High Blood Pressure & Magnetic Healing

Magnetic healing is an alternative therapy also referred to as magnet therapy or bioenergy therapy. The process involves the use of magnets of varying sizes and strengths. The magnets are placed on different points of the body, and are designed to treat diseases, pain and conditions such as high blood pressure. Claims of the success of magnet therapy are unproven, and neither the FDA nor the medical community endorses the use of magnets as therapy for high blood pressure.

Diuretic

• According to MagnetTherapyFacts.org, magnets can treat high blood pressure by acting as a diuretic to remove excess fluid from the body. High blood pressure is usually accompanied by swelling of the extremities as a result of excess fluid. This excess fluid exacerbates the high blood pressure by putting pressure on the heart. MagnetTherapyFacts.org suggests that drinking magnetized water will help to eliminate this excess fluid just as a commercial diuretic medication would, reducing the amount of work the heart has to do and thus lowering blood pressure. The website suggests drinking at least four glasses of magnetized water each day in order to achieve the desired effect.

Increased Blood Flow

• MagnetTherapyFacts.org also suggests that magnet therapy can help to increase blood flow. They recommend wearing a magnet on a bracelet around the wrist, over the radial artery (one of the body's main arteries). The radial artery will absorb the magnetic energy and distribute the energy throughout the circulatory system, improving blood flow, raising oxygen levels in the blood, and improving oxygenation in the organs and tissues. As a result, the heart will not have to pump as often to get the necessary oxygen to the body systems. This reduces the work the heart has to do, which reduces blood pressure.

Does it Work?

• Medical professionals disagree on the effectiveness of magnetic healing of high blood pressure. The American Cancer Society states that there are no medical studies which prove magnet therapy is an effective treatment for illnesses, including high blood pressure, and suggests that any success stories are anecdotal.
  There are, however, some very limited endorsements of the practice of magnet therapy within the medical community. Dr. Weintraub, of New York Medical College, concurs that the benefits of magnetic healing as a practice may have been overstated, but does suggest that there are some potential benefits to the treatment. However, the benefits he cited came from a study he conducted on 375 patients suffering from diabetes-induced nerve damage, and this study--one of the few positive studies cited in the medical community--does not suggest that the therapy is effective for high blood pressure treatment.

Government Position

• The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) states that the advertisement of magnetic therapy as a healing agent for high blood pressure is untrue and constitutes false advertising. In 1999, the FTC barred Magnetic Therapeutic Technologies from claiming that their magnet products were effective at treating high blood pressure.

Risks

• While there are few risks associated with wearing magnets or trying magnet therapy, the American Cancer Society cautions that delaying or rejecting conventional medical treatment for illnesses (including high blood pressure) in favor of magnet therapy can be detrimental to one's health. Furthermore, magnet therapy may interfere with certain other medical treatments, including infusion pumps, defibrillators and pacemakers.