[escepticos] RV: THERAPEUTIC TOUCH

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-----Original Message-----
De: SkeptInq <SkeptInq en aol.com>
Para: CSICOP-ANNOUNCE en LISTSERV.AOL.COM <CSICOP-ANNOUNCE en LISTSERV.AOL.COM>
Fecha: viernes 27 de marzo de 1998 6:51
Asunto: THERAPEUTIC TOUCH


>  SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION OF THERAPEUTIC TOUCH
>
>  In an effort to keep skeptics up-to-date on the explosion of
extraordinary
> health claims, CSICOP alerts you to the following press release from the
> Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine(SRAM), the only peer-reviewed
> medical journal focused exclusively on alternative medicine. The journal
is
> edited by CSICOP fellow Wallace Sampson, clinical professor of medicine at
> Stanford University.
>
>  SRAM is published by Prometheus Books 1-800-421-0351.
>
>  ____________________________________________________________________
>  March 24, 1998
>  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
>
>  Contact:      Wallace Sampson (650) 948-1683
>  Lewis Vaughn (716) 636-7571
>
>
>  'Therapeutic Touch' Fails
>  a Rare Scientific Test
>
>  A simple experiment assesses whether a practitioner can really
>  detect 'human energy fields'
>
>  AMHERST, NY-Therapeutic Touch (TT) is an "alternative" medicine technique
> said to be used by over 40,000 nurses in North America alone. Despite its
> widespread use, practitioners of TT have been reluctant to submit their
> therapy to scientific testing. But now researchers have conducted a rare
> scientific study of the key claim made by practitioners--the claim that
they
> can detect a "human energy field" unknown to science and to "heal" people
by
> "balancing" the field. The results of this test will be reported in the
new
> Spring 1998 issue of The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine,
available
> April 24. (Advance copies of the study are available upon request. Call
> 800-421-0351.)
>
>  "A recent review of the literature shows that there is no convincing
>evidence
> that the alleged healings by TT are anything more than the placebo
effect,"
> says Wallace Sampson, MD, Editor of the Scientific Review. "Most writings
on
> TT are speculation and commentary, which simply do not address the core
> question: Can TT practitioners detect alleged 'energy fields' or not? This
> simple experiment, though limited in scope, is a direct, scientifically
valid
> test of this question."
>
>  As detailed in the report, before the experiment, a TT practitioner
agreed
>to
> the study protocol and asserted that she could distinguish between the
>"energy
> field" of an injured or painful limb and that of a normal limb. During the
> test, she attempted to distinguish the "energy fields" surrounding the
arms
>of
> two different people, one with a painful wrist and one with no symptoms.
When
> the practitioner knew the identity of the two participants (through the
use
>of
> normal senses), she was able to correctly distinguish the two people. But
>when
> the identity of the two participants was hidden from her, she failed to
> correctly distinguish between the two, scoring no better than that
predicted
> by chance.
>
>  "Even though the results of this single test were negative, it does not
rule
> out the possibility that TT energy fields exist or that other TT
>practitioners
> can detect them," say Robert Glickman, RN, and Ed J. Gracely, PhD, authors
of
> the new report. "However, the existence of 'human energy fields' and the
> ability to detect them remains extraordinarily doubtful.
>
>  "TT proponents have spent 20 years focusing on which ailments TT can be
used
> for, without first determining if anyone could actually detect a human
energy
> field. Practitioners have made a poor showing in the few times they have
> allowed themselves to be tested, and the large majority has been silent."
>
>  Despite this lack of evidence, TT is now supported by major nursing
> organizations such as the National League of Nurses and the American
Nurses
> Association. "Energy-field disturbance" is now listed as a nursing
diagnosis
> by the North American Nursing Diagnostic Association.
>
>                                        --30--
>
>  THE SCIENTIFIC REVIEW OF ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE is the only peer-reviewed
> medical journal in the world devoted exclusively to the scientific
evaluation
> of "alternative" medical claims. The review publishes original research,
> critiques published studies, reviews available evidence for claims, and
> discusses the methods and principles of valid research. Topics covered in
the
> Spring 1998 issue include acupuncture, oxygenation therapy, naturopathy,
> magnet therapy, St. John's Wort, the ethics of alternative medicine, and
an
> experience with a Tijuana cancer doctor. The journal is published by
> Prometheus Books and sponsored by the Council for Scientific Medicine.