Medical study:Reiki helps Heart Attack Patients
(I-Newswire) New York City/New Haven, October 13, 2010
In this study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Reiki treatment significantly reduced the emotional stress associated with a heart attack, thereby reducing the risk of a second attack. It is well documented that emotional stress negatively affects autonomic nervous system (ANS) function, and therefore heart disease (ANS controls heart rate).
Additionally, the Reiki treatments improved heart rate variability (HRV), a physiologic measure that indicates if the patient’s body is recovering from the stress response. Usually this increase is achieved through drug intervention (beta blockers) which work slowly and are not well tolerated by some patients. The benefit of the Reiki treatments was comparable to using beta blockers.
This important study shows that Reiki treatment can be offered in an acute-care setting (patients received Reiki treatment within three days after suffering heart attacks). The 20-minute treatments offered to patients by Reiki-trained staff nurses improved the patients subjective mood on all indicators. Patients who feel better have better medical outcomes and are better partners to their health care providers.
The actual medical study: http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/content/full/56/12/995#FIG1