From: sbharris@ix.netcom.com(Steven B. Harris)
Newsgroups: sci.med,sci.physics,misc.health.alternative,sci.life-extension,
	alt.folklore.science,sci.med.diseases.cancer
Subject: Re: Dangers of Magnetic Therapy (Humor)
Date: 15 Aug 1998 05:19:15 GMT

In <6r25mh$ctl$1@glencoe.hw.ac.uk> b.h.jarvis@hw.ac.uk writes:

>I'm told that racehorse owners pay handsomely for broken bones to be
>surrounded in a PULSED magnetic field. Any idea why?


   This induces small currents in the bone that make it heal faster.
Bone cells are sensivitive to e-fields which arise from peizoelectric
effects when bone is stressed.  This allows them to grow to make the
bone stronger along usual stresses (a perfect microengineering system).
The same effect can also be used to artificially stimulate these cells
to grow faster to heal fractures.  THEY "think" they're growing to make
a stressed bone stronger, when what they're really doing is growing to
make a broken bone (under no stress) knit.  Sometimes it's nice to fool
mother nature.