Studies on the Efficacy of Spiritual Healing and Distant Healing

The efficacy of "distant healing": a systematic review of randomized trials (2000)

Source: ASTIN, J. A., HARKNESS, E., ERNST, E. The Efficacy of “Distant Healing”: A Systematic Review of Randomized Trials. Annals of Internal Medicine [online]. 6 June 2000, Vol 132, No. 11 [cit. 2018-07-28].
Available from: annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=713514 ;
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10836918

Published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Annals of Internal Medicine – http://annals.org . – annals.org .

Detail: To conduct a systematic review of the available data on the efficacy of any form of "distant healing" (prayer, mental healing, Therapeutic Touch, or spiritual healing) as treatment for any medical condition. A total of 23 trials involving 2774 patients met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed.

Conclusion: The methodologic limitations of several studies make it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about the efficacy of distant healing. However, given that approximately 57% of trials showed a positive treatment effect, the evidence thus far merits further study.

A randomized double-blind study of the effect of distant healing in a population with advanced AIDS (1998)

Source: SICHER, F., TARG, E., MOORE, D. 2nd et al. A randomized double-blind study of the effect of distant healing in a population with advanced AIDS. Report of a small scale study. The Western Journal of Medicine [online]. 1998 prosinec; 169 (6): 356363. PMCID: PMC1305403, Geraldine Brush Cancer Research Institute, Kalifornie Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, USA [cit. 2018-07-28]. Available from:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1305403/ ; www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9866433

Published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal The Western Journal of Medicine – www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/journals/183 .

Detail: Various forms of distant healing (DH), including prayer and "psychic healing," are widely practiced, but insufficient formal research has been done to indicate whether such efforts actually affect health. We report on a double-blind randomized trial of DH in 40 patients with advanced AIDS. Subjects were pair-matched for age, CD4+ count, and number of AIDS-defining illnesses and randomly selected to either 10 weeks of DH treatment or a control group. DH treatment was performed by self-identified healers representing many different healing and spiritual traditions. Healers were located throughout the United States during the study, and subjects and healers never met. Subjects were assessed by psychometric testing and blood draw at enrollment and followed for 6 months. At 6 months, a blind medical chart review found that treatment subjects acquired significantly fewer new AIDS-defining illnesses (0.1 versus 0.6 per patient, P = 0.04), had lower illness severity (severity score 0.8 versus 2.65, P = 0.03), and required significantly fewer doctor visits (9.2 versus 13.0, P = 0.01), fewer hospitalizations (0.15 versus 0.6, P = 0.04), and fewer days of hospitalization (0.5 versus 3.4, P = 0.04). Treated subjects also showed significantly improved mood compared with controls (Profile of Mood States score -26 versus 14, P = 0.02). There were no significant differences in CD4+ counts.

Conclusion: These data support the possibility of a DH effect in AIDS and suggest the value of further research.

Chronically ill patients treated by spiritual healing improve in quality of life: results of a randomized waiting-list controlled study (2001)

Source: WIESENDANGER, H., WERTHMÜLLER, L., REUTER, K. et al. Chronically ill patients treated by spiritual healing improve in quality of life: results of a randomized waiting-list controlled study. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine [online]. University Hospital Freiburg, Institute of Environmental Medicine and Hospital Epidemiology, Germany, 2001 Feb;7(1):4551. [cit. 2018-07-28]. Available from:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11246935

Published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine – www.liebertpub.com/acm .

Detail: Sixty patients were treated by various methods of distant healing over 5 months; 59 patients were put on a waiting list (control).

Conclusion: Quality of life improved significantly (p < 0.0005) in the treated group (10 points), while it remained stable in the control group. Positive expectation was significantly correlated with outcome. Chronically ill patients who want to be treated by distant healing and know that they are treated improve in quality of life.

Effects of spiritual healing for women undergoing long-term hormone therapy for breast cancer: a qualitative investigation (2013)

Source: BARLOW, F., WALKER, J., LEWITH, G. Effects of spiritual healing for women undergoing longterm hormone therapy for breast cancer: a qualitative investigation. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine [online]. 2013 Mar;19(3):2116. doi: 10.1089/acm.2012.0091. Epub 2012 Sep 28. Health Experiences Research Group, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom [cit. 2018-07-28]. Available from:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23020610

Published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine – www.liebertpub.com/acm .

Detail: The qualitative observation study took place in a specialist research facility in a general hospital. Spiritual Healing was provided by 4 healers registered with the National Federation of Spiritual Healers. Twelve (12) patients with breast cancer undergoing long-term hormone treatment and who found the effects onerous, self-referred themselves and were given ten weekly sessions of approximately 40 minutes each.

Conclusion: The positive effects of Spiritual Healing included alleviation of the physical side-effects of their treatment, increased energy levels, enhanced well-being, emotional relaxation, and reengagement with precancer activities. Although 1 participant admitted considering a drug holiday prior to joining the study, none of the participants felt tempted to stop their hormonal treatments while receiving Spiritual Healing. These qualitative findings indicate that Spiritual Healing has the potential to support patients with breast cancer in the maintenance of their long-term orthodox treatments. Further research is needed to test Spiritual Healing as a cost-effective complementary therapy, for those undergoing long-term cancer treatments.

Distant healing and diabetes mellitus. A pilot study. (2002)

Source: EBNETER, M., BINDER, M., KRISTOF, O. et al. Distant healing and diabetes mellitus. A pilot study. Forschende Komplementärmedizin und Klassische Naturheilkunde [online]. 2002 Feb;9(1):2230. Abteilung Naturheilkunde, Departement Innere Medizin, Universitätsspital Zürich, Schweiz, Germany. mebneter@gmx.net [cit. 2018-07-28]. Available from: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11893844

Published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Forschende Komplementärmedizin und Klassische Naturheilkunde / Research in Complementary and Classical Natural Medicine – www.karger.com/Journal/Details/224242

Detail: 14 diabetic patients were observed for a period of 16 weeks. Within this time they underwent a treatment of 4 consecutive weeks (weeks 9-12) by 5 experienced and trustworthy healers each. Patients were informed about the duration of the treatment but not about the time point of its beginning. Patients and healers never met and there was no contact between researchers and patients during the study period.

Conclusion: With regard to medical parameters, reduction in fructosamine level was observed during the healing period, increasing fructosamine level after the end of the healing period. Sensitivity, measured only at the beginning and at the end of the study period, decreased significantly. The other parameters showed some significant changes but there was no correlation to the Distant Healing intervention. Regarding the psychological data, only improvements were observed. The results indicate the possibility that a Distant Healing intervention could have certain effects on patients with diabetes mellitus.

A pragmatic randomised controlled trial of healing therapy in a gastroenterology outpatient setting (2016)

Source: R.T.Lee (a), T.Kingstone (b), L.Roberts (c), S.Edwards (d), A.Soundy (e) , P.R.Shah (a), M.S.Haque (f), S.Singh (g). A pragmatic randomised controlled trial of healing therapy in a gastroenterology outpatient setting [online]. Accepted 29 November 2016, Available online 29 November 2016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eujim.2016.11.017 [cit. 2018-08-05]. Available from:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187638201630422X#tbl0010

a) Integrated Medicine Department, Freshwinds, Birmingham, UK
b) Research Institute for Primary Care and Health Sciences, Keele University, Staffordshire, UK
c) Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
d) Healer Member of The Healing Trust, UK
e) Department of Physiotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
f) Primary Care Clinical Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
g) Department of Gastroenterology, Good Hope Hospital, Rectory Road, Sutton Coldfield, B75 7RR, UK

Published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal European Journal of Integrative Medicine, Volume 9, January 2017, Pages 110-119. More detailed information on this research was published in the book “Healing in a Hospital: Scientific Evidence That Spiritual Healing Improves Health“ by Sandy Edwards
(www.healinginahospital.uk).

Detail: Introduction – To determine the benefits of healing therapy (spiritual healing) as an adjunct to conventional management in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Methods – 200 outpatients with IBS or IBD were randomised to either conventional treatment (control) or conventional plus five sessions of healing therapy (intervention). After 12 weeks controls also had healing therapy. Outcomes used were, the Measure Yourself Medical Outcomes Profile (MYMOP). IBS-QOL, IBDQ, and symptom measures. Results – There was a significant improvement in the MYMOP score at week 6 (p < 0.001) which was maintained to week 12 (p < 0.001) and 24 (p < 0.001). Improvements in MYMOP were significantly greater in the intervention group at both 6 (p < 0.001) and 12 weeks (p < 0.001) with effect sizes of 0.7 (95% CI: 0.4–1.1) and 0.8 (95% CI: 0.4–1.2). Condition-specific data for IBS showed that most QoL dimensions had a significant minimum 10-point score improvement at 6 and 12 weeks. The overall score improvement was 12.9 units at week 6 (p < 0.001), 12.4 units at week 12 (p < 0.001) and 13.8 units at week 24 (p < 0.001). In IBD there was also similar score improvement, but only up to week 12 were there associations of improved social and bowel functions (p < 0.001, respectively). Between group differences were identified for QoL scores in IBS at both week 6 (p < 0.001) and 12 (p < 0.001) but only for week 12 (p < 0.001) in the IBD group.

Conclusion: The addition of healing therapy to conventional treatment was associated with improvement in symptoms and QoL in IBS, and to a lesser extent in IBD.