WHAT'S THE ATTRACTION?

By Steve Wulf

Critics say it's all hype, while true believers swear it offers significant help. Born of Eastern practice and Yankee ingenuity, it has elicited both raves and boos. The final verdict on its effectiveness, however, is still pending.

The signing of Hideki Irabu? No, although the decision by the New York Yankees to give the unproven Japanese pitcher $12.8 million for four years is all of that. But we're talking about something else, something up Irabu's sleeves that is attracting as much controversy as his signing and subsequent shelling. Irabu and other professional athletes, hordes of weekend warriors and countless ordinary people seeking relief are strapping or taping to their bodies or sleeping on magnets to make themselves feel better.

The magnets, which come in all shapes, sizes and prices, have a medical history dating back centuries; Cleopatra purportedly wore one on her face to preserve her youthful appearance. Yet thanks to modern marketing techniques and such high-profile users as Irabu, biomagnets could be the hottest thing since sliced bread, which some doctors say would be just as useful affixed to the body. "This is off-the-back-of-your-medicine-wagon kind of stuff," Dr. Douglas Foulk, assistant professor of sports medicine at the University of Colorado, told the Denver Post. "We have zero evidence that [magnets] are beneficial."

On the other hand, Denver Broncos starting safety Steve Atwater swears by his magnetic mattress pad. "I don't know if it's a placebo effect," says Atwater, who has tried taking shark cartilage to little effect, "but it's working for me." Jim Colbert, a top winner on the Senior P.G.A. Tour, attributes his success to the dollar bill-size magnets taped to his ailing back. And Washington Redskins wide receiver Henry Ellard has been using magnets on his legs for years.

Then there's Irabu, who has dozens of tiny magnets taped to his body. Unfortunately for him, that body is now in Columbus, Ohio, where the Yankee rookie will try to regain the magic that disappeared all too quickly after his July 10 debut. Fortunately for the parents of baseball-playing kids, Irabu's demise came before their offspring could strip their refrigerator doors. Fridge magnets wouldn't have worked anyway; they register around 4 gauss (a measure of magnetic strength) and have north and south poles on both sides, while medical magnets range from 800 to 4,000 gauss and generally have the north pole on one side and the south pole on the other.

Some acupuncturists use magnets to stimulate pressure points and promote circulation. But as Dr. Edward McFarland, head of sports medicine at Johns Hopkins University, puts it, "The science [of biomagnetics] has to catch up to the hype." Indeed, there have been no authoritative studies on the effects of magnetic therapy. There is no shortage, though, of theories about how they work:

--Dr. William H. Philpott, author of the Biomagnetic Handbook, claims that all injuries generate positive magnetic fields and that administering a negative magnetic field to the affected site will relieve pain and speed healing.

--Dr. William Pawluk, a former faculty member at Johns Hopkins, maintains that magnets stimulate red blood cells, which contain iron. "I placed a round bull's-eye magnet on a nurse's knee following a ski injury," he writes in a Web article. "The next morning she had a perfect bull's-eye pattern over her bruise!"

--Dr. Yee-Wing Tong, a California physician, writes in another Web article, "When magnets are placed on the body, the positive and negative ions in the blood separate, physically pushing the walls of the blood vessels apart, thereby increasing blood flow to that area."

--BIOflex, a Florida company that sells magnetic wraps, claims in its literature that the magnetic field creates a slight electrical current that stimulates the nervous system and blocks the sensation of pain.

--Bharti Vyas, an alternative-health practitioner in London, says major organs of the body are held in place by the vibration of the cells, and illness or injury can upset the frequency of vibration. Magnetic force pulls the frequency back into equilibrium. She recommends drinking magnetized water.

Believe those or not, one fact is irrefutable: biomagnetics is a growth industry. Nikken Inc., the North American division of a Japanese company that claimed worldwide sales of more than $1.5 billion in 1994, has become the Amway of magnetic products, with 60,000 distributors nationwide. The BIOflex line of products--$45 wrist wraps to $95 back braces--will soon be available in sporting-goods stores.

McFarland cautions, "Right now, use on a widespread basis would be a mistake." But he adds, "The most probable harm to consumers would be over expense." Funny, that's what people think is wrong with Irabu.

--Reported by Joanna Downer/Washington and Alice Park/New York

With reporting by JOANNA DOWNER/WASHINGTON AND ALICE PARK/NEW YORK