Magnetic Field Device May Zap Away Migraines

Reference: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/story?id=5255108&page=1

Summary: People that have regular migraines might have a way besides medicines to cure them. A transcranial magnetic stimulation device, about the size of a blow-dryer. This device sends magnetic fields through the brain that could cut short the pain signals. In this study they found 201 patients that suffer from migraine with aura. Migraine with aura is a migraine that 20 to 30% of people struggle with. They gave half of these patients the real stimulating device and the other half a device of the same appearance without the stimulation. This study found that 39% of the people using the real device had no pain two hours after using this device compared with 22% of the people using the fake one.

Critique: I myself think it’s a waste of time….On the other hand I don’t get migraines so maybe I’m not the best person to ask. I never had one but they sound like they hurt and I think this could be a really good thing for those who do get them. I think they should look into this further and do whatever they must to perfect this device.

Impact: I think this could make a huge impact on the people and hospitals of today. A way to cure something that so often occurs without medicine, this could save money. This could also lead to bigger and better inventions in field of magnets. Who knows magnets could someday lead to the cure of cancer. I say we pursue the affects of magnets on the brain and find more ways to fix more problems with this knowledge.