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Subject:Copper bracelets and CTS From:geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA Date:Tue, 19 Aug 1997 12:58:53 -0500
Bob Morisette raised the caution flag about advice that
copper or magnetic bracelets could be used to alleviate
carpal tunnel syndrome. That's a very prudent attitude
because there are plenty of scam artists who have jumped
into the alternative medicines business and give the
serious practitioners a bad name. Nonetheless:
I can't provide the research article that Bob requested to
support this sort of claim, but I do know that
electrobiology is a growing field of (reputable) medical
research. About 10 years ago, _Discover_ published a review
of research done by a Swedish doctor that showed
dramatically improved rates of healing (in cuts and broken
bones) when an appropriate electrical current was applied.
The principle seemed very sound: if memory serves, the
researcher had measured that these currents arose _in vivo_
during healing, and attracted various micronutrients etc.
to the wound site; he wondered whether exogenous currents
could stimulate the effect, and found that they did. I
haven't seen anything on this issue since, but don't make
any claim to have followed the field closely.
FWIW, _Discover_ was the first popular science mag to
report on the discovery of prions, which were scoffed at by
traditional epidemiologists, but which are now accepted as
the cause of "mad cow disease", among other things.
Alternative medicine does come up with the occasional
breakthrough!
--Geoff Hart @8^{)} geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.
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