| Magnetic Therapy, the facts (and some myths) |  |
Is magnet therapy regarded yet as a mainstream therapy? I
consider it is not and through this series of articles I
hope to raise awareness by examining a number of issues that
have stood in the way of mass acceptance.
There is a useful parallel to be drawn between magnetic
therapy and acupuncture. Acupuncture today is an accepted
alternative therapy but 20 or 30 years ago it was regarded
with deep suspicion. So what has happened to make it so
popular now that many conventional health clinics have a
professional acupuncturist on hand to provide the therapy?
Well, the passage of time has allowed communication of the
obvious benefits actual patients have enjoyed by having a
wide variety of symptoms relieved. If one reads the
information available at http://acupuncture.com/ the science
behind acupuncture is still largely theoretical and involves
"the common ground shared among meridian system, chakra
system and modern sciences" Basically, acupuncture is a
successful discipline that encourages the body to heal
itself.
(It is worth noting here that the general description of
what acupuncture does, includes words such as
"electromagnetic fields" and "polarity". Terms which also
are used in any consideration of magnetic therapy.)
So, acupuncture has become accepted mainly because of
anecdotal results and any number of successful blind trials.
Virtually the same situation that magnetic therapy finds
itself in today!
The "sceptics' and "doubters' will tell you there is no
basis on which magnet therapy can work; but they said the
same words with regard to acupuncture all those years ago.
They will tell you there is no clinical proof that magnetic
therapy does anything. This too is untrue, but like anything
it depends on how tests are carried out and what is being
measured.
It is also good to keep in mind; these are both "alternative
therapies'. Alternative, to what? To the medical and
veterinary establishment who maintain they have the monopoly
on curing all biological bodies with drugs and surgery and
radiation. (I acknowledge there are dedicated individual
health professionals and vets, who do have wellness as their
main priority for us and our animals.) There have been many
occasions down the ages when new innovations and discoveries
have been discredited by those with a vested interest in
their failure.
Further fuel for the sceptics and doubters rhetoric is that
there are many companies and individuals "out there' who,
looking to jump on a band wagon, will sell you a product
that may be totally inappropriate for your needs. "Dealers'
who sell magnetic therapy items have, in my experience
little or no knowledge of how the therapy works or able to
provide help and advice as to the correct application. It is
these people who generally cannot be bothered to find out,
will tell you, "it is not known why magnets work only that
they do". This is untrue and in my next article I will
examine why and how magnets effect the functioning of the
biological body.
© Barry Dench is a qualified electrical engineer, who in
1996 applied his knowledge of magnetism to research the
effects of magnetic fields on the biological body. Author of
"The Essential Magnetherapy Handbook" and numerous articles
on the use of magnets, he can be contacted at his website:-
http://www.magnecare.co.uk
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