Magnetic Therapy
Probably one of the largest contemporary trends in the therapeutic world is the use of magnetic therapy. However, it is also one of the least researched modalities, and has very little sound explanation for it's effectiveness. Winning over its clientele with testimonials by everyone from doctors to elite athletes, magnets are making a place for themselves in the health and therapeutic fields. This is accomplished by utilizing many different marketing strategies and very little research. "The trend is so lucrative, athletes are adding brand-name magnets to their list of endorsements" (Ruibal, p. 3C).
This method of rehabilitation and treatment dates back thousands of years to when they were used by Greek, Persian and Chinese physicians. These physicians used magnetic rocks, now called lodestones, to treat conditions such as gout and muscle spasm (Borsa, p. 150; Meyer 1997). In the early 1500s, Paracelsus, a physician in Greece, thought that magnets were effective therapeutically due to their ability to attract iron. He hypothesized that because of this capability, they would also be able to leach diseases from the body. However, Paracelsus was also very aware of the tendency the human mind has in playing a role in the healing process:
"The spirit of the master, the imagination is the instrument, the body is the plastic material. The moral atmosphere surrounding the patient can have a strong influence on the course of the disease. It is not a curse or a blessing that works, but the idea. The imagination produces the effect" (Livingston, p. 25).
This role imagination plays, known as the placebo effect, is a true thorn in the side of magnetic therapy as a practice. And this is where the debat...
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Livingston, James D. (1998) Magnetic therapy: a plausible attraction? Skeptical Inquirer, v2 2, n4. pp. 25-27.
Meyer, Martin (1997). Magnetics for Healthy Healing. [online]. Available: www.hre.com/totalhealth/magnh.html (Nov. 8, 1999).
Robinson, Richard. (June, 1999). In Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine (p. 1846). London: Gale Press.
Ruibal, Sal. (1997, Aug. 20). Ironclad cures for pain? Athletes put their faith in power of magnets. USA Today, Final Edition, p. 3C.
Vallbona, Carlos, MD; Hazelwood, Carlton F, PhD & Jurida, Gabo, MD. Response of Pain to Static Magnetic Fields in Postpolio Patients: A Double-blind Pilot Study. Arch Physiological Medicine Rehabilitation, 1997; vol. 78. pp. 1200-3.
Scibek, J. S., Gatti, J. M., & Mckenzie, J. I. (2012). Into the Red Zone. Journal of Athletic Training, 47(4), 428-434.
The magnetic pulses easily pass through the skull and causes small electrical currents that stimulate nerve cells in the targeted brain region. The magnetic field that is produced lasts 100 to 200 microseconds, and the procedure is less invasive than the ECT. rTMS may increase blood flow and the metabolism of glucose in the prefrontal cortex. It like ECT can additionally be a treatment option for mania but continues to be
For the past few centuries western medicine has made significant improvements in medical technologies; however, as the pendulum swings we are obliged to remember that eastern medicine has been prevalent for numerous centuries. Eastern medicine includes many medical avenues that are slowly becoming more popularized in the western world. For example, I have noticed therapies such as acupuncture becoming much more accepted that in previous decades. Moreover, in the past year I have learned a great deal about the therapeutic effects of magnets, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) which is also known as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS).
The placebo effect has been one of the most interesting but irritating topics within biomedical science for over the past 60 years. Through this speech I wish to inform and educate while I discuss the placebo effect and cover what it is, how it works and why that is.
Johnson, Dennis A. Ed. D. and John Acquaviva, Ph.D. “The Sport Journal.” The Sport Journal.
The original use of electricity as a cure for “insanity” dates back to the beginning of the 16th century when electric fish were used to treat headaches. Electroconvulsive therapy on humans originates from research in the 1930’s into the effects of camphor-induced seizures in people with schizophrenia (Guttmacher, 1994). In 1938, two Italian researchers, Ugo Cerletti and Lucio Bini, were the first to use an electric current to induce a seizure in a delusional, hallucinating, schizophrenic man. The man fully recovered after eleven treatments. This led to a rapid spread of the use of ECT as a way to induce therapeutic convulsions in the mentally ill. Lothar Kalinowsky, Renato Almansi, and Victor Gonda are further responsible in spreading ECT from Italy to North America (Endler, 1988). Although there is some confusion as to who exactly is credited for administering the first ECT in America, it is known that it occurred in the early 1940.
Fahey, Thomas D., EdD. Specialist in Sports Conditioning Workbook and Study Guide. California: International Sports Sciences Association, 2007. Print
Halig, Steven et.al. History of Electroconvulsive Therapy. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc., 1999.
Often, therapies that are pseudoscience will appear to be scientifically based when in fact they are not. In their article, “Science and Pseudoscience in Communication Disorder: Criteria and Applications,” Fin, Bothe and Bramlett (2005) assert there are 10 criteria that can assist in determining if a therapy is scientifically based or if it is pseudoscience (p. 172).
Keeping one’s energy field in balance helps stabilize emotional and physical health between counseling sessions. Healing Touch also offers specific techniques for trauma release, pain relief, deep clearing of the energetic residues of trauma, rebalancing the field, and making transitions such as returning to a normalized healthy life. As issues are brought up in therapy sessions, the energy work in separate sessions can clear and re-balance the energy field. The release of emotions during an energy healing session may include crying, laughter, anger, and/or physical movements. Healing Touch techniques such as Magnetic Clearing can help release the effects of trauma even if an individual is unable to talk about his or her feelings.
Donna A. Lopiano “Modern Hisory of Women In Sports” Clinics in Sports Medicine19.2 (2000): 163-173. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 April. 2000.
Throughout history, explanations for mental illness have been described as supernatural, psychological, and biological. Prior to the early Greek physicians, the supernatural model of mental illness prevailed. Early humans did not have science to explain natural events so magic, mysticism, and superstition were used as a substitution. They believed in animism, the idea that all of nature is alive, and anthropomorphism, the tendency to project human features onto nature. Reification was also a popular belief that assumed if you can think of something, it exists. Sympathetic magic was the idea that one can heal and individual by influencing an object that is similar or closely associated to them (Frazer, 1890/1963). Primitive healers would often imitate the patient's ailments and then model the recovery. Reification also lead to the bel...
Rosenberg, Michael. “This Changes Everything.” Sports Illustrated 117.2 (2012): 21-22. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 3 Apr. 2014
Creative new training methods, developed by coaches, athletes and sport scientists, are aimed to help improve the quality and quantity of athletic training ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1). However, these methods have encountered a consistent set of barriers including overtraining ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1). Due to these barriers, the need for physical and mental recovery in athletics brought an increasing attention in practice and in research ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1).
that is used and it is called transcranial magnetic stimulation. This is when magnets are used on