Magnetotherapy, alternative medicines, Hippocratic oath

Caring for patients is the central objective of health care. The Hippocratic Oath, which is sworn by all physicians and forgotten by many, does not promise glory but stresses the obligation to care for patients. But "caring for patients", in these days of high-technology medicine, is more than a matter of laying of hands by physicians who, by and large, are ignorant of basic science and engineering, and employing methods that are not well supported by good scientific studies. Close collaboration of physicians, biomedical engineers, and basic medical scientists is needed to help clarify the confusion and misuse surrounding the application of magnetic fields for medicine. It is time to move past the stage of amateur research and claims published on the Internet, and on to well controlled double-blinded studies with adequate engineering support and papers published in conventional scientific journals. While the prospects do not look good for a breakthrough in therapies using weak magnetic fields, perhaps something useful will be uncovered.