Reiki and ME

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTS OF REIKI ON THE SYMPTOMS OF M.E.

Introduction
The M.E. Society was contacted to ask if any of their members would be interested in taking part in our case studies. A letter was sent out to the members of Medway Maidstone and Sittingbourne. Although we were hoping for at least 12 people to take part we eventually had 11 people who were recruited. (One of whom dropped out after one session.) The Reiki Research Foundation made no charge for this work.

Method
The Reiki practitioner spoke to each potential recruit to explain what Reiki involves. They agreed that they would have a Reiki treatment once a week for up to 12 weeks. They signed a consent form where they declared any past medical history, stressful events, medical GP and Consultant if applicable and medication taken. It was explained that there was no guarantee as to whether Reiki would help their M.E. symptoms. Each client was treated for one hour each week.

Results

Those recruited varied in age from 35 years to 60 years old, and had a minimum of 6 treatment sessions and a maximum of 10 sessions. The reduced sessions were due to late recruitment and the Christmas Holiday Period.

Six sessions – Cases 8 and 10
Seven sessions – Cases 1, 3 and 9
Nine sessions – Cases 2, 4, 5, and 7
Ten sessions – Case 6 This lady eliminated all her symptoms.

Not all the symptoms measured were present in everybody, hence some graphs show more cases than others.

7 out of 10 cases had a reduction in Fatigue (70%)
9 out of 10 had a reduction in pain (90%)
4 out of 6 had a reduction in Urinary symptoms (66%)
3 out of 5 had a reduction in Bowel symptoms (60%)
5 out of 10 had a reduction in depression (50%)
6 out of 10 had reduction in Lethargy (60%)
8 out of 10 had a reduction in Motor Problems (80%)
3 out of 7 had a reduction in Symptoms in their arms (42%)
5 out of 7 had a reduction of Symptoms in their legs (71%)

Dizziness, Anger, Sleeplessness and Stomach Pains were reduced in those who complained of these symptoms.

Conclusion

The results vary from person to person. Some people's symptoms were reduced whilst other people did not seem to benefit from a reduction of symptoms. However in nearly every case the person being treated expressed that they had felt able to do more and had been able to deal with personal issues which previously they had been unable to deal with.
Unfortunately as previously, stated some people were recruited later than others and the Christmas break curtailed further treatments. As stress appears to increase symptoms and Reiki energy helps bring emotional issues to the surface so that they can be dealt with, this may be why some people did not appear to do so well. The symptom which appears to have been most successfully addressed was pain (90% of those in the case studies felt a reduction in pain) the least successful was reduced symptoms in the arms (42% of those in the case studies felt a reduction in symptoms in their arms).

Those who confronted their stressful life events had the greatest reduction in symptoms whilst those who did not do so well found this much more difficult. The lady who had no M.E. symptoms at the end of her 10 treatments had to confront many emotionally draining past life experiences and worked very hard to do so. Her results clearly show what can be achieved with a positive and determined attitude. She had and still has no M.E. symptoms remaining. She has taken a Reiki attunement and is now healing herself and plans to use her experiences in order to help others in a similar situation. She is a wonderful example of the results which can be achieved when such courage is displayed.

Discussion

As there were only 10 people in the case studies and there were not a constant number of sessions, it would be very difficult to establish conclusively the effects of Reiki on the symptoms of M.E. I have therefore asked each of those people who have taken part in the study to write their thoughts. These will be sent directly to Joe March (M.E. Kent and Sussex) so that there is no bias from the Reiki practitioners who took part.

The Reiki Research Foundation would like to take this opportunity of thanking all those people involved who took part in these case studies and to the M.E. society of Kent and Sussex for their help in recruiting.

If you would like more information on this case study please contact the Reiki Research Foundation.