LEILA: That’s really interesting. My topic is quite closely connected because I was interested in the idea of distant healing. I found two examples of laboratory experiments … one investigates touch reiki and the other studies distant healing. I decided to include reiki because it’s an energy field treatment that involves balancing a person’s energy, either by touching them, or by focusing on them from a distance. The first one tested the biological reactions of healthy participants to touch reiki. This study used the same participants twice and tested for changes in their saliva, skin temperature and blood pressure. The results showed that reiki had a replacing effect on the participants, but there wasn’t enough biological evidence to suggest that it could actually have an effect on their immune system. The second study, this time in distant healing for patients with AIDS, involved healers and patients who had never met. To make sure the data analysis would be objective; this study was designed as a randomized double blind trial. Patients were tested for their initial resistance to AIDS and interviewed to establish their psychological state and their attitude to distant healing. Again, the results weren’t significant enough to demonstrate a relationship between distant healing and improvements in health.
