Is Reiki a Placebo? – Part 3

While in Part 2 we looked at the impact of healing (Reiki) energy on cells, yeast & animals, that is not the same as on human beings.  So in this post I want to share with you some of the research done on humans.  So I want to start with looking at physical factors…

Krieger (1975) carried out four experiments with the intention of raising blood haemoglobin levels in patients. The technique of Therapeutic Touch (similar to Reiki) was used, with Oscar Estebany being the healer in the first three experiments and nurses trained in the method in the fourth. Significant differences in blood haemoglobin levels were obtained in:

  • 43 healed patients as against 33 controls
  • 46 healed patients as compared to 33 controls, where the groups were more carefully matched

Miller (1982) undertook a double-blind study on 96 hypertension patients divided equally into experimental and control groups. The experimental patients received distant healing from eight healers, together with their normal medical treatment; the controls received no healing. The results showed a significant improvement  in the systolic blood pressure of the healed group, as compared to the controls, but no significant changes in the diastolic blood pressure.

So there is clear scientific evidence that Reiki does have a desirable impact on the human body.

Full References

Krieger, Dolores (1975). Therapeutic touch: The imprimatur of nursing. Am. J. Nursing, 7, 784-787.

Miller, R. N. (1982). Study on the effectiveness of remote mental healing. Med. Hypoth., 8, 481-490.

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