Effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation on oxidative stress in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.
Medina-Fernandez FJ, Escribano BM, Agüera E, Aguilar-Luque M, Feijoo M, Luque E, Garcia-Maceira FI, Pascual-Leone A, Drucker-Colin R, Tunez I. · 2017
View Original AbstractControlled 60 Hz magnetic fields at 0.7 mT reduced brain damage and oxidative stress in MS-like conditions, demonstrating measurable biological effects.
Plain English Summary
Researchers used magnetic field therapy (similar to medical TMS treatment) on rats with an artificially induced multiple sclerosis-like condition. The 60 Hz magnetic fields at 0.7 milliTesla significantly reduced brain damage, improved motor symptoms, and decreased harmful oxidative stress. This suggests that controlled magnetic field exposure might have therapeutic potential for neurological conditions involving brain inflammation.
Why This Matters
This study presents a fascinating paradox in EMF research: while we often focus on potential harms from electromagnetic exposures, here we see therapeutic benefits from controlled magnetic fields. The 0.7 milliTesla exposure used is roughly 14 times stronger than typical household magnetic field exposures (around 0.05 mT near appliances), yet significantly weaker than MRI machines. What makes this research particularly compelling is that it demonstrates measurable biological effects at relatively low field strengths, supporting the broader scientific understanding that EMFs can indeed influence biological systems. The protective effects against oxidative stress are especially noteworthy, as oxidative damage is a key mechanism through which many researchers believe EMFs might cause harm in other contexts. This reinforces that the biological effects of electromagnetic fields are highly dependent on frequency, intensity, duration, and timing of exposure.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 0.7 mG
- Source/Device
- 60 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 2 h in the morning, once a day, 5 days a week, during 3 weeks.
Exposure Context
This study used 0.7 mG for magnetic fields:
- 35Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 7Kx above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 1 mG
Building Biology guidelines are practitioner-based limits from real-world assessments. BioInitiative Report recommendations are based on peer-reviewed science. Check Your Exposure to compare your own measurements.
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
The main objective was to evaluate the effect of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (EL-EMF) application, like a paradigm of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in the development of EAE.
Rats were injected with a single dose of 150 μg of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG, fragmen...
The data showed that MOG induced motor symptoms as tail paralysis and limb paresis/paralysis, oxidat...
Our findings suggest that: (i) MOG reproduces an experimental model of MS characterised by oxidative and cell damage; and (ii) TMS application decreases oxidative stress and cell death induced by MOG.
Show BibTeX
@article{fj_2017_effects_of_transcranial_magnetic_686,
author = {Medina-Fernandez FJ and Escribano BM and Agüera E and Aguilar-Luque M and Feijoo M and Luque E and Garcia-Maceira FI and Pascual-Leone A and Drucker-Colin R and Tunez I.},
title = {Effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation on oxidative stress in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1080/10715762.2017.1324955},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10715762.2017.1324955},
}