Sicher’s interviews of healers revealed that they often work over an extended period with patients in extreme distress. To make his research project as scientifically sound as possible, Sicher proposed that healing efforts span months with multiple healers participating.
This study employed double blind techniques, where neither patients nor healers knew who was being treated, eliminating hopes and expectations as factors in medical improvement.
Symptoms
Once again, this time it was about the money. So much of our world revolves around making more and more. And this year was no exception with more than 253 deaths reported since 2010. Aids patients may exhibit symptoms that include fever; enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, armpits and groin; weight loss; extreme fatigue; reddish-purple splotchy rashes on skin or in mouth/genital area/eyes; dry cough; increased risk for tuberculosis/cryptococcal meningitis infections as well as Kaposi’s Sarcoma cancer of blood vessels in body; dry cough. Women may experience changes in their periods, including lighter or heavier flows due to HIV’s effects on the endocrine system. A fungal infection known as thrush which results in white spots on gums or tongue is another telltale sign of HIV, along with herpes infections such as cold sores or genital lesions and inflammation in both gastrointestinal tract and lung tissue.
Side Effects
In December 1998, forty scientists from universities and research labs across the country convened at Swedenborg Chapel in Boston for an informal conference organized by IONS and Harvard’s Institute of Noetic Sciences to assess data on an unexpected phenomenon that baffles modern medical science.
Distant healing refers to the purported transference of energy between healer and patient at a distance through focused intention. Although there has been limited formal scientific research conducted into distant healing, several studies do show statistically significant results and various theories, including quantum physics, provide a scientific basis for comprehending such phenomena.
One of the most notable studies was led by Fred Sicher, an IONS member and professor at California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC). Sicher conducted interviews nationwide with healers who claimed to have successfully healed individuals with advanced AIDS; additionally he consulted with experts to craft a methodologically sound study design.
The resultant double-blind randomized study compared patients receiving distant healing to those in a control group who did not. Patients were pair-matched for age, CD4 count, number of AIDS-defining illnesses and randomly assigned either 10 weeks of distant healing treatment or control group treatment by healers chosen according to reputation; many represented diverse healing traditions as healers themselves never met their patients and researchers didn’t know who was treating whom.
After six months, patients receiving DH treatment had acquired significantly fewer new AIDS-defining illnesses and experienced lower illness severity scores compared to their control counterparts, less psychological distress was experienced, hospitalizations were shorter, CD4 counts were higher among DH-treated individuals, and more of them had recovered from AIDS-defining illnesses than in their counterparts’ groups.
Prayer and distant healing do not appear to reduce risk of death for people living with chronic illnesses such as AIDS; however, they are likely safe when combined with standard treatments and therapies. It remains unknown whether using both together is helpful or harmful and how long their effects will persist.
Precautions
As scientists only recently began exploring distant healing, several clinical studies suggest prayer may improve outcomes in some patients. Cardiologist Randolph Byrd divided 393 heart patients into two groups — those receiving prayers from outside hospital walls vs those not. He observed that those receiving prayers from outside had lower mortality rates and required fewer medications overall.
Health-care workers should practice standard precautions with all patients regardless of HIV status or prior blood-borne pathogen exposure history (see the Centers for Disease Control’s previous guidelines (23) for such precautions. This means accepting that ALL individuals may become infected with HIV or other blood-borne infections and taking appropriate universal blood and body fluid precautions against possible HIV infections in ALL situations.
Health-care workers should regularly and thoroughly wash their hands with non-antimicrobial or antimicrobial soap when caring for patients who have been sick for an extended period or after touching blood-borne pathogens such as Clostridium difficile or Bacillus anthracis (e.g. Clostridium difficile). Gloves worn should also be changed often and any equipment likely to come into contact with infectious body fluids must be thoroughly disinfected after each use.
Health-care workers need adequate rest, nutrition, training in their job duties and access to all of the equipment needed for them to do their jobs effectively. Smoking and other activities that can contaminate air should be avoided as should practising good hand hygiene as well as avoiding close contact with those carrying infectious diseases such as measles or varicella. Any health-care worker experiencing persistent coughing, feverishness fatigue or malaise should seek medical help immediately.
