Copper/magnetic/ionized bracelets: do they really work, and how?

Objective

Isn't it safest to say we don't know whether they work. As far as I can see the evidence we have to date is: 1) a study which reports a positive effect for copper bracelets - not sure whether this was on patients with RA or OA 2) a study which reports no effect for patients with OA. Lots of anecdotal evidence that the bracelets have an effect (and to declare an interest here I gave my husband one of these bracelets for his arthritic knee and he too reports a positive effect despite being sceptical).
I think someone should do a large scale study with a variety of people with different stages of OA and RA then we may have some real evidence.
I can see people are sceptical because they cannot see any mechanism for how the bracelets would work but this is bad science - the first thing to do is to see whether there is any evidence whether the bracelets work under any conditions.
One other question: my husband's pain from RA is worse in damp cold weather is there a scientific explanation for this? (And I believe this is not uncommon).

MagnetDave

The reason that this is not the safe assumption is because of the placebo effect. It is extremely well-documented that humans will respond positively to no treatment at all if they think they are receiving one. Therefore, in the case of things are purported to have medical effect, well-controlled studies are required. This is also why anecdotal evidence is ignored with extreme prejudice. Also, the human body does maintain itself, and quite a few diseases will simply go away on their own.

Just as a simple example: I have a headache. I drink a bottle of Coke and take a nap and suddenly I have no headache. I attribute the loss of headache to the Coke. Perhaps I was dehydrated, and the fluids were what I needed. Perhaps I was stressed, and the relaxation of the nap cured my headache. Perhaps I took an aspirin twenty minutes before drinking the Coke, but didn't think about it. However, I inferred that the Coke was cured my headache. I tell my friend to try it. It works for him, possibly for no reason whatsoever other than he thought it would. Or that he didn't have a headache at all - perhaps he just had a nasty pimple that was hurting that he managed to pop in his sleep. He goes to another friend, who finds out it works for him. Of course, that friend's headache would have gone away Coke or not, but there's no way to know now, is there? Still, I am assembling a massive body of anecdotal evidence that Coke cures headaches!

This is why medicine is SO demanding of claims. You have to prove:

- That the test subjects are afflicted by the problem you propose to cure.
- That the cure relieves the actual problem.
- That a comparable placebo relieves the actual problem at a significantly lower rate.
- That the cure is significantly more effective than no treatment at all.
- That your treatment is safe.

However, it is ALSO possible, with a slightly reduced set of scruples, or some blinkered idealism, to simply ignore these requirements, see some successes, and declare you have a cure that somehow the whole of medicine ignores, and the greedy drug companies don't want you to know about, because there is no way they would EVER want to sell a "medical grade" arthritis bracelet for comically high margins.

Quack medicine is a large and thriving field, and it, unfortunately, preys on people's good nature and takes advantage of some very real and legitimate frustrations with the pharmaceutical industry (who, let's admit, are hardly angels) to take their money on an indefensibly narrow basis.

So, the short answer: No, it's not safer to assume it works without a mechanism, because "it works" is much, much tougher claim than most people realize.

ZapperZ

Here's another example of a bracelet that has no scientific backing, and certainly can't be distinguished from the placebo effect:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_balance_bracelets

Zz.

OrionVTOL

Ah yes. . . . . the "balance bracelet". One of the most ridiculous infomercials I have ever seen in my life. Completely fake and obviously paid actors that they "found on the street". It is the "Criss Angel" effect [in that he uses his own people as the "wow-ed street people"]. Making the gullible think you are truthful.

Greg Bernhardt

In that story there is an astonishing quote

I would think NBA trainers are quite intelligent and knowledgeable. Amazing they can be so easily duped!!!

OrionVTOL

Well, . . . . not to offend anyone, . . . but I don't really equate professional sports with intelligence.

rsw3284

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but here are some articles attached on the topic of magnetic and/or copper bracelets for anyone that is interested. These are from sources that are a bit more reliable than hired actors on informercials :)

Links:

Article 1: http://www.bmj.com/content/329/7480/1450.abstract

Article 2: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19942103

Editorial: http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/39/3/125.1.full

Evo

Please post links to the scientific articles, not PDF's.

Evo

The Conclusion of the first Article 'Randomised controlled trial of magnetic bracelets for relieving pain in osteoarthritis of the hip and knee"

The Conclusion of the second Article "Therapeutic effects of magnetic and copper bracelets in osteoarthritis: A randomised placebo-controlled crossover trial

The third is just an editorial.

rsw3284

Unfortunately the articles weren't available as public links (at least not that I could find), so I just posted the PDF's instead. Also, you are right about the third attachment (power of placebo) being just an editorial - I decided to post it since he's referencing the first article (Randomised controlled trial of magnetic bracelets for relieving pain in osteoarthritis of the hip and knee).

Evo

All of the PDF's are available as links to the original study. All you have to do is google the title.

Mag Bracelet

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15604181

Mag copper bracelets

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19942103

rsw3284

I stand corrected. I've edited my original post to include links instead of PDF's :)