Diabetes and Magnets
A new study is out that confirms the apparent benefits of magnet therapy for diabetics. Specifically, wearing magnetic insoles can provide significant relief to diabetics who suffer from a painful condition called peripheral neuropathy. Dr. Max Gomez has details.
It's a test that measures how well nerves are conducting signals from the feet. And the results for Jeanette Castner show that her diabetes has, in fact, damaged those nerves. In her case its made them extremely numb, which is much more serious than it sounds.
Jeanette says, "All of a sudden you would see blood, because you had a blister." "You don't feel that at all?" "Well, I did lose a toe because of that."
The problem is called diabetic neuropathy and it's a major disabler of people with diabetes. Dr. Michael Weintraub, of New York Medical College says, "You can have numbness and tingling like your feet are asleep or numb or tingling or burning to the point here you can't even put pressure on them."
But Jeanette and other diabetics have gotten significant relief from their neuropathy by using an ancient alternative treatment-- magnets. Nineteen patients in a well-designed scientific study published January 11 in the American Journal of Pain Management wore magnetic insoles around the clock except while showering. They they rated their pain twice a day for four months. The trick was making sure the pain relief was really due to the magnets.
Dr. Weintraub explains, "So, I created a design to have the pt test one foot as a control against a real magnet on the other foot, and then after one month, switch them. So, in the other month they would havae a magnet on the opposite foot and a sham magnet or device on the other foot, so they would not know which ones they were."
Both the foot with the fake and the real magnet got some pain relief but when they were switched to real magnets, 90 percent of the diabetics got significantly better from their neuropathy.
Jeanette says, "But since the magnetic chips, it's ironic how I don't, I still have numbness but it's decreased."
As to why magnets seem to work, there are a few theories but the bottom line is, no one really knows. Curiously, the magnetic insoles don't work as well on foot pain from causes other than diabetes.
