In 1997, the Baylor College of Medicine published a study where 76% of treated patients using permanent magnets had reported a decrease in arthritic joint and muscle pains compared to the 19% placebo patients. The New York Medical College also released a study showing a significant reduction rate of foot pain in millions of diabetic patients. Thicker magnets with a large diameter produce a stronger, deeper penetrating magnetic field than a smaller and thinner magnet with the same gauss rating. The overall strength (and effectiveness) of a magnet is determined by its gauss rating, its thickness, diameter and spacing. Past and present therapy Various old cultures have been known to have used magnets for pain relief and other symptoms. The most common magnets for therapeutic use are the flat ceramic magnets or at best the neodymium magnets. Neodymiums are stronger magnets than the ceramic types and are probably the best ones for therapeutic use. The Neodymium magnets range in strength from N24 to N55 with the latter one being the strongest one. It is an alternative form of treatment that is more popular in China, India, Japan and in some countries in Europe. Practitioners claim that the therapy has been around for quite some time now with the early Egyptians as one of the very first who used magnets in practical applications. Most of the people today who seek medical attention shy away from invasive procedures like operations. Aside from pain relief, better blood circulation could also result into better sleep. Aside from that, magnets could also stop or intervene with muscle contraction and spasms. Spasms would only tighten the muscles and joints which could make movements or the area more painful. Medical magnets could help in relaxing and decreasing muscle tightness. Proponents of magnet therapy, however, claimed that it was impossible to carry out a real double-blind study because participants were able to check on the authenticity of their magnets. Some researchers went around this by using weak magnets as the placebo treatment. Others used complicated placebo devices to confound the patients.