> Health and Disease

We are magnetic beings–magnetic energy affects everyone’s health. From the smallest particles to the largest celestial bodies, positive and negative electrical units called protons and electrons are fundamental constituents that establish and maintain the empty space that dominates all matter. Without the presence of magnetics and electromagnetics, order in the universe as we know it would cease to exist. So would we.

The very planet we live on is magnetically charged. Our perceptions of north and south are determined by where the compass-needle points. Water becomes hard because of the arrangement of positive and negative charges in the water. Naturally flowing water is always soft. Travelling over the ground, water molecules become aligned–the positive poles pointing in one direction and the negative poles pointing in the opposite direction. The planet earth acts like one piece of metal consistently rubbed on another. The final result is water with magnetic integrity–or in everyday terms soft water. Magnetic technology may one day provide the key to the elimination of deadly detergents and chemical water softeners that adversely affect ground water purity and ultimately compromise our health.

Scientist, inventor and magnetic expert, Bruce Voigt says magnetic energy can affect healing. With the application of properly configured magnetic energy, the cells begin to resonate and expand producing warmth that results in increased circulation and blood flow. The consequence is rapid healing and pain reduction. Voigt maintains that the strength of a given magnet is not the most important factor for cellular restoration. It’s the specific organization of circular series of equidistant magnets that produce a force duplicating the earth’s magnetic field.

So if the earth is already producing a beneficial magnetic force, what need do we have of artificial magnetic constructs? Voigt maintains that because of heavy pollution, nutritionally dead food, stress and other factors, the earth’s once ample magnetic field is no longer sufficient to adequately affect cellular regeneration. In a recent radio interview, he said, "Our bodies are made of a substantial amount of water, held together by magnetic and electromagnetic energies that bind atoms and molecules together. When those structures are subject to magnetic field energy, naturally or by artificial means, the body responds immediately, entering into a condition of healing."

Magnetic Fields

Detractors of magnetic therapy maintain that there is little credible scientific data to substantiate such claims. They say that it’s all about profit. They fail to acknowledge the truly huge financial gains that are realized by pharmaceutical manufacturers in the wake of numerous "off-the-shelf" recalls and subsequent lawsuits. A number of self-appointed watchdog organizations publish a wide range of opinions on the dubious benefits of magnetics for healing. Most try to discredit the Baylor Medical College double-blind study on magnetic energy and its application to healing and pain reduction. The study published results indicating that pain reduction was achieved by 29 percent of the participants.

The common argument is that there was no follow-up and that the relief was at best temporary. This may be true. However, it’s important to recognize that magnetic technology has advanced from the stagnant single magnet to magnetic configurations that produce an unified pushing effect approximating earth’s natural magnetic properties. According to Voigt, watchdog groups are on the right track when it comes to single randomly placed magnets.

"They don’t work. It’s not a matter of strength. It’s about configuration."

To date there have been no adverse reactions, negative side-effects or deaths reported from the use of magnetic therapies. Dr Robert Becker, former professor of orthopedic surgery at the Upstate Medical Center in New York, stated, "I believe that the discovery of magnetic fields and the effects they have on living organisms will prove to be the most significant discovery of this century." Dr J.B. Baron, of Baylor College of Medicine in Texas said, "This is a revolution in the therapy for muscle injuries, joint pain and posture problems. We have treated 4,000 patients with whiplash injuries and cured 80 per cent."

Dr Burl Payne, former professor at Boston University and Goddard College and author of The Body Magnetic Healing is well known for inventing and designing biofeedback instruments. He says that the known factors in magnetic healing include changes in migration of calcium ions, adjustment of pH balance, changes in the hormone-producing endocrine glands and alterations of enzyme and other biochemical processes, all of which contribute to increased blood flow and more oxygen to the damaged area. Dr Andrew Bassett, medical research scientist, has achieved startling results using electro-magnetic therapies. He claims that patients have experienced regrowth of tissue, nerve and bone, largely due to increased blood flow.

Magnetic Resistance

It is surprising that there is so much resistance to magnetic therapy in North American mainstream medicine, many European countries have benefited from it for decades. In Russia alone there are thousands of articles published in professional peer-reviewed journals and Russian doctors routinely use magnets to speed healing and strengthen bones. Furthermore, the Japanese have led the charge in educating and marketing magnetic technology and devices to the West. In Japan, one need only ask a friend or acquaintance if he or she has heard about magnetic therapy to find that most have.

The resistance here is slowly changing, however, and in time magnets will be well recognized. Dr Madeline F. Barnothy, author of Biological Effects of Magnetic Fields, says, "The magnetic field will in due time develop into a powerful new analytic and therapeutic tool of medicine."

Magnets for Pain

"The preponderance of evidence that magnetic fields can relieve pain in the body is sufficiently overwhelming that a major effort is now being mounted to discover how and why this is so. In order to understand all the subtle therapies that are now used in classical and contemporary medicine, we must first understand the electromagnetic properties, and then, the quantum properties of our bodies."

Source: Ron Lawrence, MD, PhD and Paul J. Rosche, MD, FACP, Magnet Therapy (Prima Health, 1998).

Source: alive #228, October 2001