Is Reiki a Placebo? – Part 2
I said in Part 1 if the Reiki (healing) energy has an impact, it must exist, and it can’t be a placebo because its having an impact. So now I want to share some of the scientific evidence which demonstrates the impact of healing, hence it must exists. I am going to start by looking at experiments which do not feature humans to demonstrate the impact of healing without the placebo effect being present.
Glenn Rein (Rein, 1986), using Matthew Manning as the healer, treated preparations of a human enzyme, blood platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO). Enzyme levels in platelet samples were measured before and after healing treatment (for 5 minutes) and were compared with untreated controls. In nine trials enzyme activity in the treated samples increased, in seven it decreased and in two it remained unchanged.
Braud, Davis & Wood (1979) attempted to control the breakdown of stressed human blood cells (erythrocytes) using the healer Matthew Manning. Erythrocytes are sensitive to the osmotic pressure of the solution in which they are suspended; when this pressure is reduced significantly below that of blood plasma they swell and rupture. In the experiments the intention was for the healer to attempt to reduce the rate of cell breakdown when suspended in a hypotonic salt solution. The experiments consisted of 3 series of 10 runs, each consisting of 10 samples. Five samples in each run were controls and the healer sought to positively influence the other five against cell breakdown. Nine of the runs were done with the healer in close proximity to the samples and in one he sought to influence the samples from a distant room. Overall the results were highly significantly positive
Haraldsson & Thorsteinsson (1973) used yeast cultures as an experimental model. They worked with seven subjects, three healers and four non-healers, asking them to attempt to increase the growth of yeast cultures in tubes from close by – but not making direct contact. In each experimental session, individual subjects worked with 10 tubes and there were the same number of controls. In 12 sessions a total of 240 tubes were run, both experimental and control. The results showed a highly significant positive result for the healers (p = 0.00014) and a non-significant result for the non-healers.
Grad (1965b) produced identical wounds on the backs of 96 anaesthetised mice and measured the rate of wound healing on a daily basis. The healer Oscar Estebany treated half the mice daily for 15 minutes by holding the cages. By fourteen days the wounds of the treated group had healed significantly more rapidly than those of the control group.
I am sure you appreciate that conducting the last experiment on humans would be highly illegal & immoral.
Full References
Braud, W., Davis, G. & Wood, R. (1979). Experiments with Matthew Manning. J. Soc. Psychical Res., 50, 199-223.
Grad, B. (1965b). Some biological effects of the “laying on of hands”: A review of experiments with animals and plants. J. Am. Soc. Psychical Res., 59, 95-129.
Haraldsson, E. & Thorsteinsson, T. (1973). Psychokinetic effects on yeast: An exploratory experiment. In Research in Parapsychology 1972 (W. C. Roll, R. L. Morris & J. D. Morris, eds.). pp. 20-21. Scarecrow Press; Metuchen, NJ.
Rein, G. (1986). A psychokinetic effect of neurotransmitter metabolism: Alterations in the degradative enzyme monoamine oxidase. In Research in Parapsychology, 1985 (Debra H. Weiner & D. Radin. eds.). pp. 77-80. Scarecrow; Metuchen, NJ.
Related Posts
More tips to get a good nights sleep
Here are more tips to get a good nights sleep:
- Read a book or a magazine - I appreicate this is very old school. The reason is studies have shown that brain activity during sleep is better regulated after reading a physical book compared with reading a screen.
- Have a hot shower or bath at night. When you get in all your blood comes to the surface of your body, so when you step out, your core temperature starts to drop. This stimulates sleep.
- Go to bed at the same time every nights - it's possible to "programme" the body to get used to falling asleep at a certain time every night.
- Yoga or light exercise can help relax muscles and release any tension.
- Complementary therapies - these promote relaxing, reduce stress and anxiety and are therefore ideal for a good night's sleep.
- Breathing exercises or medication - taking deep breaths helps the body switch off from the flight or fight more to rest-and-digest mode.
Start eating prebiotics to reduce stress levels
When we are under pressure, stressed or anxious our bodies react, for some people this means they develop tension in the neck & shoulders, for others they get butterflies in their stomach or their digestive system becomes more sensitive. Stress messes with your they bacteria in your gut and creates a viscous circle that makes stress and anxiety attacks even worse. While we are all familiar with probiotics or good bacteria which you can buy in tablet form in health food shops or are added to yogurts. What you may be less familiar with are prebiotics which are the "food" for the good bacteria in your gut. Prebiotics can undo the impact stress has on the gut. They are found in plant fibers like
- raw chicory root
- raw Jerusalem artichoke
- raw garlic
- raw leeks
- raw asparagus
- raw and cooked onions
The superfood that can combat metabolic syndrome
Every few months a new super food seems to emerge into the public domain. Avocado seems to have caught the british public's imagination as sales soar. With Avocado the hype seems to be justified. The fruit slows down and even reverses metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions -
- high blood pressure
- high cholesterol
- high blood pressure
- high body mass index (i.e. overweight)
