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Ion Therapy
No Positive Effects from Negative Ion Therapy
Metro Manila is highly polluted according to the World Health Organization and the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Because of poor vehicle maintenance, the increasing number of vehicles, and small streets, the air we breathe is laced with carbon monoxide and lead which are dangerous to health.
Lead from auto emissions can accumulate in the bone marrow, nerves and kidneys while carbon monoxide poisoning can cause headaches, nausea, confusion, seizures and death. Small wonder that many jeepney drivers and commuters are suffering from respiratory diseases.
But the growing problem of air pollution and its ill effects on health have proved to be a blessing for quacks and their questionable devices. Capitalizing on the need for clean, fresh air, enterprising salesmen have begun promoting negative ion generators or ionizers. By continually releasing negative ions in the air, these devices will not only rid the air of dust, smoke and bacteria but are said to prevent headaches, asthma and other respiratory problems. How true are these claims? Before we answer that question, allow me to give you a little history lesson.
Air Molecules
Ions were discovered in 1899 by German physicists Julius Elster and Hans Friedrich Geitel. These air molecules are either positive or negative depending on the number of protons and electrons they carry. Positive ions have more protons while negative ones have more electrons.
Air normally contains a mixture of negative and positive ions. These electrically charged molecules are produced by nature from background radiation, cosmic rays, electromagnetic waves, the sun, lightning and waterfalls. These factors determine the amount of negative and positive ions in the atmosphere.
"Ions are formed most commonly in the soil, where trace elements of radioactive potassium, radon, and uranium initiate the ion reaction. An atom of oxygen hit by a radioactive ray immediately links up with four to six molecules of water vapor to form an ion. Ions also form in the air when oxygen atoms are hit by cosmic rays or light rays. Because water is a necessary part of all ions, they are most common during and following rainfalls and showers," explained Laurence D. Gadd and the editors of The World Almanac Book of the Strange.
Good and Bad Places
Proponents of negative ion therapy believe ions can influence a person's health and well-being. They say certain parts of the world can be good or bad for people depending on the number of ions there. Places with a lot of positive ions such as polluted cities can supposedly make you restless, anxious, depressed, and raise your blood pressure. Positive ions have also been blamed for headaches, irrtability, and chest tightness. This is because they increase the body?'s production of serotonin which leads to adverse effects. Some ion therapists have gone as far to suggest that positive ions in the atmosphere are responsible for road accidents, violent crimes, and suicides.
In contrast, caves, mountains, beaches and waterfalls which contain a lot of negative ions, are said to be relaxing and can reverse the effects of serotonin. They suppopedly cancel out the ill effects of positive ions and promote good health.
Spurred by these findings, various manufacturers developed machines to increase the amount of ions in the air. Negative ion generators which bombard the air with negative ions first appeared in the 1950s and were said to cure all kinds of diseases. But the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) weren't convinced and banned these devices in 1961.
The story, however, didn't end there. The use of negative ion generators has resurfaced in recent years and you'll find these gadgets in cars, homes, offices and even hospitals. The newer machines contain a carbon filter which supposedly cleans the air of smoke, dust and other invisible particles. But they still carry the same old health claims and have found a new market in asthmatics after experiments in the 1970s suggested that these devices could affect the behavior of animals and help them fight respiratory infections.
One well-known electronics company even came up with a color TV that emits negative ions. In its TV ad, it told viewers that the more they watched TV, the more they would be healthy. I wonder if that holds true while watching Beavis and Butthead or any of the local sitcoms.
Don't Be Misled
However promising the negative ion propagandists sound, don't be misled by their claims. Controlled trials on asthmatics have failed to show any benefit from negative ion therapy, according to the US National Institutes of Health and the American Academy of Allergy and Immunology. A 1987 study in The British Medical Journal also found no difference in the health and comfort of workers who used ionizers and those who didn't. The bad news is that some models may emit ozone, a toxic gas that can irritate the eyes and affect the lungs.
"Proponents of negative ion therapy (aeroionotherapy) claim that illness can be prevented by neutralizing positive ions with negative ones produced by small generators. But negative ion generators cannot actually produce enough ions to change the air in a room effectively. Ions have short half-lives; their energy dissipates rapidly as they leave the generators. Scientific studies carried out during the past 20 years have failed to support the claims of negative ion proponents," said Dr. Wallace I. Sampson, board chairman of the National Council Against Health Fraud, Inc. in the "Holistic" Hodgepodge published in The Health Robbers.
"Ions may have effects on humans, but no one knows what levels have what effects. Some levels might be harmful. Moreover, there is no practical way of controlling the ion concentration, which varies with room size, ventilation, machine capacity, and other factors. Therefore, using an ion generator is like taking an unknown dose of a medicine that has unknown effects," added nutritionist Kurt Butler in A Consumer's Guide to Alternative Medicine.
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