MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU MAGNET THERAPY IS ATTRACTING INTEREST AND, TO SOME, PROVING ITS METTLE.

Byline: Barbara De Witt Staff Writer

We've heard of sleeping on a bed of feathers - or even a bed of roses - but a bed of magnets?

As uncomfortable as it might sound, that's exactly what Ted and Debbe Filas sleep on, and the Chatsworth couple swears the magnetic forces help both of them get a better night's sleep.

Ted says they bought a magnet-filled mattress and magnet-lined comforter to help his back pain and Debbe's sciatica. But he admits he was wary. ``At first I had to get used to the firmness of the bed, which took about a week. But gradually, within three months, I realized how much better my back felt and that both of us were waking up feeling better-rested,'' he said.

The Filas are believers in the healing powers of low-strength magnets - a therapy not approved by the Food and Drug Administration but one experts say is the current heavyweight among such alternative treatments as acupuncture, herbal supplements and aromatherapy.

Rosario Quintanilla Vior, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles office of the Food and Drug Administration, says magnets appeal to people who have given up on Western medicine to cure their ailments. Their feeling of well-being upon using the magnets might be attributed to what the medical community calls ``a placebo effect'' or belief in the treatment, she suggests, rather than a real physical improvement.

``To date, the FDA has not cleared for marketing any magnets promoted for medical uses,'' she said, adding that the agency monitors those selling the products to make sure they are not illegally claiming the magnets cure diseases.

Lately, that has become a big job. A search for ``magnet therapy'' on the Internet yielded nearly 100 site matches, selling everything from mattresses to magnet-enhanced pads for knees, elbows and backs to accessories such as magnetic belts, jewelry and even dog collars.

Sherry Kahn, who penned the book ``Healing Magnets: A Guide for Pain Relief, Speeding Recovery and Restoring Balance,'' suggests magnets' growing appeal has less to do with life-threatening illnesses and more to do with pain relief.

``It's the baby boomers who were interested in natural ways of living when they were young, and now that they're getting older and getting aches and pains, they're looking for nontoxic ways to relieve those symptoms, especially with the news that more than a million people are being hospitalized each year for adverse reactions to prescription drugs,'' said Kahn, who is a health educator and former publications editor for UCLA Medical Center in Westwood.

Believers and nonbelievers do agree on one thing: The low-strength magnets are harmless, unless you're pregnant (not enough is known about the effects of magnets on developing tissue), using blood thinners (magnets increase blood flow), wear a pacemaker or have other internal metal or electronic devices (magnets can throw off the mechanisms).

While magnets are associated with the New Age alternatives, they've been around a long time. Some trace magnet therapy back 2,000 years, when Chinese medics theorized that body energy helps defend against disease. Others place magnet therapy's roots in the early 16th century, when Swiss physician, philosopher and alchemist Paracelsus used magnets to treat epilepsy, diarrhea and hemorrhage.

In researching her book, Kahn says she learned that around 1900 magnet therapy was being taught in medical schools and products were offered in the Sears catalog. In 1928, penicillin was discovered and, with the excitement over the miracle drug, magnets were forgotten.

Dr. David Hurwitz, a rheumatologist at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Woodland Hills, would prefer that magnets remain forgotten, but has many patients who swear by them.

``There just aren't enough established studies on magnet therapy to recommend them,'' says Dr. Hurwitz, ``and besides, magnets are heavy and if you use a lot of them (around your joints) it's not good for your arthritis ... plus I hate to see people spending their money.''

On the other hand, Dr. Michael Hirt of the Center for Integrative Medicine in Tarzana sees some value to magnet therapy and has made it part of his practice for three years.

``The main area I use it for is arthritis, especially the knees ... and I've found magnet therapy can provide as much pain relief as two Advil without side effects,'' said Hirt, who integrates Eastern and Western techniques in his practice.

Hirt's use of magnets, though, stops at pain relief. Staunch believer Dr. William H. Philpott, in his book ``Magnet Therapy: An Alternative Medicine,'' claims magnets can cure most everything. ``It cures cancer,'' the retired neurologist said in a phone interview. ``It kills it.''

The FDA and Hirt disagree.

``Just because it works on the knee doesn't mean it's a cure-all,'' Hirt said. ``I mean, any time somebody says it (magnet therapy) works for everything from heart disease to lupus, it's a red flag to me. Not even holy water works for everything.''

Studies on the effectiveness of magnet therapy are contradictory. Two studies published in medical journals in March of last year had opposite findings.

A study reported in Advances in Therapy says the Richardson Orthopaedic Surgery medical group in Richardson, Texas, randomly assigned 61 disc-surgery patients to either surgery alone, or surgery followed by pulsed magnetic treatments. The researchers concluded the magnets helped stimulate bone growth and led to better results in back surgery.

Dr. David Klashman, a rheumatologist and associate professor of medicine at UCLA Medical Center, is wary of the study's suggestion that pulsed electromagnetic fields affect bone growth.

``To the best of my knowledge, they have yet to be shown to affect bone or cartilage in vivo (in a living creature) ... and a negative study appeared in March in the Journal of the American Medical Association, where magnets were found to not be beneficial in treatment of chronic low-back pain,'' he said.

That study was led by Dr. Edward Collacott, department head for physical medicine and rehabilitation with the Northern Arizona Veterans Affairs health-care system. The 20 participants, all of whom had suffered chronic lower-back pain for an average of 19 years, were fitted with a bipolar magnet for one week and a demagnetized fake for a second week. The participants rated their pain, and researchers measured their range of motion. Researchers found no statistical difference in placebo and magnet results.

Despite the lack of definitive data as to magnets' effectiveness, people are trying out this therapy. Hirt encourages the curious to be careful about the products they buy.

``You have to be sure you're getting the right strength of magnet for it to do any good,'' he said. ``For instance, I generally prescribe a knee brace with 300 to 500 gauss (about 10 times the strength of a typical refrigerator magnet) - that's the form of measurement - and I recommend bipolar magnets, which means both the north and south poles are facing the knee.''

At his medical center, other physicians on staff specialize in a variation of traditional acupuncture, using magnets instead of needles to stimulate pressure points on the body.

But sleeping on a bed of magnets?

``I know they're becoming popular, but studies on mattresses are disappointing,'' Hirt says. ``It's like winning the lottery. Only a few experience any dramatic results.''

CAPTION(S):

6 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) What's the ATTRACTION?

Although not FDA approved, magnet therapy is exerting a strong pull on people in pain

(2) Dr. Michael Hirt fits patient Jeremy Landau with a magnet-lined knee brace.

(3) Dr. Lawrence Li uses a tool on patient Jeremy Landau's ear to isolate a pressure point associated with pain in his knee. A magnet can be bandaged onto the skin to ease the pain.

(4) This bracelet contains magnetic material that can, some patients say, ease wrist pain.

(5) These tiny magnets, used by Li, can be placed under a bandage to ease pain by affecting energy channels in the body.

(6) Dr. Lawrence Li uses a device favored in Korean hand therapy to locate a pressure point corresponding to the patient's aching knee.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer