Friday, January 29, 2010

Reiki at Baltimore Shock Trauma Center

The chief of anesthesiology explains the institution's scientific standard: “From what they tell us, we think they get better quicker.”

3 comments:

Michael Kirsch, M.D. said...

Is it any wonder why the public is seduced by unproven therapies? Mainstream medical institutions and authoritative voices should not be legitimizing fringe therapies that are untested. If 'alternatives' want to gain a foothold in the medical treatment landscape, then they should earn it. www.MDWhistleblower.blogspot.com

Christina said...

I have to admit that the video made me a little bit uncomfortable but this is a really interesting issue. They offer the same service at U. Penn's hospital (where I am a medical student).

I agree these types of "fringe" therapies should be tested, but how does one test something like reiki? I can't imagine any harmful side effects from this, but rather many hospitalized patients probably crave some human touch and attention.

If patients want services like reiki, and they say it helps them relax, then why shouldn't hospitals provide this? It would kind of be like providing a television in the room to help keep patients relaxed and entertained.

srebrina said...

Michael Kirsch - what do you need to test - a technique that's been around for thousands of years? Why, because western medicine ALWAYS works? there's one thing that's true about the difference between western and eastern medical approach - the western medicine aims at suppressing the symptoms of the illness and the eastern aim at solving the cause...so you tell me what's better....