Magnets May Offer Some Help

Magnets may offer help in mental- and brain-centralized diseases, according to new research. The magnetic fields apparently not only stimulate electromagnetic forces which prove beneficial to the patient in a number of ways, they also seem to strengthen the brain "muscles" which control, function, and produce these same benefits.

While more in-depth, scientific discussion can be found elsewhere, and the recent BBC article does a fair job of running down the details, I would suggest that it works much like the physical practice of "traction."

In traction, you are hooked a to a machine which is only fairly uncomfortable According to the severity of your injury(s), the process lasts between 20 minutes to far longer. The machine is strapped to your chin and about your ears (behind and to the sides), and literally pulls your neck from your torso for about 20-30 seconds [again, depending on the injury]). It then relaxes the neck and connecting muscles for the same amount of time. It is slightly uncomfortable, but only very rarely painful -- and you have a panic button in your hand at all times to stop it whenever you want -- and it works. While it does not immediately quell the pain and cannot "cure" it, it helps immensely.

I believe magnetic forces can and will do the same and should be pursued to see how well they play out. Even if we agree that the brain tissue is not a muscle as we know it, it is most likely capable of being exercised and strengthened and the ebb and tide of the magnetic field -- the real "traction" for the ol' bean -- logically seems to work.