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This article on using magnetic fields to map and possibly treat brain disorders contrasted sharply with the article a few pages earlier about magnetic fields inducing cells to develop tumors (“Cells proliferate in magnetic fields,” SN: 9/23/00, p. 196: Available to subscribers at Cells profilerate in magnetic fields). I would strongly suggest that both the science community and the regulatory community tread carefully until the biological effects of electromagnetic fields are credibly defined. Otherwise, we could repeat the early years of the field of nuclear medicine, when patients were exposed willy-nilly to all sorts of radiation levels and types for all sorts of illnesses before the full effects of nuclear radiation on the body were known or even suspected.

Tim LeGore
West Richland, Wash.