E-Newsletter:
Four New Energy Healing Studies (11/09)
Not as lyrical as 12 drummers drumming or 11 pipers piping, but as we head into the holiday season, here are 66 clinical studies, 35 psych undergrads, 20 hospice patients and 13 HMO members in 1 Reiki e-newsletter:
HMO Kaiser Permanente Northwest (KPNW) commissioned a Portland-based pilot study evaluating energy medicine as a treatment option for chronic headache. Researchers recruited 13 KPNW Health Plan members with chronic headache. Each participant received at least three Healing Touch sessions, on an approximately weekly schedule. After three treatments, 12 of the 13 participants reported improvements in the frequency, intensity or duration of their headaches, and 11 "experienced profound shifts in their view of themselves, their lives, and their potential for healing and transformation." The duration of the effects ranged from 24 hours to over 6 months.
Published in August 2009 Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
At a hospice in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Reiki is "relatively unknown," 50% of the patients choose to receive monthly Reiki treatments from Dutch volunteers. Researchers assessed 20 terminally ill patients' self-reported pain intensity, anxiety and stress levels before, during and after Reiki treatment. During the Reiki treatment, 11 patients reported feeling mental relaxation, physical relaxation or both. After the treatment, 10 patients reported reduced pain intensity, and 16 said they would receive Reiki again. The results were presented in a poster at the 6th Annual Congress of the European Federation of International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) Chapters (EFIC).
Published in September 2009 supplement to European Journal of Pain
At the University of London, Psychology Department researchers conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled single-blind trial of Reiki's impact on 35 healthy psychology undergraduates' health. The Reiki practitioner sat behind each student as he or she completed a relaxation exercise, but only gave Reiki to those in the treatment group. Students received ten 20-minute Reiki sessions over 2.5 to 12 weeks. The Reiki group's self-reported illness symptoms decreased slightly, while the placebo group's illness symptoms increased markedly. The Reiki's group's self-reported stress also dropped, almost statistically significantly. The blind was successful; students in both groups tended to believe they were in the placebo group.
Published in October 2009 Brain Research Bulletin
UCLA researchers reviewed 66 clinical studies of biofield therapies, including Reiki, Therapeutic Touch and Healing Touch. They found strong evidence that energy healing decreases pain intensity in pain populations, and moderate evidence that energy healing decreases pain intensity in hospitalized and cancer populations. They also found moderate evidence that biofield therapies decrease negative behavioral symptoms in dementia patients and anxiety in hospitalized populations.
Published in October 2009 International Journal of Behavioral Medicine
Thanks for reading. I find my research at PubMed.
Anna Schibrowsky
Chicago Healing Studio
