Magnets May Help to Prevent Heart Attacks

When a person's blood becomes too thick, it can damage blood vessels and increase the risk of heart attacks. Because red blood cells contain iron, Rongjia Tao, from Temple University (Pennsylvania, USA), and colleagues, who previously pioneered the use of electric or magnetic fields to decrease the viscosity of oil in engines and pipeline, are using the same magnetic fields to thin human blood in the circulation system.  The team reports they were able to reduce a person's blood viscosity by 20-30%, by subjecting it to a magnetic field of 1.3 Telsa (about the same as an MRI) for about one minute. The researchers tested numerous blood samples in a Temple lab and found that the magnetic field polarizes the red blood cells causing them to link together in short chains, streamlining the movement of the blood. Because these chains are larger than the single blood cells, they flow down the center, reducing the friction against the walls of the blood vessels. The combined effects reduce the viscosity of the blood, helping it to flow more freely. When the magnetic field was taken away, the blood's original viscosity state slowly returned, but over a period of several hours. Submitting that the magnetic field method is not only safer, but is repeatable, as compared to drug therapies, the team observes that the magnetic fields may be reapplied and the viscosity reduced again, with the viscosity reduction having no affect on the red blood cells' normal function.