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News Article from New York City newspaper about Magnet Therapy from the prestigious hospital in New York City. The medical college of Cornell University and the Columbia Presbyterian College of Physicians and Surgeons.
From: News and Views | Beyond the City |Magnets Attract
Depression Relief
esearchers are using powerful magnets to zap depression.
The innovative treatment — called Tran cranial magnetic stimulation — uses a magnet to stimulate a specific area of the brain. The therapy has been successful in helping people who are severely depressed, according to a study funded by the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression.
The findings were published in a recent issue of Biological Psychiatry by Dr. Mark George and his colleagues at the Medical University of South Carolina.
The treatment uses an external magnet to stimulate the left prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain that allows us to think, plan and philosophize. Studies have found that this region functions abnormally in people with major depression.
"This new tool allows us, for the first time in the history of mankind, to noninvasive stimulate the brain while the person is awake and alert," said George, a professor of psychiatry, radiology and neurology and director of the Brain Stimulation Laboratory at the Medical University of South Carolina.
For his study, George enrolled 30 severely depressed patients who had not been helped by medication. Most of the patients struggled with thoughts of suicide every day, said George. Twenty patients received 20 minutes of the treatment each weekday morning over a two-week period. A control group of 10 patients had the magnet on their scalp, but did not receive the treatment.
Researchers placed a small coil of wire on the patient's scalp and passed a powerful but painless current through it, producing a magnetic field that passed unimpeded through the skull. The magnetic field, in turn, produced a much weaker electrical current in the brain.
Participants receiving the treatment showed significant improvement, according to the study. Nine out of 20 patients reported their symptoms were reduced by half, while no patients in the control group got better.
One 23-year-old patient said the treatment lifted the dark depression that had hung over her life for nearly 10 years. She had tried close to 10 medications, with no relief. "From the beginning, I started feeling better. It was like it opened a door for me," she said.
Depression affects 19 million people in the United States and is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, the national alliance said. Help has traditionally come in the form of medication, psychotherapy or a combination of both. For patients who do not respond to conventional treatment, this therapy may be a viable alternative, George says.
Dr. Rock Positano, M.S., M.P.H., D.P.M., is on the faculty and staff of Weill Medical College of Cornell University and the Columbia Presbyterian College of Physicians and Surgeons.
All these treatments are being studied, nothing should be substituted for conventional treatment such as psychotherapy or prescribed medicine.
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About Magnetic Therapy
The medical benefits of magnets have been touted since the days of ancient Greece, when Hippocrates reportedly used the magnetic rock lodestone to treat sterility. Ancient scientists theorize that magnets promote healing by stimulating blood flow to the affected area, bringing extra oxygen and nutrients while reducing toxins. Another hypothesis is that magnets create a field that alters how pain signals are sent along the nervous system.
In the early 16th century, the power of lodestone (magnetite) to attract iron filings without touching them suggested great power. Paracelsus, the famous Swiss alchemist and physician began using powdered lodestone to promote healing.
The current revival of magnetic therapy is being studied. There are new permanent magnet materials based on ferrites and rare-earth alloys. These new magnets are essential to high-tech products ranging from miniature walk-man headphones to laptop computers. They can be fabricated into all sorts of shapes, even thin and flexible, allowing them to be inserted into shoes or sewn into mattresses.
