Table 1 - uploaded by Jane Louise Phillips
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Summary table of included energy healing interventions
Source publication
Background:
Emerging evidence suggests that some people living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have integrated energy healing into their self-management strategy, however little is known about its efficacy.
Purpose:
To identify energy healing interventions that impacted positively on the symptom management outcomes for patients living in t...
Citations
... Despite this, there are conflicting findings regarding the effectiveness of BT's. For example, Rao et al. 7 conducted a systematic review of BT interventions for managing non-communicable disease-related symptoms and identified 27 studies that evaluated various BT interventions, with 13 trials showing statistically significant outcomes. Other systematic reviews of BT studies have found that most evidence was against the notion that BT is more than a placebo 8 . ...
In this case study, a self-described biofield therapy (BT) practitioner (participant) took part in multiple (n = 60) treatment and control (non-treatment) sessions under double-blind conditions. During the treatment phases, the participant provided BT treatment at a distance of about 12 inches from the cells, alternating with rest phases where no such efforts were made. Human pancreatic cancer cell activity was assessed using three markers – cytoskeleton changes (tubulin and β-actin) and Ca²⁺ uptake. The study examined changes in the participant’s physiological parameters including electroencephalogram (EEG) and heart rate measures during the treatment of: (1) live cells and (2) either dead cells or medium only with no cells (control group). Changes in cellular outcomes and if there was an association between the participant’s physiological parameters and cellular outcomes were examined. The experimental setup was a 2 × 2 design, contrasting cell type (live vs. control) against session type (treatment vs. non-treatment). Parallel sham-treated control cells were examined for changes in the cell parameters over time while controlling for the presence of a person in front of the cells mimicking the distance and movements of the participant. The participant’s physiological data, including 64-channel EEG and heart rate, were continuously monitored throughout these sessions. We observed significant (p < 0.01) spectral changes in the participant’s EEG during BT treatment in all frequency bands of interest, as well as in heart rate variability (HRV) (RMSSD measure; p < 0.01). We also observed significant differences in beta and gamma EEG and HRV (pNN50 measure) when the participant treated live but not control cells (p = 0.02). However, no interaction between treatment and cell type (live vs. dead cells/medium-no cells) was observed. We observed Ca²⁺ uptake increased over time during both BT and sham treatment, but the increase was significantly less for the BT group relative to the sham-treatment controls (p = 0.03). When using Granger causality to assess causal directional associations between cell markers and participant’s physiological parameters, EEG measurements showed significant bidirectional causal effects with cell metrics, especially β-actin and intracellular Ca²⁺ levels (p < 0.000001). These outcomes suggest a complex relationship between physiological responses and cellular effects during BT treatment sessions. Given the study’s limitations, follow-up investigations are warranted.
... Systematic reviews and meta-analyses report Reiki to be effective for psychological and physical health symptoms across a range of population types [13,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. In adults with cancer, Reiki has been shown to promote relaxation [25,26], and improve symptoms of pain [25][26][27][28][29][30][31], fatigue [27][28][29][31][32][33], anxiety [25,26,28], stress [27], and increase patients' wellbeing/quality of life [25,30,32,33]. ...
... Recent examples of parapsychological research will use "manipulations" or "treatments" such as the creation of a room conducive to studying seance effects, with the addition of meditative and ritual exercises (Laythe, Laythe, & Woodward, 2017) or meditation as a condition of either psi (Alvarado, 1988;Nash, 1982;Palmer, Khamashta, & Israelson, 1979;Rao & Rao, 1982;Stenkamp, 2005) or healing practices (Anderson et al., 2015;Midilli & Eser, 2015;Rao et al., 2016). Historically, grimoires show similar practices going back at least to the 5th century, but likely much longer if ancient Egyptian works are considered (cf. ...
This study examines a body of engaged “ritual magic practitioners” to understand their methods and techniques for facilitating putative parapsychological outcomes in everyday life, as well as outcomes on a computerized test of putative psi. We hypothesized that the combination of meditation, visualization, and related mental exercises at the core of magical practice relates to both invoked anomalous phenomena and spontaneously-occurring anomalous phenomena, and further that the perceptual-personality variable of transliminality (i.e., loose mental boundary functioning) is integral to this process. Likewise, we also anticipated that these associations would enable ritual magicians to score significantly above-chance on the psi test. A split-sample analysis found a positive and statistically significant series of relationships between transliminality and the majority of measured variables within the sample, and notably those involving questionnaire measures of subjective and objective anomalies as well as daily mental exercises. The ritual magicians also performed significantly below-chance (p < .01 for several conditions) on the psi test, as a function of open testing of ESP or using ritual to influence the test. We discuss these results in terms of significant predictions of trait and practice variables on ESP scoring, as well as the evidence that magical practice may represent techniques in which a transliminal dis-ease model might be better remediated.
... 44 A review of energy healing on chronic illnesses indicated some improvement in illness symptoms; however, high-level evidence consistently demonstrating efficacy is lacking. 45 Furthermore, it is unclear which elements of energy healing interventions are associated with positive outcomes. 45 Both reviews show promising results on symptom management and quality of life and thus robust trials to assess its effect on pain scores in palliative care patients are necessary. ...
... 45 Furthermore, it is unclear which elements of energy healing interventions are associated with positive outcomes. 45 Both reviews show promising results on symptom management and quality of life and thus robust trials to assess its effect on pain scores in palliative care patients are necessary. ...
Background
Palliative care patients desire more symptom management interventions that are complementary to their medical treatment. Within the multi-professional team, nurses could help support pain management with non-pharmacological interventions feasible for their practice and adaptable to palliative care patients’ needs.
Objectives
The objective was to identify non-pharmacological interventions feasible in the nursing scope of practice affecting pain in palliative care patients.
Design
A systematic review.
Data sources and methods
A defined search strategy was used in PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Embase. Search results were screened double-blinded. Methodological quality was double-appraised with the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tools. Data were extracted from selected studies and the findings were summarized. The methodological quality, quantity of studies evaluating the same intervention, and consistency in the findings were synthesized in a best-evidence synthesis to rank evidence as strong, moderate, limited, mixed, or insufficient.
Results
Out of 2385 articles, 22 studies highlighted non-pharmacological interventions in the nursing scope of practice. Interventions using massage therapy and virtual reality demonstrated most evidentiary support for pain management, while art therapy lacked sufficient evidence. Mindful breathing intervention showed no significant reduction in pain. Hypnosis, progressive muscle-relaxation-interactive-guided imagery, cognitive-behavioral audiotapes, wrapped warm footbath, reflexology, and music therapy exhibited promising results in pain reduction, whereas mindfulness-based stress reduction program, aromatherapy, and aroma-massage therapy did not.
Conclusion
Despite not all studies reaching significant changes in pain scores, non-pharmacological interventions can be clinically relevant to palliative care patients. Its use should be discussed for its potential value and nurses to be trained for safe practice. Methodologically rigorous research for non-pharmacological interventions in nursing scope of practice for pain relief in palliative care patients is necessary.
Trial registration
The protocol for this study is registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Review (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020196781).
... Traditional Siddhars, who have passed on their teachings in generations; incorporated energy healing sessions, the practices that focus on manipulating the body's energy fields to promote remedial and cures for diseases and improve physical, emotional, and mental health [6]. These sessions are based on the belief that the body's natural energy fields which can be disrupted or manipulated by overlapping energy frequency of others or perceived thoughts, memories, past incidents, physical traumas, interactions, things to manifest, and places visited by an individual [7]. A Siddha practitioner evaluates the person's sensations and imbalances, identify the causal factors and stimulates the energy field by aid of various manipulative methods, mind-body interventions and energy sessions aiming to restore harmony in the energy levels of the soul [8]. ...
... They helps in addressing emotional blockages, leading to improved mental health and emotional stability. These therapies can go alongside the traditional treatments, particularly for conditions that are resistant to allopathic techniques or chronic ailments where improvements in well-being can give a quality life to the individual [7]. These methods are relatively safe, produce faster recovery and prevent drug abuse or misuse with less chances of morbidity or mortality [11]. ...
Siddha medicine, is a type of ancient Indian alternative medicine, which embrace a range of practices intended at promoting holistic well-being through the manipulation of energy fields within the body. Energy healing has vast prospective in delivering valuable aids across a broad spectrum of health diseases; its safety and efficacy in the management of various conditions. Despite its growing popularity, Energy healing techniques remains disputable and combats several obstructions to its approval and acceptance by the medical community. This paper endorses a broad overview of the concept and practice of Energy healing in Siddha medicine, historical evidence of resemblance to other ancient practices, familiarity to different forms of modern body energy systems, and in-depth driving factors for its practice, and applications in few cases. Additionally, paper also probes the resistance to its widespread approval and adoption; requirement of conduction of thorough scientific research to prove its efficacy and safety to help connect traditional medicine with energy medicine highlighting the potential for a more unified move to health and healing
... Mind-body medicine 2. Biologically based practices 3. Manipulative and body-based practices 4. Energy medicine and 5. Whole medical systems [10][11][12]. The NCCAM defines energy healing therapy as "the channeling of healing energy through the hands of a practitioner into the client's body to restore a normal energy balance and, therefore, health" [13,14]. In western countries, individuals utilizing healing therapies are estimated to vary between 0.7% and 24.4% [15,16]. ...
... Scientific investigations are still in their infancy [7]. The mechanism of action remains obscure [14] and there are no scientifically supported theories on how putative energy modalities operate. Many believe that biofield energy lies somewhere on the electromagnetic spectrum and many also draw extensively from quantum physics theories [7]. ...
... In alignment with the above quote, proponents of EM believe that the physical body is permeated by an energy system [14] which consists of energy centers, energy pathways [1], through which the subtle energy flows [22,23]. This subtle energy seems to sustain and promote life processes in the biological system [10]. ...
Energy medicine (EM), is a type of complementary and alternative medicine, which encompasses a range of practices aimed at promoting holistic well-being through the manipulation of energy fields within the body. EM has immense potential in delivering valuable support in a wide range of health conditions. It is imperative for healthcare professionals to be aware of EM, its safety and efficacy in the management of various conditions. Despite its growing popularity, EM remains controversial and encounters several barriers to its recognition and acceptance by the medical fraternity. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the concept and practice of EM including its history, various types, mechanism of action, applications, driving factors for its practice, current status and future prospects. Putative types of EM modalities are the focus of this paper. Additionally, we examine the challenges to its widespread recognition and acceptance and discuss the importance of further rigorous scientific research to establish its efficacy and safety and bridge the gap between conventional and energy medicine.
... Massage therapy contributes to reduction of depression and anxiety [11,[16][17][18][19], increased well-being [18,19] and treatment satisfaction [17,20]. Overall, evidence is scarce. ...
... Massage therapy contributes to reduction of depression and anxiety [11,[16][17][18][19], increased well-being [18,19] and treatment satisfaction [17,20]. Overall, evidence is scarce. ...
... These results are in line with those of the literature indicating that massage therapy contributes to increased well-being [18,19] and treatment satisfaction [17,20]. However, we did not select a specific type of pain, be it neurogenic, nociceptive or neuroplastic, as we were mainly interested in the patients' subjective perception of pain. ...
... Because Reiki can be administered remotely, it is an especially useful therapy during times of social distancing and community lockdowns, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic. 15 Meta-analyses and systematic reviews report that Reiki can improve psychological and physical health symptoms, [16][17][18][19][20][21] including under randomized controlled conditions (eg, compared to sham-Reiki or standard-of-care), where Reiki has been shown to reduce anxiety, [22][23][24] depression, 25,26 burnout, 27,28 pain, 22,[29][30][31][32] and increase relaxation and well-being. 33,34 There are only a few studies evaluating Reiki in healthcare worker populations, with results showing reductions in stress in nurses administering self-Reiki, 35 reduced burnout in mental health clinicians, 28 reduced stress, respiratory rate, and heart rate 36 and improved stress coping and fatigue in nurses. ...
... Only a few studies have been conducted on distance Reiki, and they also report benefits to psychological health and pain 37,40-44 similar to in-person Reiki studies, [16][17][18][19][20][21] but much more research is needed to confirm whether this is consistently the case. Future work comparing in-person with distance Reiki would better our understanding of the effects of Reiki across these different administration styles. ...
Background:
Reiki is a biofield therapy which is based on the explanatory model that the fields of energy and information of living systems can be influenced to promote relaxation and stimulate a healing response.
Objective:
To conduct a pragmatic within-subject pilot trial of a remote Reiki program for frontline healthcare workers' health-related symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods:
Healthcare professionals in the UK (eg, physicians, nurses, and paramedics) were eligible to sign up for a distance Reiki program and were also invited to participate in the research study. Eight Reiki practitioners simultaneously gave each participant Reiki remotely for 20 minutes on 4 consecutive days. Feasibility of the research was assessed, including recruitment, data completeness, acceptability and intervention fidelity, and preliminary evaluation of changes in outcome measures. Participants' stress, anxiety, pain, wellbeing, and sleep quality were evaluated with 7-point numerical rating scales. Measures were completed when signing up to receive Reiki (pre) and following the final Reiki session (post). Pre and post data were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed ranks tests.
Results:
Seventy-nine healthcare professionals signed up to receive Reiki and took the baseline measures. Of those, 40 completed post-measures after the 4-day intervention and were therefore included in the pre-post analysis. Most participants were female (97.5%), and the mean age was 43.9 years old (standard deviations = 11.2). The study was feasible to conduct, with satisfactory recruitment, data completeness, acceptability, and fidelity. Wilcoxon signed ranks tests revealed statistically significant decreases in stress (M = -2.33; P < .001), anxiety (M = -2.79; P < .001) and pain (M = -.79; P < .001), and significant increases in wellbeing (M = -1.79; P < .001) and sleep quality (M = -1.33; P = .019).
Conclusions:
The Reiki program was feasible and was associated with decreased stress, anxiety and pain, and increased wellbeing and sleep quality in frontline healthcare workers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
... However, its effects on pain reduction are low to moderate. In addition to pain reduction, massage therapy has been associated with depressive symptom reduction [6,11,12], anxiety reduction [6,[11][12][13][14], increased well-being [11,12], and treatment satisfaction [13,15]. Overall, the benefits of massage therapy make it a promising complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) treatment for patients with chronic pain. ...
... However, its effects on pain reduction are low to moderate. In addition to pain reduction, massage therapy has been associated with depressive symptom reduction [6,11,12], anxiety reduction [6,[11][12][13][14], increased well-being [11,12], and treatment satisfaction [13,15]. Overall, the benefits of massage therapy make it a promising complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) treatment for patients with chronic pain. ...
... However, its effects on pain reduction are low to moderate. In addition to pain reduction, massage therapy has been associated with depressive symptom reduction [6,11,12], anxiety reduction [6,[11][12][13][14], increased well-being [11,12], and treatment satisfaction [13,15]. Overall, the benefits of massage therapy make it a promising complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) treatment for patients with chronic pain. ...
Introduction
The use of massage therapy has received increased attention in the treatment of chronic pain. However, barriers can hinder its use in nursing care. This study uses a qualitative methodology to explore professionals’ experiences regarding touch massage (TM) and identify barriers and facilitators for the implementation of this intervention.
Materials and methods
This study is part of a larger research program aimed at investigating the impact of TM on the experiences of patients with chronic pain hospitalized in two units of an internal medicine rehabilitation ward. Health care professionals (HCPs) were trained either to provide TM or to use of a massage-machine device according to their units. At the end of the trial, two focus groups were conducted with HCPs from each unit who took part in the training and agreed to discuss their experience: 10 caregivers from the TM group and 6 from the machine group. The focus group discussions were tape-recorded, transcribed and analyzed using thematic content analysis.
Results
Five themes emerged from thematic content analysis: perceived impact on patients, HCPs’ affective and cognitive experiences, patient-professionals relationships, organizational tensions, and conceptual tensions. Overall, the HCPs reported better general outcomes with TM than with the machine. They described positive effects on patients, HCPs, and their relationships. Regarding interventions’ implementation, the HCPs reported organizational barriers such as patients’ case complexity, work overload, and lack of time. Conceptual barriers such as ambivalence around the legitimacy of TM in nursing care were reported. TM was often described as a pleasure care that was considered a complementary approach and was overlooked despite its perceived benefits.
Conclusion
Despite the perceived benefits of TM reported by the HCPs, ambivalence arose around the legitimacy of this intervention. This result emphasizes the importance of changing HCPs’ attitudes regarding a given intervention to facilitate its implementation.
... Some claims about ivermectin purported that it was highly effective and that evidence about its benefits was being withheld (e.g., because treatment is inexpensive or may interfere with vaccine approvals); however, there was never sufficient evidence to support ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment, and the trials were besieged by data irregularities (Blake, 2021;Schraer & Goodman, 2021). Misinformation about health and wellness may encourage decisions that strain personal finances People in Canada are estimated to spend close to $200 million annually on homeopathy, and well over $100 million annually on energy healing (e.g., reiki) despite weak or non-existent clinical evidence of efficacy (Cucherat et al., 2000;Ernst & Seip, 2011;Mathie et al., 2014;Rao et al., 2016;Esmail, 2017). There is compelling evidence that routine vitamin supplementation in healthy populations provides no benefit, yet supplement consumption is widespread (Guallar et al., 2013). ...
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