PEMF History

Five hundred years ago, Paracelsus, a Swiss physician and alchemist, wondered if diseases could be manipulated by magnets, using lodestones as the best magnets available then. But, natural lodestones are quite weak and few people paid much attention to his ideas until the discovery of carbonsteel magnets in the 1700's. During the 1800's, most of the discoveries relating electricity to magnetism were made by the early pioneers of our modern technical world, men such as Gauss, Weber, Faraday and Maxwell among others One of the more interesting magnetic theories postulates something called "Magnetic Field Deficiency Syndrome."

It is offered as an explanation of biomagnetic effects by Dr. Kyochi Nakagawa of Japan. The Earth's magnetic field is not fixed in position or strength. In the last hundred years, it has weakened on the average by about 6 percent. In the last thousand years, it has fallen nearly 30 percent. Dr. Nakagawa argues that since humans evolved in a magnetic field, it is necessary for proper health. A falling magnetic field puts us at risk and magnetic therapy makes up the deficit.

The truth is, no one really understands the mechanisms by which magnetic fields affect human health. There are many theories but very little agreement. It is a problem as complicated as a human being, concerning dozens of organs and thousands of different molecules.

Just because you can't explain something, doesn't mean it can't happen.

For two hundred years, it has been possible to build magnets from coils of wire powered by electricity called electromagnets. Such devices can be pulsed to produce magnetic fields that change very rapidly. This opens a whole new world of medical applications since changing magnetic fields can induce tiny electrical currents in human tissue. Pulsing electromagnetic therapy is approved by the FDA to promote the healing of serious bone fractures. And powerful electromagnets are used in brain and muscle research to generate currents strong enough to fire nerves that trigger sensations and flex muscles. To date, there have been many basic research studies and many clinical trials of Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy .

Historically, as far back as 1890, the American Electro-Therapeutic Association conducted annual conferences on the therapeutic use of electricity and electrical devices by physicians on ailing patients.

Some involved current flow through the patient, while others were electrically powered devices. At first, only direct current (DC) devices were utilized in the medical doctor’s office for relieving pain.