Magnets: They work if you believe
Every year, Americans spend $500 million on therapeutic magnets, despite little scientific evidence that magnets work. A study in the Sept. 17 Journal of the American Medical Association shows magnetic shoe inserts worked to fight pain, but only just as well as sham shoe inserts with no magnetic properties.
The study involved 101 adults with plantar heel pain. Some got magnets in their shoes; others got the sham inserts. By the end of the study, about one-third of both groups, those who got real magnets and those who didn’t, reported they were all or mostly better.
In a related article, researchers found a large number of Internet sites pitching herbal remedies with unsubstantiated health claims in violation of federal law. And an editorial called for more regulation of herbal remedies.
