Magnetic Therapy: Cure or Quackery?

Sonny's growing fascination with using powerful magnets
therapeutically to speed healing and ease pain

Dad has long been a tropical fish enthusiast dating back to the 1930s.  That's why our family always had at least two fish tanks in my parents' home, some freshwater, some saltwater.  Part of caring for a fish tank is constantly having to clean the algae off the glass -- and these days one of the more useful and common tools (and safer than a razor blade) are fish tank magnets.  


These are not your ordinary weak refrigerator magnets.  They are strong enough to clamp together through the glass of a tank, with one on the water side scrubbing the algae and the other outside with a soft pad to move around the tank. They cost under $20. They're powerful enough that if you're not careful they'll snap together over your skin causing "bloody pain" as dad put it.
The powerful fish tank magnets dad and his disciples wear,
sticking them together over our hands and even our feet!

A few years ago a salesman visited the "active adult" 55+ community where my parents live, preaching the health benefits of expensive magnetic mattresses and blankets.  This peaked dad's interest in using magnets therapeutically, thanks in-part to his own set of fish tank magnets, and one, very large and strong, horseshoe magnet Sonny has held onto from our Grandpa Jesse for decades. 

The next thing I heard, instead of buying a magnetic mattress, dad was sleeping with Grandpa Jesse's old horseshoe magnet under his pillow and two fish-tank, glass cleaning magnets clamped together over his foot!  Soon the news of many miraculous healings began coming fast and furious, and senior citizens in my dad's community were being spotted wearing these curious looking gray and black blocks on their hands.

After my older brother mentioned to dad that the oil refinery Mark helps run was considering using magnetic fields as part of their process, a firestorm of Internet searches resulted in this e-mail from dad...
On Sep 19, 2010, at 12:46 PM, SonnyStern@aol.com wrote:
This is a sort of explanation of why magnets have these 'strange' effects on tissue! I got this site from my son the oil engineer who is looking into this company that uses magnetic fields to make oil, burn more efficiently!!
Click here: WHY BACTERIA HATE MAGNETS?

Ever since, dad has been reading any book he can find and scouring the Internet for the best, most technical descriptions of how magnets can help people by easing pain and speeding healing.  There's a wealth of info out there.  Much of it is connected to selling magnets, like www.promagnet.com with this nifty graphic and convincing write-up:


SOURCE:  www.promagnet.com/testimonials.htm
Biomagnetism works in the human body through the circulatory system, the nervous system, and the endocrine system.  Magnetism is continuously penetrating every known particle, right down to the atom.  Its ordering effect on living systems arises from the fact that magnetism is a blueprint of life itself.  All known energies have as a base this electromagnetic field.  The latest research indicates that magnetism has a very significant biological effect on human beings.

Dr. H.L. Bansel points out that magnetism increases the electrical conductivity of the blood.  Weak current runs through blood and the quantities of ions are increased.  The newly ionized blood circulating throughout the body can significantly contribute to the efficiency of the blood flow as well as having a stabilizing effect on both high and low blood pressure.

Blood contains ferrous hemoglobin (iron) that functions as a carrier of oxygen and carbon dioxide.   As the blood circulates in the lungs, fully magnetized ferrous hemoglobin is able to transport more oxygen to cell tissue as well as taking more carbon dioxide waste from the cell back to the lungs for removal.

Biomagnetism works to regulate and normalize hormone secretion in the glands.  It is currently believed that the increased electrical current being produced forms like a net around the glands and secretory ducts.  An extra concentration of oxygen stimulates production while the electrical net regulates optimum secretion. As a result, conditions caused by a lack of hormone secretion or a hormone imbalance are affected through normalizing the hormone functions within the body.  Hormones play a very important role in rejuvenation and in general energy levels while proper circulation ensures that the hormone level is evenly distributed to all parts of the body.

When magnetic "flux" (the north/south flow of a magnet) passes through tissue, a secondary current is created around the flux lines in the tissue cells.  This ionizes the protoplasm and rejuvenates the tissues by activating cell metabolism.  The function of the cell becomes strengthened as the cell metabolism responds to the bioelectrical currents initiated by the magnetic flux.  This current induces muscle spasms to decrease and the activated cell metabolism lowers inflammation in the tissue.  The increase of cellular metabolism aids in the regeneration as well as in new cell growth.

The negative pole energies of magnetism interfere with the nerve cell's ability to send pain impulses to the brain for the pain to be registered.  Blood cells have potassium in their center which has a positive bioelectric charge.  The nerve cell differs in an opposite way.   During a pain response, the outside switches to potassium with a positive bioelectric charge.  Through attraction, the negative pole charge of a magnet creates a "Blend" of the potassium's positive bioelectric charge as the natural flow of current is towards the negative pole.

As the use of biomagnetics in clinics around the world continues to increase, healers are seeing firsthand how natural magnetism promotes health and provides energy by eliminating disorder in the various biological systems.  Stimulating blood circulation and building new cells to rejuvenate the tissues of the body does this.  The biomagnetic effect on iron and oxygen in the body allows the hemoglobin active movement, thereby activating circulations in a remarkable way.  Ineffective and weakened blood cells are appropriately strengthened and more fresh, vital blood is pumped in the system.  With the respiratory exchange, improved and cellular metabolism activated to increase vitality, prevention and cure of disease become a natural conclusion.


So is Sonny just another "Quack",
or is my dad once again
on to something BIG?



Until people try a powerful pair of magnets and get results for themselves, most everyone who hears the claims immediately lumps dad into the category of "quack". So, I'm always on the lookout for sites that aren't blatently looking to sell me something.

For anyone who scrolled this far, here's a decent write-up addressing the quacks:
www.mnwelldir.org/docs/therapies/magnet.htm

Sonny's go-to book is Dr Paul Rosch's, Magnetic Therapy the Pain Cure Alternative. Amazon has used paperback copies as low as 67¢ at:
www.amazon.com/Magnet-Therapy-Pain-Cure-Alternative/dp/076151547X

Returning to the e-mail archives, here is Sonny's e-mail to my understandably skeptical younger sister. Dad tells the whole story and gets very specific about his experiences. At age 83, it's a little late to teach him about using paragraphs.
From: SonnyStern@aol.com
Sent: 8/1/2011 11:46:10 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Magnetic therapy

I have been using magnets for both arthritic pain and healing for over a year with spectacular success for myself, mom, Frank and the boys and many others here at Four Seasons. It started with a friend going to a free dinner at Charlie Brown where they were trying to sell magnetic mattresses. He asked me to check it out which I did. I also found Grandpa Jesse's old horse shoe magnet which is very strong and put that under my pillow and near my hand while sleeping. It got rid of the arthritic spasms that I used to get in my hands where the fingers would lock up and was painful. About six months ago I bought a set of fish tank magnets used to clean the algae off the glass. They were strong enough for each to be able to pick up a three pound weight! If I put one on top of my fingers it would easily hold the other underneath! As a lark I put them on my foot that had a bad case of toe nail fungus while I watched TV!! The fungus on the two nails was pretty bad but one healed completely and the other over 90%!! At the same time a small annoying cyst in my groin disappeared and hasn't come back. As I continued to use the two magnets on my hand I found that the effects were all over. My sciatica back pain has disappeared completely as have the occasional muscle spasms at night. Mom used them and it healed a long time (skin rash) that did not respond well to treatment by ointments prescribed by her dermatologist. My neighbor Harold found a book written a while back by a cousin MD, Dr Paul Rosch, Magnetic Therapy the Pain Cure Alternative. Mark told me magnets are used to lower the viscosity of crude oil being pumped thru a pipe line. A magnetic field also has a temporary effect on the blood passing thru it. The iron in the red blood cells causes them to line up and increases the oxygen transfer, waste removal and cell metabolism in beneficial ways and promotes healing and repair. Pulsating magnetic systems are used to improve healing especially in bad bone fractures. There is lots more. I will send you the web site that gives a good explanation. There are no side effect other than to a pace maker or your credit cards! Much of the negative research was done on shoe inserts and bracelets that were very weak! Even at this stage they can be helpful to you.
PS I also got small gold plated therapy magnets. They are half inch in diameter and an eight inch thick that are very strong and used to put in dressings and for wound treatment.
                                                                           Love Dad

No comments:

Post a Comment