Studies - HT
Healing Through Energy and Spirituality
The effect of healing touch on the pain and mobility of persons with osteoarthritis: A feasibility study
The aims of this pilot study were to investigate the effects of Healing Touch (HT) on the pain level, joint function, mobility, and depression in persons with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee joint(s). A randomized controlled trial using a repeated measures design was used. Cognitively intact persons (institutionalized and community) with a diagnosis of OA of the knee joint(s) received either HT sessions three times per week for 6 weeks (n = 12) or weekly friendly visits (FV) (n = 7). The HT sessions were delivered by a team of two nurses certified as HT practitioners and the FV was conducted by a nurse. All subjects continued to receive their standard care including the methods they had been using to relieve their joint pain. The two groups were similar regarding demographic variables, number of knees affected, co-morbidities, pain medications used and outcome variables at baseline. Two pain outcome measures (intensity and life interference) produced significant interaction effects. Two joint outcome measures (extension and extensor lag) also produced significant interaction effects. Furthermore, the HT group demonstrated significant improvements in 9 of the 12 outcome variables (75%) while no significant improvements occurred in the FV group. The HT group exhibited sustained effects (3 weeks post treatments) in three outcome variables. The reduction in joint pain and improvement in joint function suggest that biofield therapies could be effective non-pharmacological adjuncts to treatment of OA. Geriatric Nursing, Volume 34, Issue 4, July–August 2013, Pages 314-322
Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.
Key Discoveries in Energy Healing
by Dr. Shamini Jain
by Dr. Shamini Jain
A randomized controlled trial RCT from researchers at the University of Iowa found that healing touch, compared to relaxation and treatment as usual, reduced depression and maintained natural killer cell activity in cervical cancer patients undergoing chemoradiation.16 Another randomized, placebo-controlled trial at UC San Diego investigated hands-on-healing for breast cancer survivors and found improvements in cortisol rhythms for cancer survivors getting actual healing, but not those getting mock healing or getting nothing at all.17 More recent placebo-controlled studies with animals and cells at the University of Arizona, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and University of Connecticut have reported effects of human biofield healing on tumor metastasis and immune responses, tumor growth and related cytokines, and microvascular leakage in response to stress.