AHHA- I'm not dyslexically laughing on my computer

The American Holistic Health Association (AHHA) brings you the latest and greatest in holistic and alternative health practices from around the globe. All from a very reputable source!

Check it out.

Research suggests that Magnets may help chronic tinnitus sufferers

The NY Times is reporting about the success of magnetic therapy in a new case. Suffers from the auditory disease tinnitus may soon be able to find relief thanks to magnets. Tinnitus, which is a condition that causes the sufferer to hear chronic, loud, obtrusive noises, is a relatively newly diagnosed phenomenon. Currently, the most effective treatment involves a specially designed sound file that needs to be played for long periods of time.

While this treatment shows success at a 90% clip, the process is very time consuming and expensive. Enter magnetic therapy. The scientists have shown that hey can "reset" the part of the brain that's going haywire and causing all the racket in the first place by targeting it with a magnetic pulse. Probably a little bit stronger than the jewelry that you're sporting, but magnetic therapy, none-the-less.

Read: NYTIMES.

Ferro Fluid

Just really cool.

Just in case

If you have ever held up a magnet close to a CRT (read: ancient) monitor, you have probably seen the craziness that ensues. Most notably, the really bad colors and distortions that occur post magnet.

This website has a tutorial about how to remove said discoloration. Check it out!

When magnets go wrong

We all know that magnets are used in health care for more respectable processes than magnetic jewelry. This MRI had an unfortunate meeting with a chair:


Apparently, the hospital has a "no metal" area, and things like chairs, body piercings, knives, wolverine, are usually kept outside of it. Usually. A patient got out of that chair, and tripped/fell/collapsed, reaching out for the chair to hold themselves up. This pulled the chair close enough to be grabbed by the magnetic field, pulling it into the unit.

The machine cannot be turned off without significant downtime - and at the cost of patient care. They were able to pull it away, after much effort. Luckily no one was injured, and the MRI received only cosmetic damage.

Magnetic implants. They look so real!

Not what you're thinking! This one comes from the blog Zentastic. The author, Shannon Larratt, had magnets implanted into her fingers so that she could sense magnetic fields. I have a great aversion towards anything dealing with blood, cutting, or pain in any aspect, so I will not post the pics here.

Apparently, you can "feel" magnetic fields as you erase vital information from your hard drive with a touch/ stop a pace maker with a pat on the back/ interact with ordinary objects.

Caution: Graphic magnet implantation photos! More info here and here!

Work has been crazy!

Too much to do lately, but it's getting better. I may be able to get out of the office this weekend and actually see the sunlight! Or maybe I'll just veg out on the couch, and post more!

Magnets Targeting Cancer

NEw research done at the University Edinburght states that the nanomagnets could be guided to the site of a tumour magnetically. Heat would then be used from an external magnetic field to either destroy the cancerous tissue or release drugs attached to the magnets.

This is a huge!! Although research is only in the early stages, it may provide incredible results.

The research had been published in the journal of Nature Nanotechnology.

NEW ADDITION!

Look to the right..... That's right,we added the magnetic poetry utility on the site... enjoy!

Promising new use for magnets in health

The New England Journal of Medicine - that bastion of medical knowledge and lover of chowdah - has an paper up about the possibility of using magnets to better direct aerosols into the lungs of patients. The paper, written by Allan L. Coates, M.D., C.M., is available here. [Ed. Note: the site requires a subscription to view the entire document.] Also, did you notice that Allan is from the "Hospital for Sick Children?" Derek Zoolander is branching out, I suppose!

The Real Magneto Boy

Who hasnt dreamt of being a superhero? I know I have. Flying, super speed, invisibility, magnatism?? Well when I stumbled on this 12 year old boy claiming to be the real magneto boy I couldn't help be jealous, and excited that there is still hope for real life superheros!!!

Any time this boy gets near electronic devices he they crash or go crazy. When his parents bought him a xBox 360 it crashed. Now that he has a new one he has to sit on the other side of the room using a cordless control so that his charge doesn't break the machine. Unbelievable?? Ya when I watched the video I started to doubt it, but its still interesting.

Craziness!

Wow, this is simply... wow! This is called "ferro fluid" I believe... It's basically a liquid metal (not that kind) that responds dramatically to magnetic fields. When put to Japanese techno, it becomes something that only the internet can contain.

Magnetic viewing paper

I love the internet because you can find cool random things like "Magnetic Viewing Paper." This stuff has microscopic pieces of iron, nickel, etc. suspended in oil, allowing the magnetic particles to align with whatever magnetic fields maybe present. Like so:


This paper can be had at the low, low price of half of a triple grande zebra $1.95.

Read. Purchase.

They need a dyson.

I guess astronauts have more practical things to worry about on planetary bodies such as the moon than aliens. One of the biggest problem facing our intrepid explorers is the smallest: microscopic moon dust.

With their finely tuned, and undoubtebly complex(and expensive) space stuff, these tiny particles of glass and minerals can do huge damage. Not to mention trying to keep that lunar module looking shiny. But, I digress.

I'm sure dyson has already made something that applies to this, but his probably doesn't use the power of magnets. Scientists have an idea to use magnets to filter, brush, and otherwise eliminate this problem. Apparently, lunar dust is mostly glass, with tiny particles of iron embedded within. So,next time you take a quick jaunt to the moon, don't forget your magnetic jewelry.

I'm CRAZZZY

Ok not literally (although I'm sure some of my friends would love to challenge me on that). But I found this new therapy using trans-cranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) machines to treat metal disorders.

I think thats interesting, read up.

ZZZzzzzz

If your're suffering from one or more of the following symptoms during the day, you are not getting enough sleep and may have a sleeping disorder:

-Feel irritable or sleepy during the day?
-have difficulty staying awake when sitting still, such as when watching television or reading?
-Fall asleep sometimes while driving?
-Have difficulty paying attention or concentrating at work, school, or home?
-Perform below your potential in work, school, or sports?
-Often get told by others that you look tired?
-Have difficulty with your memory?
-React slowly?
-Have emotional outbursts?
-Feel like taking a nap almost every day?
-Require caffeinated beverages to keep yourself going?

Sleep is such a beautiful thing. 50 million Americans suffer from some sort of sleeping disorder. I found some really interesting stuff about how magnets can improve sleep.

Looooodestone

Wait, not him, I'm talking about natural magnetic rocks here. And, yes, I know that his name is Lonestar. Anyway, I came across a page from a certain Dr. Stern from phys6.org who has a great little page set up about the origins of magnetism in certain iron ores.

We've probably all seen the natural magnets that you can buy from pretty much anywhere. They're called hematite, and they're a form of iron ore. However, lodestones are like the "raspberry" jam in the natural magnetism scene. They are much stronger, and carry a unique crystalline structure not found in hematite. Once thought to have come from lengthy exposure to the earth's magnetic field, new research suggests that their origin might be much more exciting. But first, story time...

A group of monks in Rimini, Italy (quite a long time ago, I'm sure) had an iron piece that supported a brick formation on their monestary in need of repair. Years of weight and wind had distorted the iron. The monks sent it to a blacksmith to have it fixed, but the blacksmith (appropriately named Maestro) found that it had become magnetic.

At the time, they had no idea what had happened, and attributed the magnetization on the piece being exposed to the natural magnetic polarity of the earth. Now, research has shown that lodestones can be created (and probably only can be created) by lightning striking a formation of iron ore. I am no scientist, but the potency of the lodestone in relation to normal magnets sounds like an extremely powerful force such as a lightning strike would have something to do with it. But, more on that later.

Read.

Neat

One of the coolest random things ever

This is a web version of those wonderful fridge poetry magnets. And, since laughter is the best medicine, magnets heal the soul too.


And it fits perfectly on this site! Seriously check it out.

Kinda cool, and kinda random, but there is a doctor in India that is researching the effects of the earth's magnetic fields on sleep. In a response to a question regarding possible disturbances in brain patterns if you sleep in alignment with magnetic north, Dr. Nagarajan Venkataraman discusses the body's natural magnetism. Interesting, but not highly informing read.

Link

Everyone say hi

In case you didn't see, we have a new blogger (woooooo) here! Her name is Leslie, and she'll be posting from time to time about everyone's favorite topic: 1960's rock organ speakers magnets.

[Ed Note: For those of who with less of the ordinary idea of what I'm talking about, please see this handy reference regarding the Leslie speaker.]

Enjoy these videos of great music using the aforementioned speaker!

Hey Everyone

I'm new here! Come read our stuff and check out fun healthy things!!!

Significant relief from ill advised booky betting

I looked more into the infamous report from JAMA... curiously, all I can think of saying is, hurray for beer. Anyway, the FDA approved procedure of treating "ununited" fractures with magnetic fields is something like 80% effective. At the time of the report, (1982) there had been over 1000 documented cases of success since its inception in 1979.

With the rise of global temperatures and people such as Steve-O (both, who with no doubt add to the number of fractures sustained per year), I'm sure that number has grown.

So before you go picking Mississippi Valley State over UCLA in the first round, think about picking up a magnet.

Well, it is almost Easter...

Found it!

I had previously said that I was unable to find the study about the use of magnets for the repair of ununited fractures... but all that has changed! Here it is.

I'm back!

Hey everyone! After that little break I'm back, and ready for action! So stay tuned for posts coming real soon.

I'll be

Outta town until early next week, so blog posts will be limited until then. Sorry!

A call for the rise of magnetic therapy apologetics.

This one is related to the previous posting. This one is a call to all who have had good experiences with magnetic therapy. This one draws from the collective minds of all the brilliant people out there. This one goes out to all the skeptics.

Sorry, got a little carried away there. Anyway, the reason I'm writing this post is because of blog posts like the one about neck pain and magnets. I said briefly before that things like that are why magnets get a bad rep. It's so true that when most of the articles or documentation about magnetic therapy is backed by weak or non-existent facts, the whole idea suffers.

So get out there and use some good facts to support magnetic therapy!! I will post a list of relevant supporting ideas when I get a chance.

Somewhat dubious assertion of effectiveness

Found a little blog post about magnets and neck pain today... although, it is curiously lacking in details regarding the use of magnets to reduce pains in the neck.

Well, despite the interesting grammar and meandering of the the post, its got some good stuff. Actually, I think that this post may be contributing to the negative feelings of people towards magnetic therapy.

That was a rather cool title, for a rather uninteresting post. Sorry.

Here's the article.

Sorry!

Sorry folks,

I have had some difficulty getting onto this here blog. It won't happen again! To make up for it, I have included a lolcat - which, incidentally, may make things worse.

Magnets proven to heal broken bones

And this one isn't even considered alternative medicine (as magnetic bracelets and the like are)! Magnets can be used by doctors to repair fractures that won't set properly. Interesting. Veeeery Interesting.

I couldn't find the article mentioning it, but I did find it cited within another site (I saw it with my sight). If any of you intrepid readers want to track it down, here's the skinny:

Bassett CA, Mitchell SN, Gaston SR. Pulsing electromagnetic field treatment in ununited fractures and failed arthrodeses. Journal of the American Medical Association. 1982;247(5):623-628.

Source.

Crazy lobsters!

This may be one of the weirdest things I've ever written about [not true if you've read previous posts], but apparently lobsters are magnetic. Ok, that's not totally accurate, but they do use something called, "magnetic map sense." This all comes from a University of North Carolina study into the blah blah blah of lobster yadda yadda yadda. At least that's what it sounded like whilst I was reading said article.

From what I did gather, lobsters have a 6th magnetic sense that allows them to navigate through treacherous coral reefs in the dark of night. I too, have a magnetic sense that allows me to navigate my knees, shins, and toes into metal objects in the dark of night, but that is another topic altogether. In the experiment, the UNC team was able to control the direction of lobsters by manipulating magnetic fields in the area.

So in addition to magnet's ability to heal us, magnets are fascinatingly used by giant underwater bugs to "see."

More proof

And from another reputable source, nonetheless! This one comes from Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Jan. 7, 2008) — A recent study demonstrates that the use of an acute, localized static magnetic field of moderate strength can result in significant reduction of swelling when applied immediately after an inflammatory injury.

There you go! Magnets are great for healing bruises, bumps, insomnia, and the like. I actually went and ordered my very own magnetic jewelry pieces this morning... I ordered mine from a friend, but they said that their site will be taking internet orders soon. I figured that So I can go back to certain extracurricular weekend activities that cannot be mentioned. A perfect compliment to soap.

This is Jack's apologetic reaction: sorry to anyone who hasn't seen Fight Club. Oops, I talked about it. I'll have pics soon of the magnet stuff when I get it!

Read the article. Tyler told you to.

Journey to the Center of the Earth! Or, why {4 8 15 16 23 42} could save your life.

I feel like I need a school bus (of the magical variety) and a lizard. So I checked into the idea of magnetic "hot spots" on the earth, and found some interesting stuff. While I don't have anything specific right now about the actual places that may be considered hot, I will take your mind on a fantastic voyage to the cause of our magnetism.

Our planet's wonderful magnetic field (which protects us from solar death rays and cosmic radiation) is generated in the earth's iron core by something called the dynamo effect. Basically, the swirling, boiling seas of liquid magggggma iron in the center of the earth can create a giant magnetic field... sort of like an electro-magnet, where the magnet produces its own power that makes it a magnet which produces power. Yeah, it's confusing alright, even the author of that article doesn't go into it that much!

Anyway, those seas of iron are just like our big blue oceans up top. They even get molten iron hurricanes (minus the wind and water, and levees of course) that can create their own little magnetic fields. Much like sunspots, these can create "anomalies." But as long as you press the button every 108 minutes, you'll be fine. Too bad the magnetic hot spots would move around quite a bit.

[Pardon me if I misstated the scientific stuff, I'm doing my best! For the best info, if you can understand it, check out my links above.]

What if...

All this thinking about magnets has me wondering about this one huge magnet that we all know about. That's right; Mother Russia Earth.

In case you weren't aware, we all live on a huge iron magnet. I know the magnetic field is much less pronounced than the little ones you can buy, but how much? I wonder if all of the zen spots and mystical places throughout the planet have something to do with stronger magnetic fields? You know, besides the Lost island.

Yahoo! Health (!) has an article!

Sorry about the extraneous explosions of exclamation points upon entry to this post. And the needless and most definitely unwarranted use of alliteration. What was I saying?

Yahoo Health has a great article about the benefits of pain fighting magnets. It goes into a studied regarding the use of a placebo, and how the magnets provided significantly higher reduction in injury. I won't steal the articles thunder, but most certainly check it out!

The article also mentions several studies that I am not familiar with regarding the effects of magnets. I will look into these for the benefit of you, faithful reader.

As promised...

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Ok, I found one of the articles about how there is actual proof that magnets do good stuff for your body. A fellow by the name of Thomas C. Skalak Ph.D. conducted some experiments for the University of Virginia's Biomedical Engineering program on the effects of magnets on rats. Basically, he found that magnetic fields can cause a huge reduction in the swelling of an injury.

The following is a dramatic reading of the American Journal of Physiology. Ahem.

External application of static magnetic fields, utilized specifically for the treatment of inflammatory conditions such as soft tissue injuries, has recently become popular as a complementary and/or alternative therapy with minimal investigation into efficacy or mechanism. Localized inflammation was induced via injection of inflammatory agents -carrageenan (CA) or histamine into rat hindpaws, alone or in conjunction with pharmacologic agents, resulting in a spatially and temporally defined inflammatory reaction. Application of a 10mT or 70mT, but not a 400mT SMF for 15 or 30 minutes immediately following histamine-induced edema resulted in a significant, 20-50% reduction in edema formation. Additionally, a 2 hour, 70mT field application to CA-induced edema also resulted in significant (33-37%) edema reduction.

Translation: Pain bad, magnets good. Narf.

They work!

[UPDATE: The picture to the left is relevant... fake doctors, quacks, ducks... ok, nevermind!]


Before I write anything profound, let me first clarify this entire blog. Two weeks ago, I would scoffed [scoffed I tell you!] at the thought of magnets actually doing something... You know, besides sticking plastic to cooled food storage devices.

Anyhow, I saw an article on how effective magnets actually are... Now I'm a believer! Not a trace of doubt in my mind! I'm in love, wooooooooo... oh, sorry. Didn't mean to break out in song there. I will be following this up with said proof, once I find it.

But just in case you did want to let out your inner Davey Jones, feel free.

First!

Hey everyone, welcome to the blog! I'm really excited about bringing you the latest news and information about the healing properties of magnets. I have tons to say, so I hope to keep the blog updated frequently.

I have some great ideas for what we're going to be doing in the coming days, so stay tuned!

Thanks PinkCakeBox for the beautiful cake picture.