Chapter 17 - Energy Medicine Flashcards
What are the 2 main categories of Energy Medicine?
- Biofield therapies
2. Therapies that make unconventional use of known forms of energy.
Examples of biofield therapies?
Acupuncture, Reiki and Therapeutic Touch
Reiki philosophy
Universal energy (ki) flows through meridians in the body.
Practitioners can transfer healing energy through their palms.
Energy flow related to 7 chakras.
Chakra
force center
Proposed uses of reiki
Relaxation, stress reduction, recovery from injuries, preparing for medical interventions, pain relief, promoting healthy childbirth, and enhancing immune system.
What is the evidence of efficacy for reiki?
No physical or biological evidence. No evidence of any effect.
What is the regulatory status of reiki?
Not regulated.
Who was Therapeutic Touch started by?
2 nurses who believed in trusting intuition
Philosophy of therapeutic touch
Energy fields can be detected by practitioners.
Placing hands near patient allows manipulation of energy field to assist self-healing.
To be used together with OM medicine.
What is the evidence of efficacy for therapeutic touch?
No evidence for the mode of action, no evidence for bio-energy fields. Practitioners can’t detect presence of a patient.
Magnet therapy philosophy
The belief that magnetic fields produced by magnets lessen symptoms in a wide range of unrelated pathogens.
Does the commonly suggested mechanisms involved in magnet therapy make sense?
No, magnets can’t make red blood cells align.
What does the evidence say about the efficacy of magnet therapy?
No effect on osteoarthritis.
