Magnets Still Questionable For Easing Pain

(HealthScout) -- Will sleeping on a pad full of magnets help your aching body? It's possible, researchers say, but way too soon to know for sure.

To test whether magnets do anything to relieve the pain of fibromyalgia, a chronic disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, researchers at the University of Virginia enlisted the help of 94 people who suffer from the disorder.

Much to the surprise of the research team, the groups that slept on magnetized mattress pads reported a statistically significant decrease in their perception of pain, the study says.

"People with this condition are fairly desperate to find help for their pain and often seek nontraditional approaches, one of which has been magnet therapy," says lead researcher Dr. Alan P. Alfano, an assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Virginia and medical director of HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital.

"But there's been very little research applied, and few conditions have been studied," Alfano says. "We wanted to take a look to see whether magnets might be beneficial for people with fibromyalgia."

Besides widespread pain, fibromyalgia is characterized by sleep disturbances, fatigue and often depression. Most people with the disorder say they simply ache all over.

The research team broke the participants into four groups. For six months, one group slept on a mattress pad, placed between the mattress and box spring, that emitted a constant magnetic field. Another group slept on a pad directly on top of the mattress. That pad had fluctuations in polarity and strength. The third group slept on a demagnetized pad, and the fourth did not sleep on a pad.

Participants were asked to rate the intensity of their pain on a scale of 1 to 10, as well as the number of tender points on their bodies and their functional status over the six months.

Although there was very little statistical difference in most of the measurements, the researchers say that those who slept on the pad that emitted a constant magnetic field reported "clinically meaningful" decreases in the intensity of their pain.

Also, both groups that slept on magnetized pads showed more improvement than either of the other groups, the study says. Details appear in the current issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

"Given the fact that we found anything at all is very interesting to me," Alfano says. "It was like a shot in the dark. It's inconclusive, but it certainly is thought-provoking."

However, Dr. Michael I. Weintraub, chief of neurology at Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., who's conducting his own studies on magnet therapies, says the Virginia study has one overriding flaw: the disease itself.

"Fibromyalgia is a diagnosis which is very controversial," Weintraub says. "Most doctors don't believe it exists. There's no magic test that exists to positively diagnosis it." Also, he says, the disorder varies from person to person, making it difficult to measure any changes.

"I applaud the researchers for doing a quality type of study," Weintraub says. But, they chose the wrong disease, he says, and the exposure to magnets wasn't long enough.

"Right now, all the information we have on magnets is anecdotal," he says. "No one knows the answers."

In Weintraub's studies, researchers are following people with diabetic neuropathy, carpal tunnel syndrome, failed surgeries and back pain who wear magnets 24 hours a day. All these conditions, he says, allow for measurement of results, unlike fibromyalgia, which relies on pain perception.

So far, he says, the results are promising, but it's wait and see.

"If our results are positive, it will be a major breakthrough and we'll have a cheap, safe way of treating pain," Weintraub says. "But, if they turn out negative, then the public -- who's spending $5 billion a year [on magnets] -- is wasting its money."

Alfano also adds words of caution, saying the new findings "should not be misconstrued as an endorsement."

"It's much too early," he says. "But, it should serve to spur on further research."

"If you think you may have fibromyalgia, go to your physician and get a full evaluation," Alfano advises. "There are a lot of medical conditions, some serious, that have the same signs and symptoms."

To learn more about fibromyalgia, check out information from the Fibromyalgia Network and from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

For more on the history and uses of magnetic therapy, visit the Natural Pharmacist online. And learn more about different approaches to medicine from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

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