Abstract
Basford JR. A historical perspective of the popular use of electric and magnetic therapy.
Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2001;82:1261-9. Objectives: To review the history of the therapeutic use of static electric and magnetic fields
and to understand its implications for current popular and medical acceptance of these
and other alternative and complementary therapies. Data Sources: Comprehensive MEDLINE (1960–2000) and CINAHL (1982–2000) computer literature searches
by using key words such as electricity, magnetism, electromagnetic, therapy, medicine, EMF, history of medicine, and fields. Additional references were obtained from the bibliographies of the selected articles.
In addition, discussions were held with curators of medical history museums and supplemental
searches were made of Internet sources through various search engines. Study Selection: Primary references were used whenever possible. In a few instances, secondary references,
particularly those requiring translations of early texts, were used. Data Synthesis: The use of electric and magnetic forces to treat disease has intrigued the general
public and the scientific community since at least the time of the ancient Greeks.
The popularity of these therapies has waxed and waned over the millennia, but at all
times the popular imagination, often spurred by dynamic and colorful practitioners
of pseudoscience, has been more excited than the medical or political establishment.
In fact, a pattern seems to reappear. In each era, unsophisticated public acceptance
is met first with medical disdain, then with investigation, and, finally, with a failure
to find objective evidence of efficacy. This pattern continues today with the public
acceptance of magnetic therapy (and alternative and complementary medicine in general)
far outstripping acceptance by the medical community. Conclusion: The therapeutic implications of applying electrical and magnetic fields to heal disease
have continually captured the popular imagination. Approaches thousands of years apart
can be remarkably similar, but, in each era, proof has been lacking and the prevailing
medical establishment has remained unconvinced. Interest persists today. Although
these agents may have a future role in the healing of human disease, their history
and a minimal scientific rationale makes it unlikely that the dichotomy between the
hopes of the public and the medical skepticism will disappear. © 2001 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy
of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
November 21,
2000
Footnotes
☆No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.
☆☆Reprint requests to Jeffrey Basford, MD, PhD, Dept of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Rochester, MN 55902.
Identification
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© 2001 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
