E-Newsletter:
Natural Killer Cells, Registered Nurses and Ribonuclease A (8/10)

This month's research roundup includes some decidedly science-y terms. Researchers are no longer asking, "Does Reiki work?" or "Is it just the placebo effect?" Now they're asking, "Can it fight cancer?", "Will it help my staff?" and "How does it work, at the cellular level?"

Energy healing reduced pain, lowered stress steroids and increased natural killer cells - white blood cells that fight infection and cancer - in a controlled trial of 21 vascular surgical inpatients at Massachusetts General Hospital. These statistically significant results were reported after just a single session of Therapeutic Touch (TT), a type of energy healing similar to Reiki.
Published in September 2010 Journal of Holistic Nursing

Significant differences in pain, depression and anxiety were reported in a randomized, controlled Reiki trial with 20 older adults. No differences were found in heart rate and blood pressure, which were also measured. Participants who received Reiki described the experience as relaxing and said it improved their physical symptoms, mood and well-being.
Published in July 2010 Research in Gerontological Nursing

Reiki self-treatment reduced Registered Nurses' stress levels, and more frequent self-treatment yielded better results, according to a study from a "large academic, urban medical center." Work-related stress was measured before 17 RNs took a Reiki I class and after three weeks of self-treatment. Not surprisingly, work-related stress has been linked to high burn-out among RNs.
Published in August 2010 Journal of Holistic Nursing : Official Journal of the American Holistic Nurses' Association

When forced to unfold, ribonuclease A releases stored energy as heat. When allowed to reabsorb energy, it refolds. Researchers at Drexel University College of Medicine think this protein could be used to measure the energy transferred during a healing session. In a feasibility study, they tried two ways of assessing the folding and found one - kinetic assay - will work for energy healing studies.
Published in July 2010 Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

At the Center for Endovascular Surgery, another feasibility study examined use of energy medicine in a surgical environment. The authors devised and implemented a process for providing energy healing before a diagnostic surgical procedure, but the variables they recorded - blood pressure and pulse - were controlled by the anesthesiologist, and thus showed no change.
Published in September 2010 Journal of Holistic Nursing

If you need relief from pain, stress or anxiety, email Erik LaBelle, Reiki Master/Teacher, or call 312-504-7693 to set an appointment for a Reiki healing session.

Anna Schibrowsky
Chicago Healing Studio