MICROCURRENT THERAPY

By Kenneth R. Morareidge, Ph.D., Physiology Consultant

see also Blood Electrifier
see also Dr. Bob Beck
see also Suppressed Medical Discovery - CURE FOR AIDS/HIV, CANCER and MUCH MORE (Video)

The potential of microcurrent therapy in health care has only recently attracted serious attention. Like many biological phenomena, knowledge of the very existence of small currents in the body had to wait on the development of technology sophisticated and sensitive enough to study them. The application of microcurrents to human tissue is remarkably effective in speeding the wound healing process. Numerous clinical studies have confirmed the effectiveness of very small currents in accelerating the healing process in non-union bone fractures and bone transplants. The use of microcurrent in such applications has become a standard procedure among orthopedic surgeons and physical therapists.

However, the effects of microcurrent therapy on the other types of injuries are just beginning to be explored on a systematic basis. Several clinical studies have reported the acceleration of healing of soft tissue injuries. Even more recent is the use of microcurrent therapy by physical therapists, athletic trainers, and other body workers. The available technology now allows great freedom in experimenting with microcurrent generators.

What is microcurrent? Normal household current is measured in amperes (amps). Microcurrent is measured in MicroAmps, millionths of an ampere. Current levels that seem to be most effective in helping tissue heal range from 20 to 500 MicroAmps. But many questions remain about these currents. How do they work in the body? Can they ever be dangerous? what are the long term effects of their use? In addition, there are questions of liability and licensing which legislators have yet to deal with.

Most of the published research on soft tissue injury and the effects of microcurrents have described the accelerated healing of ulcers in the skin, and associated suppression of bacterial growth (1,2,3,4). A skin ulcer is an injury that is visible and easy to assess. One can follow the rate of healing by measuring the size of the ulcer, and bacterial samples are easy to obtain with a swab. Observations of this type of injury can be at least provisionally extended to deeper tissue. For example, if microcurrents increase the rate of collagen formation in skin (3), there is a good chance that they also do it in ligaments and tendons. Also there is evidence of connective tissue cell multiplication, the formation of new collagen, in injured tendons (5) and increased strength in healed tendons of experimental animals (6) as a result of the application of microcurrent.

One report describes the accelerated healing of ligament injuries in members of a Canadian Olympic Team. The team physician routinely used microcurrent therapy in treating the athletes (7). Other studies have shown that microcurrents reduce pain with far fewer treatments than would be expected with conventional physical therapy (8,9).

There is even a study that indicates that microcurrents helped weight lifters increase strength more rapidly, and that these effects extended beyond the time treatment stopped (10).

Much of what we know about electrical currents in the body comes form the work of Robert Becker, who spent many years studying regeneration in the salamander and other animals (11). Microcurrents were first seen at amputation sites and in conjunction with other injuries, and were called "currents of injury," or "stump currents."

These electrical currents at injury sites were associated with the animals' ability to regenerate damaged or lost limbs. The greater the current density, the more complete the regeneration. This helped explain the differences between various types of animals in their regeneration abilities. Many animals, especially young ones can regenerate lost limbs or portions thereof. The champion of all land animals at this do-it-yourself replacement is the salamander. It also turns out that the salamander has the greatest injury current density of any land animal.

Becker's most astonishing discovery was that under the influence of an appropriately applied direct current certain cells are capable of de-differentiation. He found that mature, fully differentiated cells are able to retrogress to an embryonic form, with the ability to redifferentiate into whatever cell types are needed for complete regeneration. The group of undifferentiated cells that forms thusly at the stump of an amputated limb is called the bastema. The currents of injury that have been measured at amputation stumps in humans and animals appear to be related to the nerves supplying the area, and to the formation of the bastema.

The entire body is a low-level, direct current generator, a battery whose positive pole is along the spine and whose negative pole is the periphery. But how are these currents conducted through the body? The most obvious possibility is the nervous system and its support structure. Cells of the nervous system are known to generate electrical energy. Nerve signals are, after all, electrical or electrochemical events that transmit signals over large distances in the body.

But these signals are just that-signals, not actual currents. Furthermore, the voltages generated by the nervous system and by muscle are much larger than those we see at injury sites.

The nervous system is not comprised solely of neurons. There is a vastly greater network of cells that supports and nurtures the neurons. Generally there are glial cells in the central nervous system and Schwann cells in the peripheral nerves. All neuron cells bodies reside in the brain and spinal cord. Only their axons and dendrites extend outward, forming the peripheral nerves that connect every part of the body with the CNS. Becker has likened these neurons cell bodies and glia support structure to "Hairy raisins embedded in a pudding." These glia cells are electrical conductors that do not transmit discrete signals like neurons, but rather carry very small direct currents. These currents have a profound effect, either directly or by the magnetic fields they generate, not only on the neurons which they surround, but also on other cells.

Another possible conductor of electricity is the circulatory system, especially the capillaries. Nordenstrom (12) has indicated that in an area of injury a positive charge builds up, which would serve as a sing for the negative current flowing from the core of the body to the periphery. Concentration of the injury current is further enhanced by the ability of the circulatory system (capillaries) to conduct current. This happens when the normally ion-impermeable walls of the capillaries become less so. Forcing an increased current flow through the capillaries to the point of injury. Nordenstrom has had some very positive results in causing lung tumors to regress by using electrical currents.

Then there is that biological will-o-the-wisp, the meridian. The functional existence of meridians is a basic tenet of Chinese medicine. Their physical existence has been demonstrated by the use of radioactive tracers injected at acupuncture points. The tracers indeed distributed along the meridians (13, 14). However, the anatomical nature of the meridians remains in dispute. The Korean investigative results have not been reproduced. Such channels must be very thin and delicate, scarcely distinguishable from the surrounding connective tissue. It is quite possible that the flow of fluid or electricity is necessary to keep these channels open, and if collapsed, they become virtually invisible. The actual function of meridians remains a subject of speculation. They contain large amounts of DNA and a number of hormones. including adrenaline. They apparently are among the earliest structures to form in the embryo and may act as guides for the formation and later maintenance of other vessels and organs.

All of these mechanisms may be involved. This may explain why chronically tight muscles and connective tissue suffer damage. This might derive not just from ischemic loss of nutrients, but an area of tightness might actually "squeeze out" the electrolyte-containing water from an area, changing and reducing its electrical conductivity. Body workers have noticed that microcurrent treatment is much less effective for those who are even moderately dehydrated or lacking in electrolytes. Microcurrent therapy seems to depend upon electrically conductive tissue in order to gently force current into an area. This is also true of acupuncture. A metal needle changes the course of the body's natural electrical current. This is especially true if the needle is connected by a wire to another needle more proximal to the body core, allowing an alternate route for current to enter the area.

How do cells respond to electrical currents in a way that increases their healing activity? In order to deal with this question we must enter the shadowy world of cell molecular biology. The effects of small currents on the cell and on the organism are equally profound by of a very different order of magnitude. The primary organizing factor of the body now appears to be electromagnetic. That is, electricity not only influences the metabolism of the individual cell , by also tells the cell where it fits into the larger scheme of thins, i.e., in the organism. Electromagnetic fields form the orienting "map" by which the body organizes and by which the cells ------------

At the cellular level electricity is pervasive. A large percentage of the cell's total energy budget goes to the separation of ions (charged atoms and molecules). When positively and negatively charged ions are separated, the result is an electrical potential (voltage). Cells are enormously active in creating ion separations across closed membranes. These separations occur across the cell membrane and across organelle membranes within the cell. Once an electrical charge has been built up, it represents an important source of stored energy for the cell, rather like water stored behind a dam, or electricity store in a battery.

There are two forces at work here. One of them is electrical - a positively charged ion would like to migrate across membrane toward the more negative side. Unlike charges attract and like charges repel each other. The other force is concentration. Any highly concentrated ion would like to diffuse into an area where it would be less concentrated. The cell uses both of these forces.

Ion pumps in the cell membrane actively more sodium ion out of the cell and potassium ions in. The large build up of sodium ions outside the cell is then used to power other forms of transport, just as forcing water flow through a turbo-generator powers electricity production. For example, sodium ions are allowed to flow down their concentration gradient into the cell, powering the active transport of glucose and amino acid molecules up their concentration gradients in to the cell. But transport within the cell is even more interesting and more relevant to our concerns. The mitochondrion is an organelle within the cell and is made up of a set of closed membranes. Mitochondria have been called the "powerhouses" of the cell, because all the reactions of aerobic metabolism take place within them.

Within the mitochondrion is a set of special enzymes called cytochromes. These enzymes take the hydrogen ions released by the metabolic degradation of glucose and fats and moves them across the mitochondrion's internal ---

The ions are then allowed to flow back across the membrane, but as they do so they power the creation of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the major source of chemical energy for the cell. This process is called chemiosmosis (15). In a few cases this "downhill" flow of hydrogen ions powers cell processes directly. The fact is that the concentration of hydrogen ions in the mitochondrion (electrochemical proton gradient) and the chemical ATP are inter convertible and equivalent storage forms of cell energy and are used to power virtually all cell processes from synthesis of proteins to ion pumps to muscle contractions.

The total energy of the cell can be estimated chemically by the amount of ATP available, or electrically from the total ionic charge separation (capacitance). We can now see that if an electrical current of appropriate magnitude and direction were to flow through a cell, hydrogen ions formed by electrolysis of water at the anode (positive electrode) would migrate through the cell. When they reached the mitochondria membrane they would power the formation of ATP at an increased rate.

Thus any cell activity for which energy availability was the limiting factor would be accelerated by an electrical current. This has been found experimentally to be true. Amino acid uptake by the cell and subsequent of microcurrents to both intact tissue and cells in culture (16, 17).

Of course, hydrogen ions are not the only ions whose movement would be affected by electrical currents. Another very important ion is cell physiology is calcium. Calcium ion has long been recognized as one of the two important "internal messengers" of the cell (the other being cyclic AMP). The nerve impulse along an axon opens calcium gates in the axon terminal. This allows an influx of calcium ions which signals the membranes of the synaptic vesicles to merge with the presynaptic membrane, releasing neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft. But this is only one example. The presence of calcium in the form of a calcium protein complex helps in the secretion, ATP recycling, and many other cell processes. In biochemistry texts, the calmodulin molecule is shown as having the shape of a four-leaf clover with a calcium ion bound to each leaf.

Thus the entry of calcium into the cell can be implicated in the control of cell growth and gene expression (i.e., differentiation and dedifferentiation). There are electrically controlled calcium gates in the cell membranes of human fibroblasts, and these gates can be opened by appropriate electrical current applied experimentally (18). Electrical stimulation of human fibroblasts also increases the synthesis of protein and DNA (17). While evidence is not yet totally conclusive, there is a strong case for the notion that microcurrent triggers productive mechanisms involving the calcium gates in cell membranes.

Another perspective, from a somewhat different direction, has been offered by Cheng, et al (16). They have shown that cell protein synthesis is increased by the application of microcurrents but they did not observe any increase in the synthesis of DNA. Most interesting, however, is their demonstration of a large increase in the synthesis of ATP. This molecule is the basic energy source for all cell activities, including protein synthesis. It is essential to booth contraction and relaxation of skeletal muscle. If ATP supply is a limiting factor, then microcurrents will significantly increase this supply and thereby enhance energy-dependent activities of the cell.

from http://www.medcareservice.com/

References

1. Assimacopoulos, D. 1968. Low Intensity Negative Electrical Current in the Treatement of Ulcers of the Leg due to Chronic Venous Insufficiency. Am J Surg 115::683-687

2. Carley, P.J., S.F. Wainapel. 1985. Electrotherapy for Acceleration of Wound Healing: Low Intensity Direct Current. Arch Phys Med Rehabilitation 66:4443-445

3. Alvarez, O.M., et al. 1983. The Healing of Superficial Skin Wounds.

4. Barron, J.J., W.E. Jacobson, et al. 1985 Treatment of Decubitus Ulcers: A New Approach. Minn Med 68:103-106

5. Nessler, J.P., D.P. Mass. 1985 Direct Current Electrical Stimulation of Tendon Healing in Vitro. Clin Orthop 217:303-312

6. Owoeye, L., N. Speiholz, et al. 1987. Low-Intensity Pulsed Galvanic Current and the Healing of Tenotomized Rat Achilles Tendons: Preliminary Report Using Load-to-Breaking Measurements. Arch Phys Med Rehabilitation 68:415-418

7. Stanish, W. Electrical Stimulation of Torn Ligaments Cuts Rehab Time by two-thirds. Medical World News. Feb. 27, 1984, p. 67.

8. Noto, K., P. Grant. 1985. Comparative Study of Electro-Acuscope Neural Stimulation and Conventional Physical Therapy Modalities. Physical Therapy Forum 4:11.

9. Meyer, F.P., A. Nebrenski. 1983. Micro Stimulation and Placebo Effect Calif Health Review 2:1.

10. Scott, J., R. Picker. A Double Blind Study to Evaluate Muscle Strength in Athletes Treated With Electro-Myopulse. Intl Soc Electro-Acutherapy.Feb. 27, 1983.

11. Becker, R.O., G. Shelden. 1985 THE BODY ELECTRIC. William Morrow & Co.: New York.

12. Taubes, G. An Electrifying Possibility. Discover. Apr. 1986, pp. 23-37.

13. Rose-Niel, S. The Work of Professor Kim Bong Han. The acupuncturist. 1:15, 1967. !uoted in VIBRATIONAL MEDICINE Richard Gerber.

14. DeVernejoul et al. Etude Des Meridiens D'Acupuncture Par Les Traceurs Radioactifs. Bul Acad Natle. Med. 169:-1071-1075, 1985. Quoted in VIBRATIONAL MEDICINE

15. Mitchell, P. 1976. Vectoral Chemistry and the Molecular Mechanism of Chemiosmotic Coupling: Power Transmission by Proticity. Biochem Soc Trans 4;400.

16. Cheng, N. et al. 1982. The Effects of Electric Currents on ATP Generation, Protein Synthesis and Membrane Transport in Rat Skin. Clin Orthop Rel Res 171;264-272.

17.Bourguignon, G.J., L.Y.W. Bourguignon. 1987. Electrical Stimulation of Protein and DNA Synthesis in Human Fibroblasts. FASEB J 1(5): 398-402.

18. Chen, C.P. Hess. 1987. Calcium Channels in Mouse 3T3 and Human Fiboblasts. Biophys J 51:226a.






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