Magnet therapy

This article is about static magnetic fields in alternative medicine. For medical uses of electromagnetism, see Electromagnetic therapy.
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Magnetic therapy is a pseudoscientific alternative medicine practice involving the weak static magnetic field produced by a permanent magnet which is placed on the body. It is similar to the alternative medicine practice of electromagnetic therapy, which uses a magnetic field generated by an electrically powered device.[1] Magnet therapy products may include wristbands, jewelry, blankets, and wraps that have magnets incorporated into them.[1][2]

Practitioners claim that subjecting certain parts of the body to weak electric or magnetic fields has beneficial health effects. These physical and biological claims are unproven and no effects on health or healing have been established.[1][3][4][5] Although hemoglobin, the blood protein that carries oxygen, is weakly diamagnetic (when oxygenated) or paramagnetic (when deoxygenated), the magnets used in magnetic therapy are many orders of magnitude too weak to have any measurable effect on blood flow.[6] This is not to be confused with transcranial magnetic stimulation, a scientifically valid form of therapy,[7] or with pulsed electromagnetic field therapy.[8]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference acsMag was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pittler2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Park, Robert L. (2000). Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud. New York, New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 58–63. ISBN 0-19-513515-6. Not only are magnetic fields of no value in healing, you might characterize these as "homeopathic" magnetic fields.
  4. ^ Wanjek, Christopher (2003). Bad Medicine: misconceptions and misuses revealed from distance healing to vitamin O. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 1–253. ISBN 0-471-43499-X.
  5. ^ National Science Foundation, Division of Resources Statistics (February 2006). Science and Engineering Indicators, 2006. Arlington, VA. Chapter 7. Archived from the original on 2015-08-18.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Stick_perfusion was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Slotema, C. W.; Dirk Blom, J.; Hoek, H. W.; Sommer, I. E. (2010). "Should we expand the toolbox of psychiatric treatment methods to include Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS)? A meta-analysis of the efficacy of rTMS in psychiatric disorders". Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 71 (7): 873–84. doi:10.4088/jcp.08m04872gre. PMID 20361902.
  8. ^ Barrett, Stephen (2019-10-16). "Magnet Therapy: A Skeptical View | Quackwatch". Retrieved 2022-07-21.