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===Biological specimens===
===Biological specimens===
Research on [[in_vitro | ''in vitro'' ]] samples has been conducted into the effect that healing has on human cells. [[Fibroblasts]], bone and tendon cells [[Cellular_differentiation | grown]] in culture were subjected to either healing, mimicked-healer and no-treatment (control) groups.<ref>http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18370579 J Altern Complement Med. 2008 Apr;14(3):233-9.</ref> The study, published in the ''Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine'', concluded that specific patterns of treatment had different healing rates on the cell types tested and concluded that healing stimulated cell proliferation. Another trial<ref>http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18524012 J Orthop Res. 2008 Nov;26(11):1541-6.</ref> published in the ''Journal of Orthopaedic Research'' by a different group compared the effect of healing on normal and [[osteosarcoma | bone cancer]] cells. This trial concluded that healing encouraged the growth of normal cells and reduced the progression of cancerous cells. It should be noted that the reaction of cells to a treatment ''in vitro'' does not predict how they will react to the same treatment ''[[in vivo]]'' but the conclusions published in these two journals show that there is evidence of the effectiveness of biofield therapy.
Research on [[in_vitro | ''in vitro'' ]] samples has been conducted into the effect that healing has on human cells. [[Fibroblasts]], bone and tendon cells [[Cellular_differentiation | grown]] in culture were subjected to either healing, mimicked-healer and no-treatment (control) groups.<ref>http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18370579 J Altern Complement Med. 2008 Apr;14(3):233-9.</ref> The study, published in the ''Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine'', concluded that specific patterns of treatment had different healing rates on the cell types tested and concluded that healing stimulated cell proliferation. Another trial<ref>http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18524012 J Orthop Res. 2008 Nov;26(11):1541-6.</ref> published in the ''Journal of Orthopaedic Research'' by a different group compared the effect of healing on normal and [[osteosarcoma | bone cancer]] cells. This trial concluded that healing encouraged the growth of normal cells and reduced the progression of cancerous cells. It should be noted that the reaction of cells to a treatment ''in vitro'' does not predict how they will react to the same treatment ''[[in vivo]]''.


==Criticism==
==Criticism==

Revision as of 08:53, 22 October 2010

"Spiritual Healing" redirects here. For the album by the band Death, see Spiritual Healing (album).

Biofield energy healing[1][2], also known as spiritual healing[3], are terms used to describe a number of techniques by which practioners intend to treat illness. Healing by therapeutic touch [4] and other practices such as Reiki[5] are known as biofield therapies[1] which the NCCAM[6] define as energy medicine and do not use equipment now regarded as fraudulent. The Chinese tradition of qigong[7] is claimed to be based on the control and manipulation of qi[7] and may be used as a form of self-care[1]. In addition to clinical trials, analysis techniques allow research to be conducted on in vitro samples which may be able to identify a mechanism by which healing works. Concerns about a lack of good quality data are frequently reported by trial reviews and individual trials.

Unlike faith healing, spiritual healing is not based on the belief that prayer and religious devotion can be used to obtain divine intervention in order to cure illness.

Introduction

Biofield energy healing is based on the belief that a healer is able to channel healing energy into the person seeking help by different methods.[8] Shamanism can be considered an early form of this type of healing in that a belief in spirits was incorporated into healing practices. In the Korean peninsula shamanic rituals, known as gut[9] date back to 57BC during the Three Kingdoms Period. The byeong gut was used when healing was sought.

It is claimed that this "healing energy" may sometimes be perceived as a feeling of heat[10] although this sensation could also derive from the heat radiating from the healers' body. Spiritual healing is the term used on the website of the charity Macmillan Cancer Support, where it is classified as a "mind therapy". Macmillan say that healing "may be able to help people feel better and reduce symptoms or emotional distress ... or ... reduce side effects caused by cancer treatment."[8]

Scientific Investigations

While faith in the supernatural is not in itself usually considered to be the purview of science, claims of reproducible effects are nevertheless subject to scientific investigation.

Unlike previous investigations[11][12] into energy medicine involving the use of two devices, the QXCI or EPFX and the PAP-IMI which are now regarded as fraudulent, current research into biofield therapies is being conducted in a number of areas by different groups and these results are published [13][14][15] in a variety of journals. The types of biofield therapies being investigated are:

  • distant healing
  • contact healing
  • effect on biological specimens

Distant healing

An systematic review of 23 trials of distant healing published in 2000, found mixed results, with 57% of the trials showing a positive effect of healing on health and also recommended further investigation.[13] In 2001, the lead author of that study, Edzard Ernst published an primer on complementary therapies in cancer care in which he reiterated the findings of the 2000 review that "about half of these trials suggested that healing is effective" but cautioned that the evidence was "highly conflicting" and that "methodological shortcomings prevented firm conclusions." He concluded that "as long as it is not used as an alternative to effective therapies, spiritual healing should be virtually devoid of risks."[16] A 2001 randomized clinical trial by the same group found no statistically significant difference on chronic pain between distance healers and "simulated healers".[15]

Contact healing

A Cochrane collaboration systematic review[17] of the use of touch therapies published in 2008 analysed the results of 24 trials and found that 12 (50%) showed a statistically significant effect in reducing pain, although there were concerns due to a lack of good quality data. A need for further research was noted.

A selective review of only positive results published by Hodges & Scofield in 1995 defined spiritual healing as possibly involving an "as yet unrecognized" form of energy. In the same paper, the authors reported a study of their own which used the growth rate of cress seeds as their independent variable in order to eliminate a placebo response or participant bias. The results for each sample were consistent with the healers' intention that healing should or should not occur. However the healer involved in the experiment was a personal acquaintance of the study authors raising the distinct possibility of experimenter bias.[18] Further research in the form of a randomized clinical trial[15], published in 2001, investigated the efficacy of spiritual healing (both at a distance and face-to-face) on the treatment of chronic pain in 120 patients. Healers were observed by "simulated healers" who then mimicked the healers movements on a control group while silently counting backwards in fives. The study found a decrease in pain in all patient groups but "no statistically significant differences between healing and control groups ... it was concluded that a specific effect of face-to-face or distant healing on chronic pain could not be demonstrated." However the study found an increase in quality-of-life related physical functioning in patients who received healing compared to those who received "simulated healing".[19] A systematic review in 2008 concluded that the evidence for a specific effect of spiritual healing on relieving neuropathic or neuralgic pain was not convincing[20] and in their 2008 book Trick or Treatment, Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst concluded that "spiritual healing is biologically implausible and its effects rely on a placebo response. At best it may offer comfort; at worst it can result in charlatans taking money from patients with serious conditions who require urgent conventional medicine."[21]

Biological specimens

Research on in vitro samples has been conducted into the effect that healing has on human cells. Fibroblasts, bone and tendon cells grown in culture were subjected to either healing, mimicked-healer and no-treatment (control) groups.[22] The study, published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, concluded that specific patterns of treatment had different healing rates on the cell types tested and concluded that healing stimulated cell proliferation. Another trial[23] published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research by a different group compared the effect of healing on normal and bone cancer cells. This trial concluded that healing encouraged the growth of normal cells and reduced the progression of cancerous cells. It should be noted that the reaction of cells to a treatment in vitro does not predict how they will react to the same treatment in vivo.

Criticism

Skeptics of healing offer primarily two explanations for anecdotes of cures or improvements, relieving any need to appeal to the supernatural.[24] The first is post hoc ergo propter hoc, meaning that a genuine improvement or spontaneous remission may have been experienced coincidental with but independent from anything the healer or patient did or said. These patients would have improved just as well even had they done nothing. The second is the placebo effect, through which a person may experience genuine pain relief and other symptomatic alleviation. In this case, the patient genuinely has been helped by the healer, not through any mysterious or numinous function, but by the power of their own belief that they would be healed.[25][26] In both cases the patient may experience a real reduction in symptoms, though in neither case has anything miraculous or inexplicable occurred. Both cases, however, are strictly limited to the body's natural abilities.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c http://www.mdanderson.org/publications/network/issues/2007-fall/network-fall-2007-energy-medicines-will-east-meet-west-.html
  2. ^ Biofield Therapies: Helpful or Full of Hype?, International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, Volume 17, Number 1, 1-16, DOI: 10.1007/s12529-009-9062-4
  3. ^ Medical Journal of Australia
  4. ^ "Therapeutic Touch". Cancer.org. 2008-06-02. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  5. ^ "Reiki Practice". Nccam.nih.gov. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  6. ^ National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
  7. ^ a b http://nccam.nih.gov/health/whatiscam/overview.htm
  8. ^ a b Mind Therapies Macmillan Cancer Support
  9. ^ Korea Tourism Organization
  10. ^ Jules Evans (July 14, 2008). "Spiritual healing on the NHS?". London: The Times.
  11. ^ Michael J. Berens and Christine Willmsen. "Miracle Machines:The 21st-Century Snake Oil". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2007-11-18. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ CBC Marketplace. "Is the EPFX still allowed to be sold in Canada?". CBC. Retrieved 2009-02-27. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ a b Astin, J. (2000). "The Efficacy of "Distant Healing: A Systematic Review of Randomized Trials". Ann. Internal Medicine. 132: 903–910. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |unused_data= ignored (help)
  14. ^ Ernst, Edzard (2001). "A primer of complementary and alternative medicine commonly used by cancer patients". Medical Journal of Australia. 174: 88–92.
  15. ^ a b c Abbot, NC; Harkness, EF; Stevinson, C; Marshall, FP; Conn, DA; Ernst, E (2001). "Spiritual healing as a therapy for chronic pain: a randomized, clinical trial". Pain. 91 (1–2): 79–89. doi:10.1016/S0304-3959(00)00421-8. PMID 11240080.
  16. ^ Ernst, Edzard (2001). "A primer of complementary and alternative medicine commonly used by cancer patients". Medical Journal of Australia. 174: 88–92.
  17. ^ So PS, Jiang Y, Qin Y (2008). "Touch therapies for pain relief in adults". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Online) (4): CD006535. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD006535.pub2. PMID 18843720.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Hodges, RD and Scofield, AM (1995). "Is spiritual healing a valid and effective therapy?". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 88 (4): 203–207. PMC 1295164. PMID 7745566.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ Page 9, International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, Volume 17, Number 1, 1-16, DOI: 10.1007/s12529-009-9062-4
  20. ^ Pittler, MH; Ernst, E (2008). "Complementary Therapies for Neuropathic and Neuralgic Pain: Systematic Review". Clinical Journal of Pain. 24 (8): 731–733. doi:10.1097/AJP.0b013e3181759231. PMID 18806539.
  21. ^ Trick or Treatment. Corgi. 2008. p. 388.
  22. ^ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18370579 J Altern Complement Med. 2008 Apr;14(3):233-9.
  23. ^ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18524012 J Orthop Res. 2008 Nov;26(11):1541-6.
  24. ^ "Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Cancer Patients: Faith Healing". Moores UCSD Cancer Center. Retrieved 2008-01-17. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) "Benefits may result because of the natural progression of the illness, rarely but regularly occurring spontaneous remission or through the placebo effect."
  25. ^ Park, Robert L. (2000). Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud. New York, New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 50–51. ISBN 0-19-513515-6.
  26. ^ "Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Cancer Patients: Faith Healing". Moores UCSD Cancer Center. Retrieved 2008-01-17. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) "Patients who seek the assistance of a faith healer must believe strongly in the healer’s divine gifts and ability to focus them on the ill."
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