The Healing Power of Electricity

There has long been an anecdotal connection between electromagnetic fields and healing. Many believe in the healing power of magnetics, such as that proposed by Franz Mesmer. German physiologist Emil Du Bois-Reymond reported 150 years ago that electricity could accelerate the healing of wounds, though little study has been done to discover whether there is any truth to these findings.

Recent findings, published in New Scientist, indicate that electric fields (created by the cells themselves) help draw repair cells to damaged areas, accelerating the healing process. The researchers have also identified the genes responsible for this behavior.

Future work will no doubt focus on determining how this knowledge can be used to accelerate this natural healing process. Whether this will yield any definitive revolutions to the medical industry remains to be seen.

As an area where electricity and biology converge, this is one of many modern fields of study that fall in the realm of biophysics.