< Back to Volume 9, Number 2
Volume 9: Number 2: Article 4
The Effect of Paranormal Healing on Tumor Growth
Frans W. J. J. Snel & Peter C. van der Sijde, Nederlandse Vereniging
voor Parapsychologie, Postbus 271, 3720 AG Bilthoven, The Netherlands
Four experiments are reported in which professional paranormal healers
treated groups of rats with an implanted malignant tumor. The results
of all experiments, with one exception in the third experiment, point
to an effect of the healer's treatment, expressed as effect-size. In
the third experiment healer 1 was more successful than healers 2 and
4 combined when treating female rats: the difference in mean survival-time
is significant (p < 0.01). In the fourth experiment a significant
difference in mean survival-time was found between the distance healing
group and the control group (p < 0.05) as well as between both
treated groups and the control group (p < 0.05). In the first
experiment a solid tumor was used, weight being the dependent variable.
In the other three experiments an ascites tumor was used, survival-time
being the dependent variable. It is suggested that the possible effects
of direct healing, when combined with gentling (cuddling), cancel each
other out causing a non-significant result. One healer seemed to be
responsible for the positive results obtained for his group of female
rats (experiment 3) in which four healers cooperated. The most interesting
results, represented as effect-size of the treatment, were found when
the distance healing method was used, which, from an experimental point
of view, is the least confounding method. It is suggested that future
research be a combination of several healing methods.
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