European Roots of PEMF Therapy
William Pawluk M.D.
I just returned from 10 days in Europe, with a film producer, Robert Connolly. The purpose of the trip was to produce part of a video documentary about the healing effects of pulsed electromagnetic fields. The trip included visits to Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Hungary.
Our intentions were to visit places or people that had very important connections to the history of magnetic field therapy. The goals in the various locations were: for Germany, to visit a research facility studying the effects of magnetic fields in humans who were deprived of the normal magnetic fields of the earth and to visit the University where Dr. Schumann identified the electromagnetic resonant fields of the earth, now called the Schumann resonances; for Austria, to visit the manufacturing facilities for the MAS pulsed magnetic therapy system; for the Czech Republic, to visit the home and University where Nicola Tesla did his original University studies and to visit with Dr. Jiri Jerabek, the co-author of my book, Magnetic Therapy in Eastern Europe: A Review of 30 Years of Research and the manufacturing facility for the PEMF system with which Dr. Jerabek has done the most work; for Hungary, to visit the major work home of Nikola Tesla.
In my visit to Germany, I went to the bunker where the original research work was done to isolate the earth’s magnetic fields and observe their effects on human functioning. Once the earth’s magnetic fields were deprived for the study subjects, they were able to study the physiologic effects. What was discovered is that humans need 10 cps/hertz as the basic functioning frequency. In other words, human beings need this frequency, produced by the planet to realize their natural health. An aspect of this frequency, necessary for optimal human functioning, was also discovered by Prof. Schumann at the Technical University of Munich, which has now become known as the Schumann resonances. These resonances, not a single frequency but part of a spectrum of frequencies, are the electromagnetic fields produced by lightning activity in the ionosphere of the planet. All biology, including that of humans, depends on these electromagnetic fields for basic life.
Unfortunately, various political and economic interests have largely buried the work of professional Schumann. When we visited the University, they did not allow us access to the archives to look at Prof. Schumann’s work. Economic interests do not want us to know about these natural, necessary, pulsed electric magnetic fields. They are very worried that this information will interfere with their economics, especially sales and research of high frequency microwave devices such as cell phones, in particular. Political pressure has been brought to bear on these universities that continue to conduct high-frequency device research, with the risk of exposure that these fields are harmful to human health. Clearly, they are not natural to human functioning, and completely unique in the long history of humans on this planet.
The bottom line, from this visit to Germany is to teach us that humans need certain low-frequencies to realize optimal functioning and health. These frequencies are within the Schumann band, from one cycle cps (Hz) upwards of 50 cps. While, the average Schumann resonance is considered to be 7.83 cps, it is likely that humans actually need a wider range of frequencies, especially optimally around 10 cps for optimal brain and neurologic functioning, mentioned above. This is the reason that many devices have been developed using 10 Hz as their fundamental frequency.
In Germany and Austria, we met people by accident, who were not professionals, and who told us that they were very much aware of pulsed magnetic field therapies. In one case, a woman happened to work for an orthopedic practice. She said that she had some shoulder problems and used the PEMF system in the office daily for 4 to 6 weeks, with resulting complete resolution of her shoulder problem. She knew this device was being used in the practice as a physical therapy modality for many people with great results. In addition, in Austria we met with a young teacher and a couple of colleagues, who said they were also very much aware of the use of PEMFs by people there. We came away with the distinct impression that PEMF therapies are very common throughout Europe, in particular Austria and Germany, having been used in these areas for decades.
In the Czech Republic, we met with Dr. Jerabek, the co-author of my book, who was practicing at a rehab facility south of Prague. This facility had over 200 beds and was considered the premier rehabilitation facility in the Czech Republic. In fact, they had a separate building available for people from other countries to do spinal rehabilitation. Among the many things that Dr. Jerabek did as part of his work, was to use PEMFs in his rehabilitation programs. He showed me x-rays of a woman with a fractured pelvis, which had not healed after almost 2 years with conventional medical management. With about 10 months of PEMF therapy, she completely healed the fractures. Another patient, had diabetic neuropathy of the feet. She had an injury to her foot which created massive swelling, infection and tissue damage. The doctors wanted to treat her with amputation of the foot. She did not want to have an amputation, so she came to the rehabilitation hospital and received antibiotics and PEMF therapy. After a number of months, the foot completely healed without the need for amputation. In addition, what was very interesting was that the neuropathy in that foot almost completely resolved. The other foot, which had the same amount of neuropathy as the healed foot, and, which did not get magnetic therapy, had no changes to the neuropathy. This is dramatic, because this is a natural experiment in the same individual showing a major effect of the PEMF therapy. So, from this patient we can conclude that PEMFs, along with appropriate conventional supportive therapies otherwise, may not only be able to heal very deep and damaging infection but also improve neuropathy.
Dr. Jerabek also showed us a young woman who developed a spinal cord injury in a car accident. She was receiving PEMF therapies to her lower spine. She had not yet finished her course of therapy, but was already noticing improvements in her ability to move her lower extremities. Normally, she needed to lift her lower extremities with her hands to position them for sitting, movement or even to place herself in a wheelchair. Now there was somewhat more voluntary movement.
Because of Dr. Jerabek’s work over the years, at one time being responsible in the health ministry of the Czech government for the introduction of PEMF devices into the Czech Republic, he has been instrumental in having PEMF therapy used in almost all rehabilitation facilities in the Czech Republic. It is now considered to be standard care and necessary for many people to receive rehabilitation.
From there we went to a small town east of Prague, Novy Bydzov, where we visited the manufacturing plant for the 2EL system. They have been making their devices for close to 20 years. The manufacturing plant is well-organized and is designed to produce other types of pulsed electromagnetic field devices for other applications. Each device is made manually. The company indicates that they have sold over 100,000 PEMF devices in the last 20 years. Almost all of the sales have been in central Europe. So, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, have been using PEMFs for several decades. PEMF therapy is almost background in these places.
Our next stop was Prague, where we visited the Technical University at which Tesla studied and the home where he lived, in front of which is a bust, commemorating his life there. Tesla is very important because of his work with developing electricity, upon which we all rely today. In addition, he developed the first electric coils, which are still used today in manufacturing PEMF devices. These are called Tesla coils. Tesla had used electromagnetic stimulation to help people with their health needs. There is little known about this aspect of Tesla’s work.
Tesla’s contribution to our civilization is largely ignored or suppressed because of competitive economic and political interests. Tesla was responsible for the first power generation system in the USA, in Buffalo NY, at Niagara Falls. Power companies don’t want his contribution to be acknowledged. So, it is primarily overseas that his work is recognized. There is a museum dedicated to Tesla’s work in Belgrade. They have documentation here not only for all his inventions, but also the work that he did for healing purposes. This museum is supported by donations. We will likely have further information for you down the road as we are able to get access to some of this archival material.
So, to me, this trip had very special meaning in bringing me to the roots of the development of pulsed electromagnetic fields for helping with healing. It allowed me to see the manufacturing firsthand and the quality control necessary to produce long-lasting and well functioning PEMF systems. Eastern Europe and Central Europe in particular have been very instrumental in bringing PEMF therapies to the world.
As you may well know, I have been working with PEMF therapies for over 20 years. In learning about PEMF therapies I have met with and learned from many people over this time. I have respected and acknowledged the roots of PEMF therapies coming from Europe. This trip was important for me as a validation of the work that has been done, even before my time, in other parts of the world, especially Europe, in bringing PEMF therapies to our awareness, and making devices real and available to us in North America. It is now our turn to make them available here and to educate North Americans about this amazing “old” technology.
Electrical and electromagnetic devices were available in the 1800s, but were suppressed by the development of modern medicine as we know it. Since the Europeans were not subject to this suppression, equivalent to witch hunting, they were able to evaluate, develop and experience PEMF systems over the last 30 to 40 years, now making them available again in North America. There continues to be suppression of these technologies by various economic forces, including pharmaceutical interests. Why? Because they work! And, often as shown above with the fractures and diabetic neuropathy cases, they are much more effective than currently available conventional medical technology.
Thank you Tesla, Schumann and the manufacturers of PEMF devices all over the world for helping humans to realize and have available a valuable therapeutic system, which was almost lost to us.
Dr. Pawluk