pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Alternative medicine techniques have non-linear effects on radiation response and can alter the expression of radiation induced bystander effects - PubMed

Alternative medicine techniques have non-linear effects on radiation response and can alter the expression of radiation induced bystander effects

Carmel Mothersill et al. Dose Response. 2013.

Abstract

Many so-called "alternative medicine" techniques such as Reiki and acupuncture produce very good outcomes for intractable pain and other chronic illnesses but the efficacy is often dismissed as being psychosomatic. However a plausible mechanism does exist i.e. that the treatments alter the electromagnetic fields in living organisms and thereby prevent or reduce activity of neurons which lead to the pain. Low doses of ionising radiation have similar effects on electromagnetic fields and are known to induce signaling cascades in tissues due to ion gradients. To test this hypothesis cell cultures were exposed to Reiki - like and to acupuncture - like treatments, both performed by qualified practitioners. The cells were exposed either before or after the treatment to x-rays and were monitored for production of direct damage or bystander signals. The data suggest that the alternative techniques altered the response of cells to direct irradiation and altered bystander signal mechanisms. We conclude that alternative medicine techniques involving electromagnetic perturbations may modify the response of cells to ionizing radiation. In addition to the obvious implications for mechanistic studies of low dose effects, this could provide a novel target to exploit in radiation protection and in optimizing therapeutic gain during radiotherapy.

Keywords: Reiki; acupuncture; bioenergy; complementary and alternative medicine; non-linear dose response; radiation-induced bystander effects.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1:
FIGURE 1:

Effect of acupuncture on the production of a bystander response following exposure to 0.5Gy x-rays. Letters above the chart columns indicate the degree of difference from the control. Errors are standard error of the mean.

FIGURE 2A:
FIGURE 2A:

Direct and medium transfer induced reduction in clonogenic survival of cells exposed to 0.5Gy or medium harvested from donor cells exposed to 0.5Gy ionizing radiation. Letters above the chart columns indicate the degree of difference from the control. Errors are standard error of the mean.

FIGURE 2B:
FIGURE 2B:

Effect of pre or post exposure acupuncture-like treatment with steel or plastic needles on the clonogenic survival of cells directly exposed to 0.5Gy ionizing radiation. Letters above the chart columns indicate the degree of difference from the control. Errors are standard error of the mean.

FIGURE 2C:
FIGURE 2C:

Effect of pre or post exposure acupuncture-like treatment with steel or plastic needles on the clonogenic survival of cells exposed to medium harvested from cells exposed to 0.5Gy ionizing radiation. Letters above the chart columns indicate the degree of difference from the control. Errors are standard error of the mean.

FIGURE 3:
FIGURE 3:

Dose response for directly irradiated and bystander medium transfer cells treated with acupuncture before exposure to radiation. Letters above the chart columns indicate the degree of difference from the control. Errors are the standard error of the mean.

FIGURE 4:
FIGURE 4:

The data in Figure 3 replotted to show the proportion of cell death attributable to the net direct effect of ionizing radiation energy deposition after subtraction of the bystander component (grey portion) and the proportion attributable to the bystander component i.e. the result of medium transfer (black portion). The control was normalized to zero% mortality. Bars below 0 % mortality indicate enhanced survival of cells due to the treatment.

FIGURE 5A:
FIGURE 5A:

Effect of bioenergising cells using Reiki-like techniques on the clonogenic survival of cells following direct exposure of cells to ionizing radiation. Letters above the chart columns indicate the degree of difference from the control. Errors are standard error of the mean..

FIGURE 5B:
FIGURE 5B:

Effect of bioenergising cells using Reiki-like techniques on the clonogenic survival of cells following direct exposure of cells to medium harvested from cells exposed to ionizing radiation. Letters above the chart columns indicate the degree of difference from the control. Errors are standard error of the mean.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Aaron RK, Boyan BD, Ciombor DM, Schwartz Z, Simon BJ. Stimulation of growth factor synthesis by electric and electromagnetic fields. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2004;419:30–37. - PubMed
    1. Aaron RK, Wang S, Ciombor DM. Upregulation of basal TGFbeta1 levels by EMF coincident with chondrogenesis—implications for skeletal repair and tissue engineering. J Orthop Res. 2002;20(2):233–240. - PubMed
    1. Alper T, Mothersill C, Seymour CB. Lethal mutations attributable to misrepair of Q-lesions. Int J Radiat Biol. 1988;54(4):525–530. - PubMed
    1. Averbeck D. Non-targeted effects as a paradigm breaking evidence. Mutat Res. 2010;687(1–2):7–12. - PubMed
    1. Benedetti F, Pollo A, Lopiano L, Lanotte M, Vighetti S, Rainero I. Conscious expectation and unconscious conditioning in analgesic, motor, and hormonal placebo/nocebo responses. J Neurosci. 2003;23(10):4315–23. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources