Mumbai Mirror Bureau
Researcher Thomas Skalak holds up a set of magnets. Skalak’s study shows that magnets could be used the same way as ice packs for sprains, bumps and bruises
Magnets have been touted for their healing properties since ancient Greece – and therapy using magnets is still widely used as an alternative method for treating a number of conditions, from arthritis to depression. But there hasn’t really been scientific proof that magnets can heal.
Still, hopeful consumers buy bracelets, shoe inserts, mattresses, etc that are embedded with magnets based on anecdotal evidence, hoping for a non-invasive and drug-free cure to what ails them.
“Health organisations regulate specific claims of medical efficacy, but in general static magnetic fields are viewed as safe,†notes Thomas Skalak, a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia, USA.
Skalak has been studying magnets for a number of years in order to develop real scientific evidence about the effectiveness of magnetic therapy.
His lab leads the field in the area of micro circulation research – the study of blood flow through the body’s tiniest blood vessels.
Magnets and blood flow
Along with Cassandra Morris, a Ph D student in biomedical engineering, the professor set out to investigate the effect of magnetic therapy on micro circulation.
Initially, they sought to examine major claims made by companies that sell magnets: that magnets increase blood flow.
The researchers first found evidence to support this claim through research with laboratory rats. In their initial study, magnets of 70 milliTesla (mT) field strength – about 10 times the strength of the common refrigerator variety – were placed near the rat’s blood vessels.
Quantitative measurements of blood vessel diameter were taken, both before and after exposure to the static magnetic fields – the force created by the magnets.
Magnet Medicine-Mumbai Mirror - Jan 5, 2008 - II
Magnets and blood flow
Along with Cassandra Morris, a Ph D student in biomedical engineering, the professor set out to investigate the effect of magnetic therapy on microcirculation.
Initially, they sought to examine major claims made by companies that sell magnets: that magnets increase blood flow.
The researchers first found evidence to support this claim through research with laboratory rats. In their initial study, magnets of 70 milliTesla (mT) field strength – about 10 times the strength of the common refrigerator variety – were placed near the rat’s blood vessels.
Quantitative measurements of blood vessel diameter were taken, both before and after exposure to the static magnetic fields – the force created by the magnets.
Morris and Skalak found that the force had a significant effect: The vessels that had been dilated constricted, and the constricted vessels dilated, implying that the magnetic field could induce vessel relaxation in tissues with constrained blood supply, ultimately increasing blood flow.
Dilation of blood vessels is often a major cause of swelling at sites of trauma to soft tissues such as muscles or ligaments. The study results on vessel constriction led Morris and Skalak to look closer at whether magnets, by limiting blood flow in such cases, would also reduce swelling.
Their recent research, published in the November 2007 issue of the American Journal of Physiology, yielded affirmative results.
In this, the hind paws of anesthetised rats were treated with inflammatory agents in order to simulate tissue injury.
Magnetic therapy was then applied to the paws. The research results indicate that magnets can significantly reduce swelling if applied immediately after tissue trauma.
Since muscle bruising and joint sprains are the most common injuries worldwide, this discovery has significant implications.
“If an injury doesn’t swell, it will heal faster,†says Skalak.
