BMJ  2006;332:4 (7 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7532.4

Editorial

Magnet therapy

Extraordinary claims, but no proved benefits

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Magnetic devices that are claimed to be therapeutic include magnetic bracelets, insoles, wrist and knee bands, back and neck braces, and even pillows and mattresses. Their annual sales are estimated at $300m¹ (£171m; 252m) in the United States and more than a billion dollars globally.² They have been advertised to cure a vast array of ills, particularly pain. A Google search for the terms "magnetic + healing" omitting "MRI resonance" yielded well over 20 000 pages, most of which tout healing by magnets. The reader is invited to insert "magnetic healing" into a web browser, and evaluate these spectacular claims.³

Many "controlled" experiments are suspect because it is difficult to blind subjects to the presence of a magnet. An example is a randomised trial of powerful magnetic bracelets for the relief of hip and knee osteoarthritis, which reports a significant decrease in pain because of the bracelets.⁴ The patients . . . [Full text of this article]

Department of Physics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19014, USA
(L@drexel.edu)

Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Riverside, CA 92505, USA

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Rapid Responses:

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Magnet therapy: Non-clinical claims are also questionable

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bmj.com, 6 Jan 2006 [Full text]

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Extraordinary Editorial

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Misleading criticism

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Blinding and sham controls with magnet therapy trials

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Replies to Responders

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bmj.com, 31 Jan 2006 [Full text]