Energy medicine: a clash of two world views

by Dr. Richard Glickman-Simon

Alternative medicine is extraordinarily diverse. Some of its healing practices, like the modern use of herbs, are virtually indistinguishable from conventional medicine. While others completely contradict the principles of biomedical science. These latter therapies, often collectively referred to as energy medicine, are based on the existence of a "vital energy" or "life force," which is integral to all living things. Its what distinguishes the animate from the inanimate; it explains the difference between you and a cadaver.

When this energy is properly balanced and distributed, the life it sustains is healthy and functions harmoniously with nature. Illness prevails when it becomes deficient, excessive, or blocked in its flow. Therapies such as acupuncture, therapeutic touch, and meditation strive to manipulate this energy to maintain or restore its balance. Most scientists and physicians, however, are uncomfortable with the notion of vital energy because they can find no rationale for its existence. They believe that testable, scientific theories are sufficient to fully explain life, health, and disease.

How can these vastly different healing philosophies come together to best serve patients? This is no small question.

Energy medicine has been slow to enter the mainstream precisely because of its nonconformity with prevailing scientific points of view. As a consequence, fewer patients have access to these therapies, even if some of them may actually be effective. Intrigued by energy medicines results, a growing number of researchers and clinicians are beginning to offer scientific explanations for its effects.

Lets consider three examples:

Acupuncture is based in part on the concept of "qi" (pronounced chi), a vital force that permeates all living things. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, health is a manifestation of well-balanced qi that flows freely through specific channels in the body called meridians. Illness results from a deficiency or overabundance of qi, or from a stagnation or obstruction in its flow. By placing small needles into these meridians at various locations (acupuncture points), an acupuncturist attempts to restore or maintain a balanced flow of vital energy.

The Chinese developed this sophisticated system of healing through detailed observations of countless patients over several millennia. However, while many Western-oriented scientists respect the painstaking work of these early Chinese practitioners, they do not accept the concept of qi as an explanation for acupunctures effects. The reason for this is simple: there is no corollary for qi in biological science. Qi does not correspond to the flow of blood in veins, the electrochemical forces carried by nerves, or any other obvious physiologic process.

To explain acupunctures usefulness, some physicians and acupuncturists are developing medical acupuncture, based on modern-day biomedical principles rather than the flow of qi. Their research is beginning to shed scientific light on what may account for acupunctures effects on pain and other symptoms. For example, they have shown that acupuncture:

• Releases pain-relieving substances from the brain called endorphins
• Stimulates specialized nerves in the skin that can dampen pain elsewhere
• Activates other nerves that control autonomic bodily functions like blood pressure, respiration, digestion, and immunity

The ancient observation of the power of touch has inspired many healing traditions. Qi Gong and Reiki are two well-known examples originating in the East, while therapeutic touch, a nursing tradition, has its origins in the West. These practices share a common fundamental principle: the ability of a practitioners mind and hands to manipulate vital energy and transfer it from one person to another. Unlike other manual healing techniques, such as chiropractic and massage, the practitioner need not (and often does not) actually touch the patient. This supports the fact that the medium being manipulated is not tangible matter, but a form of "bioenergy" that emanates from all living things.

Advocates of therapeutic touch often cite everyday experiences to illustrate this energy. Imagine you return home at the end of the day to find a family member doing the dishes. His or her back is turned, so you cannot see a facial expression. Nevertheless, even without any visual or auditory cues, you become instantly aware of his or her emotional state. How can this be explained except by the existence of a pervasive energy detectable by those who choose to notice? Practitioners of therapeutic touch are trained to perceive the nature of this energy and use it to heal.

There actually is a bioelectromagnetic field measurable with sophisticated equipment for short-distances from the surface of the body. There is even intriguing evidence to suggest that this bioenergy correlates with the health of cells and their ability to recover from injury. What is hard for most physicians to accept, however, is that people can be trained to detect the energy with their hands, interpret it to diagnose illness, transfer their own energy to another individual, and produce favorable health effect by their intention to heal. There is as yet no acceptable scientific explanation for such a phenomenon.

Ancient healers did not distinguish between mind and body, and many of their modern counterparts believe that the mind, not the body, ultimately determines life and health. Mediation is one of many similar interventions that use conscious thought to influence both mind and body, often through a state of heightened relaxation. Either on their own, or coaxed along by a practitioners suggestions, patients concentrate on words, ideas, or images to facilitate healing. Many advocates of meditative healing assign an "energetic" quality to the mind, which may take the form of a "collective consciousness" extending beyond the individual and uniting all conscious beings. Practitioners of spiritually based systems view the mind as a manifestation of God, believing that all healing is divinely inspired.

Most physicians readily acknowledge the minds influence on health. Once again, however, they dispute the existence of a "conscious" energy. Instead, they turn to neuroscientists who have been documenting the complex pathways linking the brain with the rest of the body, and have even been able to map various emotions and thoughts to specific regions of the brain. According to the biomedical view, observable neurologic processes, rather than an immutable vital force, accounts for the power of the mind over the body.

Some argue that as long as a therapy is effective and safe, it makes no difference how it works. Others are not comfortable accepting the validity of any healing intervention in the absence of a concrete scientific explanation. This debate will certainly continue for some time. However for those who wish to incorporate energy medicine into their health care, there is a long tradition of practice to draw from, and a long future of research from which to learn.