• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Magnetic Cures & Remedies

Looking at the detailed descriptions, that seems like an amazingly simple and ingenious device. One of those "Why didn`t I think of that?" sort of things.
 
These magnetic wristbands became big news (and business) here late last year and early this year with a bunch of Australian sports stars publicly stating how effective they were. Even the Australian cricket team were wearing them (now there should be sign that they are useless!).

If they did so because they were paid for it, or if they genuinely believed in the powers of these things, I don't know. But they've been around at least since the 1970s (and probably longer) and have been shown time and again to do absolutely nothing!

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/power-wr ... -yo11.html

PS: Just reading the article again, they are "hologramic" wristbands. Same diff, I suppose.
 
So I was discussing the vexed issue of alternative medicine versus mainstream medicine with some Russian students of mine recently. Not for the first time, it emerged that magnetology or magnetotherapy - the use of magnets to ease various ailments - is sometimes used in mainstream health clinics and hospitals in the Russsian Federation - within physiotherapy, at least (Indeed its history in this regard seems to date back to the USSR, intriguingly).

It so happens that I knew a magnetology peddler in Britian. He was a sincere man, and proposed that magnets could be employed not just to help cure physical ailments but mental ones too. I had him down as a harmless crank and understood that the whole (pseudo) science of it is somewhat aking to Crystal therapy and the like-i.e even on the fringe within the alternative medicine umbrella.

Then again I am sure I have read somewhere that the faintly Frankenstinian practice of electroptherapy - the application of mild electrical charges to affected parts of the body - is still used, if controversially so, by some physiotherapists in the West. Is this really so far removed from the use of magnets ?

There must be some of you medical types out there that can enlighten me on this. Also...are there any magnetologists out there willing to stand up and be counted.

I don't know why I'm drawn to this issue....
 
Zeke Newbold said:
the faintly Frankenstinian practice of electroptherapy
Click to expand...

I have a textbook of this, published in the 1920s, with lots of curious illustrations of the equipment. These therapies seem to have been widely used on injured Great War soldiers.

Magnetic therapy has been around since the days of Mesmer. Fortean Times used to carry advertisements for magnetic, anti-ageing bracelets, featuring some dubious photographs of a rejuvenated Chinese gentleman. Maybe he is still going? :tmnt:
 
Last edited:
Zeke Newbold said:
So I was discussing the vexed issue of alternative medicine versus mainstream medicine with some Russian students of mine recently. Not for the first time, it emerged that magnetology or magnetotherapy - the use of magnets to ease various ailments - is sometimes used in mainstream health clinics and hospitals in the Russsian Federation - within physiotherapy, at least (Indeed its history in this regard seems to date back to the USSR, intriguingly).

It so happens that I knew a magnetology peddler in Britian. He was a sincere man, and proposed that magnets could be employed not just to help cure physical ailments but mental ones too. I had him down as a harmless crank and understood that the whole (pseudo) science of it is somewhat aking to Crystal therapy and the like-i.e even on the fringe within the alternative medicine umbrella.

Then again I am sure I have read somewhere that the faintly Frankenstinian practice of electroptherapy - the application of mild electrical charges to affected parts of the body - is still used, if controversially so, by some physiotherapists in the West. Is this really so far removed from the use of magnets ?

There must be some of you medical types out there that can enlighten me on this. Also...are there any magnetologists out there willing to stand up and be counted.

I don't know why I'm drawn to this issue....
Click to expand...

This sort of thing?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_muscle_stimulation

I've only ever heard about it in relation to sports and athletes etc, don't know how it works or if it works.
 
Zeke Newbold said:
... Then again I am sure I have read somewhere that the faintly Frankenstinian practice of electroptherapy - the application of mild electrical charges to affected parts of the body - is still used, if controversially so, by some physiotherapists in the West. Is this really so far removed from the use of magnets ? ...
Click to expand...

Yes / No / Sorta ...

'Electrotherapy' covers a wider variety of procedures - some of which are accepted medical practice (particularly in physical therapy). These accepted procedures involve actual observable effects (e.g., pulsed muscular contractions) on the patient's body.

There are also electrotherapy treatments which are considered pseudoscientific rubbish or outright quackery. By and large these latter / non-accepted treatments are the ones more akin to the conventional view of magnetotherapy - i.e., wishful rhetoric without any demonstrable physical effects on the body.

Phrased another way ... Accepted electrotherapy induces an observable effect which in turn is associated with a benefit. Magnetotherapy hasn't been proven to induce any observable effect, so its association with any benefit is a matter of conjecture.

I suppose there are (or have been ... ) electrotherapy procedures which have induced observable effects which in turn haven't been shown to be associated with any benefit. These would be the ones whose status most closely parallels the status accorded magnetotherapy by mainstream researchers.
 
dreeness . said:
The only others medical uses of magnetism andor electricity I can think of offhand would be things like magnetic resonance imaging, electrocautery machines, and veterinary magnets.
Click to expand...

MRI's are often invoked as evidence there's nothing beneficial about magnetotherapy. The critique usually mentions none of the purportedly beneficial effects have been observed with the MRI's much stronger magnetic field, then asks how anyone could claim much weaker fields would yield those effects.
 
I once accidently demagnetised my head, by energising a commercial degaussing coil whilst it was near to my ear. I'm unsure as to what the exact physiological impact was, but I have no desire to repeat it.

To quote Sheldon, I am:
51PsZVKUBRL._SY600_.jpg

(.... in all honesty, having been gassed / burned / electrocuted / demagnetized / cut / melted / irradiated / poisoned / crushed & oxidized, I'm not sure how many lab accidents are needed before this leitmotif actually kicks-in....so it's probably a good thing that I'm out of the labs these days. Usually out of the labs, yes... :cool2:)
 
Ermintruder said:
I once accidently demagnetised my head, by energising a commercial degaussing coil whilst it was near to my ear. I'm unsure as to what the exact physiological impact was, but I have no desire to repeat it.

To quote Sheldon, I am:

(.... in all honesty, having been gassed / burned / electrocuted / demagnetized / cut / melted / irradiated / poisoned / crushed & oxidized, I'm not sure how many lab accidents are needed before this leitmotif actually kicks-in....so it's probably a good thing that I'm out of the labs these days. Usually out of the labs, yes... :cool2:)
Click to expand...
I've worked in a computer room at the end of one of a 500mW coal fired steam turbine and the CRT monitor was distorted by the local electrical fields. Whether it had any permanent effect I wouldn't like to say, but I did find it very hard to stay awake in that room, but that could just as well been soporific background humming and poor ventilation.

I did a trawl a while back, on power transmission lines and potential health effects due to electrical fields from such and it's been researched quite thoroughly and there doesn't seem to be an issue, despite the press on the subject.
 
Coal said:
I did a trawl a while back, on power transmission lines and potential health effects due to electrical fields from such and it's been researched quite thoroughly and there doesn't seem to be an issue, despite the press on the subject.
Click to expand...
I do hope this is correct, because the level of electromagnetic radiation I've been exposed to, even outwith a lab environment, is frightning.

I've been known (for hours at a time) to be using two mobile phones, one to each ear, a Blackberry in my pocket, within the nearfield spill of a mobile mast and dense WiFi coverage.

And before all that, I used to spend much of my life bathed in the EHT corona fields of thermionic power output stages.....
 
Ermintruder said:
I do hope this is correct, because the level of electromagnetic radiation I've been exposed to, even outwith a lab environment, is frightning.

I've been known (for hours at a time) to be using two mobile phones, one to each ear, a Blackberry in my pocket, within the nearfield spill of a mobile mast and dense WiFi coverage.

And before all that, I used to spend much of my life bathed in the EHT corona fields of thermionic power output stages.....
Click to expand...
Well, that I can't say. Power-lines, HV, or even MV do radiate of course, but even next to the pylon, one is a long way from the wires and inverse-square law etc. A mobile mast is a different animal...and I've not researched that.
 
Magnets have always been seen as magic and often even as medicinal. They've come up on the various quack therapies threads.

Here is an old advert featured on the Quack Doctor page on Facebook -

magnets.jpg

Mack’s Magnetic Medicine, offering to repair nervous waste and rejuvenate the jaded intellect, plus various other euphemisms for impotence. This product was around for a couple of years at the beginning of the 1880s but doesn’t appear to have taken off in a big way.

Ad from The Canada Lumberman, 15 March 1882 (Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library).
Click to expand...

Had a look around for modern 'magnet therapy' and was deluged with farcical quasi-scientific mumbo-jumbo such as this chart-

Magnets and blood flow.jpg
People actually believe this.

However, a few years ago I acquired a chair pad thing with magnets in because I wanted the magnets to make things, but it ended up on my seat and I love it.

It's supposed to help with back pain. The finest quackery known to Man! :rollingw:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Damn ... Maybe this 'damned science' isn't entirely damnable after all ... :thought:

A serendipitous observation of lab mice led to deeper research which indicates blood sugar can be regulated non-intrusively with electrical / magnetic fields applied for only a few hours per day. Further research is needed to see if this can work on humans. If so, it could represent a breakthrough in tactics for managing diabetes.
Remote control of blood sugar: Electromagnetic fields treat diabetes in animal models

Study suggests EMFs alter redox signaling to improve insulin sensitivity

Researchers from the University of Iowa may have discovered a safe new way to manage blood sugar non-invasively. Exposing diabetic mice to a combination of static electric and magnetic fields for a few hours per day normalizes two major hallmarks of type 2 diabetes, according to new findings published Oct. 6 in Cell Metabolism.

"We've built a remote control to manage diabetes," says Calvin Carter, PhD, one of the study's lead authors and a postdoc in the lab of senior author Val Sheffield, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics, and of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the UI Carver College of Medicine. "Exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) for relatively short periods reduces blood sugar and normalizes the body's response to insulin. The effects are long-lasting, opening the possibility of an EMF therapy that can be applied during sleep to manage diabetes all day."

The unexpected and surprising discovery may have major implications in diabetes care, particularly for patients who find current treatment regimens cumbersome.

The new study indicates that EMFs alter the balance of oxidants and antioxidants in the liver, improving the body's response to insulin. This effect is mediated by small reactive molecules that seem to function as "magnetic antennae." ...
Click to expand...

FULL STORY:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201006153507.htm

PUBLISHED REPORT:
https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(20)30490-3
 
EnolaGaia said:
Damn ... Maybe this 'damned science' isn't entirely damnable after all ... :thought:

A serendipitous observation of lab mice led to deeper research which indicates blood sugar can be regulated non-intrusively with electrical / magnetic fields applied for only a few hours per day. Further research is needed to see if this can work on humans. If so, it could represent a breakthrough in tactics for managing diabetes.


FULL STORY:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201006153507.htm

PUBLISHED REPORT:
https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(20)30490-3
Click to expand...
Thanks for that. Fascinating.
I wonder if a galvanic current (such as is used by electrical muscle stimulators) might also do something?
 
RE: The Magneto-Tex 'Blankets' ...

Anonymous said:
...On the blankets, have a look at
magneto-tex.com/science.asp
Link - and website - are dead.
Click to expand...

Here's the text and 2 of 3 surviving illustrations for the MIA webpage ...
The Science:

Alternating Magnets

By "alternating magnets" (the technical term is multi-polar magnetic foils) we mean that the two magnetic poles North and South each has a separate effect on our biological system. The North pole (minus pole) is always used to repair and lessen; for example, pain, infection, allergy, and also conditions with a psychosomatic origin.

The south pole (plus pole) strengthens; for example, the immune system and energy, concentration and mood, and also reduces fatigue.
Magneto-Tex-A.gif
The bandages and magnetic plates should be worn for about 4 - 8 hours a day (day or night) or more if possible and it feels comfortable.

If the pain increases temporarily during use, or if the wearer experiences any unpleasant reactions, remove the bandage until the following day or night. Some individuals react more strongly than others to the patented alternating magnets' effect. This forces the elimination and cleansing of waste products, and this in turn can cause either light or heavy reaction. Time dosage is the best way to regulate the effect of the treatment. One can also increase the distance between the skin and the bandage / magnetic plate; for example, by inserting a piece of fabric or a little piece of foam rubber under the bandage / plate. This will give a lower treatment strength.

(Image Missing; No Archived Version Found)​

Common for the use of all magnetic bandages: The sewn emblem should be turned out. Common for the use of the magnetic plates: Fabric side toward the skin, this gives optimal effect.

Better circulation can be obtained from using a Magneto-Tex Underblanket

Magneto-Tex-B.gif

Picture 1 shows the patient's back temperature illustrated by the colour orange - before the magnetic treatment.

Picture 2 shows the same patient's back temperature after 15 minutes of magnetic treatment, showing clearly a rise in temperature and improved circulation.
Click to expand...

SALVAGED FROM THE WAYBACK MACHINE:
https://web.archive.org/web/20030812135017/http://www.magneto-tex.com/science.asp#
 
Last edited:
hunck said:
Yes, but wearing a magnetic blanket will make you more attractive. Or repellant.
Click to expand...
Or it'll strip out the iron from your blood.
 
kamalktk said:
So, wearing a blanket for 15 minutes will raise body temperature?
Click to expand...

As I understand it the claim was that temperature was supposed to rise in the affected area, not overall.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top