I'm not the original poster, as one can easily tell by looking :) So these references are for anyone genuinely interested in the subject: I'm happy to talk to anyone with an honest question, trolls I will ignore.
From http://www.transitiontoparenthood.com/janelle/energy/support.htm
Can healers produce fields which can be measured?
Electrical and Magnetic Measurements. During qi gong, the electrical conductivity of acupuncture points changes dramatically. (Cohen, 45) Within experimentally designed copper room; qi gong practitioners’ electrical body potential had frequent surges ranging from 4 volts to 221 volts: 10,000 times larger than EKG voltages produced by a human heart. (Cohen, 49)
In the 1980’s, Dr. John Zimmerman used a SQUID detector to study fields produced by Therapeutic Touch practitioner during a healing session in a magnetically shielded room. A biomagnetic field emanated from the practitioner’s hand, pulsing at a variable frequency, ranging from .3 to 30 Hz, with most of the activity in the range of 7-8 Hz. The field was so strong that it was outside of the calibrated range of the SQUID magnetometer, so signal strength could not be quantified.
A study by Seto in Japan confirmed “a large biomagnetic field emanates from the hands of practitioners of a variety of healing and martial arts techniques, including QiGong, yoga, meditation, Zen, etc. The fields were measured with a simple magnetometer consisting of two 80,000 turn coils and a sensitive amplifier. The fields had a strength of about 10-3 gauss, which is about 1000 times stronger than the strongest human biomagnetic fields (from the heart)… about 1,000,000 times stronger than the fields produced by the brain… As in Zimmerman’s study, the biomagnetic field pulsed with a variable frequency centered around 8-10 Hz.” (Oschman, 79)
These studies did not document that any clinical healing took place; however, “the evidence shows that practitioners can emit powerful pulsing biomagnetic fields in the same frequency range that biomedical researchers have identified for jump starting healing of soft and hard tissue injuries. This implies that biomagnetism is one form of the elusive Qi...” (Oschman, 80)
Brain wave activity in healers. Robert C. Beck has used EEG recordings to study brain wave activity in ‘healers’ from all over the world: psychics, shamans, faith healers, a Hawaiian kahuna, practitioners of wicca, etc. All these healers produced similar brain wave patterns when they were performing a healing all healers registered brain wave activity averaging about 7.8-8.0 cycles/second. Beck performed additional studies on some of the subjects and found that during healing moments their brain waves became phase and frequency synchronized with the earth’s geoelectric micropulsations – the Schumann resonance.” (Oschman, 107)
Temperature: During energy healing, it is common for the client to describe a sensation of intense heat coming from the practitioner’s hands, even if the practitioner’s hands feel cool to the touch. Therefore, some studies have examined temperature effects. Oschman states that “research shows that masters of the QiGong technique can project measurable amounts of heat from their palms… that increases cell growth, DNA and protein synthesis, and cell respiration. Practitioners can also produce ‘inhibiting’ Qi, in which infrared energy is absorbed from the environment. This kind of Qi slows metabolism.” (Oschman, 82)
In 1988, Ogawa et al used an infrared color thermograph to measure skin temperature of two qigong masters and volunteer recipients. Skin temperatures elevated within 3-4 minutes after the masters began ‘emitting qi’, with temperatures rising as much as 4º C. Occasionally, the skin temperature of the recipient’s palm became higher than that of the master’s fingertips. (Abstract in Cohen, summarized in Benor, page 211)
Pavek wanted to prove that the effects in SHEN therapy were due to something other than heat transfer, so he conducted an experiment where temperature sensors were placed at four points, with 3” thick foam cushions to insulate subject from practitioner. Initially, the temperature of the sending hand raised several degrees (partially due to being placed between two foam insulators.) The temperature then leveled out (time A). Then, after several minutes (at B), the subject released a mild myoclonic jerk and breath rate slowed. Ten seconds later (C), the temperature reading at subject’s stomach began to rise. Finally, fifteen seconds after the temperature rise at her stomach (D), temperature at the receiving hand began to rise rapidly, increasing almost a degree before leveling out. “The most exciting reading was from the third probe… the reading on this gauge never changed, but remained constant throughout the experiment. This proves conclusively that the field effect is some medium other than heat or infrared radiation.” (Pavek, 59)
Infrasonic Sound. Researchers in China report that infrasonic sound may be a factor in healing effects of external qi gong. “Lu Yan Fang… recorded infrasonic sound emitted from the hands of qigong masters during external qi healings. She was able to produce healing effects with synthetic infrasonic sound at similar frequencies, reporting benefits for pain, circulatory disturbances, and depression.” (Benor, 214) Xin Niu’s 1988 study looked at infrasonic waves emanated from 27 qigong masters when they were emitting qi, and from control subjects. There were statistically significant differences between groups, including exceptionally high-intensity infrasonic emissions from the more seasoned masters. In a 1988 controlled study by Xueyen Peng and Guolong Liu, healthy subjects were exposed to either emitted qi or infrasonic sound. “Intensity of the qi was measured at more than 70 dB, the infrasonic sound instrument could generate sound in the range of 60 dB to 90 dB… In changes similar to those produced by medication, the amplitude of most SEP waves (somatosensory evoked potential) changed significantly (p <.01)… suggests that infrasonic sound produced from the healer may be an active force in bringing about changes in nervous system activity. However, there is no evidence in this study that infrasonic sound in itself is able to bring about changes similar to healing. It would also be of great interest to clarify how the healer emits the infrasonic sound.” (Benor, 214-215)
Literature review
Benor’s summary states “Out of 191 controlled experiments on healing, 83 (43.4%) demonstrate effects at statistically significant levels that could occur by chance only one time in a hundred or less (p<.01); and another 41 (21.5 percent) at levels that could occur between two and five times out of a hundred (p < .02 - .05). In other words, close to two thirds (64.9%) of all the experiments demonstrate significant effects.” (Benor, 371) If he includes only the studies which met high standards for experimental design, then 76% demonstrate significant effect.
Benor also comments on a meta-analysis of healing studies in the June 6, 2000 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, assessing the effects of distant healing (prayer, non-contact Therapeutic Touch, and other types of distant healing) in a series of studies (Astin et al). Literature reviews revealed 100 studies. Strict inclusion criteria required random assignment of study participants; placebo, sham, or otherwise “patient-blindable” or adequate control interventions; publication in peer-reviewed journals; clinical rather than experimental studies; and that the study be on human subjects with any medical condition. Of the 23 studies that met their inclusion criteria (including 2774 participants), 13 (57 percent) demonstrated positive treatment effects, 9 (39 percent) showed no effect, and 1 (4 percent) had a negative effect. (Benor, 375)
