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Magnet therapy, or magnetic therapy, or magnotherapy is an alternative medicine claiming that certain medical disorders can be effectively treated by exposure to magnetic fields.
Adherents believe that magnetic fields from permanent magnets placed close to the body can cause bones to heal faster, relieve pain, and perform other forms of healing. It is most commonly used for joint disorders and back problems.
It is considered to be a pseudoscience by the medical and scientific communities*.
Description
Proponents of magnet therapy claim that subjecting certain parts of the body to doses of magnetic "energy" (or fields) has a beneficial effect. This belief has led to the popularization of an industry involving the sale of magnetic-based products for "healing" purposes: magnetic bracelets and jewelry; magnetic straps for wrists, ankles, and the back; shoe insoles, mattresses, and magnetic blankets (blankets with magnets woven into the material); and even water that has been "magnetized".
Lack of evidence of effectiveness
There is no scientific evidence for the claim but it may act as a placebo in some people.
Criticism of these products focuses on scientific facts about magnets, including that the typical magnet used is not strong enough to have a lasting effect on muscle tissue, bones, blood vessels, or organs. Some people working in physics research work for hours per day with their whole body immersed in magnetic fields far stronger than those from the bracelets, and (if they observe precautions regarding pacemakers) are no more or less healthy than their peers.
No magnet healing product manufacturers have demonstrated scientifically that they actually achieve what they claim, and most cannot even agree on what exactly the magnetic fields do. Some claim that the magnets help to circulate the blood by some interaction with the iron in hemoglobin, a major component of red blood cells. However, in its ionised form, iron is not ferromagnetic. patients.*
Still others claim that the magnets can restore the body's electromagnetic energy balance. There are also claims that the south pole of a magnet acts different on the body than the north pole.
Many of the websites that provide information and resources promoting the benefits of magnetic therapy belong to individuals and companies that profit from the sale of magnetic therapy products.
See also
External links
- Magnetic Therapy: Plausible Attraction? by James D. Livingston — a well balanced and extensive Skeptical Inquirer article
- Magnet therapy in the Skeptic's Dictionary by Robert Todd Carroll, Ph.D.
- Magnetic Healing
- Magnet Therapy by Stephen Barrett, M.D. — a Quackwatch article
- Magnet therapy — an editorial in the British Medical Journal
"Magnet therapy"