Researchers at the University of Iowa may have discovered a safe new way to manage blood sugar non-invasively. They found that exposing diabetic mice to a combination of static electric and magnetic fields for a few hours per day normalizes blood sugar and insulin resistance. This unexpected and surprising discovery raises the possibility of using electromagnetic fields (EMFs) as a remote control to manage type 2 diabetes.

The new study shows that EMFs alter the balance of oxidants and antioxidants in the liver, which improves the body’s response to insulin. This effect is regulated by small reactive molecules that were found to operate as “magnetic antennae.”

Normally, mice are born with abnormally high blood sugar levels. The application of static magnetic and electric fields regulates blood sugar in three different mouse models of type 2 diabetes. The research team also showed that exposure to such fields, which are about 100 times that of the Earth’s, during sleep, reversed insulin resistance within three days of treatment. The researcher’s new findings showed that the EMFs toned down these levels, bringing them to a normal level.

One of the head researchers of this study includes Calvin Carter, Ph.D., the lead author and a postdoc in the lab of senior author Val Sheffield, MD, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics, ophthalmology, and visual sciences at the UI Carver College of Medicine.

“This literature pointed to a quantum biological phenomenon whereby EMFs may interact with specific molecules. There are molecules in our bodies that are thought to act as a tiny magnetic antenna, enabling a biological response to EMFs,” Carter says. “Some of these molecules are oxidants, which are studied in redox biology, an area of research that deals with the behavior of electrons and reactive molecules that govern cellular metabolism”.

The research was funded in philanthropic gifts from the Janice and Herbert Wilson Family Foundation, the Chris and Charles Chessman Foundation, and the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust.

Funding was also given by the American Diabetes Association, the Francois Abboud Cardiovascular Center, and the University of Iowa Research Foundation. The team was also supported by funding from the National Eye Institute, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the Teresa Benoit Diabetes Research Fund, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center.