Energy medicine includes several methods such as touch therapy that are difficult to measure and often, from a scientific viewpoint, so are their benefits.
Practitioners of energy medicine believe that illness results from disturbances of the body's energy field. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) energy fields of two types are targeted in energy medicine: 1) those which are veritable and can be measured and those which are 1) putative, which have yet to be measured. Some therapists are believed to emit or transmit the vital energy or external qi to a recipient in an effort to restore health.
Veritable energies employ mechanical vibrations such as sound and electromagnetic forces, including visible light, magnetism, monochromatic radiation (such as laser beams), and rays from other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum (such as bright light therapy). Veritable energies involve the use of specific, measurable wavelengths and frequencies to treat patients. Consequently, treatment methods employ specific protocols with measurable therapies.
In contrast to veritable energies, putative energy fields, which are called biofields, have defied measurement by reproducible methods. Therapies involving putative energy fields stem from the notion that human beings have an inherent subtle form of energy. This vital form of energy, which is known by many names including qi, homeopathic resonance, odic force and mana, is thought to flow through the human body. However, this form of energy, which has been photographed as an aura and sensed by certain practitioners, cannot be scientifically measured.
Examples of energy medicine involving putative energy fields include: the Japanese treatments of Reiki and Johrei; the Chinese practice of qi gong; healing touch or the laying of hands to correct energy; and intercessory prayer, in which a person intercedes energy correction through prayer on behalf of another. Because the provision of therapy and the effects of therapy cannot be measured, they are among the most controversial of the complementary and alternative therapies. But because of their reported benefits, these treatments are being investigated at some academic medical centers.
Current Research
For measuring veritable energy therapies, many treatments are available, including magnetic resonance imaging, ultraviolet light therapy for psoriasis and vitiligo, laser keratoplasty, and radiation therapy. Magnetic therapy is used in vasculitis to dilate constricted vessels and to dilate vessels that are constricted. In addition, low-power millimeter wave irradiation is widely used in Europe to treat conditions ranging from skin disorders to cancers and cardiovascular diseases and psychiatric illnesses. Sound energy (vibrational, sound, and frequency therapy) is used to lower blood pressure, reduce pain, alter certain biochemicals, and reduce anxiety.
Of the putative therapies, acupuncture is the most widely used therapy to promote qi flow along the meridians. Studies show its effectiveness in reducing certain forms of pain although the measurement of energy has remained elusive.
Qi gong, a movement therapy reported to restore health, cannot be quantitatively measured and studies showing improvement are based on anecdotal evidence alone. Homeopathy and therapeutic touch are also reported to offer benefits based on anecdotal evidence alone.
Energy fields have been measured putatively using Kirlian photography, aura imaging, and gas discharge visualization. However, there is no certainty regarding what exactly is being measured. Early reports showed a marked decrease in gamma radiation following energy therapies and these studies have recently been confirmed. The hypothesis here is that the body's primary gamma emitter, potassium-40, represents a self-regulator of energy.
But even though energy medicine employs therapies defying measurement that cause benefits, which cannot be quantitatively assessed, the anecdotal reports of patients worldwide show that these therapies offer much more than a placebo effect. The importance of energy medicine in both acute and chronic diseases cannot be denied. Fortunately for autoimmune disease patients, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine is committed to exploring these benefits.
Resources:
Energy Medicine: An Overview, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, http://nccam.nih.gov/health/backgrpimds/energymed.htm, accessed on November 28, 2006.
The Energy Medicine Institute, www.energymed.org
