As a bodily injury claim adjuster I get to see quite a bit of injury/diagnostic testing/resolution, etc. I’ve seen reiki therapy come up a few times and I don’t include it in my list of bills I want to reimburse. I (don’t) do this for two reasons. First and foremost, my team at work has a cumulative experience of about 150 years of handling injury claims, sometimes through litigation, and not once has anyone here seena jury accept it as reasonable medical treatment. So if a jury won’t award it, i don’t have to. Second, it only rarely has a positive effect, and it is fleeting.
But I can’t say I believe it’s completely bogus. As far as the scientific method goes, it’s no more or less effective than having a shaman wave a dead chicken at a donkey in India under the light of a waning moon. Pain research is increasingly identifying conditions in which pain is not actually located “where it hurts” but rather in some meshworkz in the brains. It’s too simple to look at a case where someone has intractable pain complaints but a complete absence of objectively identifiable injury and say, “They’re faking it.” Sure, it happens sometimes. But when you start to understand pain may be a mis-wiring in the brain–maybe a memory of pain that keeps getting translated as a current stimulus–then things like reiki, the therapeutic effects are entirely within the mind of the patient, start to make a bit of sense. After all, if people can “believe” themselves into being in pain (see conversion disorder) they should be able to believe their way out of it. And reiki (or the chicken/donkey/moon scenario) is just a show to allow the patient’s mind a chance to believe they are being helped and may therefore be healed as a result. Placebo, if you like.
Yes, quackademic medicine has reared its head at some major institutions. Various forms of woo have infiltrated mainstream medicine for a variety of reasons, among them the desire to appear relevant and satisfy a perceived demand (in other words, there’s money in it).
That a treatment is being offered at such places does not signify that it is useful beyond placebo effect. Beyond that, the placing of woo on a platform equivalent to evidence-based medicine is detrimental in that 1) it encourages people to believe in crackpot claims, including that reiki and other woo can tackle serious ailments on their own, and 2) opens the door to other crackpottery (“my local hospital offers reiki just like that reiki doctor in the strip mall. Why shouldn’t I try his homeopathic medicines and ear candling too?”).
I find it ironic that you speak so low at the crackpottery of alternative medicine, but have not acknowledged the full pockets at which our pharmaceutical companies orbit. For instance, they have a surgery over in brazil which removes diabete’s 2. America, no. There are natural supplements that also can rid of diabete’s 2. Since it is not a drug and provided in a pill form, it cannot be approved by the FDA.
You see blasphemy in the integration of “lower” and unproven sciences, yet fail to acknowledge the unfathomable greed that our system so actively proceeds with.
They don’t want cures, they want sustainable income.
This was a great statement. I do think that due to our advancing technological fields and the promotion of instant gratification with intravert attributes on the rise, person to person connection is lower than it has ever been.
Someone placing there hands on a place you hurt is not that unbelievable that it could help due to these current conditions
It is not the case that three of four of rich2600’s links are enthusiastic about reiki - as I noted earlier, two of them basically say “efficacy not established” (the one on the autonomous nervous system notes a “relatively small” effect of reiki that does not cite any positive health benefits), one link from an alt med journal (not exactly a prestigious and unbiased source) that posits a modest effect on pain, and the last one taking the farcical stand that we shouldn’t dismiss “distant healing” until we do more studies.
Boosters of various forms of woo can (and do) boast a variety of small/poorly conducted/inconclusive studies that they claim support them. When the failing of such studies are cited along with systematic reviews demonstrating no health benefits, the silence is deafening (except for complaints that “your science cannot measure my woo”, tu quoque arguments about deficiences of research, hints at conspiracies etc.
Dang, should have previewed better: rich2600 has mined the tu quoque and conspiracy angles nicely.
If you’ve got any better citations to show that Magickal Healing Energies really really do work, bring 'em on. Along with evidence that the Brazilians and supplement marketers have conquered type II diabetes.
Got a link to information about this? Brazil—and particularly some of its natives—is near and dear to my heart, but they’ve got more woo than a Three Stooges marathon.
I’ve been fighting an uphill battle with my wife, who’s anxious to try autohemotherapy—consisting of having blood drawn from a vein and immediately injected back into the muscle of one arm, etc., which is alleged to magically cure all sorts of what ails ya. The main proponent appears to be a single elderly Brazilian doctor, who can be seen on YouTube sucking and jabbing people’s own blood back into them in his garage. Ultimately, my feeble protests of “yeah, uh, that sounds worthless at best and really dangerous at worst” will probably not win out, and she’ll end up doing it like all her friends are doing it, because hey, it was on YouTube and everyone says it cures cancer and baldness and missing limbs and rectal prolapse and whatever else!
My skepticism is pretty weak sauce against the promise of magical healing. At least Reiki is the sort of bullshit that doesn’t involve puncture wounds.
Instead of the 2 minute google search. here you go sir(previously 4 mentioned articles included). This is just for the reiki, will follow up with your other ignorance angles shortly.
I’ll do one better for you and give you the files over fileden. All of these files were extracted from the website I mentioned earlier - center for reiki research. These are common studies so they are PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE. If you do not believe these to be true, go to the website, centerforreikiresearch.org and register yourself to view the files.
Bowden, D., Goddard, L., and Gruzelier, J. A randomised controlled single-blind study of the effects of Reiki and positive imagery on well-being and salivary cortisol. Brain Research Bulletin. 81: 66-67, 2010. link
Vitale, A.T. Nurses’ Lived Experience of Reiki for Self Care. Holistic Nursing Practice, 23(3): 129-145, 2009. link
Baldwin, A.L., Wagers, C. and Schwartz, G.E. Reiki improves heart rate homeostasis in laboratory rats. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 14 (4): 417-422, 2008. link
Assefi N., Bogart A., Goldberg J., and Buchwald, D. Reiki for the treatment of fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 14(9): 1115–1122, 2008. link
Gillespie, E., Gillespie, B., Stevens, M. Painful Diabetic Neuropathy: Impact of an Alternative Approach. Diabetes Care, 30(4): 999-1001, 2007. link
Vitale, A.T., O’Conner, P.C. The effect of Reiki on pain and anxiety in women with abdominal hysterectomies. Holistic Nursing Practice, 20(6): 263-272, 2006. link
Baldwin, A.L., Schwartz, G.E. Personal Interaction with a Reiki Practitioner Decreases Noise-Induced Microvascular Damage in an Animal Model. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 12(1):15–22, 2006. link
Crawford, S. E., Leaver, V. W., Mahoney, S. D. Using Reiki to decrease memory and behavior problems in mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer’s disease. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 12(9), 911-913, 2006. link
Shore, A.G., Long term effects of energetic healing on symptoms of psychological depression and self-perceived stress. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 10(3), 42-48, 2004. link
Whelan, K.M., Wishnia, G.S. Reiki therapy: the benefits to a nurse/Reiki practitioner. Holistic Nursing Practice, 17(4):209-217, 2003. link
Shiflett, S.C., Navak, S., Bid, C., Miles, P., Agostinelli, S., Effect of Reiki Treatments on Functional Recovery in Patients in Post stroke Rehabilitation: A Pilot Study. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine,. 8(6): 755–763, 2002. link
Witte, D., Dundes, L. Harnessing Life Energy or Wishful Thinking? Reiki, Placebo Reiki, Meditation, and Music. Alternative and Complementary Therapies, 7(5): 304-309, 2001. link
Dressin, L.J., Singg, S. Effects of Reiki on pain and selected affective and personality variables of chronically ill patients. Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine, 9(1):53-82, 1998. link
Wirth, D.P., Brenlan, D.R., Levine, R. J., Rodriguez, C.M. The effect of complementary healing therapy on postoperative pain after surgical removal of impacted third molar teeth. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 1, 133-138, 1993. link
Cuneo, C.L., Curtis Cooper, M.R., Drew, C.S., Naoum-Heffernan, C., Sherman, T., Walz, K., Weinberg, J. The Effect of Reiki on Work- Related Stress of the Registered Nurse. Journal of Holistic Nursing. 29(1): 33-43, 2011. link
Beard, C., Stason, W. B., Wang, Q., Manola, J., Dean-Clower, E., Dusek, J. A., DeCristofaro, S., Webster, A., Rosenthal, D. S., Benson, H. Effects of Complementary Therapies on Clinical Outcomes in Patients Being Treated with Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer. Cancer, 2010. Published early online (Aug 27, 2010) in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). link
Richeson, N. E., Spross, J. A., Lutz, K. and Peng, C. Effects of Reiki on anxiety, depression, pain, and physiological factors in community-dwelling older adults. Research in Gerontological Nursing, 3(3): 187-199, 2010. link
Friedman, R.S.C., Burg, M.M., Miles, P., Lee, F. and Lampert, R. Effects of Reiki on Autonomic Activity Early After Acute Coronary Syndrome. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 56: 995-996, 2010. link
Hulse, R.S., Stuart-Shor, E. M., Russo, J. Endoscopic Procedure with a Modified Reiki Intervention. Journal of Gastroenterology Nursing, 33, ( 1), 2010. link
Ring, M.E. Reiki and Changes in Pattern Manifestations. Nursing Science Quarterly, 22(3): 250-258, 2009. link
Raingruber, B., Robinson, C. The effectiveness of Tai Chi, Yoga, meditation and Reiki healing sessions in promoting health and enhancing problem solving abilities of registered nurses. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 28:1141–1155, 2007. link
Potter, P. J. Breast biopsy and distress: Feasibility of testing a Reiki intervention. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 25(4): 238-248, 2007. link
Brathovde, A. A pilot study: Reiki for self-care of nurses and healthcare providers. Holistic Nursing, 20(2): 95-101, 2006. link
Rubik, B., Brooks, A.J., Schwarz, G.E. In vitro effect of reiki treatment on bacterial cultures: role of experimental context and practitioner well-being. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 12(1):7-13, 2006. link
McKay, N., Hansen, S., McFarlane, M.A. Autonomic nervous system changes during Reiki treatment: A preliminary study. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 10(6): 1077-81, 2004.
link
Olson, K., Hanson, J. and Michaud, M. A phase II trial of Reiki for the management of pain in advanced cancer patients. J. Pain Symptom Manage, 26(5): 990-997, 2003. link
Engebretson, J., Wardell, D.W. Experience of a Reiki session. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 8(2): 48-53, 2002. link
Wardell, D.W., Engebretson, J. Biological correlates of Reiki TouchSM healing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 33(4): 439-445, 2001. link
Sharma, V.G., Sanghvi, C. Mehta, Y., Trehan N. Efficacy of Reiki on patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Annals of Cardiac Anesthesia, 3(2): 12-18, 2000. link
Wirth, D.P., Chang, R.J., Edelman, W.S., Paxton, J.B. Hematological indicators of a complementary intervention. Complementary/Alternative Therapies in Medicine, 4(14): 20-24, 1996. link
Wetzel, W.S. Reiki healing: a physiologic perspective. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 7(1): 47-54, 1989 link
and some books…
Baldwin, A.L., Vitale, A.T., Brownell, E., Scicinski, J., Kearn, M., and Rand, W. The Touchstone Process: An ongoing critical evaluation of Reiki in the scientific literature, Holistic Nursing Practice, 24(5), 260-276, 2010.
Jain, S., Mills, P.J. Biofield Therapies: Helpful or full of hype? A best evidence synthesis. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine,17(1), 1-16, 2009.
Lee, M.S., Pittler, M.H., Ernst, E. Effects of reiki in clinical practice: a systematic review of randomised clinical trials. International Journal of Clinical Practice, 62(6), 947-954, 2008.
VanderVaart, S., Gijsen, V.M., de Wildt, S.N., Koren, G. A systematic review of the therapeutic effects of Reiki. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 15(11), 1157-1169, 2009.
Vitale, A. An integrative review of Reiki touch therapy research. Holistic Nursing Practice, 21(4), 167-179, 2007.
OP, just a personal experience. I used to see a therapist weekly, and one week I went but I had tonsilitis so I couldn’t really talk. She was a Reiki practitioner so offered to do that instead. I found it relaxing, and pleasant, probably because I was very used to being around her, and there was something powerful in just being physically close to, but not touching, someone who knew me very well. As well as the power that comes from being silent in a situation where I was normally not.
I wouldn’t ever go for Reiki on its own, or pay for it, but on that one occasion, it was quite nice. Not healing, not a cure for anything, but nice.
One last thing before you guys slam the articles, lol, there are many different results to each of the studies, and i have not read all of them, just providing the articles that others have requested. I will continue to read them as time allows so that we may go forward with this discussion if fellow users would like to.
If there was a definite cure for type 2 diabetes available anywhere in the world, my endocrinologist would tell me to get my fat diabetic [type 2] ass on the nearest plane to Brazil or wherever it can be found.
About the only thing that is coming close to a “cure” for t2 diabetes is bariatric surgery, and that is only at something like 70% right now. [they figure out that damaging the nerves in the area is causing a change in the production of certain secretions that tweak how the body processes food, something Byetta does through a different mechanism, roughly from what I understand.] And my endo and nutritional team do not feel that the risks of surgery are outweighed by a possibly effective procedure when I am following the nutritional plan properly [and restricting me to having to graze mouthful by mouthful all day is damned silly]
OK, what would be the difference between that, and my phlebotomist accidently punching through a vein and giving me a bit of a blood leak into the muscles in my arm surrounding the vein?
Hell, I could grab one of my syringes now and do it to myself I guess, but I think it is a pretty stupid idea.
The link he provided appears to be the website of a doctor who performs gastric bypass surgery, which of course is already widely performed in the United States. rich2600, can you explain what the Brazilians are doing that we aren’t?
That is your miracle Brazilian surgery that supposedly isn’t offered in the U.S. because of deep-pocketed Big Pharma?
Hate to break it to you, but lots of surgeons in the U.S. and elsewhere offer a variety of gastric banding/bypass surgery options for morbidly obese patients, some of which may help or ultimately reverse type II diabetes. There are also substantial risks (including death) from these surgeries.
Sorry, attempted distraction Fail.
As for the flood of links on reiki, I guess we should have expected another classic alt med tactic - the Gish Gallop. Instead of just regurgitating a mess of links picked up by Googling (some (all?) of which you acknowledge not having read) and expecting us to register on a pro-reiki website to see them, how about picking a few of what you think are the best ones and summarizing their conclusions, rather than expecting us to believe that your mad cut n’paste skillz are a substitute for reasoned argument?
Sure, as I did bring it into discussion, I’ll give more direct links, but the “You can look up the cooresponding studies further from that page.” was meant for further reading upon your discression.
Provided links to the studies, and subsequent doctors relations to these studies and procedures. The surgeries specific to these(not simplistically as gastric bypass) are accepted currently by the FDA.
Oh? I thought the community would understand “follow through with the studies”, yet you resort to a “Fail” tag. If it has come to this as a response to my writing, I feel successful in that THIS is the best defense you have. Laughable at best.
You ask for links and studies, I provide them, you ask for more information, I provide it. And now you want a summarization of their conclusions. For a skeptic, you sure have a lazy representation of your confidence.
Again, these desperate attempts at trying to make it seem as I’m not providing information requested by you is a weak and meager attempt at skepticism vs narcissism.
For others that have beneficial additions to the conversation. Enjoy.
