title: Is there any difference in the effects of Qi therapy (external Qigong) with and without touching? A pilot study.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate differences in the effects of Qi therapy without touching or with touching on anxiety, mood, neurohormones, and cellular immune function. Twenty-four healthy male subjects were randomly assigned to either QTN (n = 12) or QTT (n = 12). They received Qi therapy (external Qigong) without touching (QTN) or with touching (QTT). Nonparametric statistical tests revealed no significant differences between the effects of QTN and QTT (all p > .05). Separate Wilcox signed rank tests for each intervention revealed significant effects on anxiety, alertness, depression, fatigue, tension, cortisol levels, and NK cell cytotoxicity for both QTN and QTT, and on neutrophil function for QTN only. These findings suggest that there are few differences between the effects of QTN and QTT. However, the reproducibility of the findings should be tested with multiple sessions, and long-term follow-up tests.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oriental Rehabilitation Medicine, College of Oriental Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Moon Jae
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Byung-Cheul
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Youn-Soon
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yong-Il
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Myeong Soo
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000628:therapy*; D001945:Breathing Exercises; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D007107:Immune System / Q000502:physiology*; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000502:physiology; D008550:Melatonin / Q000097:blood; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011863:Radioimmunoassay / Q000379:methods; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013481:Superoxides / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors; D014110:Touch; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D013481:Superoxides; D008550:Melatonin; D006854:Hydrocortisone