News item: 7 June 2000:
A
paper released on June 6, 2000 in the Annals of Internal
Medicine entitled 'The Efficacy of "Distant Healing': A Systematic Review of
Randomized Trials" concluded:
"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." (see list
of selected references on distant healing)
Over the centuries, miraculous recoveries from illnesses have been
associated with the work of God, saints, healers, shamans, witch doctors, and power spots.
Depending on the circumstances, we describe these different forms of recovery with terms
like psychic healing, spiritual healing, faith healing, laying-on-of-hands, etc.
What's common to all these phenomena is that a person has recovered from illness or injury
without the use of any known curative agents - whether physical or psychological. But the
question I'd like to address here is whether such healing really involves some paranormal
element -- like some 'cosmic energy,' or a form of psychokinesis -- or whether,
appearances notwithstanding, it can be attributed to more mundane factors.
The issue is very complex, actually, because people sometimes do recover even from extreme
illnesses, apparently without any intervention whatsoever -- whether medical,
psychological, or psychic; in medical vernacular, this is called 'spontaneous remission.'
Beyond this, we also know that people have an enormous self-healing potential, given the
right conditions. It's been known for some time now that many illnesses are at least
partly caused by psychological and mental issues. More recently, medical science has come
to also recognize that the mind can have a very beneficial influence on the body, as well.
For example, many studies show that people who are hypnotized and given the right
suggestions can rid themselves of warts, or resist skin poisoning when touched by plants
like poison ivy, or even undergo dental operations and surgery without anesthesia. |
