History of Magnets in Medicine

Hey everyone, I hope you had a great start to the new week and the month! In my new article I would like to talk about medicine and I am happy if you are able to learn new things about this important topic.

You can see here pictures of the mineral magnetite which is the strongest magnetic mineral which can be found in nature as well as a slightly larger industrially manufactured magnet. For hundreds of years, people have been fascinated by the properties of magnetism and early began to explore this topic in more detail and later people began to integrate it more and more into medicine and one of the most important pioneers in this area was probably the well-known Swiss alchemist Paracelsus. There are even traces from ancient times that magnets were used specifically for healing, such as from ancient Greece where some scholars had dealt with it in more detail, but it can be said that people were also sceptical about this healing method for a long time and had associated it a lot with magic and Paracelsus integrated it more and more into medicine. He found out that the application has only few side effects and researched the reactions of magnets to various diseases and he began to develop his own forms of therapy in which magnets were used and he recommended this treatment for mild as well as severe diseases and with his miraculous healings has stationed an example that more and more people should follow later. Magnetite was an important basis on which this research is based and most magnets were made from this special mineral and at the beginning the experiments were related to direct contact with the body and later even found ways with which sick people could be cured even over a long distance and even through walls or other blockages.

It was the doctor Franz Anton Mesmer (1734 - 1815) who was very influenced by the work of Paracelsus and he developed completely new things such as the animal magnetism and later even a device or other healing methods in which magnets were used and he had many prominent patients like Mozart in his time. Even if Mesmers work was partly controversial to some, he was considered a miracle healer of his time who healed hundreds of patients with his methods and he also built his own small clinic in which he cured patients daily who sometimes came from far away to use his services. Later more and more technical methods were developed to develop the effect of the magnets even more and there are numerous examples nowadays in which magnetic fields are used specifically for the treatment of various diseases and within medicine, there are many areas in which magnets are needed as well as in the production of medical preparations in which small magnetic particles are used. Both in the treatment of chronic or acute complaints magnets are used and there are many approaches in the research of magnetic nanoparticles even in serious diseases show effects and it can be said that magnets are now deeply anchored in medicine even if it's often controversial for some people. Finally, I would like to mention that in this article I would like to discuss the general history of magnets in medicine and people should always ask their trusted doctor or pharmacist about the right medicine or side effects in case of illness!

Many thanks for stopping by and I hope you could learn something new about medicine! I captured these pictures with my Camera Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm lens.