Research Paper
Magnetic water & Health
Vibrational Medicine for the 21st Century (ã 2000). Ronald Lynch, M.D. Integrative Natural Solutions
Excerpts from Gerber, Richard (1988). Vibrational Medicine, Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Co.
There are many magnet researchers who advocate drinking "magnetised water" for a variety of health reasons. As we have mentioned earlier, magnetised water has been shown by Dr. Grad and others to accelerate the germination and growth of plants...
According to UNESCO, almost every country suffers from a deficit of high quality drinking spring water. Investigations show the connection between increasing levels of stones in kidneys and the growing levels of harmful elements in drinking water.
This is the consumption of magnetic water for drinking and cooking. In order to magnetize water, just pour it through our magnetic funnel.
In his book, Magnetotherapy, Dr. R. S. Bansal, director of the Indian Institute of Magnetotherapy in New Delhi, India, reports that drinking magnetised water can produce a wide variety of health benefits, including boosting energy levels, aiding digestion, improving normal bowel function, helping to regulate abnormal menstrual cycles, increasing urinary flow while also dissolving kidney stones, and even reducing fevers... Dr. Bansal recommends drinking two ounces of magnetised water before breakfast and after major meals of the day.
One may ask, "Does magnetization of the water do anything to change its basic physical properties?" The answer is yes. The changes are very small but measurable. Magnetised water exhibits a change in the strength with which water molecules are able to bind with one another. Magnet researchers Davis and Rawls found that south-pole magnetic force appeared to make water molecules bind to each other more weakly than normal, thus giving it a lower surface tension than normal.* Surface tension is the membrane-like layer on top of water that water-strider bugs are able to walk upon. It is this same phenomenon of surface tension that is responsible for the ability of plants to suck water up through their roots from the surrounding soil.
While the ability to alter the surface tension of water may not seem like much, a magnet's ability to change the way water molecules interact with each other within the body could theoretically produce major changes in enzyme activity. The shape an enzyme takes (and thus the shape and efficiency of the active enzyme site where it does its catalytic work) is strongly influenced by how the enzyme's protein backbone interacts with surrounding water molecules (a process that can be affected by magnetism). The fact that magnetised water possesses altered binding forces between water molecules and various proteins, salts, and mineral substances appears to endow it with the ability to dissolve buildups of various types of salts and minerals (Davis and Rawls, 1996).
This phenomenon turns out to have industrial as well as biological applications. Magnetised water has been shown to be effective in breaking down and dissolving mineral and salt buildup within pipes and boiler systems. It is used this way in Russia. In a similar vein, Russian and Indian magnetotherapists have reported that magnetic water, ingested by patients with kidney stones and certain types of mineralized gallstones, allowed patients to slowly dissolve and excrete the abnormal buildups of salt and minerals from their gallbladders and urinary tracts. Following this same line of reasoning, some Indian magnetotherapy researchers assert that magnetised water has similar value in helping to remove calcium and even cholesterol deposits from critically clogged arteries in people suffering from arteriosclerosis and other types of vascular disease... A number of Russian magnetotherapy researchers believe that many of the positive effects magnets have upon the body may be related to their ability to magnetize the water content of the human body itself. Keep in mind, we are more than [70] percent water...
There are two unique gem elixirs prepared from magnetic materials. They are lodestone elixir and magnetic elixir. The actions of these vibrational remedies are known primarily through intuitive research methods. Lodestone elixir is said to align our physical body's biomagnetic field with the earth's magnetic field. It may also enhance transmission of information throughout the body in its many forms. It seems to accomplish this in part by enhancing nerve-to-nerve communication throughout the entire nervous system. Lodestone elixir is reported to be a general tonic for the endocrine system and may also be valuable for stimulating tissue regeneration. It is said to balance the acupuncture-meridian system and bring balance to the opposing forces of yin and yang within the body.
Magnetite elixir is said to enhance blood circulation throughout the entire endocrine system. Magnetite elixir may be helpful for people who have had radiation exposure caused by working in the mine rich in radioactive minerals or from general exposure to radiation. It is also believed to enhance meditation, allowing a greater inner focus. Magnetite elixir is said to energize and align all the chakras, meridians, and subtle or spiritual bodies.
*It should be noted that William Philpott, M.D., a leading authority on bio-magnetism, believes that positive-negative polarity, not north and south polarity, is what creates the magnetic reaction.
From Oschman, J.L. Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis. (2001). New Perspectives, Journal of the Center for Frontier Sciences of Temple University, 10(2).
Electric and magnetic fields generated by tissues, organs, and even pathologies are not only useful for diagnostics, but are also part of the body's mechanism for communicating with itself and its environment. Each heartbeat, breath or emotion generates characteristic electromagnetic fields that travel through the extra cellular matrix, or connective tissue in which cells are embedded, to remote cells. The surrounding organized layer of water can serve as a separate communication and energy channel and may also have an impedance-matching role.
Through the Hall effect, it has been learned that the per neural system is sensitive to magnetic fields and that semi conduction is occurring. This discovery confirmed Saint-Giorgio's suggestion of semi-conduction in the living matrix and gave a basis for the use diamagnetic fields in healing. Each molecule, cell, tissue and organ has a resonant frequency that coordinates its activities. Living matter is highly sensitive to the information conveyed by these signals. These signals may integrate processes such as growth, defense, injury repair and the function of the organism as a whole.
When water with a weak, electro-magnetic signal enters the nerve cells, the connectors, called synapses, cannot generate a strong impulse from one cell to another. Eventually, the brain cells are affected from lack of adequate neuro-stimulation because the synapses can't keep nervous information flowing. Magnetised water is like a "magnetic bridge", creating a pathway for water to enter nerve cells more readily, thereby, making the minerals and nutrients required for intercellular nerve connections more available.
THE EFFECTS OF MAGNETISED WATER ON CELLULAR BIOLOGY
Water has long been known to be affected by magnetism. Magnetization can significantly reduce the surface tension of water and increase the pH, making it more alkaline. Water molecules are known to have a small interaction with magnetism, creating chains of organized molecules. This can influence the biochemistry of the water in the body. The intricate biological requirements needed to maintain electrochemical balance have been reported in books and journals about human physiology. The rationale we have used to discuss our findings is, therefore, based on scientific principles and reports.
Much of what has been learned about naturally magnetised water relates to its effect on the environment of cells in our body. The following pages contain information on cellular biology which presents support on why naturally magnetised water works effectively in our body and helps control the body 's deterioration, which can result in chronic, aging disorders.
The cells are constantly exposed to toxicity, both from the external environment and the body's internal environment. One major result is oxidation, a cell's loss of electrons, creating free radicals which destroy cells. Even when the cause of a disease has been established, treated and under control, the cells still remain codified from the medications used to destroy the pathogens. There is much support to suggest that magnetised water can help provide lost electrons to cells through reduction and control the side effects caused by medications by flushing toxins out of the cells.
Preliminary studies have suggested that the naturally magnetised water may increase the percent of intra-cellular hydration, which is a major factor in controlling the aging process and aging-related diseases. We are currently beginning studies to gather more evidence on the effect of this water on increasing the intra/extra cellular fluid ratio.
Effect of Environment on Natural Molecular Structure of Water, from Collins, J.C. The Matrix of Life. East Greenbush, NY: Molecular Presentations, 1991, and Water: The Vital Force of Life. Kinder brook, NY: Molecular Presentations, 2000.
The molecular parts which compose the cells of our bodies are much the same as those that composed the earliest forms of life on earth. If we wish to comprehend the composition of life and its molecular roots, and determine how these molecules move and flow in a spontaneous and miraculous fashion to sustain and perpetuate themselves, then, like nature, we must begin with water. Genetics defines which molecules are produced; water defines how they move and associate with each other.
Water holds some of the most basic and, therefore, significant secrets of life. This is not a new idea. All ancient civilizations described this in their attempt to explain the structure of life. Even then as today, many believe that water within the cell has a "vital force". Since cells are the fundamental units of life, then they are responsible for all life processes and are the force that permeates all nature. If that force is available in any one substance, then it must be in water.
One of the first things we learn about the complex molecules of living cells is the way in which their atoms are bonded together. Modern scientific technology has revealed the basis of molecular biology in the cell, its DNA and how critical water is to its order. If DNA is dehydrated, like other bonding components of the cell, it loses its orderly, repeating structures and takes on more random shapes and forms. In other words, DNA loose its normal, functional properties.
It is now clear that that all information needed to direct molecules into their functional shapes is contained in the molecules themselves in association with each other and the surrounding water medium. DNA, operating in harmony with water, that determines shapes that are adopted as they are produced and move within the cell. It appears that molecules themselves are the "code" and water the medium where the code is expressed.
As long as environment and temperature are maintained within the cell, and there is adequate magnetization to keep cell biology functioning normally, then cellular reproduction, along with normal DNA coding, will continue. If, however, the content and effectiveness of the water inside and outside the cell contain destructive toxins, the degradation and deterioration of cells will increase quickly, resulting in rapid aging and disease.
What is a living cell? It appears as one, large molecule, tied together by a matrix of water molecules. Like the atoms that compose them, they are tied together by ionic bonds, consisting of positive and negative charges on their outer surfaces. What creates these bonds?
If salts like sodium chloride are added to water, the sodium and chloride ions (Na+ and Cal-) immediately become surrounded by water molecules to dissipate their charges. In doing so, adjacent water molecules take on the charges to form H2ONa+. This possesses the unique property of being able to transfer the small positively- charged nucleus of one of its hydrogen atoms to a neighboring water molecule. Then the neighboring molecule becomes positively charged as H3O+, due to the extra hydrogen proton bonded to its oxygen atom. This charged molecule transfers one of its protons to another neighbor, cascading in a linear fashion to water molecules surrounding negatively-charged Cal- ions. Thus, the stability of a particular molecule is the electromagnetic bond of energies between atoms.
Relationship of Magnetism to Cell Stability
The electrons circling around atoms resist attempts to disturb their usual orbits, so they can create their own magnetic field. As a result, the atoms behave like little magnetic needles, all which point in a direction opposite to the field which is being applied. When like poles face each other, there is a strong resistance.
Magnetism takes place when electrons orbit around their atoms. Electrons have a property called spin, which makes them act like miniature magnets with two opposite poles. If neighboring electrons are made to spin so their poles are aligned in the same direction, it becomes magnetic. Iron is very easy to magnetize because it has lots of surplus electrons that will line up easily. But some nonmetallic substances also have enough spare electrons to do this without much difficulty.
Magnetism and Ionization
Magnetism is an imaginary field associated with certain types of materials that are said to be magnetic. In the case of common magnetic materials and electromagnetism, the magnetism is related to moving the electrons. In the case of nuclei, the magnetism is related to the much weaker magnetic properties of the spinning, electrically passive nucleus. The magnetic field of paired electrons cancel; therefore, atoms with closed electron shells exhibit little magnetism, whereas those with unpaired electrons produce strong magnetic domains.
Think of unstable elements moving around the body, looking for an electron to make itself stable. It will steal an electron from wherever it can, at the expense of a stable cell , which needs paired electrons to remain stable. When a cell loses an electron from a pair, it will lose energy and die, sacrificing itself to the "thief". This is how bacteria and cancer strives. This is believed to be the activity creating free radicals, that is, strong, unstable magnetic activity as a result of cell with electron imbalance aggressively seeking another electron, thereby creating imbalance in another cell.
Magnetism affects the electron stability of cells. Electrons of a cell are established in pairs. If one electron is lost, the cell will lose energy and die. When that electron is taken by oxygen which becomes unpaired, free radicals form and destroy cells.
Ionization - Presence of Ferromagnetic Minerals (Iron, Cobalt, Nickel and Gadolinium) which Bond With Ions in Elements of Cells to Establish Stability.
Magnetism: All matter is magnetic to some degree. An iron magnetic will pick up a steel paper clip but not a copper penny. Steel is magnetic and copper is nonmagnetic. Actually, copper is also magnetic, but to a very small degree. Even subatomic particles, such as protons have magnetic properties.
Paramagnetism: Materials include platinum, oxygen, tungsten, manganese and aluminum. They are weakly influenced by the magnetic field and do not have measurable magnetic properties of their own.
Diamagnetism: Materials include mercury, silver, copper, carbon and hydrogen, and have negative influences and are actually repelled by magnetic.
Ferromagnetism: Materials which are easily magnetised such as iron, cobalt, nickel and gadolinium. These materials make the strongest magnets and are used singly and in combination with the many MRI magnets.
ENERGY AND CELL METABOLISM
Life is dynamic and energy is dynamic. The conversion of energy is essential to all life forms. All living things assimilate energy and use it to grow. This process is called metabolism. Plants, algae and some bacteria use sunlight to create carbon-carbon covalent bonds from CO2 and H2O by the process of photosynthesis. Metabolic energy from carbon compounds is transferred from one molecule to another through special energy-storing phosphate bonds. Nearly all organisms obtain energy by metabolizing these bonds.
Metabolism is organized by enzymes, which are catalysts that permit formation of temporary associations with the molecules that are reacting. Cells employ these proteins as catalysts to lower activation energies. By bringing two substances together in correct orientation or by stressing particular chemical bonds of a substance, an enzyme lowers the activation energy required for new bonds to form. This creates a much faster reaction than otherwise would take place. Because the enzyme itself is not changed, it can continue to be used.
There are thousands of different enzymes, each catalyzing a different chemical reaction. The enzymes in a cell, by facilitating particular chemical reactions, determine the course of metabolism in that cell.
Factors Affecting Enzyme Activity
Temperature. The shape of a protein is determined by hydrogen bonds and are disrupted by slight changes in temperature.
pH. Enzymes are sensitive to hydrogen ion concentration. The more H ions available in the solution, the fewer negative charges and the more positive charges. Most enzymes have a pH optimum, between 6 and 8, just as they do a temperature optimum. This is critical to metabolism since some proteins can function in very acidic environments, others cannot.
The activity of an enzyme is not only sensitive to temperature and pH, but also to specific chemicals that bind to the enzyme and cause changes in its shape. By means of these specific chemicals, a cell is able to regulate which enzymes are active and which are inactive at a particular time. When the binding of the chemical alters the shape of the protein and shuts off enzyme activity, the chemical is called an inhibitor. When the change in an enzyme's shape is necessary for a catalyst to work, the chemical is called an activator.
The activity of enzymes is regulated by changes in enzyme shape, which result when specific, small molecules bind to the enzyme, molecules which are not of that enzyme group.
Many enzymes employ metal ions or organic molecules, called cofactors, to facilitate their activity. Nonprotein organic molecules used for this purpose are called coenzymes.
The level of magnetism in the body will determine stable, ionic exchange in metabolic activity. A weak or disturbed magnetic waveform can inhibit cellular metabolism. Water with a strong and stable magnetic signal can greatly increase metabolism.
Physical Laws Related to Energy:
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but can change from one form to another.
Energy is the result of entropy - the constant increase in disorder in the Universe. Energy spontaneously converts to less organized forms.
Heat is the energy of random molecular motion.
Critical Necessity of Negative/Positive Ion Balance from Osyka, F. And Edmonds, A. The Ion Effect. Greeneville, TN: Alpine Industries, Inc., 1991.
The energy in moving water generates a lot of negative ions. As water breaks up, positive charges remain with the larger drop and the negative charges move freely with a fine spray, forming negative ions. Waterfalls and cascades are surrounded by a beneficial load of negative ions because of the water's activity. Cases of migraine have been reported to substantially subside when a suffering person is close to oceans or waterfalls and "just breathes".
Because of pollution, there are less negative ions in the city than in the country. Negative ions are more active than positive ions and move at greater speed. It seems evident that since humans function largely because of bio-electromagnetism, the nature of air must have some effect on all life forms.
Results of studies have documented that ions have a pronounced effect on all life. Studies on air borne bacteria that are causes of colds, influenza and other respiratory illnesses found that an amazingly small amount of negative ions could kill these bacteria and remove them from the air.
Startling studies on cartooning have resulted on new conclusions about relationship of excess positive ions and overproduction of seratonin in animals, which causes hyperactivity, leading to exhaustion, anxiety and depression. It was found was that an excess of negative ions appeared to have an opposite, calming effect. Negative ions counteract the effect of positive ion overdose, acting like a tranquilizer by reducing amount of seratonin in the mid-brain. Studies on hyperthyroidism report that positive ions throw the thyroid out of balance.
In addition to respiration, ions are absorbed into the body through the skin. Much evidence shows that the nerve endings under the skin serve as receptors for ions and have a direct influence on the body and its organs. It is also believed that the points at which the body absorbs ions are similar to acupuncture points. Therefore, this theory has been the basis for ancient, Eastern medicine, which holds as its critical basis electromagnetic energy as the healing medium.
The major source of ions in the air within a few hundred feet of the surface of the earth is the radio-activity of the ground and the rays of the sun. The ionosphere absorbs much of the sun's harmful radiation and makes life possible. This protective shield is not only charged electrically but is also polarized. The underside that faces earth is positively charged and the top, which faces outer space, is negatively charged. The interaction between these two charges is a key element in the generation of ions of both polarities and in the maintenance of the balance between positive and negative ions.
The moon orbits the earth outside the ionosphere. Like the earth, it is negatively charged. When the moon is full it repels the negative outer face of the ionosphere. Thus, the ionosphere is pushed closer to earth, and the interaction between positively charged and negatively charged ions is such that when the moon is full, or nearly full, the number of positive ions close to the earth's surface increases. This is widely supported scientifically why unusual, erratic behavior increases during a full moon.
Other scientific information explains the effect of ions on human physiology. Recently, scientists have suggested that our red blood cells absorb the air we breathe while the white cells pick up the electrical charge of the air. White cells control the blood clotting mechanism and are normally negatively charged. Because they are all charged negatively, they repel one another and do not readily coagulate or clot unless the body requires it, such as healing an open wound or incision. An excess of positive ions could mean white blood cells lose some of their normal negative charge. As the repelling effect diminishes, white blood cells would be more likely to cling together to form clots, which could lead to thrombosis.
From Dubrov, A.P. Russian Advances in the Study of the Effects of Environmental Factors and Electromagnetic Medicine. (2001). New Perspectives, Journal of the Center for Frontier Sciences of Temple University, 10(2).
It has been found that lack of negative air ions is responsible for quick tiredness, lower labor productivity, indisposition, disturbance of the immune system, and can promote the onset and development of various chronic diseases. The more negative ions the air contains, the healthier it is. The problem of prevention and treatment of numerous diseases, therefore, is the recovery of the ions in the lost electric charge.
From Ackerman, J.M. The Biophysics of the Vascular Autonomic Signal and Healing (2001). New Perspectives, Journal of the Center for Frontier Sciences of Temple University, 10(2).
All organic and inorganic compounds have inherent electromagnetic resonance. Chemical compounds absorb electrical, electromagnetic and magnetic energy by altering their molecular and atomic geometry. As the molecule relaxes, the alterations in geometry return to their normal configuration. The compounds then emit multiple radio frequencies of their own characteristics plus heat of specific infrared frequencies. Growing cells, therefore, radiate more intensively than fully developed cells.
Biological compounds are capable of resonating when they are induced by electromagnetic stimulation. These special compounds are called neurohormones. Among other anatomical sites, they reside in acupuncture points and have the capacity to oscillate when induced by stimulation either by physical contact, such as massage or acupuncture needle, or even at a distance with the use of a laser beam. The information contained in the oscillations passed on by the acupuncture point relay system reaches the thalamus, an information exchange center in the brain and then onto the cerebral cortex and the autonomic nervous system via additional relay systems.
Navach demonstrated that clusters of neurohormones are present at acupuncture points in the ear, face, scalp, body, limbs, digits, periosteum, and deep fascia. It was Navach's contention that the general function of neurohormones is to initiate healing and to guide the process of healing as it evolves. He also found that proliferation of neurohormones can be demonstrated at the site of injury repair, i.e., mature collagen production in an otherwise fully developed vertebrae. The current of injury occurs because of cellular death and destruction of the integrity of inter and intra-cellular substances. Navach also believed that neurohormone compounds (at the cellular level) speed the overall healing process by accelerating the impact of DNA on messenger RNA.
Examples of a Faulty Biochemical Process and Ionic Exchange in Cell Metabolism
Sodium and glucose enter cells. Glucose is required to create cell energy. Sodium is exchanged with potassium (Potassium in and sodium out). When sodium and glucose are not fully metabolized with calcium and remain in cells, this can result in diabetes. When sodium is not fully metabolized with calcium and remains in cells, this can result in hypertension. When hydrogen is not metabolized with calcium and remains in cells, this can result in acidosis.
THE EFFECT OF WATER ON CELLS
The Necessity of Maintaining Adequate Water Volume
Fluid fluctuations affect blood volume and cellular function. This can be life threatening.
When the amount of fluid within various cellular compartments is relatively constant, there is an exchange of solutes and water between compartments to maintain unique compositions. Individuals with more body fat have proportionately less total body water and are more susceptible to fluid imbalances that cause hydration.
Total body water percent decreases with age, resulting in inadequate cellular hydration. Most critical is the decrease in intra-cellular fluid. This is due in part to increase of fat and decreased muscle, and decreased ability to regulate sodium and water balance. With age, kidney functioning becomes less efficient in producing urine, and responses for conserving sodium weaken.
There are two major issues about the water in our body that must be resolved if the body is to remain in a state of harmony and stability. First, the water must be able to prevent toxins and chemical substances from accumulating and creating destructive influences in the cells. Water must bring all minerals and nutrients required for metabolism into the cell, and remove any substances that can damage the cell. Also, the cell wall must be protected from damage and invasion. Second, since water is involved in every function of the body, it must act as a conductor of electrochemical activity, such as neurotransmission, by moving water from one nerve cell to another smoothly and effectively.
When cells are studied under an MRI, water is observed to act very differently from when it is not exposed to a magnetic field. Molecules are re-formed in smaller clusters in a linear arrangement. The molecules are lined up and move in and out of the cells easily. In contrast, when water is photographed after removed from MRI exposure, molecules are randomly ordered and cluster with neighboring water molecules to form large, molecular clusters. (Interestingly, when cancer cells are studied under MRI influence, its water molecules are also organized and calm, in contrast to their aggressive, violent movement without MRI exposure). However, naturally magnetised water remains organized in small clusters, whether or not exposed to a MRI.
The Passage of Water In and Out of Cells
Movement of water occurs because of hydrostatic pressure and osmosis in the capillaries. As water flows from artery to vein, changes in pressure create the movement across the membranes. Any changes in pressure will allow proteins, minerals, and other nutrients being carried by the blood to escape into spaces between vessels and deprive the cells of vital needs to sustain life. (In addition, when the water in the blood is acidic and contaminated with chemicals, it enters the cells and changes their structure, including changes in DNA. This is how disease begins and attacks structures in the body).
Osmosis is the diffusion of water across a membrane that permits the free passage of water but not solutes. Molecules of solutes (sugars, amino acids and ions) dissolved in water are in constant motion. This creates diffusion, the random movement toward zones where the concentration of the molecules is lower. This tends to distribute molecules uniformly. Because of diffusion, both solvent (water) and solute molecules in a cell will move from areas where concentration is greater to an area where their concentration is less.
As water molecules continue to diffuse inward toward the area of lower concentration of unbound water molecules, pressure within the cell increases, which is called hydrostatic pressure. This is the force that must be applied to stop osmotic movement of water across a membrane. When two areas are separated by a membrane, what happens depends on whether or not the molecule can pass freely through the membrane; most solutes in cells cannot do so.
Solutes are water soluble and are kept within the cell. Water molecules, however, can diffuse across the membrane into the cell, thus diluting the high concentration of solutes within the cell so that it matches more closely the lower concentration in the solution outside the cell (extracellular matrix). Eventually, however, the cell will reach an equilibrium, and the osmotic force driving water inward is counterbalanced exactly by the hydrostatic pressure driving water out. As a result the water and solute concentrations will be the same in both compartments.
The nature and proportion of solutes in the body's water will determine its effectiveness in hydrating, as well as detoxifying cells so a homeostatic, internal environment can be maintained to ensure proper cell metabolism. This requires bio-energy. A key component in dispensing bio-energy is the interactive effect of water and bio-magnetism. This interactive, bio-energy force is seen in the effectiveness of osmosis and the osmolarity of the water in the extracellular matrix, as well as in the cells. Through the influence of the body's bio-magnetism greater penetration of ions through the cell membrane, transported by water, will increase the health and stability of cells.
Osmosis is created by a magnetic force in our body, which keeps the movement in balance. Osmotic activity occurs as a result of osmolarity, the total concentration of all solute particles in a solution. The extent to which water's concentration is decreased by solutes depends on the number, not the type of solute particles in a solution, because one molecule or one ion of solute displaces one water molecule. Thus, a solution's osmolarity is a count of the number of solute particles (including ions) dissolved in one liter of water and is seen in the solution's ability to cause osmosis. The measurement used to describe the solute concentration of body fluids such as water is the milliosmol. The normal osmolality of body fluids should average around 270 milliosmoles.
Osmolarity controls distribution and movement of water between body compartments. The osmolality of intracellular and extracellular fluid tends to equalize and, therefore, provides a measure of body fluid concentration and the body's hydration status. Osmolarity measures the effective change in pressure for water, assuming that all the solutes are impenetrable. When a solute is added to water, the volume is expanded and includes the original liter of water plus the volume occupied by the solute particles. In measuring osmolarity, the volume of water is, therefore, reduced by an amount equal to the volume of added solute.
When equal volumes of solutions of different osmolarity are separated by a membrane that is permeable to all molecules in the system, net diffusion (tendency of the molecules or ions to scatter evenly) of both solute and water occurs, each moving down its own concentration gradient. A solution that changes the tone or shape of a cell by alternating its internal water volume is described by its osmotic activity, or tonicity. Tonicity is the tendency of a solution to resist expansion of intracellular fluid volume.
Solutions with concentrations of nonpenetrating solutes equal to those found in cells are isotonic, or have the same tonicity. An isotonic solution has the same osmolality as the intracellular fluid (ICF) or the extracellular fluid (ECF). This is required to maintain normal cell metabolism. An example of an isotonic solution is 5% dextrose in water and normal saline solution of 0.9% NaCl (Ganong, 1993). This solution is isotonic because there is no net movement of the active particles in the solution into cells and the particles are not metabolized. Extracellular fluids and most intravenous solutions are isotonic.
Solutions that contain fewer nonpenetrating solutes are called hypotonic. Cells placed in hypotonic solutions plump up rapidly as water rushes into them. Distilled water represents the most extreme example of hypotonicity. Because it contains no solutes, distilled water is pulled water into the cells without proper resistance or osmotic pressure and causes them to swell or burst (Marieb, 1995).
A hypertonic solution has a concentration greater than 285 to 294 milliosmoles. An example is a 3% saline solution. Water is pulled out of the cells so that the cells shrink. Tonicity is critical to cell metabolism when correcting water and solute imbalances by administering different types of replacement solutions, such as those used in IV therapy solutions (McCance & Huether, 1994).
A balanced osmolarity can be the difference between life and death of an organism. An example is sea water, overbalanced with sodium ions; or distilled water, which can be deadly if infused because it has no osmolarity. If distilled water is present on both sides of a permeable membrane, no net osmosis occurs, even though water molecules continue to move in both directions through the membrane. If, however, the solute concentration on both sides of the membrane differs, water concentration differs as well, because as the solute concentration increases, water concentration decreases.
There is a consideration when determining osmotic activity. In the case of living plant cells, as water diffuses into the cell, the point is reached where the hydrostatic pressure (the back pressure exerted by water against the membrane) within the cell is equal to its osmotic pressure (tendency to resist further net water entry. Generally, the higher the amount of nonpenetrable solutes within the cell, the higher the osmotic pressure and the greater the hydrostatic pressure that must be present to resist further net water entry. Osmotic pressure is also necessary to control water loss.
However, these pressure changes do not occur in living animal cells, which lack rigid walls and are surrounded only by flexible plasma membranes. Osmotic imbalances cause animal cells to swell or shrink, due to net water gain or loss) until the solute concentration on both sides of the plasma membrane is the same or the membrane is stretched to its limit. Many molecules, particular intercellular proteins and selected ions, are prevented from diffusing through the plasma membrane. Any changes in their concentration produce changes in water concentration on the two sides of the membrane and result in net loss or gain of water by the cell.
THE EXTRA CELLULAR MATRIX AND WATER
The human body can only maintain homeostasis if the extra cellular fluid (ECF) volume is closely regulated to maintain blood pressure and salt balance. Its osmolarity must be regulated to prevent swelling or shrinking of the cells. The maintenance of water balance is important in regulating ECF osmolarity. In order to maintain stability, the ECF must be able to respond quickly to changes in volume and osmolarity. (Sherwood).
In humans, kidneys are able to spare water by eliminating wastes in a concentrated urine. This urinary concentration relies on water reabsorption driven by an osmotic gradient formed along the collecting ducts, consisting of NaCl and urea at similar osmolarities. Survival of renal cells are induced by NaCl, but not urea, since urea is a membrane permeant solute. With excess saline in the tissues, there is a decrease in water excretion in order to bring the salt concentration back to normal. This is to allow for cell concentration to remain constant and prevent shrinking by fluid moving out of the cells in order to reach an equilibrium within the cells.
Understanding how a cell maintains its integrity requires understanding the role of the connective tissues in the body to the health and longevity of its internal environment. The environment of a cell is directly affected by the environment outside of the cell. Cells have a reciprocal relationship with their environment. The environment surrounding a cell consists of a structured, basic substance, which is called the extracellular matrix (ECM). This enormous space of connective tissues has a significant effect on determining genetic outcomes of the cell. Water is its primary regulation system. The ion composition of the elements in the extra cellular space are activated in water.
The ECM is the largest system in the body. It is virtually responsible for all vital functions that take place within the body. All cells depend on an intact ECM for their existence. It regulates the cell's environment and is part of every aspect of the immune system because the lymphatic system is connected with it. It takes care of cell nutrition through internal circulation of water, and the removal of wastes. Disease originates in dysfunctions in this space, as it affects organs and other systems throughout the body.
More than having a supporting and space-filling function, the ECM provides regeneration for specific organ functions, as well as mediation of nerve and vascular functions. Everything that comes out of the blood takes a complicated route through the connective tissue to the cell, and then into the lymphatic system. It is even more vital to the health of the human body because the nerves and blood vessels do not come into direct contact with the cells at any point, therefore, the ECM becomes the mediator for nervous and nutritional flow. Since connective tissue is really a living part of the body, everything attributable to the life and health of the body, and all its basic functions, have to be attributed to the extra cellular matrix.
The extra cellular matrix provides the communication of connective tissue over the entire organism. The entire field of activity and information related to communication is the extra cellular fluid. Connective tissue is found everywhere between the bloodstream and the principal structural parts. Everything that comes out of the blood takes a complicated route through the connective tissue to the primary, functioning cell, and then into the lymphatic system, which is connected with it. It takes care of cell nutrition through internal circulation of water, and the removal of wastes. It regulates the cell's environment and is part of every defense process.
The extra cellular matrix is connected to the endocrine gland system via the capillaries, and the central nervous system via the peripheral nerve endings. Since both systems are connected to each other in the brain stem, superior regulatory centers can be influenced by the ECM. The advantage of the interconnection of these systems results in a significant increase in the performance capacity of the ECM, which can only be attained by highly functional, interconnected set of systems, functioning as one. (Pischinger, 1975).
"The Fischer Principle of Bio-Hydro Dynamics." © 2000. Dr. Rose Fischer.
Dr. Rose Fischer, a chiropractic practitioner in St. Louis, has treated a large patient population with Attention Deficit Deficiency, a neurologic disorder affecting sensory-motor learning and behavior. This has created an educational problem of great proportion because it is treated commonly as a behavioral disorder, thus inappropriately managed. As a result of her experience, Dr. Fischer was able to identify common factors among this population, which distinguishes them from non-ADD persons. The two most critical, she discovered, are dehydration and a bio-magnetic deficit in neurotransmission. In her attempt to identify the role of these distinguishing factors in ADD, she developed the "Fischer Principle of Bio-Hydro Dynamics", based on her knowledge of the extra cellular matrix as the facilitator of intercellular communication.
Attention Deficit Disorder is a communication deficit in neurotransmitters, including weak, inter-neural synaptic responses, as a result of a decrease in intracellular hydration and bio-magnetic energy. A breakdown in neurotransmission involves an impedance of water transportation across the cell membrane, resulting in intracellular dehydration. An acidic pH also impedes neuro-activity. Acidity triggers a stress response, which increases the histamine level, placing oxidative stress on the cell membrane. The channel gates are blocked, reducing intracellular hydration. She believes that it is these factors that affect neural activity and may be responsible for what is known as ADD.
According to Dr. Fischer, learning can be improved by increasing hydration and bio-magnetism in the brain, thus improving bio-communication and nutritional assimilation. The brain must maintain an adequate hydration level in order for neurotransmission to remain active.
No other organ is as dependent on a constant internal environment as the brain. Other body tissues can withstand some fluctuations in the balance of hormones, ions and nutrients. However, when the brain is exposed to erratic, neuro-chemical changes, uncontrolled neural activity could result.
Fortunately, there are structures on capillary walls of the brain, called blood-brain barriers. Of water-soluble substances, only water, glucose and essential amino acids can pass easily through the capillary walls. Although these blood-brain barriers keep metabolic wastes from entering brain tissue, toxicity may find a way to enter in the water, thus creating a destructive force on brain tissue. Only when water has the ability to interact with bio-magnetism in our body can the many requirements that assure consistency of health and balance in the brain be accomplished.
REFERENCES:
Abrams, A. (1913) Human Energy. San Francisco: Borderland Sciences.
Collins, J.C. (2000) Water: The Vital Force of Life. Kinderhook, NY: Molecular Presentations.
Davis, R.D. and Rawls, W.C., Jr. (1996) Magnetism and Its Effects on the Living System. Metairie, LA: Acres, U.S.A.
Ganong, W.F. (1993) Review of Medical Physiology (16th Ed.). Norwalk, CN: Appleton & Lange.
Gerber, R. (1996) Vibrational Medicine. Santa Fe: Bear & Co.
Oschman, J.L. (2000) Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.
Marieb, E.N. (1995) Human Anatomy and Physiology (3rd Ed). Redwood City, CA: Benjamin/Cummings.
McCance, K.L. and Huether, S.E. (1994) Pathophysiology: The Biologic Basis for Disease in Adults and Children. St. Louis: Mosby.
Philpott, W.H. and Kalita, D.K. (2000) Magnet Therapy. Tiburon, CA:Alternative Medicine.com Books.
Pischinger, A. (1975) Matrix and Matrix Regulation. Brussels: Haug International.
Sherwood, L. (1997) Human Physiology: From Cells to Systems . (3rd Ed.) USA: Wadsworth.
The Scientific Study of Bioenergy Healing: Is it Real or is it Just the Placebo Effect? Excerpts from Gerber, Richard (1988). Vibrational Medicine, Santa Fe, NM: Bear & Co.
The increased acceptance of Therapeutic Touch-type therapies is due partly to a growing body of research that tends to validate some of the physiological changes and healing benefits claimed by TT practitioners. Scientific research has shown Therapeutic Touch healing to be effective in reducing anxiety, producing states of deep relaxation, and accelerating the healing of surgical wounds...
One of the earliest pioneering scientists to study the physiological effects of hands-on healing was Dr. Bernard Grad, a gerontologist at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. During the early 1960s, Grad became intrigued by the phenomenon of laying-on-of-hands healing, so much so that he set out to find a way to establish whether such healings were the result of psychological effects (as most critics of the practice believed) or true energy effects produced by healers. He sought a way of proving or disproving the popular notion that healers' effects were simply due to the power of the mind triggered by a person's belief system (the so-called placebo effect).
Grad chose plants and animals for his experiments, because physiological changes produced by laying on of his hands in a sick plant or an ailing animal would have to be attributed to something other than the placebo effect. Grad initially chose sick plants as his first nonhuman test subjects. Obviously, plants or seeds cannot "believe in" the healing powers of a particular healer or of a higher spiritual power. Since laying-on-of-hands requires a "sick patient" to work on in order to demonstrate its healing effects, Grad had to devise a way to create a sick plant.
To do so, he watered barley seeds with a saline solution, since salt is a known inhibitor of plant growth. If a healer could positively affect the germination rate of saline-treated seeds, as well as their subsequent plant growth, the healer's influence would have to come from something other than the power of belief. Grad persuaded Oskar Estebany, a local healer, to "treat" one of two sealed flasks of salt water (simply labeled bottle X and bottle Y) using his healing touch. Only Grad would know whether bottle X or Y was the healer-treated salt water, thus excluding any influence on the experiment that might be unconsciously attributed to experimenter expectation. His lab assistants watered two groups of barley seeds with saline from either bottle X or Y and then allowed time for the seeds to germinate and sprout. After the seeds had sprouted, the seedlings were planted in identical pots filled with soil and watered with normal, untreated water.
At the end of several weeks, Grad compared the two groups of plants. Grad discovered that the plants watered with healer-treated saline were markedly different from his control plants. When compared with the control group, barley seeds that had been watered with healer-treated saline sprouted more frequently and produced taller, leafier plants with higher levels of chlorophyll, at statistically significant levels. This meant that the differences between treated and untreated plants could not have been due to chance alone.
Grad's results in the plant experiment pointed to a number of interesting conclusions. Specifically, Grad had shown that laying-on-of-hands healing produced real, measurable effects in living systems above and beyond any possible psychological effects that might have been due to the power of belief. In addition, Grad had proven that healer-charged water could positively influence plant growth. Based on these findings, Grad suspected that the healer had actually imparted "something" to the water that was able to positively influence the growth of living organisms.
Exactly what is exchanged between healer and patient during such therapeutic interactions remains something of a debate among alternative-health-care professionals. While many have suggested that laying-on-of-hands healing involves a transfer of life-energy force from healer to patient, there are others who propose that such "healings" are related to a resonant-field interaction between healer and patient. Still other theorists claim that all the observed effects result from the consciousness of the healer and the patient interacting at some "higher" or "non local" level of quantum reality. But no matter which model of healing one favors, for the model to be valid it must explain how a healer can alter the nature of a simple saline solution so it boosts the growth rate of plants. In other words, does the healer, merely transfer the life energy into the water, or, alternatively, might he or she actually transmit some kind of "healing bioinformation" into the water that triggers healing and accelerated growth in plants and other living systems?
Perhaps healers are able to charge water with subtle magnetic life-force energy that carries with it some sort of healing bio-informational pattern, not unlike the pattern one might find in flower essences, homeopathic medicines, and other aqueous-based vibrational remedies. On the other hand, the subtle life energy transferred to the water might have been all that was needed to stimulate the salt-soaked barley seeds to germinate and grow.
Dr. Grad and other researchers have noted a striking similarity between magnetic fields and healer's energy fields. As an additional variation on his plant experiment, Grad watered barley seeds with magnet-treated salt water using the same protocol he had established earlier. He discovered that magnetised saline not only accelerated plant growth, it produced more vigorous growth-stimulating effects than even healer-treated water. There seemed to be a kind of "qualitative" similarity between a healer's energies and the energy field of a permanent magnet. Both healers' energy fields and magnetic fields could easily penetrate the glass walls of Dr. Grad's sealed bottles of saline, endowing the salt water with growth-promoting qualities. Grad's findings support the idea that the life-force energy emitted by a healer's hands is actually a kind of "animal magnetism," a distant cousin to the "iron-fillings-attracting" form of ferromagnetism.
Dr. Grad's research spurred a number of other investigators to further explore the physiological reasons behind the effects of laying-hands-on healing. Dr. Justa Smith, a biochemist who had spent a great deal of time studying how strong magnetic fields could accelerate enzyme activity, was one of these inspired individuals. Like Grad, Dr. Smith discovered that there were certain qualitative similarities between healers' bioenergy fields and high-intensity magnetic fields. Both the healer's field and a strong magnetic field could accelerate enzyme activity...
While most of the healing research at the time of Smith's and Grad's studies was focused on healing effects on plants, animals, enzymes, bacteria, or physical systems, few had actually studied their effect on human beings. Dr. Dolores Krieger, a professor of nursing at NYU School of Nursing, began to carry out what would become seminal research into the nature of healing regarding its effects upon people, and also with regard to its potential as a learned skill. In order to study a healer's influence on actual sick human beings, Krieger brought together Grad's healer (Mr. Estabany) with two groups of patients on a farm outside New York. The two groups of patients had been diagnosed with a variety of illnesses. The only difference between the experiences of the two groups was that one group received daily laying-on-of-hands treatment sessions with the healer while the other group did not.
In her attempts to prove that healers produced measurable physiological changes in sick individuals, Krieger searched for some parameter of body functions whose changes might indicate a healing response. In reviewing Grad's healing research with Mr. E, Krieger noted that plants exposed to healing energy were found to be richer in chlorophyll, a key molecule that is structurally similar to hemoglobin in human beings. Was it possible that humans might have a similar rise in their blood-hemoglobin levels following healing treatment sessions?
Krieger measured hemoglobin levels in both the healer-treated and control groups. When compared with the control group, patients receiving healing from Mr. Estebany showed rises in their hemoglobin levels, and at statistically significant levels. What most impressed Krieger, however, were the follow-up reports from patients who had patients who had received healing treatments from Mr. E. The healer-treated group of patients had come with a wide range of medical diagnoses, including pancreatitis, brain tumor, emphysema, multiple endocrine problems, rheumatoid arthritis, and congestive heart failure. Krieger was astonished by both the medical reports and first-person accounts of patients who had experienced either an improvement in or a complete disappearance of their disease-related symptoms after being "treated" by Mr. E.
Two subsequent replication studies produced similar rises in hemoglobin levels along with symptom amelioration in the healer-treated groups of patients. The tendency of healing energy to raise hemoglobin levels is sometimes so strong, it will occur in the face of medical factors that tend to decrease blood hemoglobin. To illustrate, some cancer patients who are receiving treatments from healers are also taking bone-marrow-suppressive anticancer drugs that tend to produce anemia (abnormally low hemoglobin levels). Surprisingly, some cancer patients receiving chemotherapy have been found to have dramatic increases in their hemoglobin levels, to the puzzlement of their oncologists (who are often unaware that these patients are also being treated by a healer). (pp.370-376).