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.

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.

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.

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.