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June 6, 2000 - THERAPIES - A Cautious Nod to 'Distance Healing' The Annals of Internal Medicine is not the kind of a journal where one is likely to find advertisements in the back for healing crystals or testimonials to the healing power of the latest herbal craze. So some may be a little surprised to see an article in today's issue suggesting that there may be merit to an alternative form of medicine known as distance healing. This can include anything from therapeutic touch -- in which practitioners, without touching their patients, try to alter their energy fields -- to simply praying for people who are ill. The study's author, Dr. John A. Aston, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland medical school, appeared at pains not to overstate his findings. But he said a review of 23 studies indicated a positive effect in 57 percent of the cases. "There may be some therapeutic benefit here," Dr. Aston said. Why is another question, and he made no attempt to answer it. Distance healing, in which people seek to help patients simply with the power of the mind, is part of the growing practice of alternative medicine in this country. One of the studies reviewed by Dr. Aston came out last year and involved about 1,000 heart patients, 10 percent of whom appeared to be helped when people prayed for them without their knowledge. Dr. Aston said he believed more research was needed. "I take the position, which I believe is the scientific one, which is to stay open-minded," he said. By ERIC NAGOURNEY Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company "http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/health/060600hth-vital-alternatives.html" janet paterson 53 now / 41 dx / 37 onset 613 256 8340 / PO Box 171 Almonte Ontario K0A 1A0 Canada visit my website "a new voice" at: http://www.geocities.com/janet313/