The History of Magnets and Magnetic Therapy.

Historically it’s reported that magnets have been around for an super long time. Magnets were first credentialed approximately 2500-3000 years before Christ. Their ancestries are first mentioned in Asia Minor in a vast land called Magnesia. The solid ground at that place was enriched with iron oxide which attracted metals to it. The locals called it Magnetite.

A different chronicle is told of a young boy, who dwelt 2500 years before Christ, called Magnes— a shepherd on Mount Ida. One day he was tending his sheep whilst wearing sandals which contained iron in the sole. He found it difficult to walk up the mount as his feet felt heavy and adhered the rock face. Mount Ida was found to bear a stone called Lodestone, which is the 1st recognized magnetic mineral. It’s rumored that Lodestone was named Magnes after the boy who came upon it, and it afterward came to be titled magnet.

Cleopatra was likely the first famous person to apply magnets. It is documented that she slept on a Lodestone to keep her skin young. The therapeutic knowledge was passed to the Greeks who have been applying magnets for healing since 2500 BC Aristotle and Plato talked about the benefits of Lodestones in their work.

Magnets have been applied in Chinese medicine from about 2000 BC in-conjunction on reflexology and acupuncture. It’s still used nowadays as a first line discussion for a lot of common complaints.

3,500 years after they were first detected, magnets have gained popularity in Europe and the USA. In the 15th century a Swiss physician Paracelsus acknowledged the curative abilities of magnets. He composed medical document on the influence of magnets on the inflammatory processes within the body.

In the 16th century an English doc Dr William Gilbert made a scientific study of electrical energy and magnetic force. He issued one of the first books on magnetic therapy named “De Magnet”. Dr Gilbert was also Queens Elizabeth I personal physician and it is said that she applied magnets under his instruction.

Michael Faraday, a.k.a. the founding father of Biomagnetics made copious discoveries in magnetic healing during the eighteenth century. His work is still used as a model for contemporary magnetic treatments. Dr Mesmer (the father of hypnotism) and Dr Samuel Hahnemann (the father of homoeopathy) also added to his extraordinary work.

Twentieth century groundbreakers include Dr Kreft a German doctor who in 1905 analyzed the healing forces of magnets on rheumatic disease, sciatica and neuralgia. 1926 revealed Dr Criles work on the affect of magnets on cancer cells and this was followed decade later in 1936 with Albert Davis carrying out tests on the effects of the north and south poles of a magnet.

However the last fifteen years has shown a prolific gain in medical research into magnetic therapy. There have been over 57 studies in the USA into incurable diseases and magnetics. Some of the most recent are:

1990 – University if Hawaii tested magnetic fields on patients with osteoarthritis.
1992- Stiller et al a randomised double blind trial of wound healing in venous leg wounds.
1999- New York Medical College tested magnetic insoles on diabetic patients.
2001- University of Virginia tested magnetic mattress covers on patients with Fibromyalgia.
2004- University of Exeter and Plymouth tested magnetic bracelets on patients with osteoarthritis

Magnetic therapy is acquiring  popularity worldwide with a lot of celebrity devotees including:

Cherie Blair
Bill Clinton
Anthony Hopkins
Prince William
Queen Elizabeth II
Shirley MaClaine
Venus Williams
Michael Jordan
Andre Agassi
Jack Niklaus and many more.

Magnetic devices are now registered as prescribable medical devices in fifty-four nations worldwide With recent research being accomplished every year and doctors at last acknowledging that it is not “witch doctory” we shall hopefully see, with in the next a couple of years, magnetic devices being prescribed on the NHS in-conjunction with conventional pain killing drugs.