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Five hundred years ago, Paracelsus,a Swiss physician and alchemist,wondered if diseases could bemanipulated by magnets, usinglodestones as the best magnetsavailable then. But, naturallodestones are quite weak and fewpeople paid much attention to hisideas until the discovery of carbon-steel magnets in the 1700's.During the 1800's, most of thediscoveries relating electricity tomagnetism were made by the earlypioneers of our modern technicalworld, men such as Gauss, Weber,Faraday and Maxwell among othersOne of the more interesting magnetictheories postulates something called"Magnetic Field DeficiencySyndrome." It is offered as anexplanation of biomagnetic effects byDr. Kyochi Nakagawa of Japan. TheEarth's magnetic field is not fixed inposition or strength. In the lasthundred years, it has weakened onthe average by about 6 percent. Inthe last thousand years, it has fallennearly 30 percent. Dr. Nakagawaargues that since humans evolved ina magnetic field, it is necessary forproper health. A falling magnetic fieldputs us at risk and magnetic therapymakes up the deficit.The truth is, no one reallyunderstands the mechanisms bywhich magnetic fields affect humanhealth. There are many theories butvery little agreement. It is a problemas complicated as a human being,concerning dozens of organs andthousands of different molecules.Just because you can't explainsomething, doesn't mean it can'thappen.For two hundred years, it has beenpossible to build magnets from coilsof wire powered by electricity calledelectromagnets. Such devices can bepulsed to produce magnetic fieldsthat change very rapidly. This opensa whole new world of medicalapplications since changing magneticfields can induce tiny electricalcurrents in human tissue. Pulsingelectromagnetic therapy is approvedby the FDA to promote the healing ofserious bone fractures. And powerfulelectromagnets are used in brainand muscle research to generatecurrents strong enough to firenerves that trigger sensations andflex muscles. To date, there havebeen many basic research studiesand many clinical trials of PulsedElectromagnetic Field Therapy .Historically, as far back as 1890, theAmerican Electro-TherapeuticAssociation conducted annualconferences on the therapeutic useof electricity and electrical devicesby physicians on ailing patients.Some involved current flow throughthe patient, while others wereelectrically powered devices. At first,only direct current (DC) deviceswere utilized in the medical doctor’soffice for relieving pain.
Nikola Tesla
In 1895, through the genius ofNikola Tesla, the Niagara FallsPower Company began sendingalternating current (AC) to Buffalo,NY, twenty-five miles away. Citiesthroughout the world followed suitand made commercial AC poweravailable to the general public,even miles from the powergenerating station. As a result,Tesla’s high voltage coil devices,which were powered by AC,started to become widely knownand applied.In 1898, Tesla published a paperthat he read at the eighth annualmeeting of the American Electro-Therapeutic Association in Buffalo,NY. He states that one of the earlyobserved and remarkable featuresof pulsed magnetism was theirapparent harmlessness, whichmade it possible to pass relativelygreat amounts of electrical energythrough the body of a person. Coilsup to three feet in diameter wereused for magnetically treating thebody without contact, though ten
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Pioneers in thefield of PEMF
Background
H i s t o r y
OPEMF
A Brief 
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History of PEMFs
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to a hundred thousand voltswere present "between the firstand last turn. Tesla concludesthat bodily "tissues arecondensers" in the 1898 paper,which is the basic component(dielectric) for an equivalentcircuit only recently developedfor the human body. In fact, therelative permittivity for tissue atany frequency from ELF (10 Hz-100 Hz) through RF (10 kHz-100MHz) exceeds mostcommercially availabledielectrics on the market.This unique property of thehuman body indicates aninherent adaptation and perhapsinnate compatibility toward thepresence of high voltageelectric fields, probably due tothe high transmembranepotential already present incellular tissue.Tesla also indicates that theafter-effect from his coiltreatment was certainlybeneficial.
Pioneers in the field of PEMF continued
Constant EnergyMagnets
Long popular in Japan, magnettherapy has entered publicawareness in the United States,stimulated by golfers and tennisplayers extolling the virtues ofmagnets in the treatment ofsports-related injuries. Magneticknee, shoulder, and ankle pads,as well as insoles and mattresspads, are widely available.Magnet therapy has a longhistory in traditional folkmedicine. Reliable documentationtells us that Chinese doctorsbelieved in the therapeutic valueof magnets at least 2,000 yearsago, and probably earlier thanthat. In 16th century Europe,Paracelsus used magnets totreat a variety of ailments. Twocenturies later, Mesmer becamefamous for treating variousdisorders with magnets.In the middle decades of the 20thcentury, scientists in variousparts of the world beganperforming studies on thetherapeutic use of magnets. Fromthe 1940s on, magnets becameincreasingly popular in Japan.Yoshio Manaka, one of theinfluential Japaneseacupuncturists of the twentiethcentury, used magnets inconjunction with acupuncture.Magnet therapy also became acommonly used technique of self-administered medicine in Japan.During the 1970s, both magnetsand electromagnetic machinesbecame popular among athletesin many countries for treatingsports-related injuries.In the United States, it was only in1997 that properly designedclinical trials of magnets beganto be reported. Results of severalpreliminary studies suggestedthat both static magnets andelectromagnetic therapy mayindeed offer therapeutic benefitsfor several disorders. Thesefindings have escalated researchinterest in magnet therapy.
PulsedElectromagneticEnergy
Pulsed Electromagnetic FieldTherapy is non-static, unliketherapy with magnets, which isstatic.Pulsed Electromagnetic FieldTherapy is used in two mainways: Pulsed ElectromagneticField Therapy (PEMF) or a specialversion of PEMF called repetitivetranscranial magnetic stimulation(rTMS).PEMF therapy has been usedto stimulate bone repair in non-union and other fractures sincethe 1970s. This is an accepteduse, which has been approved bythe FDA. Although bone has aremarkable capacity to heal frominjury, in some cases the brokenends do not join: these are callednon-union fractures. PEMF hasshown promise for otherconditions as well. Now, manystudies are showing its benefitsin healing soft-tissue wounds;suppressing inflammatoryresponses at the cell membranelevel to alleviate pain, andincrease range of motion. PEMF isnow being investigatedexperimentally for osteoarthritis,stress incontinence, migraines,and many other conditions.A special form ofelectromagnetic therapy,repetitive transcranial magneticstimulation (rTMS), is alsoundergoing close study. rTMS isdesigned specifically to treat thebrain with low-frequencymagnetic pulses. Many studiessuggest that rTMS might bebeneficial for depression. It isalso being studied for thetreatment of Parkinson's disease,epilepsy, schizophrenia, andobsessive-compulsive disorder.
Types of Magnetic Therapy
 
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A short overview of the many PEMF studies.
Georges Lakhovsky
Georges Lakhovsky’s philosophywas that "the amplitude of celloscillations must reach a certainvalue, in order that the organismbe strong enough to repulse thedestructive vibrations fromcertain microbes." He goes on tosay, "The remedy in my opinion, isnot to kill the microbes in contactwith the healthy cells but toreinforce the oscillations of thecell either directly by reinforcingthe activity of the blood or inproducing on the cells a directaction by means of the properrays." Lakhovsky’s Radio-Cellulo-Oscillator (RCO) produced lowfrequency ELF all the way throughgigahertz radiowaves with lots of"extremely short harmonics."His book, The Secret of Lifewas first published in Englishin 1939. In 1949, a review ofLakhovsky’s work waspublished as Waves That Healby Mark Clement.
Lakhovsky’stheory is that each cell in thebody of an organism-be it aplant, an animal, or a human
Pioneers
Evolution of magnetic therapy fromalternative to traditional medicineVallbona C, Richards T.;Department of Family andCommunity Medicine, BaylorCollege of Medicine, Houston,Texas, USA.Equipment design for magnetictherapy and "Polus" devicesViktorov VA, Malkov IuV.Beneficial effects ofelectromagnetic fieldsBassett CA., Bioelectric ResearchCenter, Columbia University,Riverdale, New York 10463.Clinical effectiveness of magneticfield therapy--a review of theliteratureQuittan M, Schuhfried O, WiesingerGF, Fialka-Moser V.;Universitatsklinik fur PhysikalischeMedizin und Rehabilitation, Wien.Theoretical and practical aspectsof general magnetotherapy[Article in Russian] Ulashchik VS.Possible therapeutic applicationsof pulsed magnetic fields[Article in Czech] Navratil L,Hlavaty V, Landsingerova E.Pulsed magnetotherapy inCzechoslovakia--a review.Jerabek J. National Institute ofPublic Health, Praha, CzechRepublic.Electromagnetic fields andmagnets. Investigational treatmentfor musculoskeletal disordersTrock DH.; Yale University Schoolof Medicine, New Haven,Connecticut, USA.
ARTHRITIS
A study of the effects of PulsedElectromagnetic Field Therapywith respect to serologicalgrouping in rheumatoid arthritis.Ganguly KS, Sarkar AK, Datta AK,Rakshit A.National Institute for theOrthopaedically Handicapped(NIOH), Calcutta.A case of congenitalpseudarthrosis of the tibia treatedwith pulsing electromagneticfields. 17-year follow-up.Ito H, Shirai Y, Gembun Y.Department of OrthopaedicSurgery, Nippon Medical School,Tokyo, Japan.A double-blind trial of the clinicaleffects of pulsed electromagneticfields in osteoarthritis.Trock DH, Bollet AJ, Dyer RH Jr,Fielding LP, Miner WK, Markoll R.Department of Medicine(Rheumatology), Danbury Hospital,CT 06810.The effect of pulsedelectromagnetic fields in thetreatment of osteoarthritis of theknee and cervical spine. Report ofrandomized, double blind, placebocontrolled trials.Trock DH, Bollet AJ, Markoll R.Department of Medicine, DanburyHospital, CT.Magnetic pulse treatment for kneeosteoarthritis: a randomised,double-blind, placebo-controlledstudy.Pipitone N, Scott DL.Rheumatology Department, King'sCollege Hospital (Dulwich),London, UK.Electromagnetic fields for thetreatment of osteoarthritis.Hulme J, Robinson V, DeBie R, WellsG, Judd M, Tugwell P.Cochrane Collaborating Center,Center for Global Health, Instituteof Population Health -University of Ottawa, 1Stewart Street, Ottawa,Ontario, Canada, K1N 6N5.Modification of osteoarthritisby pulsed electromagneticfield--a morphological studyCiombor DM, Aaron RK, WangS, Simon B.; Department ofOrthopaedics, Brown MedicalSchool, Providence, RI 02906,USA.Pulsed magnetic field therapyfor osteoarthritis of the knee--a double-blind sham-controlled trial.Nicolakis P,Kollmitzer J, Crevenna R,Bittner C, Erdogmus CB,Nicolakis J. Department ofPhysical Medicine andRehabilitation, AKH Wien,University of Vienna, Vienna,Austria.Therapeutic effects of pulsedmagnetic fields on jointdiseasesRiva Sanseverino E, Vannini A,Castellacci P., Universita diBologna, Italy
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