Does 'healing' benefit patients with chronic symptoms? A quasi-randomized trial in general practice

This study was designed to examine the effects of a healer seeing chronical ly lit patients in a large semirural practice. The 57 patients were allocat ed alternately either to receive ten weekly healing sessions or to become w aiting-list controls. Two weeks after completion of 'healing' 22 (81%) of the 27 study patients t hought their symptoms had improved and 15 of these thought they had improve d substantially. Study patients scored better than controls on both measure s of symptoms (P<0.05, P<0.01), on anxiety and depression ratings (P<0.01, P<0.05) and on general function measured by the Nottingham Health Profile ( P < 0.01). Treatment differences were still evident three months later for one of the measures of symptom change (P< 0.05) and for both anxiety and de pression ratings (P<0.01, P<0.05). The percentages of natural killer cells (CD16, CD56) did not change greatly in either group. These results suggest that healing may be an effective adjunct for the trea tment of chronically iii patients presenting in general practice. They do n ot distinguish between any specific effects of spiritual healing and non-sp ecific effects such as relaxation; for further investigation, randomized co ntrolled trials wilt be needed.