Should You Believe in Magnets?
For: Bedtime Story, March 2002
"We've got a quick fix for your ailments—and your doctor will never tell you about it." So say the ads for all sorts of "remedies." One bestselling remedy today is magnet therapy. The idea is to apply magnets to wherever you hurt—wear them around your neck, sleep on them, wear them in back braces and shoe linings. Benefits are claimed for the pain of arthritis, migraine, tennis elbow, and many more serious conditions, including depression and even cancer. Famous athletes such as golfers Jim Colbert and Arnold Palmer and pitcher Hideki Irabu extol the efficacy of magnets. "Millions can experience miraculous results," trumpets one prominent purveyor of magnet therapy, adding that magnets relieve pain more effectively than aspirin.
Treating maladies with magnetic or electrical fields is an age-old idea. It was all the rage, for example, in the late eighteenth century. Ben Franklin, famous for his lightning experiments, was among the scientists commissioned by Louis XVI of France to evaluate magnet therapy. Franklin, certainly not a prisoner of conventional medicine, concluded that its effects were imaginary. The fact that magnet therapy has been used for centuries doesn't mean it works.
We know that low-level magnetic and electrical fields have certain effects on living cells, but it is hard to tell whether these effects are harmful or beneficial. The strength of magnets varies widely. Some create static fields of different strengths; others, such as those in some medical devices, deliver magnetic pulses.
Attracting attention
Magnet therapy has recently made news. At Emory University in Atlanta, severely depressed patients seemed to improve when treated with a mild magnetic pulse (in contrast, permanent magnets generate a constant force) called rapid rate transcranial magnetic stimulation, or rTMS. Some patients did respond well, and the researchers were encouraged, though the effects were short-lived and limited to younger patients. If proved effective, this kind of treatment might be superior to the more drastic electroshock therapy used for severe depression.
Two studies of magnet therapy for pain relief got even more attention. In a study at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Dr. Carlos Valbona found that people with post-polio syndrome were helped significantly by magnets applied to painful areas. But the study was small and flawed. Doing a "blinded" study with magnets is difficult: using a paperclip or a safety pin, participants can discover whether their magnet is real or a dummy, and this is likely to bias the results. In another study, Dr. Michael Weintraub of the New York Medical College found that the severe foot pain that is a complication of diabetes was relieved by the use of magnetic foot pads. But similar foot pain from other causes did not respond. Again, the study was small and preliminary—and the "blinding" problem was the same.
Words to the wise: More studies are underway, and maybe magnets will one day be added to the pain-relief arsenal. But do be skeptical of heavy-handed advertising and books filled with "breakthrough" claims and self-serving anecdotes. Magnetic devices, often sold by mail-order, can cost $1,000 or more. There is no evidence that they cure cancer, arthritis, or multiple sclerosis. We advise saving your money and sticking to conventional therapies for now. Put your magnets on the fridge.
UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, May 1999
