Weird study

spartan74

New Member
Not sure where to put this one, but seems quite interesting. Looks hokie at first, but there seems to be legitimate science behind it. I wasn't so much interested in the inflamation content, but the reduced cortisol and better rest seem very attractive. Anybody have any thoughts on "earthing"? From what I gain from my searches so far, one can use a grounded mattress cover to reduce external electricity. Neat idea.
http://www.oceanabarefoot.com/pdfs....ary.pdf
 
Sounds like pseudoscience to me. Kind of like that whole 'wear a magnetic bracelet and cure cancer' thing.
 
Haha, really. I didn't read it all, but the "swelling went down in 7 days" pics gave me a hoot! Went down in 7 days? YA THINK?

Didn't need some 'earth ground' last time I was swollen somewhere.
wow.gif
 
Perhaps, but I also found it on pubmed.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez....bstract

The biologic effects of grounding the human body during sleep as measured by cortisol levels and subjective reporting of sleep, pain, and stress.

Ghaly M, Teplitz D.

OBJECTIVES: Diurnal cortisol secretion levels were measured and circadian cortisol profiles were evaluated in a pilot study conducted to test the hypothesis that grounding the human body to earth during sleep will result in quantifiable changes in cortisol. It was also hypothesized that grounding the human body would result in changes in sleep, pain, and stress (anxiety, depression, irritability), as measured by subjective reporting. SUBJECTS AND INTERVENTIONS: Twelve (12) subjects with complaints of sleep dysfunction, pain, and stress were grounded to earth during sleep for 8 weeks in their own beds using a conductive mattress pad. Saliva tests were administered to establish pregrounding baseline cortisol levels. Levels were obtained at 4-hour intervals for a 24-hour period to determine the circadian cortisol profile. Cortisol testing was repeated at week 6. Subjective symptoms of sleep dysfunction, pain, and stress were reported daily throughout the 8-week test period. RESULTS: Measurable improvements in diurnal cortisol profiles were observed, with cortisol levels significantly reduced during night-time sleep. Subjects' 24-hour circadian cortisol profiles showed a trend toward normalization. Subjectively reported symptoms, including sleep dysfunction, pain, and stress, were reduced or eliminated in nearly all subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that grounding the human body to earth ("earthing") during sleep reduces night-time levels of cortisol and resynchronizes cortisol hormone secretion more in alignment with the natural 24-hour circadian rhythm profile. Changes were most apparent in females. Furthermore, subjective reporting indicates that grounding the human body to earth during sleep improves sleep and reduces pain and stress
 
Anything besides just one study on only 12 subjects? It doesn't look like they used any controls either.
 
I believe there was a control group. In the first link (page 3 I believe), it showed cortisol levels in the ungrounded set as well as those that were grounded. Cortisol levels were significantly less in those that were grounded. Now, I'm not sure of the methodology and the sample is small, but it is very interesting. We tend to think of bodybuilding in two ways...external force we put on the body and nutrition. Surely there are other factors. Can the environment not be one of those factors. We know toxic chemicals affect our ability to live, much less grow muscle. Why not other environmental facors like electricity. After all, we are all made of molecules, which are made of atoms, which are made of protons and electrons. In essence, at the smallest level, we are pure energy as these positive and negative charges are what makes every molecule in the universe. Wouldn't it naive for us to just dismiss the idea that external electirical fields could have an effect on our very being. Now I'm no hippie (though my parents were), but this has me really intrigued. I'd like to get the input from the more scientifically astute posters...as I am not one of them. Thanks in advance for any input.
 
oh...I just found more studies in the first link. There was a '96 study with 112 (1/2 control) and a '00 study with 60 (again 1/2 control). I think these are around pages 5 and 6.
 
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