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Daily Health News - April 2005Recent Research: A research team at Peninsula Medical School (Plymouth, England) conducted a study that was recently published in the BMJ (formerly named the British Medical Journal) on the use of magnets pad to relieve osteoarthritis pain. The study included 194 people with osteoarthritis in the hip or knee. They were separated into three groups -- one group slept a standard strength mattresspad... a second group slept on one with weaker lower strength ... and the third group slept on a regular mattress a placebo . After 12 weeks of slepping on the devices, the group sleeping on the bio-magnetiv mattress pad reported significant reduction in pain versus those sleeping the weak one or the placebo. How it Works To get a better understanding of what bio-magnet therapy is about, I spoke with neurologist Michael I. Weintraub, MD, clinical professor of both neurology and internal medicine at New York Medical College in Valhalla and adjunct clinical professor of neurology at Mt. Sinai Medical School in New York City. Dr. Weintraub has been studying magnet use for a number of years, in particular for his patients suffering from the pain of diabetic neuropathy (nerve disorders that can cause numbness, tingling and burning pain in people with diabetes). One problem in evaluating magnets, says Dr. Weintraub, has been that past studies were poorly designed, combining different types and strengths of magnets with different ailments into a single study. Although initially a skeptic, Dr. Weintraub designed and conducted carefully controlled studies with a placebo group on magnet use, including one with 375 people suffering from diabetic neuropathy. The results were enlightening -- sleeping on magnets relieved sensations of burning and tingling as well as exercise-associated pain. Dr. Weintraub says that even though doctors don't know why magnets work, he is now convinced that magnets often can be more effective in providing pain relief than even drugs. Confusion Abounds Okay -- so magnets have worked in the lab. How can you make use of them at home? Here's a primer on using magnets... Bio-Magnet strength: Magnet strength is measured in gauss -- a refrigerator magnet is 10 gauss, while magnets used to treat pain go as high as 2,500 gauss or more. Dr. Weintraub explains that the quality and strength of the magnet is critical to its success -- it must be strong enough to penetrate the affected tissue, which might be quite deep or at a distance from the site of the magnet. A basic magnet, one with about 300 gauss to 2,500 (depending on the type of magnet) gauss, can penetrate an inch or so, but Dr. Weintraub says that if, for instance, you are wearing a magnet to relieve deep back pain from a disc problem, you are going to need a stronger one. In that case, start with one that is well over 1,000 gauss and go higher if you find that isn't strong enough to ease pain. For pain in the finger joints, he suggests a wristband (not a bracelet that doesn't stay flush to the skin) that is at least 350 gauss. How long to wear it: The amount of time you need to wear your magnet is another question. Wearing these isn't like taking an aspirin -- you should plan to have a magnet on for some time. Dr. Weintraub had his study subjects wear magnets 24 hours a day for four months. He says this was an arbitrary decision, but the effectiveness indicates that frequent wearing over a long period of time is likely advisable. The good news is that magnets don't wear out -- the material supporting the magnet may (such as in the shoe inserts), but Dr. Weintraub says the magnet itself will keep going and going. Dr. Weintraub reports that some patients find that to achieve ongoing pain control, they need to wear the magnets on a steady basis. However, it is unclear if this is true for all conditions that magnets are used for. |