Digest Number 2691

[Guest guest]

Hi Todd

 

Leonard Finegold and Bruce L Flamm are providing editorial commentary based upon

review of the literature.

Whereas Tim Harlow, Colin Greaves, Adrian White, Liz Brown, Anna Hart, and

Edzard Ernst conducted a controlled trial.

 

Will Morris

 

 

 

[[Magnet therapy

BMJ, Jan 2006; 332: 4 ; doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7532.4

 

Magnetic devices that are claimed to be therapeutic include magnetic bracelets,

insoles, wrist and knee bands, back and neck braces, and even pillows and

mattresses. Their annual sales are estimated at $300m1 (£171m; 252m) in the

United States and more than a billion dollars globally.2 They have been

advertised to cure a vast array of ills, particularly pain. A Google search for

the terms " magnetic + healing " omitting " MRI resonance " yielded well over 20 000

pages, most of which tout healing by magnets. The reader is invited to insert

" magnetic healing " into a web browser, and evaluate these spectacular claims.3

Many " controlled " experiments are suspect because it is difficult to blind

subjects to the presence of a magnet. An example is a randomised trial of

powerful magnetic bracelets for the relief of hip and knee osteoarthritis, which

reports a significant decrease in pain because of the .]]

 

 

 

Abstract

Objective To determine the effectiveness of

commercially available magnetic bracelets for pain

control in osteoarthritis of the hip and knee.

Design Randomised, placebo controlled trial with

three parallel groups.

Setting Five rural general practices.

Participants 194 men and women aged 45-80 years

with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee.

Intervention Wearing a standard strength static

bipolar magnetic bracelet, a weak magnetic bracelet,

or a non-magnetic (dummy) bracelet for 12 weeks.

Main outcome measures Change in the Western

Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis

lower limb pain scale (WOMAC A) after 12 weeks,

with the primary comparison between the standard

and dummy groups. Secondary outcomes included

changes in WOMAC B and C scales and a visual

analogue scale for pain.

Results Mean pain scores were reduced more in the

standard magnet group than in the dummy group

(mean difference 1.3 points, 95% confidence interval

0.05 to 2.55). Self reported blinding status did not

affect the results. The scores for secondary outcome

measures were consistent with the WOMAC A scores.

Conclusion Pain from osteoarthritis of the hip and

knee decreases when wearing magnetic bracelets. It is

uncertain whether this response is due to specific or

non-specific (placebo) effects.

 

Message: 1

Sat, 7 Jan 2006 20:20:57 -0700

<

Magnet therapies 'have no effect'

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4582282.stm

 

 

 

 

 

Web/Online Coordinator

Adult Degree and Graduate Programs

Prescott College

http://www.prescott.edu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Leonard Finegold and Bruce L Flamm are providing editorial commentary upon

review of the literature. The BBC use of this is equivical. Whereas Tim Harlow,

Colin Greaves, Adrian White, Liz Brown, Anna Hart, and Edzard Ernst conducted a

controlled trial.

I suppose the article that you cite suggests a politic of the BBC on these

matters

 

[[Magnet therapy

BMJ, Jan 2006; 332: 4 ; doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7532.4

 

 

Magnetic devices that are claimed to be therapeutic include magnetic bracelets,

insoles, wrist and knee bands, back and neck braces, and even pillows and

mattresses. Their annual sales are estimated at $300m1 (£171m; 252m) in the

United States and more than a billion dollars globally.2 They have been

advertised to cure a vast array of ills, particularly pain. A Google search for

the terms " magnetic + healing " omitting " MRI resonance " yielded well over 20 000

pages, most of which tout healing by magnets. The reader is invited to insert

" magnetic healing " into a web browser, and evaluate these spectacular claims.3

Many " controlled " experiments are suspect because it is difficult to blind

subjects to the presence of a magnet. An example is a randomised trial of

powerful magnetic bracelets for the relief of hip and knee osteoarthritis, which

reports a significant decrease in pain because of the .]]

 

 

 

Abstract

Objective To determine the effectiveness of

commercially available magnetic bracelets for pain

control in osteoarthritis of the hip and knee.

Design Randomised, placebo controlled trial with

three parallel groups.

Setting Five rural general practices.

Participants 194 men and women aged 45-80 years

with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee.

Intervention Wearing a standard strength static

bipolar magnetic bracelet, a weak magnetic bracelet,

or a non-magnetic (dummy) bracelet for 12 weeks.

Main outcome measures Change in the Western

Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis

lower limb pain scale (WOMAC A) after 12 weeks,

with the primary comparison between the standard

and dummy groups. Secondary outcomes included

changes in WOMAC B and C scales and a visual

analogue scale for pain.

Results Mean pain scores were reduced more in the

standard magnet group than in the dummy group

(mean difference 1.3 points, 95% confidence interval

0.05 to 2.55). Self reported blinding status did not

affect the results. The scores for secondary outcome

measures were consistent with the WOMAC A scores.

Conclusion Pain from osteoarthritis of the hip and

knee decreases when wearing magnetic bracelets. It is

uncertain whether this response is due to specific or

non-specific (placebo) effects.

 

Message: 1

Sat, 7 Jan 2006 20:20:57 -0700

<

Magnet therapies 'have no effect'

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4582282.stm

 

 

 

 

 

Web/Online Coordinator

Adult Degree and Graduate Programs

Prescott College

http://www.prescott.edu

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

there is only one study i know of on magnets were the subjects could not know

(ie check) if they had real magnets. The treatments were under supervised

sessions so that subjects could not test the magnets. This was a positive study

on foot pain.

 

 

 

 

Oakland, CA 94609

 

 

-

WMorris116

Sunday, January 08, 2006 5:25 PM

Re: Digest Number 2691

 

 

Leonard Finegold and Bruce L Flamm are providing editorial commentary upon

review of the literature. The BBC use of this is equivical. Whereas Tim Harlow,

Colin Greaves, Adrian White, Liz Brown, Anna Hart, and Edzard Ernst conducted a

controlled trial.

I suppose the article that you cite suggests a politic of the BBC on these

matters

 

[[Magnet therapy

BMJ, Jan 2006; 332: 4 ; doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7532.4

 

 

Magnetic devices that are claimed to be therapeutic include magnetic

bracelets, insoles, wrist and knee bands, back and neck braces, and even pillows

and mattresses. Their annual sales are estimated at $300m1 (£171m; 252m) in the

United States and more than a billion dollars globally.2 They have been

advertised to cure a vast array of ills, particularly pain. A Google search for

the terms " magnetic + healing " omitting " MRI resonance " yielded well over 20 000

pages, most of which tout healing by magnets. The reader is invited to insert

" magnetic healing " into a web browser, and evaluate these spectacular claims.3

Many " controlled " experiments are suspect because it is difficult to blind

subjects to the presence of a magnet. An example is a randomised trial of

powerful magnetic bracelets for the relief of hip and knee osteoarthritis, which

reports a significant decrease in pain because of the .]]

 

 

 

Abstract

Objective To determine the effectiveness of

commercially available magnetic bracelets for pain

control in osteoarthritis of the hip and knee.

Design Randomised, placebo controlled trial with

three parallel groups.

Setting Five rural general practices.

Participants 194 men and women aged 45-80 years

with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee.

Intervention Wearing a standard strength static

bipolar magnetic bracelet, a weak magnetic bracelet,

or a non-magnetic (dummy) bracelet for 12 weeks.

Main outcome measures Change in the Western

Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis

lower limb pain scale (WOMAC A) after 12 weeks,

with the primary comparison between the standard

and dummy groups. Secondary outcomes included

changes in WOMAC B and C scales and a visual

analogue scale for pain.

Results Mean pain scores were reduced more in the

standard magnet group than in the dummy group

(mean difference 1.3 points, 95% confidence interval

0.05 to 2.55). Self reported blinding status did not

affect the results. The scores for secondary outcome

measures were consistent with the WOMAC A scores.

Conclusion Pain from osteoarthritis of the hip and

knee decreases when wearing magnetic bracelets. It is

uncertain whether this response is due to specific or

non-specific (placebo) effects.

 

Message: 1

Sat, 7 Jan 2006 20:20:57 -0700

<

Magnet therapies 'have no effect'

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4582282.stm

 

 

 

Web/Online Coordinator

Adult Degree and Graduate Programs

Prescott College

http://www.prescott.edu

 

 

[Guest guest]

wrote:

 

> Sat, 7 Jan 2006 20:20:57 -0700

> <

>Magnet therapies 'have no effect'

>

>

>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4582282.stm

>

>

>

When I was in my first semester of acupuncture school I got a call from

an elderly neighbor. She had a frozen shoulder of two weeks standing,

was unable to lift her arm more than a few inches and could no longer

dress herself. Massage and NSAIDs hadn't made a dent. I had learned a

bit about magnets from Michael Tierra, so stopped off at a hardware

store on the way over, and purchased some quarter-inch thick round

magnets. When I arrived I rubbed some po sum on lightly over her

shoulder and arm, then placed a magnet in the vicinity of SJ14. Since

the poles were not marked, I tapped on it for a minute to ensure that it

didn't make it worse (or I would have flipped it.) taped it on and put

another with the same pole down on SJ4. After 20 minutes she could

raise her arm over her head. I never looked back, although my technique

is less crude these days and my magnets better.

 

That said, lots of magnets are ineffectively weak (guass alone doesn't

determine strength), don't penetrate deeply enough to get through body

fat (magnet material differs in penetration), are used without concern

for polarity, and I suspect that their testing simply didn't look at the

best magnetic technique or the best magnets. I've rarely found a

commercial insole that helps foot pain and who knows where a loose

arthritis bracelet hits? I have even seen commercial ear templates with

magnets, which suppose that all ears are shaped the same. There may be

a need to control the interference of electromagnetic background noise-

from watches, cell phones, household items, etc. Makes me wonder what

they were missing in their protocal.

 

--

Karen Vaughan, Lic. Ac

Creation's Garden Acupuncture and Herbs

253 Garfield Place

Brooklyn, NY 11215

 

(718) 622-6755

 

Co-Conspirator to Make the World A Better Place: Visit

http://www.heroicstories.com/ and join the conspiracy

See my Creation's Garden Acupuncture and Herbs website at:

http://ksvaughan2.byregion.net/

And my website at Avon Walk for Breast Cancer 2005