Phase II trial of Reiki for cancer pain

[TruthSeeker]

Here is the abstract:

A phase II trial of reiki for the management of pain in advanced cancer patients

Karin Olson RN, PhD, John Hanson MSc and Mary Michaud RN


Abstract
This trial compared pain, quality of life, and analgesic use in a sample of patients with cancer pain (n = 24) who received either standard opioid management plus rest (Arm A) or standard opioid management plus Reiki (Arm B). Participants either rested for 1.5 hr on Days 1 and 4 or received two Reiki treatments (Days 1 and 4) one hour after their first afternoon analgesic dose. Visual analogue scale (VAS) pain ratings, blood pressure, heart rate, and respirations were obtained before and after each treatment/rest period. Analgesic use and VAS pain scores were reported for 7 days. Quality of life was assessed on Days 1 and 7. Participants in Arm B experienced improved pain control on Days 1 and 4 following treatment, compared to Arm A, and improved quality of life, but no overall reduction in opioid use. Future research will determine the extent to which the benefits attributed to Reiki in this study may have been due to touch.

And this is the link to the article where you can download the pdf:


http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T8R-49V4XRC-2&_coverDate=11%2F30%2F2003&_alid=122688656&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_qd=1&_cdi=5093&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=6ac31c96c0abfcf47a554ca5b46b12e1 (http://)

It is published in one of the better palliative care journals.

I'm just about to read it but welcome any comments in the meantime. I know nothing about Reiki so any info on that would be helpful.

[Drooper]

Well, the very first thing that strikes me about this study is that it doen't appear to have been a blind study.

If the trial group (Arm B) knew they were being treated any differently to the control group (Arm A) any comparison is useless.

What they really needed was for some "placebo Reiki" to be practiced on Arm A and "real Reiki" to be practiced on Arm B.

[Quasi]

I think the biggest problem here is that it is not testing Reiki in any significant way. For more Reiki info see Skeptics Dictionary (http://skepdic.com) Basically, it is a religion which states that it is a "holistic" health care system. So they should be testing chemotherapy alone, with Reiki alone. Of course, the Reiki folks do not dare try this for reasons only known to them. Essentially, if the study fails, they can rightly claim this was not done following Reiki (drugs etc. were used.) If it succeeds, they can claim Reiki is perfectly validated and should be a licensed health care profession. I personally know a Reiki "master." He is a clerk by day, Reiki masseur by night/weekends. He has no knowledge whatsoever in the human body, believes in Marcrobiotic, vegan, organic only diets, and is also an astrologer. Compare this to other massage therapists and you will see a big difference. Reiki is dangerous, misguided medical fraud.

[TruthSeeker]

Thanks for the input.

I'm having trouble with the pdf (sometimes I swear my computer is cursed!) so have been unable to read the article.

Once I do, I will post an analysis

[Drooper]

Originally posted by Quasi
I think the biggest problem here is that it is not testing Reiki in any significant way. For more Reiki info see Skeptics Dictionary (http://skepdic.com) Basically, it is a religion which states that it is a "holistic" health care system. So they should be testing chemotherapy alone, with Reiki alone. Of course, the Reiki folks do not dare try this for reasons only known to them. Essentially, if the study fails, they can rightly claim this was not done following Reiki (drugs etc. were used.) If it succeeds, they can claim Reiki is perfectly validated and should be a licensed health care profession. I personally know a Reiki "master." He is a clerk by day, Reiki masseur by night/weekends. He has no knowledge whatsoever in the human body, believes in Marcrobiotic, vegan, organic only diets, and is also an astrologer. Compare this to other massage therapists and you will see a big difference. Reiki is dangerous, misguided medical fraud.

Medical ethics would preclude the type of trial you describe. It would never be medically ethical to withhold a life saving treatment in order to obtain a control group.

Anyway, a proper methodology is always a control and trial, blind and preferably double-blind. In your example that would mean group A getting no real treatment and group B getting Reiki treatment - with members of both groups (and preferably test administrators) thinking they are getting the same thing (or more accurately, unable to tell who is getting what). As you can see, this would leave some cancer sufferers untreated, even if the treatment under trial worked.

[Rolfe]

Well, it wasn't meant as a trial to see if Reiki could cure cancer, obviously, just to see if it had an effect on cancer pain. Pain is a notoriously subjective thing to measure, and extremely susceptible to the placebo effect. So if the treated group knew they were getting something extra, and the control group didn't think they were getting it, I can't see how a study like this could possibly prove anything.

Rolfe.

[tamiO]

Reiki reduces pain because pain is lessened when you are in an atmosphere that is soothing and relaxing.

There are many reasons Reiki is good therapy for the believer.

[Ratman_tf]

Originally posted by tamiO
Reiki reduces pain because pain is lessened when you are in an atmosphere that is soothing and relaxing.

There are many reasons Reiki is good therapy for the believer.

And is probably no more effective than an episode of 'The Simpsons' or a chocolate sundae, or whatever makes the person in question happy.

Yeah, that didn't add much, but I thought this thread could use a mention of The Simpsons and chocolate sundaes!

[Quasi]

Originally posted by Drooper


Medical ethics would preclude the type of trial you describe. It would never be medically ethical to withhold a life saving treatment in order to obtain a control group.

Anyway, a proper methodology is always a control and trial, blind and preferably double-blind. In your example that would mean group A getting no real treatment and group B getting Reiki treatment - with members of both groups (and preferably test administrators) thinking they are getting the same thing (or more accurately, unable to tell who is getting what). As you can see, this would leave some cancer sufferers untreated, even if the treatment under trial worked.

While I agree here with your argument, a believer in Reiki must by definition believe the clinical trial will succeed. My point is that just like many paranormal challenges (such as the million dollar one,) the practitioners will avoid testing their easily defeated, cherished beliefs. They instead choose small, uncontrolled studies with diseases which have a high remission/placebo rates so as to skew the results. A perfect example is homeopathy, where they completely deny cancer. Here is a great opportunity for them to save terminally ill children with cancer. Nada, zip, crickets chirping. So my point is that the government should insist they test their overall, silly, dangerous theories before spending millions on fakery. Virtually everywhere now I see ads for homeopathy (CVS, Rite-Aid, etc.,) chiropractic (offices everywhere, ads in newspapers,) accupuncture etc. Isn't it time we stopped spending more on this garbage than on renewable energy research? Hey, its our tax dollars here.

[Julia]

Originally posted by tamiO
Reiki reduces pain because pain is lessened when you are in an atmosphere that is soothing and relaxing.

There are many reasons Reiki is good therapy for the believer.


This is probably true in cases of moderate or mild pain. My sister, who is a Big-Time-True-Believer, spent an absurd amount of money on a Reiki master to treat her severe, crippling, spine pain.

She is a well-educated, intelligent woman, who (much to my chagrin) goes for every holoistic fad that comes around. Though she was in near unbearable, debilitating pain just prior to her emergency spine surgery, she refused any form of pain relief other than health-food-store medication that were capsules of crushed herbs. When those didn't work (oh imagine that), she went to the most highly recommended (and most expensive) Reiki master she could find.

I was suprised that she admitted to me that it did not help at all. (She still insists that her oxygen-infused water has done nothing but improve her overall health.) However, she is in such denial that she feels the Reiki, acupuncture, and herbs, would have helped if she had only started them sooner.

[tamiO]

I am a Reiki Level 2.

It was worth the 200 bucks to go spend a weekend at the beach and get initiated. What an experience.

It is a big game of pretend. It is "playing" doctor. It is for that woman that really enjoys the spa experience or getting your hair done. Only, it is much more intimate.

It is a great stress reducer and it is helpful for mild to moderate pain relief. The greater your focus and belief the greater affect it has on your perception of pain.

Unless...
Unless you get a Reiki person and she is on some kind of headtrip and her guides help her diagnose and heal something physically wrong with you.