Using Electricity to Heal

ganjadude writes to tell us that while the idea of using electricity to heal wounds was first reported 150 years ago by Emil Du Bois-Reymond, modern scientists may have found a way to practically apply this idea. From the article: "The researchers grew layers of mouse cells and larger tissues, such as corneas, in the lab. After 'wounding' these tissues, they applied varying electric fields to them, and found they could accelerate or completely halt the healing process depending on the orientation and strength of the field."

Power Insurance

[Doc Ruby]

Once doctors are using guided electric fields to assist healing, how will corporations which spill uncontrolled electric fields among people deny that their fields affect human tissue? Or will they just claim credit for the healing "they've already been offering free for generations", and start tacking a medical charge on our bills?

How to get laid by New Age chicks

[bermabloeme]

This creates electric field patterns all over the body.

A lot of the "New Age" folks say they can see a person's aura. A lot of these "New Age" folks are really hot girls! So, this is what you do: you grab this article and tell them that you believe, now. Let her just start talking about this stuff. Then, complain about some ailment that requires her "healing" touch. Lastly, ask to try it on her.

Let things progress: touching , kissing, clothes off, etc...

Enjoy!

Re:Magnets

[Anonymous Coward]

You are right about electromagnetism, but only in regards to Moving Magnets.

A stationary magnet does not create an electric field. And since everything is relative, Wearing a magnet on your wrist makes it stationary in comparison to your wrist, thus wearing magnets is pointless. QED.

Re:Power Insurance

[Anonymous Coward]

It figures that the bozos at New Scientist, by confusing "electric fields" with "electric currents", would prompt comments like this. EM radiation from wireless sources consists of orthogonal electric and magnetic fields which are as different from DC currents, physically speaking, as you could possibly imagine.

This sort of journalism is exactly why I no longer subscribe to New Scientist. They don't appear to give a crap about the "science" part.

Re:Magnets

[vadim_t]

Blood keeps flowing though your hand, though.

Re:How to get laid by New Age chicks

[SteveFoerster]

A lot of the "New Age" folks say they can see a person's aura. A lot of these "New Age" folks are really hot girls! So, this is what you do: you grab this article and tell them that you believe, now. Let her just start talking about this stuff. Then, complain about some ailment that requires her "healing" touch. Lastly, ask to try it on her. Let things progress: touching , kissing, clothes off, etc... Enjoy!

Only on /. would this get modded "Informative" rather than "Funny".

Re:Implementation or Understanding

[Vellmont]

Are we in fact going to do the same thing with electricity here?

I doubt it. The effects of radiation on the body 100 years ago was very poorly understood. Low voltage electrical currents by comparison are fairly benign. It's not like the use of electricity in the human body is new. Pacemakers have been around forever, there's been some trials of direct electrical stimulation of the brain to create artificial vision, and many parapalegics use direct muscle stimulation to stand up, etc (maybe even walk?).

Also, the medical community itself has grown up. Years of animal testing is required for any kind of new treatment goes to limited human trials.

That's not to say it's all perfect. You can't dismiss the danger that any new treatment is going to have unforseen side effects that don't show up in human trials. But I think comparing this new treatment to the early days of medicine where anything goes and there's poor understanding isn't terribly valid.

Implications of EMR

[Anonymous Coward]

Let me get this straight. Electric fields exist in the human body in the form of ions seperated by cellular membranes. The shunting of these miniature batteries due to tissue damage is "recongized" by cellular healing/repair mechanisms. The big deal here is that now we know of it and the said field can be altered by us to aid (or deter) cellular repair process. What kind of an idiot would say that electro-magenetic fields the human body is subjected to has no effect on this minute electric field? Forgive me if I'm wrong but basic physics dictate that it has!

To my understanding all studies on EM radiotaion and it's effects on human tissue was looking at the effects of the said radiation on the integrity of the genetic material within the cell and the integrity of the cell itself. They didn't consider the alteration of any electric fields and implications of this on the tissue overall. What if EM radiation interferes with the cellular repair mechanism that over time deteriorates the tissue resulting in damageed genetic components within cells?

Besides who knows what other mechanisms this electric field is a part of.