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I've heard that magnets reduce pain. Is this voodoo medicine or does it really work?
There's no question that some magnets have powerful effects in the body - like the strong, "pulsed" magnets used in diagnostic scanners or those used to treat depression by changing electrical currents in the brain or others used to heal bones.
But the evidence is questionable on small, "static" magnets - the kind used to attach things to the refrigerator or, by the aching and hopeful, to reduce pain. These probably don't do much because, unlike the pulsed magnets, they produce no electrical fields, said James D. Livingston, a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of Driving Force: The Natural Magic of Magnets.
"I'm not willing to say that it's totally impossible that something might happen," Livingston said "But most of the claims for therapeutic magnets are probably due to the placebo effect" or other factors. Golfers who wear back supports with magnets may feel less pain, but the wraps keep the back warmer and provide support, he said.
In 1997, a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 50 patients at Baylor College of Medicine showed that static magnets significantly reduced post-polio pain.
But for heel pain, podiatric researchers in New York reported in 1997 that a magnetic foil placed in the insole was no better than a plain insole. Mayo Clinic researchers came to a similar conclusion in 2003, after studying real and sham magnets for heel pain.
Real magnets also fared no better than shams in a study of people with low back pain by Arizona researchers in 2000. But British researchers reported in late 2004 that osteoarthritis pain in the hip and knee decreased when people wore magnetic bracelets.
The bottom line: "Of all the things you can spend your money on, this is probably one of the less dangerous," said Dr. Brent A. Bauer, director of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
I've heard that red wine reduces the risk of prostate cancer. Is this true?
It may, but the data are not definitive enough to say for sure.
In September, researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle said they found that men who drank four or more glasses of red wine per week reduced their prostate cancer risk by about half.
Moreover, the researchers, led by epidemiologist Janet L. Stanford, found that beer, hard liquor and white wine did not show the same protective effect.
Perhaps even more intriguing, Stanford said in a telephone interview, red wine consumption seemed to have its most potent effects against the most aggressive kinds of prostate cancer.
The key, she said, may be a well-known antioxidant, resveratrol, found in greater abundance in the skins of red grapes than white. Resveratrol may block cell growth in prostate cancer, enhance the tendency for cancer cells to commit "suicide" and weakly block androgen, the hormone that often drives prostate cancer. It also blocks inflammation and the growth of new blood vessels that often grow around tumors.
So, should men start guzzling red wine? No, but if you're a drinker, you might consider substituting red wine for the white wine, beer or spirits you already consume.
This is just one study (of about 1,500 men, half with prostate cancer and half without) in a very mixed literature of studies, said Dr. Marc Garnick, a prostate cancer specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and executive vice president of Praecis Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Some researchers think that a diet low in animal fat and high in lycopene, found in cooked tomatoes, may be protective. It's possible, though still debatable, that chocolate, vitamin A, vitamin E soy products and a mineral called selenium may also be protective.
Do you have a medical question? You can submit questions via e-mail to foreman@baltsun.com.
Copyright © 2005, The Baltimore Sun
