BioFlow?

A friend of mine has been extolling the virtues of BioFlow magnetic bracelets, and I'd really like to know if anyone here has any experience of them, and if they are any good.

I'm inclined to be cautious about the claims some websites make about them, but I also know a few people who have said they work wonders.

Any information, thoughts or suggestions would be most welcome

My mother wears one and she swears that it works for her. I personally equate it to new age hookey doo but most of the people I know of say they work fine. Go figure.

Well, this is what I'm stuck on - is the effect a kind of placebo effect brought about because of a persons belief system? or is there a genuine health benefit?

Hard to tell I suppose, unless I get one myself - but with money being tight, I don't want to lay out for it unless it has a discernible benefit.

Here is a study I found for you budski. You decide though. Here is the study:

www.newscientist.com...

Almost 200 people aged 45 to 80, all with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee, were given either a strongly magnetic bracelet, a non-magnetic one, or one which was only weakly magnetic.

After 12 weeks of wearing the bracelets all day, all three groups reported less pain. The strong and weak magnet groups did report less pain than the non-magnetic bracelet groups.

But there was no statistically significant difference between the strong and weak magnet groups, as would be expected if the magnetic bracelet did have an actual physical effect.

Mark Winemiller of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, believes a placebo is the most likely explanation. "Without a plausible, or even proposed, mechanism, it's difficult for me to accept results as valid," he says. "The placebo effect is much more likely than any actual effect."

This is pretty bizarre,
I went to the shop last week with my gf (she knows the owners), and was given an hours free treatment which involved having heavy magnets placed on different parts of my legs, as well as underneath me (sitting down) and around my lower back.

I was sat there for over an hour, and felt very strange sensations of heat and cold in the area's where I get pain.

After reading various reports, I was also sure it was a version of snake oil and that it wouldn't work.

Problem is, when I got up after the treatment I was completely pain free - I didn't even need to use the handrail to climb steps.

It's freaked me out a little to be honest - 6 days later, I'm pretty much pain free still, although I am getting the odd twinge.

I've been asked if I want another free treatment, and my gf has also said she will pay for a magnetic bracelet for me, so I really have nothing to lose and everything to gain if this really does work.

The world is a very strange place indeed...

[edit on 24/7/2008 by budski]

Consider yourself 'an experiment of one' I say.

Try it, be honest, but if it gives you benefits try it until it doesn't.

I used to swear by high desert Bee Pollen tablets. I mean I'd eat about 3-4 of them before a road race and it really made a difference each and every time.

They're just carbs, I guess.

en.wikipedia.org...

Bee pollen contains:
* All the essential amino acids
* A full spectrum of vitamins especially vitamins B12 and E; and significant amounts of B1, B2, B3, B5, C, and vitamin D
* Various minerals including calcium, manganese, phosphorous, iron, sodium, potassium, aluminium, magnesium and copper
* Trace elements and enzymes (including antioxidants), and co-enzymes, pigments, xanthophylls, carotenes, and sterols, phytosterols, lignans (dibenzyl butanes) isoflavones and flavonoids
* Hormone precursors (which stimulate hormone production and help anti-ageing)
* Carbohydrates and fatty acids

Keep a journal, do a little web research, and record the effects and then you can look back and see the trends better. If things diminish, I'll move on.

2 cents.