Integrative Medicine Vol. 10, No.

6 Dec/Jan 2012 30 Westerlund, et alNative American EMF Pain Relief

Context: The Creek Indians have used the Native American
Method (NAM) for centuries to relieve pain. Johns Hopkins
Hospital in Baltimore redeveloped the method in the 1990s
when Bear Heart, a Creek Indian Shaman, did voluntary
work there. NAM healing involves a helper moving his or her
hands for 30 to 45 seconds about 5 cm above the painful part
of a sufferers body. The helper places both hands parallel to
each other, with one hand in front of the affected part of the
body and the other hand to the back side of the body.
Objectives: The purpose of this pilot study investigating
NAM was to determine the effcacy of using human electro-
magnetic felds for relieving minor pain, such as dysmenor-
rhea, in healthy women. The research team has found no
indications that other researchers have conducted a similar
study of NAM.
Design: The research team assigned participants sequen-
tially to one of two experimental groups: the NAM group,
treated with NAM, or the control group, treated with a simu-
lation. The team conducted the intervention under masked
conditions combined with light conversation between care-
giver and participant. Prior to the study, the team held an
interview with each participant to determine demographic
characteristics and medical history. The team obtained
informed consents from all participants. The hospitals ethics
committee cleared the study.
Settings: The research team invited women with dysmen-
orrhea attending the Nursing School of the Diputacin de
Mlaga in Mlaga, Spain and female staff from Hospital
Universitario Regional Carlos Haya in Mlaga, Spain to
participate in the current study.
Participants: The research team initially enrolled 75 women
in the study, and 49 completed it. Of these women, the
research team assigned 20 to the NAM group and 29 to the
control group.
Intervention: Both groups were treated under masked
conditions and with light conversation. The total time for the
procedure was 4-5 minutes. In the experimental group the
team performed the NAM. For the control group the team
carried out a simulation procedure that did not involve the
use of their hands in proximity to the source of the patients
pain.
Outcome Measures: Each participant rated her intensity
of pain before and after the application of the interven-
tion (whether treatment or simulation) using: (1) a visual
analog scale (VAS) for pain valuation (from 1 to 10), (2) a
Goldberg-type scale rating anxiety as facial expressions in 3
steps: discomfort manifested as (1) anxiety/depression, (2)
bearable pain, and (3) a smile. Afterwards the participants
gave an answer to a question about her need (yes or no) for
a complementary analgesic at the end of the experiment or
the simulation.
Results: NAM produced a signifcant drop in the level of
menstrual pain. On average, the value changed from 7 to 2
on the VAS for the NAM group compared to no signifcant
change for the control group. Participants in the NAM group
had a positive experience. They were without pain during
the frst 12 hours after treatment, with no administration of
pain killer. The intervention diminished their expectation of
a normally high intensity of pain at the next menstruation to
half or zero. Of the control group, 15 out of 29 participants
wanted analgesics after the simulation.
Conclusions: Despite its small sample size, this study of
human magnetic felds showed statistically signifcant effcacy
of NAM for minor pain relief in dysmenorrhea. The interven-
tion had a lingering positive effect on the women. Hence, it
appears that this intervention can help reduce minor pain in
young women with dysmenorrhea and can reduce the need
for analgesics.
Abstract
Effect of Human Electromagnetic Fields in Relief of
Minor Pain by Using a Native American Method
Stina Westerlund, RN; Maria Elvira Gonzlez Medina, RN; and Olga Prez Gonzlez
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Author Disclosure Statement: A grant from Consejera de
Salud de la Junta de Andalucia supported this study.
D
ysmenorrhea is a medical condition that is character-
ized by severe uterine pain during menstruation. It can
produce different kinds of symptoms, including sharp,
throbbing, or dull pain. Nausea can begin before or during
menstruation.
Many investigators all over the world have studied the
prevalence of dysmenorrhea. Taking some examples from
the world, Sharama, Malhorta, Teanejer, and Saha in India
1
indicated that more than 67% of their 198 adolescent subjects
experienced dysmenorrhea. The studys participants were
between the ages of 13 and 19.
Another study by Banikarim, Chacko, and Kelder included
706 female Hispanic adolescents in grades 9 through 12. The
Integrative Medicine Vol. 10, No. 6 Dec/Jan 2012 31
researchers found that more than 85% experienced dysmenor-
rhea, and 38% missed school because of it.
2
A study by Sule,
Uman, and Madugu engaged 200 African Muslim, adolescent
females of which 36.4% indicated a high prevalence of pain
during menstruation.
3,4
A WHO systematic review indicates
prevalence dysmenorrhea between 16.8% to 81% depending
on the study and population.
4
The purpose of the research teams pilot study investigating
the Native American Method (NAM), was to determine the eff-
cacy of using human electromagnetic felds for relieving minor
pain such as dysmenorrhea in healthy women. Bear Heart,
a Creek Indian Shaman, and Molly Larkin in their book The
Wind is My Mother
5
describe NAM as a method of pain relief
based on the theory that the human body has electromagnetic
felds. In personal interviews, Bear Heart explained that one
hand acts as a positive pole and attracts the negative ions in
the blood vessels during NAM administration while the other
hand acts as a negative pole, attracting the positive ions. This
force is small, but according to Bear Heart, signifcant enough
to open the blood vessels to nutrients and oxygen. This prac-
tice results in increased circulation that thereby diminishes
pain.
The native North American Creek (or Muskogee) tribes
have used NAM for centuries. Bear Heart did voluntary work
at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, during
several years in the late 1980s. He lectured for the doctors
and the medical staff during the years 1993 to 1995. The chief
doctor gave permission to the nursing staff to perform NAM
on patients that voluntarily wanted to try it to soothe general
pain. Afterwards, improvement in the fow of blood was noted
among the patients by the nursing staff.
S.O. Fedoruk,chief physicist at the Saskatoon Cancer Clinic
in Saskatchewan, Canada, notes, magnetic felds, which
are a result of the electrical activity inside the body, around
human beings, can be measured using highly sensitive magnet
meters.
6
About 2 years ago, it became possible to measure this
radiation thanks to investigators who constructed a sensor
chip that can refect the radiation, thus allowing researchers to
measure it on a screen.
Nordenstrm found that damaged tissue has an electrical
potential different from that of healthy tissue.
7
Robert Bech
studied various healers during their healing ceremonies.
8
He
traveled around the world measuring healers by using electro-
encephalography (EEG) while they were healing and discov-
ered that their brain-wave frequency was between 7.8 and 8
Hz, the same frequency as the Earths magnetic felds.
Methods
Participants
The research team invited women with dysmenorrhea who
were attending the Nursing School of the Diputacin de Mlaga
in Mlaga, Spain and female staff of the Hospital Universitario
Regional Carlos Haya in, Mlaga, Spain to participate in the
current study. The study was blinded to ensure that a placebo
effect (the power of suggestion) did not affect the results; the
subjects did not know if they were receiving a NAM treat-
ment or a simulation. The researchers were not blinded as to
whether they were providing a treatment or simulation.
The research team recruited a total of 75 women for the
study, and as the team accepted participants, they sequen-
tially allocated them to one of the two groups; 1 woman to the
NAM group and the next to the control group. Only 49 women
completed the study. Twenty-six women withdrew from the
study because of personal and medical problems. The research
team carried out the study in accordance with guidelines from
the 1975 Helsinki Convention.
The study included menstruating women, from those expe-
riencing their frst menstruation to those at the end of the
fertile period who no longer menstruate, who had at least 3
episodes of painful menstrual cycles (dysmenorrhea). Exclu-
sion criteria included functional or organic pathologies that
a doctor diagnosed, treatment with painkillers, or use of a
prescription for hormones that a doctor prescribed.
Native American Method Treatment or Simulation
Of the 49 total participants, 20 received treatment with NAM
(the NAM group), and 29 received a simulation (the control
group). The research team obtained informed consent from all
participants.
When joining the study, the researchers held an initial
meeting where they gave every participant a questionnaire
that included demographic characteristics: age, marital status,
education, medical history, intensity of pain, and use of anal-
gesic medication with and without a doctors prescription. The
team personally informed every participant about the proce-
dure during the intervention. The research team assigned each
participant the same researcher throughout the study.
The research team measured pain level by 2 methods: (1) a
visual analog scale (VAS) that represented each participants
evaluation of pain on a scale of one to ten, (2) a Goldberg-
type
9,10
of scale signaling 3 levels: (1) a face expressing a smile,
(2) a face expressing a bearable pain, and (3) a face expressing
discomfort/anxiety/depression. Additionally, researchers
recorded whether the participants desired a complementary
analgesic (yes or no) at the end of the experiment or the simu-
lation.
A second meeting, during which the assigned member of
the research team performed the intervention, took place on
the frst day of the participants next menstrual period. The
assigned researcher talked with the participant, placed her in
a standing position, and blindfolded her; then the assigned
researcher performed a treatment with NAM or a simula-
tion. In all, the team needed no more than 4 to 5 minutes per
patient.
For the NAM group, the assigned researcher employed the
method that Bear Heart used, moving his or her hands about
5 cm above the participants lower abdomen without touching
the participants body. The researcher placed both hands
parallel to each other, with one hand in front of the lower part
of the body and the other hand to the back side of the body.
The treatment lasted 30 to 45 seconds in conjunction with
light conversation.
Westerlund, et alNative American EMF Pain Relief
Integrative Medicine Vol. 10, No. 6 Dec/Jan 2012 32 Westerlund, et alNative American EMF Pain Relief
The intervention in the control group followed a similar
procedure. In this group, the assigned researcher did not
impose his or her hands, although the blindfolded patient was
unaware that the researcher was not conducting a treatment.
The intervention lasted the same time, 4 to 5 minutes with
light conversation.
After the treatment or simulation, the assigned researcher
asked if the participant wanted to have or needed a pain killer.
The researcher then followed up with her participant by tele-
phone or e-mail within 12 hours of the intervention to ascer-
tain pain level and the need for analgesic medication. The
researcher then made another follow up contact by telephone
or e-mail to ascertain the pain during the following menstrual
period.
The practitioners on the research team had a total of 8 to
9 years of experience with the NAM technique, training each
other through Bear Hearts published materials.
Results
Participants Demographics
Of the 75 women recruited, only 49 completed the study.
Twenty-six women withdrew because of personal and medical
problems.
The average age of the subjects admitted to the study was
31, with a range between 14 and 49 years of age. Nine of out
10 participants were Spanish and the rest were from outside
Spain. In the groups, 23 of 49 were married or cohabitating.
Of the 49 participants, 18 (36.7 %) had stopped smoking and
18 (36.7%) were current smokers during the study. All subjects
in the 2 groups reported being satisfed or very satisfed
with their lives so far.
Participants Prior Histories
Of the women in the study, 32 of the 49 (65.3%) reported a
family history of problematic pain at menstruation. 20 women
(40.8 %) reported pain on the frst day of their frst menstrua-
tion, and 15 (30.6 %) women experienced problems with
menstrual pain later in life vs the early years of menstruating.
Of the 49 women, 19 (38.8 %), had consulted a doctor to get
pain medication or other treatment (eg, hormones).
The medications that the consulting doctors prescribed
were the following: antiinfammatory (16.3 %), a combination
of analgesic and antiinfammatory (4.1%), hormonal medicine
(8.1%), and for 1 participant, an analgesic of a morphine deri-
vate.
The participants took the following medications without
a doctors prescription: 21 (42.9%) took an antiinfammatory;
14 (28.5%) took an analgesic, 5 (10.2%) combined analgesics
and antiinfammatory medicine, and 9 (18.4%) took nothing
at all.
Participants had tried the following alternative treatments:
18 (36.7%) used warmth as an alternative method to calm their
pain; 19 (38.8%) tried relaxation; 9 (18.4%) bought medical
herbs; 7 (14.3%) received acupuncture; and 2 (4.1%) consulted
a person with knowledge of homeopathies. Just 3 participants
(6.1%) relied upon the imposition of hands (not NAM), and
the same number (not the same persons) used praying and
visualization. Other remedies were tried by 8 participants
(16.3%).
Statistical Analysis
The research team performed an initial exploratory analysis to
study the distribution of the experimental variables. The team
compared the two groups using a cross-tabulation of variables
for which the team had obtained data before the interven-
tion. For qualitative variables, the team used a Chi-square and
Fisher exact test, and for continuous variables, the team used
the Wilcoxon test to compare the values before and after the
treatment. The team also contrasted absolute changes in the
variables abdominal pain and headache pain between groups
using the Mann Whitney test. The team also used ANCOVA
analysis to compare pain at the next menstruation after treat-
ment between the groups, adjusting for baseline pain and for
the variable always-pain-with-menstruation. The research
team worked with a signifcance level of 95% and analyzed the
data using the SPSS 15.0 statistical package.
A signifcantly greater proportion of women in the NAM
group, (75%, 15 of 20) had continuous pain when menstruating
prior to the study compared with the control group (37.9%,
11 of 29). Statistically signifcant differences existed between
the groups in the alternative method(s) used to calm pain. The
NAM group used prayers 3 persons (15%) and the imposition
of hands (not NAM) 3 persons (15%) more frequently than the
control group (Table 1).
In reference to headache symptoms, the absolute change
value after treatment was 0.8 (standard deviation 1.85) in the
NAM group, and the research team detected no change in the
control group. The differences were statistically signifcant
( P =.01). According to the VAS value for pain valuation, the
absolute change value after treatment was 6.1 (standard devia-
tion 2.07) for the NAM group and 0.003 (standard deviation
0.19) for the control group. The differences observed were
statistically signifcant (P <.001) (Table 2).
The pain at next menstruation period measured in the 49
participants was related with the variable pain before the study
according to the visual scale (P <.001) and for the experimental
group this relationship was not being changed by the variable
always-pain-with-menstruation. (Figure 1)
Concerning the use of analgesics after the intervention,
41.4% of the participants treated with the simulation wanted
some analgesics, whereas no one in the NAM group needed
analgesics. These differences were statistically signifcant.
Also, in measurements with the Goldberg-type scale, faces
showed an improvement for the NAM group, with 18 partici-
pants (90%) leaving the treatment with a smile (Table 3).
Discussion
Types of Energy Healing
The US National Center for Complementary and Alterna-
tive Medicine (NCCAM) has executed many complementary
and alternative medicine (CAM) trials. In the publication
National Information Centre for Health Statistics, number 12,
Integrative Medicine Vol. 10, No. 6 Dec/Jan 2012 33 Westerlund, et alNative American EMF Pain Relief
Variable No NAM* (N=29) NAM* (N=20)
N (%) N (% )
Birth place Spain 27 (93.1) 19 (95.0)
Other countries 2 (6.8) 1 (5.0)
Civil status Married/ living with partner 18 (62.0) 8 (40.0)
Single 9 (31.0) 12 (60.0)
Divorced/ separated 2 (6.8) 0 (0)
Laboral situation Student 7 (24.1) 6 (30.0)
Employed 22 (75.9) 14 (70.0)
Life situation Satised 18 (62.1) 14 (70.0)
Very satised 11 (37.9) 6 (30.0)
Cronical diseases 3 (10.3) 4 (20.0)
Family member with
menstruational pain 20 (69.0) 14 (70.0)
Menstruational pain at rst occasion 11 (37.9) 9 (45.0)
2 rst years 10 (34.5) 4 (20.0)
of having menstruations
Much later in life 8 (27.6) 7 (35.0)
Always pain when
Menstruation ** 11 (37.9) 15 (75.0)
Consulting a doctor 10 (34.5) 9 (45.0)
Treatment for pain 9 (31.0) 8 (40.0)
Type of medicine anti-inammatory 4 (50.0) 4 (50.0)
Analgesics 0 (0) 2 (25.0)
analgesicsmorphine 1 (12.5) 0 (0)
analgesic and antiin 1 (12.5) 0 (0)
Hormones/ antiinf + horm 2 (25) 2 (25.0)
Type of self-medicationanti-inammatory 8 (38.1) 13 (68.4)
Analgesics 9 (42.9) 5 (26.3)
analg/antiinf 4 (19.0) 1 (5.3)
Medicinal herbs 3 (10.3) 6 (30.0)
Remedy of warmth 10 (34.5) 8 (40.0)
Relaxation 13 (44.8) 6 (30.0)
Acupuncture 2 (6.9) 5 (25.0)
Homoeopathy 0 (0) 2 (10.0)
Imposition of hands** 0 (0) 3 (15.0)
Prayers** 0 (0) 3 (15.0)
Other methods 3 (10.3) 5 (25.0)
Ex smokers 11 (37.9) 7 (35.0)
Current smokers 11 (37.9) 7 (35.0)
Age 32 (sd=8) 30 (sd=9)
How many times consutling a doctor 2 (sd=2) 1 (sd=1)
Number of cigarrettes 3 (sd=5) 3 (sd=5)

* NAM is the Native American method used as the intervention examined in this
study.
** Statistical diferences P <0.05
Table 1: Characteristics of the Patients December 2008, there is an article on a study,
Complementary and alternative medicine
use among adults and children by P M
Barnes, B Bloom, R L Nahin et al
11
that the
National Health Statistics Report organized
and this group of investigators executed.
In comparison to a similar study in 2002,
this study showed that about 4 of 10 Ameri-
cans had tried a CAM therapy in the last 12
months; those people who had a custom in
their cultures for generations were more open
to using a CAM therapy.
NCCAM has classifed CAM into 5 groups:
(1) general system, (2) massage, (3) diet, (4)
meditation and (5) energy healing therapies
(EHT), in the last of which the research team
classifes this study of NAM.
The word energy, which comes from the
Greek word energeia, means activity. Writers
and practitioners of various forms of spiritu-
ality and alternative medicine have adopted
this word, referring to an aura or a feld
around the body. Several kinds of EHT exist,
including the following:
Polarity Therapy (PT), is a holistic, alter-
native-medicine health system developed in
the 1990s. A PT practitioner manipulates the
energy in the human body by using attrac-
tion, repulsion, and neutrality. No positive
evidence supports the practice.
12
Therapeutic Touch (TT) is another EHT,
claiming to aid healing and reduce pain and
anxiety.
13,14
TT practitioners say that they
can detect and manipulate a patients energy
feld by placing their hands on or near the
patient.
As of June 2008, 251 articles about TT
were available in Pub Med, but the quality of
the research material is questionable. A study
published in the Journal of American Medical
Association (JAMA) found that the TT prac-
titioners could not detect the presence or
absence of a hand placed a few inches above
theirs when their vision was obstructed. The
effect of the TT is less than the changes in
the Earths magnetic feld or any other back-
ground magnetic feld.
Reiki, which means healing without
energy depletion, is a palm-healing therapy
developed in Japan in the 1920s.
15
Nurses have
noticed that Reiki has relaxation effects.15
Interest is growing in the use of Reiki
for self-care treatment or for care of others,
but controversy exists about the method. A.
Vitale published a review of Reiki-therapy in
which she mentioned Wardell-Engebretss
Integrative Medicine Vol. 10, No. 6 Dec/Jan 2012 34 Westerlund, et alNative American EMF Pain Relief
study of the effect of Reiki on stress reduction. (Researchers
collected salivary IgA, cortisol, blood pressure, Electromyog-
raphy [EMG], and the State-Trait-Anxiety Inventory [STAI].)
The trial showed that the state anxiety mean scores were lower
after a 30-minute session.
16

Olsen and Hanson performed one of the earliest published
studies assessing Reikis effect on pain. Each participant in this
limited study received 1 Reiki treatment. The researchers used
a 10-point VAS and a 6-point Lickert-type pain-rating scale
before and after the Reiki treatment. The treatment resulted in
a decrease in VAS and Lickert pain scores.
16
On the other hand, the US National Council against
Health Fraud suggested that any clinical effect of Reiki may
be due to suggestion (the placebo effect).
17
The US Confer-
ence of Catholic Bishops banned the practice of Reiki at their
health units, stating that it lacks scientifc and medical cred-
ibility in communities.
18
In Consumer Health Digest, the
American Medical Massage Association (AMMA) denounces
fringe massage practices among the EHT therapies.
19
An
April 2008 article by M Henderson published in The Times
(United Kingdom), entitled Prince of Waless Guide to Alter-
native Medicine Is Inaccurate,
20
quotes E Ernst, a professor
of complementary medicine at the University of Exeter who
says: There is no good evidence that Reiki is effective for any
condition. Ernst also called for the entire guide to be recalled
because of lack of evidence to support the effcacy of the thera-
pies.
Potential for Human Magnetic Fields
Dysmenorrhea is a very common problem for women all over
the world, causing those suffering from it to search for avail-
able remedies, which can be seen in the increasing interest for
alternative therapies in all papers and journals. NAM is a kind
of CAM that assists people with pain relief in cases of minor
medical conditions, thus minimizing the use of pain killers,
which have a negative impact on the human body. According
Pain change, mean
(SD)
Headache pain
change, mean (SD)
Table 2: Absolute Change in Pain Levels
No NAM
(N=29)
0.03(0.19)
0(0)
No NAM
(N=20)
6.1(2.07)
0.8(1.85)
P value
<0.001
< 0.01
Absolute change of pain and headache pain according
to the visual analog scale measurements for both groups
as determined after the intervention. NAM is the Native
American method used as the intervention for this study.
Figure 1: Experimental Group Change in Pain
The average change in pain levels of the experimental
group after the intervention as measured by the visual
analog scale.
Faces
Strong Pain
Bearable Pain
Smile/No Discomfort
Table 3: Change in Facial-expression Scale Measurement
Before
No (%)
9(45)
11(55)
0 (0)
After
No (%)
0 (0)
2(10)
18(90)
Before
No (%)
5(17)
24(83)
0(0)
After
No (%)
5(17)
24(83)
0(0)
Change in pain for both groups after intervention. Measured
by Goldberg-type scale rating pain through facial expression.
NAM intervention is a Native American method.
NAM NO NAM
Integrative Medicine Vol. 10, No. 6 Dec/Jan 2012 35 Westerlund, et alNative American EMF Pain Relief
to the discoveries, published in late 2011 by a group of investi-
gators from Taiwan, young girls with repeated, intense chronic
pain during their menstrual periods, experience a functional
and structural alteration in their nervous system.
21
NAM
could spare these young girls from these brain changes and
give them a better quality of life.
Conclusion
Despite its small sample size, the pilot study with human
magnetic felds showed statistically signifcant effcacy for
minor pain relief of dysmenorrhea, and NAM may aid in
reducing the amount of analgesic medication used for this
condition. In this study, the intervention had a positive
lingering effect on women who received the NAM treatment.
They had no pain during the frst 12 hours after treatment and
during the next menstruation. In women for whom high inten-
sities of pain were the norm, the NAM treatment diminished
pain to half or even to zero in comparison with earlier levels.
Further studies using larger numbers of participants would
be of value for establishing the validity of NAM for women
with dysmenorrhea.
Acknowledgements:
The investigators carried out a pilot study, Registry Number:
1/04 about NAM on healthy women with dysmenorrhea with
the approval of IMABIS and with a grant from Junta de Anda-
luca, the government of the autonomous region of Andaluca
in Spain.
References
1. Barnes PM, Bloom B, Nahin RL. Complementary and alternative medicine use among
adults and children: United States, 2007. Natl Health Stat Report. 2008;(12):1-23.
1. Sharama P, Malhotra C, Teanejer DK, Saha R. Problems related to menstruation among
adolescent girls. Indian J Pediatr. 2008;75(2):125-129.
2. Banikarim C, Chacko MR, Kelder SH. Prevalence and impact of dysmenorrhoea on
Hispanic female adolescents. Arch Pedriatr Adolesc Med. 2000;154(12):1226-1229.
3. Sule ST, Uman HS, Madugu NH. Premenstrual symptoms and dysmenorrhoea among
Muslim women in Zaria, Nigeria. Am Afr Med. 2007;6(2):68-72.
4. Latthe P, Latthe M, Say L, Glmezoglu M, Khan KS. WHO systematic review of prevalence
of chronic pelvic pain: a neglected reproductive health morbidity. BMC Public Health.
2006;6:177.
5. Heart B, Larkin M. The Wind is My Mother. New York, New York: Clarkson N Potter, Inc;
2008.
6. Johns HE, Epp ER, Cormack DV, Fedoruk SO. 1000 Curie cobalt units for radiation therapy.
II. Depth dose date and diaphragm design for the Saskatchewan 1000 curie cobalt unit. Br
J Radiol. 1952;25(294):302-308.
7. Nordenstrm B. Biologically Closed Electric Circuits. Stockholm, Sweden: Nordic Medical
Publications; 1998.
8. Beck RC. Motivation: Theories and Principles. 5th ed. London, England: Pearson; 2004.
9. Goldberg K, Brigdes K, Duncan-Jones P, Grayson D. Detecting anxiety and depression in
general medical settings. BMJ. 1988;297(6653):897-899.
10. Salokangsa RK, Pentane O, Stengard E. Screening for depression in primary care.
Development and validation of Depression Scale, a screening instrument for depression.
Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1995;92(1):10-16.
11. Barnes PM, Bloom B, Nahin RL. Complementary and alternative medicine use among
adults and children: United States, 2007. Natl Health Stat Report. December 2008;(12):1-
23.
12. Aetna InteliHealth. http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/408/408.html.
Accessed February 10, 2012.
13. Lusby HR. A response to a critical evaluation of the theory and practice of therapeutic
touch. Nurs Philos. 2003;4(1):86.
14. Rosa L, Rosa E, Sarner L, Barrett S. A close look at therapeutic touch. JAMA.
1998;279(13):1005-1010.
15. Bullock M. Reiki: a complementary therapy for life. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 1997;14(1)31-
33.
16. Vitale A. An integrative review of Reiki touch therapy research. Holist Nurs Pract.
2007;21(4):167-179.
17. Jarvis WT. Reiki. National Council Against Health Fraud. http://www.ncahf.org/articles/
o-r/reiki.html. Accessed February 10, 2012.
18. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Guidelines for Evaluating Reiki as an
Alternative Therapy. http://old.usccb.org/doctrine/Evaluation_Guidelines_finaltext_2009-
03.pdf. Accessed February 1, 2011.
19. No author listed. Consumer Health Digest #05-50: massage group denounces fringe
practices. National Council Against Health Fraud. http://www.ncahf.org/digest05/05-50.
html. Accessed July 31, 2011.
20. Henderson M. Prince of Waless guide to alternative medicine inaccurate. The Sunday
Times. April 17, 2008.
21. Tu CH, Niddam DM, Chao HT, et al. Brain morphological changes associated with cyclic
menstrual pain. Pain. 2010;150(3):462-468.