Devon doctors to test effect of magnetic bracelets on osteoarthritis
DOCTORS in Devon are to carry out a pioneering clinical trial to test the effectiveness of magnetic bracelets on reducing the pain of osteoarthritis.
Many people who wear magnetic bracelets swear that the aches and pains in their joints are greatly reduced.
But the medical profession has remained sceptical, and until now very little scientific evidence has been gathered to back up any claims.
Now doctors in Exeter and Cullompton are to run a three-month trial on 150 patients with osteoarthritis to try to establish once and for all if they really do work. The study is being funded by a £41,015 grant over 12 months from medical research charity the Arthritis Research Campaign.
The trial will be carried out by Professor Edzard Ernst, director of the department of complementary medicine at the University of Exeter, and two GPs at College Surgery in Cullompton, Dr Timothy Harlow and Mr Michael Dixon. Up to 150 patients with osteoarthritis will be recruited from surgeries in Cullompton, Silverton and Crediton.
The patients will be randomly assigned to three groups wearing identical bracelets but which contain either a magnetic device, a reduced strength magnet, and a non-magnetic device (a placebo). The results will then be compared at the end of three months.
"It appears that many people do get pain relief from magnetic bracelets, but we do not know if this is because they think it will make them better - what is known as the placebo effect - or if the magnets are actually effective in pain relief," explained Professor Ernst.
"This study wants to find out how much above the placebo effect the magnets work, or not. Flaws have been identified in previous studies, and the two highest quality studies have given conflicting results; hence there is a need to conduct a definitive study to settle the matter once and for all.
"If magnetic bracelets are proven to be effective then they can be recommended as a cheap form of self-treatment for pain in osteoarthritis."
Dr Harlow, a member of the Mid Devon Research Group, which will carry out data collection and organisation, said many of his patients had told him about how magnetic bracelets had helped them. "We live in an age of evidence-based medicine, and we ought to have proper evidence to show whether magnetic bracelets work or not," he added.
The Arthritis Research Campaign, the fifth biggest medical research charity in the UK, is the only medical research charity that funds research into complementary therapies. It is currently also funding small clinical trials into cod liver oil and acupuncture.
