Basford J R
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Rochester, MN 55902, USA.
Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2001 Sep;82(9):1261-9. doi: 10.1053/apmr.2001.25905.
To review the history of the therapeutic use of static electric and magnetic fields and to understand its implications for current popular and medical acceptance of these and other alternative and complementary therapies.
Comprehensive MEDLINE (1960-2000) and CINAHL (1982-2000) computer literature searches by using key words such as electricity, magnetism, electromagnetic, therapy, medicine, EMF, history of medicine, and fields. Additional references were obtained from the bibliographies of the selected articles. In addition, discussions were held with curators of medical history museums and supplemental searches were made of Internet sources through various search engines.
Primary references were used whenever possible. In a few instances, secondary references, particularly those requiring translations of early texts, were used.
The use of electric and magnetic forces to treat disease has intrigued the general public and the scientific community since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. The popularity of these therapies has waxed and waned over the millennia, but at all times the popular imagination, often spurred by dynamic and colorful practitioners of pseudoscience, has been more excited than the medical or political establishment. In fact, a pattern seems to reappear. In each era, unsophisticated public acceptance is met first with medical disdain, then with investigation, and, finally, with a failure to find objective evidence of efficacy. This pattern continues today with the public acceptance of magnetic therapy (and alternative and complementary medicine in general) far outstripping acceptance by the medical community.
The therapeutic implications of applying electrical and magnetic fields to heal disease have continually captured the popular imagination. Approaches thousands of years apart can be remarkably similar, but, in each era, proof has been lacking and the prevailing medical establishment has remained unconvinced. Interest persists today. Although these agents may have a future role in the healing of human disease, their history and a minimal scientific rationale makes it unlikely that the dichotomy between the hopes of the public and the medical skepticism will disappear.
回顾静电场和静磁场治疗应用的历史，并了解其对于当前这些疗法以及其他替代和补充疗法在大众中的流行程度和医学接受度的影响。
通过使用“电”“磁”“电磁”“治疗”“医学”“电磁场”“医学史”和“场”等关键词，对综合医学数据库（1960 - 2000年）和护理学与健康领域数据库（1982 - 2000年）进行计算机文献检索。从所选文章的参考文献中获取了更多参考文献。此外，还与医学历史博物馆馆长进行了讨论，并通过各种搜索引擎对互联网资源进行了补充检索。
尽可能使用原始参考文献。在少数情况下，使用了二手参考文献，特别是那些需要翻译早期文本的参考文献。
至少从古希腊时期起，利用电场和磁场治疗疾病就引起了公众和科学界的兴趣。在数千年的时间里，这些疗法的流行程度有起有落，但在任何时候，公众的想象力，往往受到充满活力且色彩斑斓的伪科学从业者的刺激，比医学或政治机构更为兴奋。事实上，一种模式似乎反复出现。在每个时代，单纯的公众接受首先会遭到医学上的轻视，然后是调查，最后是未能找到疗效的客观证据。这种模式在今天依然存在，公众对磁疗（以及一般的替代和补充医学）的接受程度远远超过医学界的接受程度。
应用电场和磁场治疗疾病的治疗意义一直吸引着公众的想象力。相隔数千年的方法可能惊人地相似，但在每个时代，都缺乏证据，主流医学机构仍然不信服。如今兴趣依然存在。尽管这些手段可能在人类疾病治疗中发挥未来作用，但它们的历史以及极少的科学依据使得公众的希望与医学怀疑态度之间的分歧不太可能消失。
