Citizen Science #21 by Jamie Zvirzdin

Energy Demystified: The Real Attraction of Magnetic Energy

I’ve been mesmerized by magnets since I was a little girl. They seem like magic: They stick notes to our fridges, help our earbuds play great tunes, even help doctors see the difference between normal brain tissue and a growing tumor, through MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans. But can magnets heal us if we wear them? That’s where things get a bit rough, and we must look carefully at the claims and at the science behind magnetic energy.

I once saw a magazine ad claiming a magnetic bracelet would heal my pain. Conveniently for the seller, the bracelet was also expensive. Proponents of this “ionized jewelry” claim these magnets can improve blood flow, reduce pain and balance your body’s energy fields. This may sound too good to be true, and it is: There’s just no scientific proof backing these claims beyond a simple placebo effect (See Citizen Science article #5 on AllOtsego.com for more about the placebo effect). The hemoglobin in our blood contains iron, but it’s not ferromagnetic and isn’t affected by the weak magnetic fields of bracelets.

Magnets are marvelous, but it is unethical to swindle people out of their hard-earned money by promising miracles. To protect ourselves from such pseudoscience, let’s get into the physics of magnetic energy and see what is really happening.