myositis</span> Inflammation of skeletal muscle

Myositis is a rarely-encountered medical condition characterized by inflammation affecting the muscles. The manifestations of this condition may include skin issues, muscle weakness, and the potential involvement of other organs. Additionally, systemic symptoms like weight loss, fatigue, and low-grade fever can manifest in individuals with myositis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Null</span> American talk radio host and author who advocates for alternative medicine

Gary Michael Null is an American talk radio host and author who advocates pseudoscientific alternative medicine and produces a line of questionable dietary supplements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alternative cancer treatments</span> Alternative or complementary treatments for cancer that have not demonstrated efficacy

Alternative cancer treatment describes any cancer treatment or practice that is not part of the conventional standard of cancer care. These include special diets and exercises, chemicals, herbs, devices, and manual procedures. Most alternative cancer treatments do not have high-quality evidence supporting their use and many have been described as fundamentally pseudoscientific. Concerns have been raised about the safety of some purported treatments and some have been found unsafe in clinical trials. Despite this, many untested and disproven treatments are used around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy medicine</span> Pseudo-scientific alternative medicine

Energy medicine is a branch of alternative medicine based on a pseudo-scientific belief that healers can channel "healing energy" into patients and effect positive results. The field is defined by shared beliefs and practices relating to mysticism and esotericism in the wider alternative medicine sphere rather than any sort of unified terminology, leading to terms such as energy healing, vibrational medicine, and similar terms being used synonymously. In most cases, no empirically measurable "energy" is involved: the term refers instead to so-called subtle energy. Practitioners may classify their practice as hands-on, hands-off, or distant wherein the patient and healer are in different locations. Many approaches to energy healing exist: for example, “biofield energy healing”, “spiritual healing”, “contact healing”, “distant healing”, therapeutic touch, Reiki, and Qigong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radionics</span> Form of alternative medicine

Radionics—also called electromagnetic therapy (EMT) and the Abrams method—is a form of alternative medicine that claims that disease can be diagnosed and treated by applying electromagnetic radiation (EMR), such as radio waves, to the body from an electrically powered device. It is similar to magnet therapy, which also applies EMR to the body but uses a magnet that generates a static electromagnetic field.

Electromagnetic therapy or electromagnetic field therapy refers to therapy involving the use of magnets or electromagnets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pulsed electromagnetic field therapy</span> Attempted medical therapy using electromagnetic fields

Pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, also known as low field magnetic stimulation (LFMS) is the use of electromagnetic fields in an attempt to heal non-union fractures and depression. By 2007 the FDA had cleared several such stimulation devices.

The temporal dynamics of music and language describes how the brain coordinates its different regions to process musical and vocal sounds. Both music and language feature rhythmic and melodic structure. Both employ a finite set of basic elements that are combined in ordered ways to create complete musical or lingual ideas.

Zoetron therapy is an ineffective cancer treatment based on a large doughnut-shaped electromagnetic device.

Bioelectromagnetic medicine deals with the phenomenon of resonance signaling and discusses how specific frequencies modulate cellular function to restore or maintain health. Such electromagnetic (EM) signals are then called medical information, which are used in health informatics.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Russell, Jill; Rovere, Amy, eds. (2009). "Magnetic therapy" . American Cancer Society Complete Guide to Complementary & Alternative Cancer Therapies (2nd ed.). Atlanta, Ga.: American Cancer Society. ISBN   978-0944235713. See archived online version "Magnetic Therapy". 1 November 2008. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Electromagnetic therapy is a related field. See chapter in ACS book just referenced, and archived ACS webpage on that.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Pittler, Max H. (March 2008). "Static magnets for reducing pain". Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies. 13 (1): 5–6. doi:10.1211/fact.13.1.0003.
  3. 1 2 Park, Robert L. (2000). Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud . New York, New York: Oxford University Press. pp.  58–63. ISBN   0-19-513515-6. Not only are magnetic fields of no value in healing, you might characterize these as "homeopathic" magnetic fields.
  4. ↑ Wanjek, Christopher (2003). Bad Medicine: misconceptions and misuses revealed from distance healing to vitamin O . Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. pp.  1–253. ISBN   0-471-43499-X.
  5. ↑ National Science Foundation, Division of Resources Statistics (February 2006). Science and Engineering Indicators, 2006. Arlington, VA. Chapter 7. Archived from the original on 2015-08-18.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. 1 2 Stick C; Hinkelmann K; Eggert P; Wendhausen H (1991). "Do strong static magnetic fields in NMR tomography modify tissue perfusion?". Nuklearmedizin. 154 (3): 326–31. doi:10.1055/s-2008-1033141. PMID   1849304. S2CID   260289461.
  7. ↑ Slotema, C. W.; Dirk Blom, J.; Hoek, H. W.; Sommer, I. E. (2010). "Should we expand the toolbox of psychiatric treatment methods to include Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS)? A meta-analysis of the efficacy of rTMS in psychiatric disorders". Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 71 (7): 873–84. doi:10.4088/jcp.08m04872gre. PMID   20361902.
  8. ↑ Barrett, Stephen (2019-10-16). "Magnet Therapy: A Skeptical View | Quackwatch" . Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  9. ↑ Rawls, Walter C.; Davis, Albert Belisle (1996). Magnetism and Its Effects on the Living System. Acres U.S.A. ISBN   0-911311-14-9.
  10. ↑ Marchio, Cathy (Apr 16, 2024). "Neodymium Magnets in Electroacoustic Devices". Stanford Magnets. Retrieved Oct 15, 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Flamm, Bruce L. (July 2006). "Magnet Therapy: a billion-dollar boondoggle". Skeptical Inquirer . Committee for Skeptical Inquiry . Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  12. ↑ Polk, Charles; Elliot Postow (1996). Handbook of Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields. CRC Press. p. 161. ISBN   0-8493-0641-8.
  13. ↑ Radiology (ACR), Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and American College of. "MRI Safety". Radiologyinfo.org. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  14. ↑ "Is Blood Magnetic". The Naked Scientist. 12 December 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  15. ↑ "Does MRI attract the iron in your blood?". Revising MRI. Archived from the original on 17 November 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  16. 1 2 Finegold L, Flamm BL (January 2006). "Magnet therapy". BMJ . 332 (7532): 4. doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7532.4. PMC   1325112 . PMID   16399710.
  17. ↑ Altman DG, Schulz KF, Moher D, Egger M, Davidoff F, Elbourne D, Gøtzsche PC, Lang T, CONSORT GROUP (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) (2001-04-17). "The revised CONSORT statement for reporting randomized trials: explanation and elaboration". Annals of Internal Medicine. 134 (8): 663–694. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-134-8-200104170-00012. PMID   11304107. S2CID   12834600.
  18. 1 2 3 "Magnet therapies 'have no effect'". BBC. 2006-01-06. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  19. 1 2 James D. Livingston. "Magnetic Therapy: Plausible Attraction?". Skeptical Inquirer . Archived from the original on 2009-12-08. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  20. ↑ Arabloo, Jalal; Hamouzadeh, Pejman; Eftekharizadeh, Fereshteh; Mobinizadeh, Mohammadreza; Olyaeemanesh, Alireza; Nejati, Mina; Doaee, Shila (2017). "Health technology assessment of magnet therapy for relieving pain". Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran. 31: 184–188. doi:10.18869/mjiri.31.31. ISSN   1016-1430. PMC   5804424 . PMID   29445660.
  21. ↑ Levinson, Mason; Randall, Tom (4 October 2010). "Energy Bracelets Turn Athletes to Stars, If Only in Their Heads". bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  22. ↑ GJ1, Macfarlane; et al. (Dec 2012). "A systematic review of evidence for the effectiveness of practitioner-based complementary and alternative therapies in the management of rheumatic diseases: osteoarthritis". Rheumatology (Oxford). 51 (12): 2224–33. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/kes200 . PMID   22923762.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ↑ Macfarlane, Gary J.; Paudyal, Priya; Doherty, Michael; Ernst, Edzard; Lewith, George; MacPherson, Hugh; Sim, Julius; Jones, Gareth T.; on behalf of the Arthritis Research UK Working Group on Complementary and Alternative Therapies for the Management of the Rheumatic Diseases (2012-09-01). "A systematic review of evidence for the effectiveness of practitioner-based complementary and alternative therapies in the management of rheumatic diseases: rheumatoid arthritis". Rheumatology. 51 (9): 1707–1713. doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kes133. ISSN   1462-0324. PMID   22661556.
  24. ↑ National Science Board (2002). Science and Engineering Indicators – 2002. Arlington, Virginia: National Science Foundation. pp. ch. 7. ISBN   978-0-16-066579-0. Archived from the original on 2016-06-16. Retrieved 2018-04-06. "Among all who had heard of [magnet therapy], 14 percent said it was very scientific and another 54 percent said it was sort of scientific. Only 25 percent of those surveyed answered correctly, that is, that it is not at all scientific."
  25. ↑ "Magnets". CDRH Consumer Information. Food and Drug Administration. 2000-03-01. Archived from the original on 2008-04-24. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.