The purpose of this blog is purely educational. It does not advise any reader to forgo medical treatment for any condition. It describes methods that have not yet been proven effective through widespread scientific testing. Readers who are concerned about their health are advised to contact their physician.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Bioenergy therapies and mainstream medicine

Two news items came my way recently offering encouragement that bioenergy therapies are gaining acceptance in the mainstream.

The first was a headline in Science News proclaiming that "Touch Therapy Helps Reduce Pain, Nausea in Cancer Patients, Study Suggests". The study, conducted by the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center and involving 159 patients, showed that Jin Shin Jyutsu, a form of acupressure similar to shiatsu, lessened the side effects of treatment, with patients reporting significant decreases in stress, pain, and nausea.

The second news item came from the Columbia University Department of Surgery no less, announcing that Dr. Sheldon Marc Feldman, Chief of the Division of Breast Surgery in New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, would be participating in an upcoming Reiki conference. Dr. Feldman (like his famous colleague Dr. Mehmet Oz before him) introduced healers into the operating room and has seen first hand the benefits that Reiki offers to his breast cancer patients.

This is huge news. I've been advocating for this kind of integrative approach for the benefit of patients for a while now (see my "Open Letter to Oncologists", posted last November).

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Cats and the Domancic Method of Energy Healing

The last time I wrote about cats and energy healing, I raised the ire of some skeptics on Twitter, who proceeded to poke fun at me about the cosmetic effects of the treatment not offering any kind of proof for the efficacy of energy healing. This time I have something more concrete to offer: two cats, one with a case of hyper-thyroidism and the other with uncontrollable diabetes due to a benign pituitary tumour.

I treated both cats with the Domancic Method. Cat number one, the one with hyper-thyroidism, doesn't like energy healing. Aim it her way, and she'll be gone in a flash. Her response to the Domancic Method was interesting, to say the least. She growled. The first session she started growling the moment I began. She bristled and growled like a dog but stayed put. The second session she started growling a little later. The third, she didn't begin growling until towards the end, and the fourth, she didn't growl at all. What amazed me was that she stayed put. She didn't like it, but didn't run away, even though she had the option.

Two weeks after the fourth session, her owner called me to tell me that her thyroid had normalized. All her symptoms (over-vocalizing, excessive grooming, not eating) cleared. The improvement was lasting.

Cat number two apparently developed diabetes, which could not be controlled with insulin. His blood sugar was all over the place. I tried the Domancic diabetes protocol on him, and it didn't work. Although this would not in the least surprise the skeptics, it surprised me: Domancic protocols are usually quite effective on pets. Then the cat's vet finally came up with a diagnosis: the irregular blood sugar was caused by a benign pituitary tumour. She said the only way to control the condition would be radiation, which the cat's owner opted not to do. I then switched the cat to the Domancic protocol for tumours, and four series of treatments later, his blood sugar stabilized. This was about two months ago and it's still holding.

Years ago I worked on a cat that had a brain tumour that affected her nasal passages and caused her to sound like Darth Vader as she breathed. I treated her with the Bengston Method. After every treatment her breathing was normal for about three days. It quite amazed me. Animals don't do "placebo effect". If something works on them, it's not because they have some kind of magical belief in its effectiveness but because it really works.