NEWSBRIEF - Electric fields play a key role in healing
Researchers at the University of Aberdeen have found that the body's internal electric field plays a crucial role in the healing of damaged cells and tissue. Dr. Colin McCaig and his team studied the healing of damaged rat corneas. In an undamaged cornea positively charged ions are continuously pumped into the cornea while negatively charged ions are pushed out. This creates an electrical potential of 40 millivolts. In a damaged cornea this electric field disappears. However, by artificially inducing an electric field healing is speeded up significantly. Dr. McCaig believes that the field attracts positively charged proteins or lipids in the membranes of cells. An American team is currently working on the idea of speeding up the healing of spinal cord injuries by applying an external electrical field.
New Scientist, September 28, 2002, p. 15