Effects of Reiki on Physiological Consequences of Acute Stress

灵气对急性应激生理后果的影响

• 批准号: 7284781
• 负责人: JOAN E.B. FOX
• 金额: $ 18.86万
• 依托单位: CLEVELAND CLINIC LERNER COM-CWRU
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-09-30 至 2010-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7284781
• 关键词: Acute; Adrenal Glands; Affect; Anxiety; Autonomic nervous system; Blinded; Brain; Cardiovascular system; Caring; Catecholamines; Cell Count; Cell physiology; Characteristics; Client; Communicable Diseases; Control Groups; Depressed mood; Depth; Effectiveness; Electroencephalography; Emotional; Energy Therapy; Equilibrium; Equipment and supply inventories; Foxes; Frequencies; Future; Goals; Hand; Healed; Health; Heart Rate; Hospitals; Hydrocortisone; Hypothalamic structure; Individual; Laboratories; Length of Stay; Life; Mediating; Medical; Melatonin; Natural Killer Cells; Operative Surgical Procedures; Pain; Pain management; Parasympathetic Nervous System; Pathway interactions; Patient Participation; Patient Self-Report; Patients; Persons; Physically Handicapped; Physiological; Physiology; Pituitary Gland; Placebos; Plasma; Platelet Activation; Platelet Factor 4; Predisposition; Principal Investigator; Psychological Stress; Randomized; Reiki; Relaxation; Relaxation Therapy; Reporting; Research; Research Personnel; Role; Salivary; Schools; Skin; Sleeplessness; Stress; Surgical complication; Sympathetic Nervous System; Testing; Thinking; Touch sensation; Traditional Medicine; Training; Well in self; Wound Healing; acute stress; base; body-mind; dehydroepiandrosterone; design; healing; health belief; health economics; healthy volunteer; immune function; insight; programs; psychologic; psychological stressor; response; social; stressor; treatment effect

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Energy healing therapies such as Reiki are becoming popular. Reiki is a spiritual practice that involves physical touch and social contact with an empathetic person; unlike many relaxation therapies, Reiki requires no participation by the patient. These features make Reiki particularly attractive in the hospital setting, where patients are often extremely anxious, depressed, in pain, or sedated. In this setting, stress can be associated with increased pain, cardiovascular reactivity, decreased wound healing, increased susceptibility to infectious disease, increased post-surgical complications, and increased length-of-stay. Although Reiki is commonly used in the hospital setting to reduce pain or pre-surgical anxiety, there are few studies demonstrating benefits. Remarkably, no information is available on physiological changes induced during a Reiki session. In the absence of such information, it is difficult to make rational predictions concerning situations in which it may be beneficial. Moreover, given the deep state of relaxation often reported by clients, we cannot exclude the possibility that it may have a potential for harm in certain medical situations. Our primary research questions are to determine whether physiological changes are induced during a Reiki session and whether a Reiki session affects responses to a subsequent acute stressor. Secondary research questions include assessing which benefits result from placebo, empathetic intentions, or unique abilities of "attuned" Reiki practitioners and assessing background characteristics associated with acceptance and responsiveness. Based on its use to reduce pain and anxiety, a potential mechanism by which Reiki might exert effects is at the level of affecting emotional centers of the brain with resulting decreases in activity of the SNS and other stress pathways. To assess these possibilities, we will perform a randomized, controlled, blinded study with four groups of 80 healthy volunteers. In Specific Aim 1, we will assess changes in physiological markers of sympathetic, parasympathetic, and HPA activation, brain activity, and psychological well-being before and after a 30-min session of Reiki, as compared to control groups. In Specific Aim 2, we will assess the ability of Reiki to affect psychological, sympathetic, parasympathetic, HPA, immune function, and platelet activation responses to an ensuing 5-min acute laboratory stressor. The use of supine-control, neutral sham, and empathetic sham groups will allow us to gain insights into mechanisms by which Reiki effects are mediated. Interactions between baseline characteristics and treatment effects will be assessed. Information obtained from the proposed studies will provide detailed information on physiological pathways affected by Reiki. This information is critical if we are to make rational decisions on potential situations in which Reiki sessions may provide benefits and those in which there may be the potential for harm. Should Reiki decrease stress pathways or reduce physiological responses to stressful situations, it could be a powerful adjunct to traditional medicine and have enormous health and economic impact.

描述（由申请人提供）：像灵气这样的能量治疗疗法正变得越来越流行。灵气是一种精神实践，包括身体接触和与有同理心的人的社会接触；不像许多放松疗法，灵气不需要病人的参与。这些特点使得灵气在医院环境中特别有吸引力，因为医院的病人通常非常焦虑、抑郁、疼痛或镇静。在这种情况下，压力可能与疼痛增加、心血管反应性增加、伤口愈合减少、对传染病的易感性增加、术后并发症增加和住院时间延长有关。虽然灵气在医院常用来减轻疼痛或手术前焦虑，但很少有研究表明它有好处。值得注意的是，没有任何关于灵气治疗期间引起的生理变化的信息。在缺乏这类信息的情况下，很难对可能有益的情况作出理性预测。此外，鉴于客户经常报告的深度放松状态，我们不能排除它在某些医疗情况下可能造成伤害的可能性。我们的主要研究问题是确定在灵气治疗期间是否会引起生理变化，以及灵气治疗是否会影响对随后急性应激源的反应。次要研究问题包括评估安慰剂、移情意图或“调谐”灵气从业者的独特能力带来的好处，以及评估与接受和反应相关的背景特征。基于其减少疼痛和焦虑的作用，灵气可能发挥作用的潜在机制是在影响大脑情绪中心的水平上，导致社交网络和其他应激途径的活动减少。为了评估这些可能性，我们将对四组80名健康志愿者进行随机、对照、盲法研究。在具体目标1中，我们将评估与对照组相比，在30分钟灵气治疗前后，交感神经、副交感神经和HPA激活、大脑活动和心理健康的生理指标的变化。在特定目标2中，我们将评估灵气对随后5分钟急性实验室应激源的心理、交感、副交感、HPA、免疫功能和血小板激活反应的影响能力。使用仰卧控制，中性假和共情假组将使我们能够深入了解灵气效应被介导的机制。将评估基线特征与治疗效果之间的相互作用。从拟议的研究中获得的信息将提供有关灵气影响的生理途径的详细信息。如果我们要在灵气疗法可能带来益处和可能带来伤害的潜在情况下做出理性决定，这些信息是至关重要的。如果灵气能减少压力途径或减少对压力情况的生理反应，它可能会成为传统医学的有力补充，并对健康和经济产生巨大影响。