MEDICAL RESEARCH ON REIKI THERAPY

Reiki therapy is becoming increasingly popular nowadays. Originated in Japan in the beginning of the 20th century, it spread all over the world, to Australia, USA and Canada, Asia, European countries and Russia.The name Reiki originates from Japanese REI (spirit) and KI (energy, life force). Reiki therapy utilizes spiritual or universal energy to assist the healing process. The healing can occur on physical, emotional or spiritual levels.Reiki therapy is completely safe and non-invasive. During the treatment the practitioner places his hands in specific positions on or above the patient’s body. The patient experiences relaxation, peacefulness and warmth. The treatment lasts 15 – 60 minutes. Reiki treatment can be performed from a distance as well.To become a Reiki practitioner one gets training from a Reiki Master, or Teacher. The training includes learning specific information and receiving attunements. The purpose of attunements is to allow the future practitioner to conduct the energy of Reiki to assist the healing. One can become a practitioner in one to several days depending on a school and a teacher.There are various lineages and schools of Reiki, which developed from the original Reiki tradition. The teaching format, time, required for learning and attunements are different for different schools. Such diversity is mostly due to the fact that Reiki is an oral teaching intended to be transmitted from a teacher to a student, so it inevitably got shaped by the personality of the teacher. Some information got lost in the process; some teachers added other healing or meditation modalities to it. However, our purpose is not to find the “only true” teaching, but to document and publicize effects of Reiki therapy on a variety of health conditions.According to the classification, designed by  the National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at NIH, Reiki belongs to the “Biofield Medicine, which involves systems that use subtle energy fields in and around the body for medical purposes”. The medical research on Reiki is making first baby steps. Medicine search reveals a number of publications on Reiki in peer-reviewed journals. It was used as an adjuvant to opioid therapy in pain management, resulting in highly significant reduction of pain following the Reiki treatment. Effect of Reiki on the epithelization rate of full thickness human dermal wounds was assessed, as well as use of Reiki to support surgical patients. When Reiki was applied to terminally ill cancer patients, some general trends included; periods of stabilization in which there is time to enjoy the last days of one’s life; a peaceful and calm passing if death is imminent; and relief from pain, anxiety, dyspnea and edema. Standardization procedures to conduct randomised placebo-controlled studies of Reiki are being developed.
Reiki was documented to benefit patients with multiple sclerosis, lupus, fibromyalgia and thyroid goitre. Reiki treatments caused increase in haemoglobin values in patients with various diseases, such as pancreatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, congestive heart failure, emphysema and even in cancer patients, in spite of simultaneous treatment with bone-marrow suppressive agents. There are ongoing studies on application of Reiki healing technique to diabetic peripheral vascular disease and autonomic neuropathy, carried out in the University of Michigan Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research Centre for Cardiovascular Disease (Ann Arbor, MI) and on application of Reiki to rehabilitation from stroke, spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury, carried out in the Centre for Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation (West Orange, NJ).In spite of pioneering research, applicability and effectiveness of Reiki for the treatment of the majority of health conditions is still either unknown or undocumented. However, this is important information we have to know and document in order to see Reiki as an adjunct to conventional medicine, accepted and welcomed in medical settings. The potential of Reiki therapy to be used in alliance with conventional medical care is huge. Reiki is already used in several hospitals such as: Tucson Medical Centre (AZ), California Pacific Medical Centre (CA), Portsmouth Regional Hospital (NH), Marin General Hospital (CA), University of Michigan Hospital (MI), Foote Hospital (MI), The Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital (NY), Columbia Presbyterian Medical Centre (NY) and others in preparation for the surgery and post-surgical care, in treating cancer patients, in emergency rooms easing pain, anxiety and stress, etc.Reiki therapy is becoming increasingly popular outside United States as well. It is used very much in countries of Europe, Australia, North and South Americas and Asia. For instance, all major hospitals in the Kerala state of India have a Reiki department. In the countries of the Middle East, there is little awareness about Reiki yet, many hospitals in Saudi Arabia, Baharain, Qatar, Kuwait, Iran and UAE have Reiki departments and Reiki therapy is used in addition to conventional medical treatment and surgeries.