Malaria is one of the most deadly infectious diseases in the world, second only to tuberculosis. Worldwide, up to 500 million people suffer from malaria, and about 2 million die of the disease each year. Although the disease strikes people of all ages in tropical climates throughout the world, the vast majority of victims are children from central and western Africa. Every day, 3,000 children die of malaria.

Malaria is caused by four species of the blood parasite, Plasmodium. The parasite does not attack humans directly. People contract the disease when they are bitten by a female Anopheles mosquito that has been infected with Plasmodium. The complex life cycle of the malaria parasite presents several health care challenges. First, there is the problem of controlling mosquito populations. The mosquitoes reproduce so quickly that they invariably evolve strains that are resistant to pesticides. At the same time, drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium have appeared in recent years, making it difficult to treat malaria patients. Furthermore, people in the hardest hit areas are often poor and don’t have easy access to medical care.

But a new discovery by researchers at the University of Washington could lead to a safe and inexpensive way to treat malaria. The researchers found that exposing Plasmodium to an oscillating (alternating) magnetic field caused the parasites to weaken and sometimes die. Apparently, the magnetic radiation acts on iron-containing molecules within the organisms in a way that disrupts their metabolism.

The malaria parasite does its damage by “eating” hemoglobin, the component of red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body. Hemoglobin is a large protein molecule that consists of four large peptide chains, or globins, and four smaller heme groups. As the diagram shows, each heme group contains an iron atom at its center. The parasite breaks down the globin portion, but cannot digest the heme portion. Left unchecked, the heme molecules would be toxic to the organism. But the parasites render them harmless by binding them into long stacks.

The Washington scientists suggest two ways that the magnetic field could disrupt this process. It could “shake up” partially formed stacks, setting loose the heme molecules. Or, if the stacks are already formed, the radiation could cause the stacks to spin, thus damaging the parasite. Whatever the exact mechanism involved, Plasmodium numbers were reduced 33 to 70 percent after being exposed to the magnetic field. Further analysis showed that the surviving organisms had a decreased metabolic rate. If the parasite is weakened to this extent, say the researchers, the malaria symptoms would be mild enough that the disease could be controlled.

Treating malaria in this way could be as simple as sitting in a room equipped with magnetic coils. Setting up a treatment facility in the back of a truck would allow medical personnel to travel from village to village. But one important question has yet to be answered: is exposure to an oscillating magnetic field safe for humans? Since the field used was only slightly stronger than the earth’s magnetic field, researcher Henry Lai thinks there shouldn’t be a problem. But because the magnetic field is oscillating, the researchers will have to conduct further studies to determine its safety.

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