Magnet Therapy
I think that most people will automatically write that one off as bogus but the (hopefully) final nail in the coffin is talked about over at
BBC News:
Magnet therapies 'have no effect'
Magnet therapies which are claimed to cure conditions ranging from back pain to cancer have no proven benefits, according to a team of US researchers.
Sales of the so-called therapeutic devices, which are worn in bracelets, insoles, and wrist and knee bands, top $1 billion worldwide, they said.
But a major review showed no benefits, a British Medical Journal report said.
The team also warned self-treatment with magnets risked leaving underlying medical conditions untreated.
Professor Leonard Finegold of Drexel University in Philadelphia and Professor Bruce Flamm of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in California said turning to magnetic therapies could also cause "financial harm".
"Money spent on expensive and unproved magnet therapy might be better spent on evidence based medicine," their report said.
The test was a double-blind so the users had no way of telling if the bracelet had a magnet or not. The placebo worked as well as the real magnet.
I am amazed that people believe this -- there are also hucksters that sell 'magnetic' water purifiers and devices to improve gas mileage based on magnets that are clipped onto the gas line.
Pure un-adulterated bunk each and every one of them...
Posted by DaveH at January 5, 2006 9:44 PM