Geophysical variables and behavior: XXVII. Magnetic necklace: its therapeutic effectiveness on neck and shoulder pain: 2. Psychological assessment.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R J Meltzer.
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The effect of the magnetic necklace on chronic neck and shoulder pain was studied on 101 volunteers, 46 males and 55 females. A double-blind method was applied on 4 divided groups (with pain vs without pain matched with magnetic vs nonmagnetic necklace). All the subjects wore the necklace 24 hours per day for 3 weeks. Subjective evaluation from the subjects with pain, either with magnetic or nonmagnetic treatment, was performed before and 3 weeks after the necklace treatment, and revealed a significant placebo effect in terms of decrease in intensity or frequency of pain. The objective tests with electrodiagnostic procedures were done before the treatment and at 3 weekly intervals. The proximal conduction time of the ulnar nerve was significantly reduced by magnetic treatment in the subjects without pain but was not changed in the subjects with pain. There was no significant change in the excitation threshold of the suprascapular nerve in all subjects. The possible mechanism of magnetic effects on pain and the prospect of magnetotherapy for pain relief in physical medicine are discussed.
F waves were studied with stimulation of the ulnar nerve in normal subjects (25 men and 15 women, with an average age of 26.5 years) using an EMG machine that permits the simultaneous display of 8 sweeps. The axillary F-loop latency (AFLL), defined at the conduction time between the axilla (25cm from the sternal notch) and the spinal cord, was 9.17 +/- 0.81msec when 8 F responses were measured but was 8.57 +/- 1.00msec when 40 F responses were used. Data from men and women showed no significant statistical difference. The mean plus 2 standard deviations were 10.8 and 10.6msec for 8 and 40 responses, respectively. On the basis of these findings, an AFLL longer than 11msec should be considered abnormal in the young adult. Four measures repeated at weekly intervals showed no significant difference from week to week, indicating that the technique can be consistently and reliably applied at different times. The average duration of the F complex was 15.78 +/- 2.55msec and was about 80% of the average duration of the M wave.
Rectangular pulse-modulated microwave radiation has been shown to produce auditory responses in mammals. It is therefore reasonable to explore the possibility of using microwave pulses to achieve an estimate of sensori-neural involvement in the objective evaluation of human hearing and to assess the presence of tumors or brainstem lesions in patients with neurological disorders. In this paper we shall show that microwave-evoked auditory response of cats closely resembles that evoked by acoustic pulse. We shall also give preliminary results obtained from electrodes fastened to the vertex of the skull after successive coagulative production of lesions in the inferior colliculus, lateral lemniscus, and superior olivary nucleus.
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