Gary E. Schwartz, PhD, University of Arizona

What Energy Healing Can Do for You

Scientific evidence shows that it helps relieve pain, heal wounds and reduce stress.

Western medicine has long scoffed at the claims of Eastern philosophies that espouse the healing powers of ''energy'' or ''life force''. In China, such forms of energy are known as ''qi'' ...in India, the term is ''prana''.

Now: Many mainstream American doctors are taking a more open-minded look at so-called energy healing. For example, the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine is actively involved in the scientific investigation of energy healing. And energy therapies are quietly gaining popularity among Western patients seeking alternatives to conventional medicine.

To learn more about this fascinating area of therapies are being used in the US - Bottom Line/Health spoke with Gary E. Schwartz, PhD, one of the world's leading experts in the scientific study of energy healing.

          What exactly is energy healing?

To understand energy fields, which play a key role in our society. They support the radio-wave technology that allows us to use cell phones, satellite TV, garage-door openers and any number of other wireless technologies. These radio waves, which cannot be seen, are capable of transmitting data, conversations, music and visual images through the air, often over a distance of thousands of miles. Energy fields also are widely used in technology that disease. For example, electromagnetic fields are used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and cardiac pacemakers.

Energy healing refers to the use of invisible frequencies of energy. Some of these frequencies have been measured via reproducible methods, while others are theorized. Practitioners of energy healing believe that disturbances in the energy fields that flow throughout the human body can result in illness.

There are studies suggesting that one person's energy fields can overlap and interact with another person's energy fields. For example, even when people are not touching each other, the electrical activity of one person's heart can be registered in the other person's electroencephalogram (EEG), a recorded image of the electrical activity in different parts of the brain.

          How is energy healing now practiced in the US?

There are various forms. The most popular include Healing Touch (developed in the 1980s) ... and Reiki (developed in 1922). With each of these therapies, the practitioner seeks to ''manipulate'' a patient's life force - or energy. The techniques can involve touching the patient or placing one's hands a few inches or feet from the patient's body. With Reiki, at least four 30- to 90- minute sessions are typically recommended. In a study of older adults receiving Healing