Modern techniques in medicine are transforming as science blends with health care to produce new, innovative treatment methods. The inclusion of strong magnets in hospital equipment, for example, has produced strategies that help amplify the success of existing solutions. As advances are made with these treatments, it is becoming easier for physicians to discover new noninvasive strategies for healing chronic ailments, such as addiction and psychosomatic disorders.

Using magnets to curb nicotine addiction
According to Steven Reinberg, a reporter for HealthDay News, the desire to quit smoking often requires more than willpower to be successful. Although addiction is typically subjective and often difficult to monitor, the news provider noted that a study conducted by Ben-Gurion University found that 13 intense, noninvasive treatments that included powerful magnetic fields helped stem cigarette cravings.

This technique, which stimulates the brain with repetitive, high-frequency transcranial magnetic forces, imbues the brain with electric impulses. For the treatment to be effective, however, the researchers needed to ensure that the targeted behavior was fresh in the minds of the study participants. To accomplish this, cue cards displaying an image of a lit cigarette were shown to members of the control group just before stimulation. As a result, these participants displayed the best results, reported the news provider.

"If you stimulate regions in the brain that are associated with cravings for drugs, you can change the circuitry in the brain that mediates this dependence and eventually reduce smoking," lead researcher Abraham Zangen, associate professor at Ben-Guirion University, told the source. "And many of those treated [stopped] smoking."

The process is also relatively simple. Magnetic coils, with the same attractive properties found in block neodymium magnets or bar magnets, are fitted inside helmets that the patients wear during treatment. Then, because of the placement of the apparatus, the prefrontal cortex and the insula receive high-frequency stimulation. According to the source, the side effects of the procedure were minimal. Patients suffered from headaches and muscle twitching, but with continued applications of the treatment, the symptoms ceased.

For patients to see the continued benefits of these treatments, The Guardian reported that it's unclear whether prolonged exposure to the treatments will be necessary. As the repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) supplies the brain with the same impulses that yielding to cravings provides, until more trials are conducted, the ongoing success of this strategy is still uncertain. Furthermore, HealthDay noted that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved rTMS as a solution for cigarette addiction.

Magnetic impulses used in the fight against eating disorders
Alan Mozes, another reporter for HealthDay, reported that rTMS is also useful in the ongoing battle against eating disorders. By utilizing the same noninvasive techniques described above, physicians can treat individuals afflicted with anorexia or bulimia by focusing the magnetic impulses with different cues. Additionally, rather than providing stimulation that mimics addiction, rTMS can be used to curb the desire to binge by diminishing activity in these areas of the brain.

"[We] think that maybe if we change the stimulation target for these patients, and change it to inhibit rather than excite stimulation, we might ultimately be able to help even these patients," said Dr. Jonathan Downar, scientist in the department of psychiatry at the University of Health Network in Toronto.

The source also noted that although these therapies are still largely experimental, more patients are responding well than are experiencing no results at all. As the treatment advances, different strategies are being designed to increase and lower the frequency strength, which acts as a method of monitoring the dosage.