More Science

There was an excellent article by Nicole Mackay published in the Summer 2005 issue of the Reiki News Magazine. The following is an excerpt from that article:

. . . A literature review of previous studies shows an apparent link between Reiki treatment and the ANS. One of the most commonly reported effects of Reiki is that of relaxation or a reduction in stress. The ANS is the motor system for emotion; if Reiki were to ameliorate stress it would therefore also have some effect on the ANS. A paper authored by Ramnarine-Singh (1999) states that the physiologic system sensitive to energy-based therapies is the ANS, as it affects the body’s physiological response to stress, and suggests that physiologically Reiki and Therapeutic Touch (TT)—a therapy similar to Reiki—can be measured by recording blood pressure, pulse, respiratory rate, electroencephalography, electrooculography, galvanic skin response, and hand temperature. Wardell and Engebretson (2001) measured the biological effects of Reiki on the ANS and found significant reduction of anxiety and systolic blood pressure, and a significant increase in salivary immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels, using healthy volunteers for their study. Anxiety was assessed through muscle tension measurement using electromyography as well as monitoring of salivary IgA levels. Vaughan (1995) also investigated the ANS, looking at systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, and skin response, and found a definite trend towards the lowering of diastolic blood pressure.

Turner et al. (1998) investigated the use of TT for reducing anxiety levels in burn patients, finding a significant reduction in the TT group in comparison with a placebo group. Evanoff and Newton (1999) found that energy-based therapies significantly reduced pain in a randomized control trial of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. TT/Reiki has also been investigated within the field of cutaneous wound healing. Ramnarine-Singh (1999) highlights the apparent link between energy-based therapies and the ANS, stating that the previous “psychological” research is difficult to interpret because of the subjectivity involved. It calls for new studies measuring physiological responses within the ANS. Studies by Quinn (1984) and Vaughan (1995) support this hypothesis. . . .