Head case
Even the most open-minded of my friends and family members -- the ones who believe in the power of vitamins and other nutrients over prescription drugs for keeping themselves healthy -- start giving me skeptical looks when I begin talking about the magnetic molecular energizer (MME) therapy Dr. Wright has written about in Nutrition & Healing. The results he's seen from this technique are amazing enough to bring out the skeptic in most people. But as unbelievable as they may sound, those results are completely real. And so are the ones that came about recently from another type of magnet therapy used to prevent migraine headaches. This particular treatment is much smaller than the MME device. In fact, it's a hand-held unit about the size of a hairdryer called a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) device that was tested recently in a new study. Researchers recruited over 200 patients who suffer from migraines and divided them into two groups. The first group received the TMS device and the other received a non- magnetic "placebo" device. Both groups were instructed to apply their devices to the site of the pain at its onset. Two hours later, 39 percent of the TMS patients were migraine- free, while only 22 percent of the placebo group had avoided their migraines. One of the researchers commented that "this is a much better response than is achieved with any other method or medication that we have." While it's not widely available yet, it looks like it could be soon, since the TMS device seems to have more mainstream support than alternative therapies typically get. In fact, one expert from Montefiore Headache Center in New York said that the results were so impressive that he believes "it's extremely likely that this [device] will become part of the therapeutic armamentarium." Even doctors at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City are acknowledging the benefits of this migraine magnet therapy. According to Woodson Merrell, M.D., chairman of Beth Israel's department of integrative medicine, "the use of the stimulation device and other therapies involving magnets will allow many migraine patients to avoid prescription medication and the side effects associated with these drugs." And in a rare display of common sense from a representative of a mainstream medical institution, Merrell offers the following insight: "It's not like you're giving patients some biological agent that could have sweeping biological effects and could interfere with other medications a patient is taking, or simply bring on negative side effects. A therapy using magnets is inexpensive and virtually free of side effects." As Merrell puts it, "What's to lose with this treatment?" After all, it's a win-win combination that even the biggest skeptics can't argue with. Sources:
"Magnetic stimulation blocks migraine pain," Reuters Health News, 6/27/08
"Magnetic field device may zap away migraines," ABC News (www.abc.com), 6/26/08 | 
