Sicher F, Targ E, Moore D, Smith H S
Geraldine Brush Cancer Research Institute, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, USA.
West J Med. 1998 Dec;169(6):356-63.
Various forms of distant healing (DH), including prayer and "psychic healing," are widely practiced, but insufficient formal research has been done to indicate whether such efforts actually affect health. We report on a double-blind randomized trial of DH in 40 patients with advanced AIDS. Subjects were pair-matched for age, CD4+ count, and number of AIDS-defining illnesses and randomly selected to either 10 weeks of DH treatment or a control group. DH treatment was performed by self-identified healers representing many different healing and spiritual traditions. Healers were located throughout the United States during the study, and subjects and healers never met. Subjects were assessed by psychometric testing and blood draw at enrollment and followed for 6 months. At 6 months, a blind medical chart review found that treatment subjects acquired significantly fewer new AIDS-defining illnesses (0.1 versus 0.6 per patient, P = 0.04), had lower illness severity (severity score 0.8 versus 2.65, P = 0.03), and required significantly fewer doctor visits (9.2 versus 13.0, P = 0.01), fewer hospitalizations (0.15 versus 0.6, P = 0.04), and fewer days of hospitalization (0.5 versus 3.4, P = 0.04). Treated subjects also showed significantly improved mood compared with controls (Profile of Mood States score -26 versus 14, P = 0.02). There were no significant differences in CD4+ counts. These data support the possibility of a DH effect in AIDS and suggest the value of further research.
包括祈祷和“心灵治愈”在内的各种形式的远程治疗（DH）被广泛应用，但尚未有足够的正式研究表明这些努力是否真的会影响健康。我们报告了一项针对40名晚期艾滋病患者的双盲随机试验。受试者根据年龄、CD4 + 细胞计数和艾滋病界定疾病的数量进行配对，并随机分为接受10周DH治疗的组或对照组。DH治疗由代表许多不同治疗和精神传统的自称治疗师进行。在研究期间，治疗师分布在美国各地，受试者和治疗师从未见面。在入组时通过心理测试和抽血对受试者进行评估，并随访6个月。在6个月时，一项盲法病历审查发现，接受治疗的受试者出现的新的艾滋病界定疾病明显较少（每位患者0.1例对0.6例，P = 0.04），疾病严重程度较低（严重程度评分0.8对2.65，P = 0.03），所需的医生就诊次数明显较少（9.2次对13.0次，P = 0.01），住院次数较少（0.15次对0.6次，P = 0.04），住院天数较少（0.5天对3.4天，P = 0.04）。与对照组相比，接受治疗的受试者的情绪也有显著改善（情绪状态剖面图评分 -26对14，P = 0.02）。CD4 + 细胞计数没有显著差异。这些数据支持了DH对艾滋病有影响的可能性，并表明了进一步研究的价值。
