Future Studies
Future experiments are planned to subject rodents to excess environmental noise and use radiotelemetry to monitor their cardiovascular function and automated sampling of blood to measure plasma corticosterone. By combining both techniques we will be able to learn how excess noise impinges upon the autonomic nervous system and the hypothalamus-pituitary adrenal axis in the same animals. This project will provide a quantitative basis for improvement of animal facilities, leading to enhanced animal welfare, acquisition of more meaningful scientific data, and potentially reductions in the numbers of animals used. In addition, such information will help in the treatments for a range of stress-related diseases, including hypertension, sleep deprivation and chronic fatigue.
Experiments are also planned to quantify the effects of energy healing on physiological systems, from cells to animals. Energy healing is based upon the belief that changes in the "life force" of the body, including electromagnetic fields, affect human health and can promote healing. I am most familiar with Reiki, a form of energy medicine supposedly based on energy fields emitted from the healer’s hands. Despite the hundreds of accounts describing Reiki, there are only a handful of publications in peer-reviewed journals. Even though there is very little scientific evidence to support the use of energy healing, the general public is turning with ever-increasing interest to complementary health care, including Reiki. Reiki is also gaining wider acceptance in the medical establishment. Some hospitals (including University Medical Center and Tucson Medical Center, Tucson, Arizona) are incorporating it into their roster of patient services, often with their own Reiki-trained physicians, nurses and support staff. For these reasons it is essential to properly characterize the capabilities and limitations of this popular but mysterious healing modality. In 2000, the subject of Reiki was raised in the House of Lords, England and the need was recognized to set professional practitioner standards to protect the public. The Reiki Regulatory Working Group is collecting scientific data from published, peer-reviewed Reiki studies, and a member of that group, Jeanne Long, provided the group with a copy of my published paper:
Baldwin AL and GE Schwartz. Personal interaction with a Reiki practitioner decreases noise-induced microvascular damage in an animal model. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 12(1): 15-22, 2006
I believe that I have the combination of scientific expertise, open-mindedness, interest in alternative healing, certified Reiki training, and determination, to succeed in this mission.