Research on Bio-field Treatments Such as: Reiki, Therapeutic and Healing Touch. Truly Effective or Unnecessary?
The bio-field based treatments are said to utilize slight energy in order to rush the organism`s healing activities. These therapies represent complementary processes regarding the degree of pain reduction in various illnesses. Moreover, the bio-field therapies are said to decrease the anxiety persons admitted to hospitals encounter. In addition, these complementary treatments seem to decrease the aggressive behavior of people suffering from dementia in an equal or better manner than standard therapies could. Nonetheless, the effects of the bio-filed based therapies on the long-run are not very well known.
Leading co-authors of an investigation regarding this subject are doctors Shamini Jain and Paul Mills. The first comes from the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control Research within the University of California, Los Angeles and the latter is a doctor in the University of California`s Department of Psychiatry. Along with the Moores Comprehensive Cancer Center from San Diego, United States, the two released their research findings regarding the bio-field treatments on the Internet website of the Springer’s International Journal of Behavioral Medicine.
There is an important number of people suffering from various conditions who use bio-field based treatments such as: healing touch, Reiki and therapeutic touch. However, the efficacy of these treatments has not been proven. These therapeutic treatments date millennia back when they were used for counteracting various physical and mental diseases in numerous cultural clusters. Nowadays, they are under the magnifier as Western researchers are trying to discover just how efficient they are in counteracting various conditions.
Doctors Shamini Jain and Paul Mills underwent a study comprising clinical trials which summed up a number of 66. They focused on the bio-field related treatments associated with therapies for various patients coming from different cultures and suffering from different conditions. The investigators focused on just how clear and convincing the effectiveness of this type of treatment was. The group of researchers found out that all the studies released on the bio-field therapies are somehow of middle quality related to the scientific evidence.
Considering this findings, the team of investigators discovered hard proves that the bio-field based treatments decrease the degree of pain in people belonging to the non-hospitalized population and mild proves that these therapies are efficient regarding the decreasing degree of pain in people admitted to hospitals and patients suffering from malignant tumors.
Mild proves regarding the bio-field therapies exist related to the aggressive behavior of people suffering from dementia and the efficiency of these treatments in diminishing the anxiety state of people admitted to hospitals. The group of investigators did not find any link between the effectiveness of the bio-field treatments and conditions such as fatigue and the life quality of people suffering from malignant tumors, overall degree of pain decrease and anxiety counteracting in people developing cardiovascular conditions.
The team of researchers state that there is an increasing need to investigate further this subject in a very qualitative manner and also recommend come areas that could host these investigations. In addition, they state that in order for patients to be better informed regarding the possible advantages and disadvantages of bio-field based therapies, physicians and researchers concerned with the behavioral medicine have to acquire a good understanding of this subject. This means that the doctors and scientists have to be well informed regarding bio-field based therapies and take a closer look at practice, theory and studies focusing on this matter.
