While Reiki is a common form of treatment throughout the world,
its many benefits are only recently becoming recognized
by western medicine. A number of national and international programs
identify how Reiki can integrate
into traditional medical treatments. Following are selected areas
of research and reporting:
- The United States
Army unveiled a $4 million
program to mend the psyches of returning veterans through Reiki
and other bioenergies [http://blog.wired.com:80/defense/2008/03/army-bioenergy.html.]
The Department of Veterans Affairs uses Reiki in their Hepatitis
C treatment program. Fort Bliss’ Warrior Resilience program — the
same one Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey believes should
be replicated throughout the military — uses it as one
tool to help soldiers strengthen and recover following combat.
Click
here for more information
- Sensitive instruments
have been developed that can detect the minute energy fields around the human body.
Of particular importance is the SQUID magnetometer which is
capable of detecting tiny biomagnetic fields associated with
physiological activities in the body. This is the same field
that sensitive individuals have been describing for thousands
of years, but that scientists have ignored because there was
no objective way to measure it. [http://www.reiki.org/reikinews/ScienceMeasures.htm]
- Reikimedresearch.org is
dedicated to collecting, documenting and publicizing the information
about medical effects of Reiki therapy. It is intended to promote
Reiki use in hospitals and to connect Reiki practitioners of
different lineages, their patients and physicians through summarizing
and providing medical information about Reiki therapy.
- Reiki practitioners
in Europe track the
effectiveness of Reiki treatments on dozens of illnesses, reporting
their findings
in the site www.reiki-research.co.uk.
- The National Center
for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) at the
National Institutes
of Health notes that Reiki belongs to "Biofield
Medicine, which involves systems that use subtle energy fields
in and around the body for medical purposes". Refer to nccam.nih.gov/health/reiki/#.
Some recent NCCAM-supported studies have been investigating:
- How Reiki might work
- Whether Reiki is effective and safe for
treating the symptoms of fibromyalgia.
- Reiki's possible impact
on the well-being and quality of life in
people with advanced AIDS.
- The effects of Reiki on disease progression and/or anxiety
in people with prostate cancer.
- Whether Reiki can help
control blood sugar levels or improve heart
function in people who have nerve pain from diabetes.
- In January 2007, at Cranky.Com,
a website devoted to interests of Baby Boomers, Reiki was the
fourth most popular internet search in the
U.S.
- The Cleveland
Clinic announced receipt of a $250,000 study
to examine the effects of Reiki on men with prostate
cancer. The hospital currently incorporates Reiki into their
treatments on a number of illnesses, ranging from
depression to cancer (August 2004).
- Autonomic Nervous-System-Changes
During Reiki Treatment: A Preliminary Study. The
Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine Volume 10,
Number 6. This study
revealed a significant reduction in diastolic blood pressure
and heart rate in the Reiki group that didn’t
appear in the placebo group or the control group, thus
tending to indicate that Reiki created an important effect that was
not caused by suggestion.
- The Reiki Research
Foundation reports on a study using Reiki
as a treatment for Multiple Sclerosis: 90.2%
Reduction of Lethargy; 87% Reduction of Depression; 78.7%
Reduction of Cognitive Problems; 75.3% Reduction
of Motor Problems; 73.5% Reduction
of Pain; 70.2% Reduction of Fatigue; 69.1% Reduction
of Urine Problems; 62.8% Reduction
of Bowel Problems; 38% Reduction in Walking Time. [www.reikiresearchfoundation.org/msstudies.htm]
- The Clinical Center (Bethesda,
Maryland) is a unique medical institution totally funded by
Congress. As a research hospital
affiliated with The National Institutes of Health, the Center
has successfully demonstrated Reiki’s ability
to integrate into even the most demanding
medical settings. Diana Linnekin, Ph.D., a researcher at the
National Cancer Institute, reports that “she
was especially impressed with Reiki’s ability to fill
the gap when medical interventions for pain
had been exhausted.”
Miles,
P. “Reiki at the NIH’s Clinical Center.” This
article is available at www.ReikiInMedicine.org
- NIH-supported
clinical trials, which are currently recruiting
patients, will test the efficacy of Reiki (including distant Reiki)
in the treatment of Fibromyalgia at the University of WA
- CFS/FM Research Center, Seattle, Washington, and Reiki
in the treatment of patients with advanced AIDS will be performed
at Temple University and Albert Einstein Medical
Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Planned study, which
will be performed by Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio will test Reiki for prostate cancer [www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/search?term=Reiki&submit=Search]
- There are ongoing
clinical trials of Reiki healing techniques for diabetic
peripheral vascular disease and autonomic
neuropathy, carried out at the Center for Complementary
and Alternative Medicine Research in CVD, Adult
Cardiac Surgery/Thoracic Transplantation and rehabilitation
from stroke, spinal cord injury and traumatic
brain injury, carried out at the
Center for
Research in Complementary and Alternative
Medicine for Stroke and Neurological Disorders at the Kessler
Institute for Rehabilitation (West Orange,
NJ)
[The University of Michigan Taubman
Health Care Center 2120, Box 0344, AnnArbor, MI 48109; www.med.umich.edu/camrc/research/reiki.html]
- The website Reiki
in Hospitals (www.reikiinhospitals.org) “promotes
the availability of Reiki in medical settings by providing
a list of hospitals, medical clinics, and hospice programs
where Reiki sessions are offered.”
- Reiki is already
used in several hospitals for cancer patients: Dartmouth
Hitchcock Medical Center (Lebanon, NH), Integrative Medicine
Outpatient Center at Memorial
Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY), Integrative
Therapies Program for Children with Cancer at New York Presbyterian
Medical Hospital (New York, NY), Metropolitan
South
Health Center (“ Direccion de Servicios Metropolitano
Sur”, Santiago, Chile) Miles,
P. True, G. “Reiki:
A Biofield Therapy—Theory, History, Practice
and Research.” Alternate Therapy Health Medicine,
March/April 2003 9(2) 62-72. This is also
available on Pamela Miles' website at www.ReikiInMedicine.org
[Miles: www.alternativetherapies.com/at/pdfarticles/0103reiki.pdf]
Used
in conjunction with conventional cancer treatments, Reiki is
reported
to ease the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation,
improve immune function, ease anxiety and enhance
positive
emotional attitude, decrease pain and promote relaxation.
- Both hands-on
and distant Reiki treatments resulted in statistically-significant
decrease in the symptoms
of
psychological depression and self-perceived stress,
and the treatments had the long-term effect [Shore].
The
nature of psychological effects arising during a
Reiki session were studied, and anxiety was shown
to reduce
after treatments [Engebretson, Wardell]. Certain physiological
changes were associated with receiving Reiki treat-ments,
including decrease in systolic blood pressure, increase in
salivary IgA levels and decrease in salivary
cortisol after treatments, increase in skin
temperature and decrease in electromyographic activity during
treatments
[Wardell].
- Shore, A.G., "Long-term effects of energetic
healing on symptoms of psychological depression
and selfperceived
stress", Alternative Therapies in Health and
Medicine, 10(3): 42-48 (2004)
- Wardell, D.W., Engebretson, J., "Biological correlates
of Reiki touch healing", J. Advanced Nursing,
33(4): 439-
445 (2001)
- Engebretson, J., Wardell, D.W., "Experience of a Reiki
session", Alternative Therapies in Health
and Medicine,
8(2): 48-53 (2002)
- Newsweek (April 24, 2004) notes that “For more and
more Americans, complementary and alternative therapies
are
the way to go.” Dr. David Eisenberg, head of Harvard
Medical School’s Osher Institute and
director of a pilot program funded
by the National Institute of Health, is currently
studying nonsurgical alternatives
at its new complementary medicine center.”
- Columbus Monthly (December
2003) reports that “Articles
examining alternative modalities are appearing
in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal
of the American Medical Association. Hundreds
of
medical schools across the
country, including The Ohio State University
College of Medicine, have added
alternative medicine
to their programs of study.
The National Institutes of Health has created
a National Center for
Complementary
and Alternative Medicine
(NCCAM) to conduct clinical trials.”
- Healthy Living, a newsletter for Ohio hospitals
and clinics, reports that “Reiki
is gaining acceptance in medical settings as a cost-effective way to improve
patient care.” (July
2005).
- The International
Center for Reiki Training surveyed “America’s
Best Hospitals,” as ranked by U.S.
News and World Report,
to discover that 60% of them currently
had a hospital-based Reiki program
in place. Of those
that did not, 50% reported that they would
consider it.
- Prevention Magazine reports
that “Many nurses and
other practitioners are trained in Reiki and
therapeutic touch, two gentle therapies. In a study of 230 cancer patients
at the University of Minneapolis, healing touch
therapies lessened fatigue
while calming blood pressure and heart rate, not to mention
the patients
themselves.” (March
2005)
- Reiki therapy
is safe and non-invasive. It is proving
useful in hospices, nursing homes,
emergency
rooms,
operating rooms,
organ
 transplantation care units,
pediatric, neonatal and
OB/GYN units;
facilitating relaxation
and recovery
and decreasing
anxiety and pain; it can be a helpful
addition to conventional
therapy
for HIV/AIDS
and cancer patients
[Miles: www.pamelamilesreiki.com]
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