Mechanisms of Action And Effects of Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields (PEMF) in Medicine

Abstract

Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) therapy is a non-invasive and non-thermal treatment widely used nowadays to treat various types of disorders and traumas, both in humans and animals. Initially applied only for wound healing, today it finds many applications in medicine for the treatment of bone fractures, arthritis, inflammation, edema, and pain. Although their mechanisms of action are still being studied today, and mainly related to the calcium signaling pathway, they are effective in the adjuvant treatment of many human diseases in different medical specialties. This work aims to report the main evidence and research in the medical field with particular reference to the application of PEMF to some medical specialties as regenerative medicine (wound care), sports medicine, orthopedics, and physiotherapy. Finally, this work also wanted to deepen one of the most recent applications of PEMF in the field of complex diseases, i.e. in the adjuvant treatment of cancer. Pulsed electromagnetic field therapy may play an important role in medicine as a complementary treatment for various human diseases and, by deepening the studies in the future, it will be possible not only to understand the exact mechanisms of action but also to extend its application to other pathologies both in the medical and veterinary fields.