Spiritual healing (also referred to as energy healing) is a mind and body therapy which aims to reduce stress levels, relieve symptoms and promote relaxation. Unfortunately, no scientific evidence exists which shows its ability to prevent or treat cancer.
Previous studies have reported moderate effects of spiritual healing on malignant cell growth in vitro. We conducted experiments using energy-charged cotton and electromagnetic recordings from healers using the Bengston method on breast cancer cells in vitro.
Preparation
As soon as you embark on your remote healing journey, there are a few tasks you should complete in advance. These include meal preparation – ensure nutritious and easily digestible meals are available during treatment days – child care (family or friends or professional services may provide services), work/school arrangements to accommodate treatment and home care (providing a quiet space where you can rest and recuperate).
Distance healing may have positive results on some cancer patients; however, other studies have reported no effects whatsoever and even reported harmful or negative results due to various factors. Pallay speculates this may be caused by numerous reasons.
Communication
Communication between patients and their professional care teams plays a key role in shaping cancer treatment outcomes. This applies across the care continuum from screening and adherence through to decision-making, symptom management, and resolution of disease. Effective dialogue is particularly crucial when it comes to dealing with emotional aspects such as managing symptoms and side effects during treatment.
One of the most vital things a patient can do for themselves is openly communicate with their doctors. They should feel safe expressing any worries or emotions they are feeling; failing to do this could affect motivation and attitude towards treatment and lead to unnecessary delays and suboptimal outcomes.
Researchers have investigated whether energy can be transferred between individuals at a distance. While their work is intriguing, its results have been mixed – some found energy healing works well for treating certain illnesses while others didn’t respond as expected or that certain experiments proved controversial.
Other scientists are exploring spiritual healing. Attracted by the idea that our minds contain hidden capacities for improving health, their research may seem odd but has received funding from the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine; which has invested $2.2 million on studies of distant healing and intercessory prayer studies.
Researchers conducted one study and observed that patients in remission who received distant healing experienced reduced rates and severity of symptoms than control groups, while also experiencing lower doctor visits and hospital stays than those receiving less distant healing. Furthermore, patients receiving more distant healing had lower doctor visit counts and hospital admission days than their counterparts who received less distant healing treatments.
This research investigated how content and structure of online communication varies based on cancer stage. Researchers identified four different cancer-related forums online and analyzed responses posted by users to these forums; their results suggested that the content and structure of communication is determined by cancer stage; more emotionally charged conversations take place as the disease advances.
Support
Cancer patients can often feel powerless to cope with the challenges they are up against, which makes seeking help and support from others all the more vital to staying alive. Group therapy or sharing emotions with those going through similar experiences is one way that may build emotional strength while adding meaning and purpose to life for patients living with cancer. Furthermore, many health care providers now provide remote pathology/radiology consultation services as a bridge between distances for tumor boards.
Lifestyle changes
As part of their efforts to enhance cancer outcomes, patients are strongly advised to make healthy lifestyle changes such as adopting a nutritious diet, engaging in regular physical activity and maintaining an ideal weight. Stress management techniques such as meditation, yoga and spending time outside can also help patients manage stress more effectively, potentially helping prevent future cancer cases. Researchers have also discovered that regular exercise and eating healthfully can help patients with colorectal and breast cancer avoid recurrences, thus creating and pilot-testing the IM Healthy Telehealth Group Program, providing education on lifestyle factors like diet and physical activity. Patients enrolled in IM Healthy groups reported experiencing significant benefits and were very appreciative of the program, many stating they wanted to continue attending classes after their 12-week reimbursable program expired during COVID-19 pandemic.
