The effectiveness of magnetic bracelets

It is often the case, in practice, that the medicinal properties of certain organic compounds are discovered by laboratory observation - or even clinical trials - long before the underlying causal relationship is discovered. Thus, Alexander Fleming observed the effects of a type of mould called Penicillium notatum on bacteria in a laboratory dish, some time before Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain were able to use it in patients. The problem was making it in sufficient quantities. It also had to be purified, because in its impure form it was toxic to human beings.

Similarly, the commonly taken medication Aspirin, originated as far back as 1853. But it wasn't until 1899 that is was used in the medical context. Moreover, only as recently as 1971, did John Robert Vane, a British Pharmacologist doing research at the Royal College of Surgeons, identify the underlying mechanism of how it worked. This achievement was recognized by the Nobel Committee in 1982, when Vane and two others were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine. This was noted in a recent blog.

So if it is a still quite while before we can answer the question, how do magnetic bracelets work or why does copper help with arthritis, no on should be at all surprised. And if we leave these unanswered questions to the specialists, then we the ordinary people are free to focus on more practical questions. For example, we might ask what do magnetic bracelets help with?

The answers have shifted over time, rather than stayed constant. So we should be careful not to assume that today's current state of knowledge is final or certain. And we need to be particularly careful about claiming any curative properties of magnetic bracelets. But if even if we are careful not to go so far as to claim that magnets or magnetism can actually cure diseases, there is still another question we can ask. Do magnets really help with pain?

And if the answer is in the affirmative, that means that magnetic bracelets ease aches. And what would certainly be of tremendous value to millions of people all over the world.

This leads on to the next – and perhaps most relevant – point. And if magnetic bracelets work ‘ease aches’ – in other words, if magnetic bracelets DO work, say researchers, in pain relief then the next question is do magnetic bracelets work for arthritis? For is so, then there is such a thing as an arthritis bracelet. This does not mean a healing bracelet. After all, one may ask, what is a healing bracelet?

But should we, for that matter, limit the question solely to the bracelet. Don’t forget that a bracelet is worn on one’s wrist. But arthritis is a more indiscriminate disease. It can attack not only the hands but any of the limbs and also, of course, the neck and - most important – the back. This is discussed in more detail on the MPS Facebook page.

In practice practitioners of alternative therapy, as well as the more open-minded members of the “official” medical community, have attempted to use magnets to relieve pain in all of the areas of the body that can be affected by arthritis.

So the real question we need to ask, then is not about particular items of jewellery. Instead we should simply be asking, do MAGNETS work for arthritis?

Although winter hasn't quite hit us just yet, the weather has turned distinctly autumnal - and that is bad news for people who suffer from arthritis. There's actually a debate about whether the weather actually does affect arthritis sufferers.

In fact I've covered this before. According to Philip Conaghan, professor of musculoskeletal medicine at the University of Leeds:

'Many claim that arthritis gets worse when the atmospheric pressure falls, just before it rains,' says Prof Conaghan. 'But scientific trials have failed to prove this. There is no evidence to show weather or climate has any effect on arthritis. OA occurs all over the world, in all types of climates.'

Maybe, but in what numbers or percentages, to what degree and does it fluctuate according to the weather? The professor doesn't say. But real world experience tells us that it does indeed get worse in the cold weather!

However, one of the ways that one can alleviate the pain is with copper and magnetic bracelets. It is a well-known fact that copper arthritis bracelets and therapy magnets for healing can make a difference. There is, in fact, a huge range bracelets for arthritis.

And now with Christmas coming up, this would seem like the perfect time to buy such a bracelet as a present. Indeed, you could do no better than to buy some of the best healing bracelets around from Magnetic Products Store.

To encourage this, and make it easier on your pocket, they are running a special three-for-one promotion. All you have to do is buy any three bracelets from their site - come on, you must have at least three friends - and you get the copper magnetic bangle shown in the big picture above. For more details, or simply to visit their website, just click on the highlighted link earlier in this paragraph and you will be instantly transported there - in a new tab - faster than you can say: "beam me up Scotty!"

I've noticed lately that I've been banging on too much about the weather and sport. Both are quintessentially British, even if our weather is lousy and our sporting success always falls short of our expectations - pace our recent Olympics successes.

So I promise, today, to find something else I'd like to talk about. And what I'd like to talk about is the magnetic bracelets from MPS with gemstones. The reason I mention these is because in my opinion they are nothing like what one might expect from a medical product. They are not like knee braces or insulin pumps. When you look at them, what do you see?

The answer is that you see an item of jewellery every bit as beautiful as you might see in the windows of Tiffany, Cartiers or House of Garrard - who were the Crown jewellers for 164 years until they were replaced by G Collins and Sons. Collins, for their part, have now apparently been replaced by Mappin and Webb.

But to get back to my narrative. Why does jewellery have to be expensive?  Diamonds are not rare - despite the efforts of certain interested parties to make us think otherwise. Nor are they necessarily any more attractive that Swarovski. They are not even a good "investment" because of the huge "spread" between the price that jewellers will charge you for them and the price you would get if you tried to sell one.

In short, diamonds are a pig in a poke... a naked emperor... bordering on a scam. And they have the nerve to question the ethics of selling magnetic jewellery as alternative medicine!

What hypocrisy!

So let us cast both the hypocrisy and the prejudice aside and judge not by what the experts tell us but rather by the evidence of our own eyes. And that's telling us one thing. These bracelets are good. And when you think about, you are the final judge.