1. Martha, I'll tell you, I love the blog, but I'm really skeptical on this. Truth is magnets ARE a big industry -- a big part of the billion-dollar unregulated alt med industry -- and have been for some time.

Here's an older rundown on magnet quackery: http://www.csicop.org/si/2006-04/magnet-therapy.html

And another good history bit here: http://www.csicop.org/si/9807/magnet.html#author

There is precious little research out there that supports the notion that magnets could cure cancer. Blanket statements like "magnetic field therapy is a method that penetrates the whole human body and can treat every organ without chemical side effects" from the stop cancer link are very suspicious.

I'm not saying that there couldn't be a link between cancer and magnetism -- there really hasn't been a lot of research on the topic in peer-reviewed journals. I will say that some of these same people claimed last decade that magnet therapy was the secret to curing pain, in many forms. That theory has been debunked time and again through serious research.

There's a lot of flummery out there, folks. Much like you should ask doctors lots of questions about radiation and chemotherapy, you should be even more eager to ask questions about alternative medicines and therapies. Just remember "natural" doesn't mean safe or effective. Arsenic, cyanide, mercury and uranium are all natural too, but I wouldn't want to heap them on my cornflakes.

Then again, if hanging a magnet around your neck keeps you happy, then so be it. There's no harm, unless you wear magnets as an alternative to seeking medical treatment.

(Also, on a side note, you link essentially the same article three times -- the first to links are to the same article and third goes to a blog that paraphrases the same article).

Posted at 10:35AM on Jun 27th 2007 by Greg

2. Ugh. Magnets vs. cancer. From a blog host.

I think it's time for me to take a break from this blog.

Mr. Pawelski:
It's all yours for awhile. I'm taking some time off.

hchcec

Posted at 5:18PM on Jun 27th 2007 by hchcec

3. Hi Greg,
Thanks for your input. I agree with you ... it's important to take things with a grain of salt and I'm glad you posted links to opposing views on the subject matter. My intent in writing this was to get people thinking, not convince them of any one viewpoint and I really appreciate your comments.
Thanks for reading.

Posted at 10:24AM on Jun 28th 2007 by Martha

4. Magnets do one thing they speed up electrons. This changes the shape of water moliqules. Many studies were done without this fundementel concept therefore had negegeble results.
As a practitioner using magnets I can tell that the changed structure of water helps the body reduce swelling and improves hydration of contracted tissue; both causes of pain. As cited long term exposure to one pole will stimulate reproduction and the other pole inhibits reproduction in cells.
What we need is a biochemist that will confirm if moliqules fold diferently at oposit ends of a magnet. That might produce results the pharmaceutical companies would take intrest in.

Posted at 9:47AM on Jun 29th 2007 by Hans Albert Quistorff, LMP

5. There's more evidence than you think that magnetic fields affect cancer cells. Albert Roy Davis and Walter Rawls researched the effects of magnetic fields on animals and people beginning in the 1930's. Davis discovered that the North and South pole magnetic fields have opposite effects. The North pole "slowed, controlled, and arrested further development of an active cancer site" and the South pole "caused the cancers to become more advanced and then develop, grow, and spread at an accelerated rate."

In September 1990, the Journal of the National Medical Association, Volume 82, Number 9, there was an article titled "Evolving Perspectives on the Exposure Risks from Magnetic Fields". I quote, "The experiment with human lung carcinoma cells verified the statement by Davis and Rawls that there is an increase in the growth curve of human lung carcinoma cells when exposed to positive polarity magnetic fields."

Magnetic fields do affect us, and if the opposite effects of the North and South poles aren't considered in research, the results will not be accurate. Weak magnetic fields can affect us too, but it may take months or even years for their effects to be seen.

Posted at 10:48AM on Jul 9th 2007 by Richard