• Veritable Energy Medicine
• Introduction
• Human Energy Medicine Involving Putative Energy Fields
• Physical Properties of Putative Energy Fields
• Additional Putative Energy Medicine Theories
• References

Veritable Energy Medicine
Veritable Energy Medicine is  well-established; uses for the application of measurable energy fields include diagnosing or treating diseases: electromagnetic fields in magnetic resonance imaging, cardiac pacemakers, radiation therapy, ultraviolet light for psoriasis, laser keratoplasty, and more. There are many other claimed  cases as well. The ability to deliver quantifiable amounts of energies across the electromagnetic spectrum is an advantage to studies of their mechanisms and clinical effects. For example, both static and pulsating electromagnetic therapies have been employed.²

Magnetic Therapy
Static magnets have been used for centuries in efforts to relieve pain or to obtain other alleged benefits (e.g., increased energy). Numerous anecdotal reports have indicated that individuals have experienced significant, and at times dramatic, relief of pain after the application of static magnets over a painful area. Although the literature on the biological effects of magnetic fields is growing, there is a paucity of data from well-structured, clinically sound studies. However, there is growing evidence that magnetic fields can
influence physiological processes. It has recently been shown that static magnetic fields affect the microvasculature of skeletal muscle.⁶

Microvessels that are initially dilated respond to a magnetic field by constricting, and microvessels that are initially constricted respond by dilating. These results suggest that static magnetic fields may have a beneficial role in treating edema or ischemic conditions, but there is no proof that they do.

Pulsating electromagnetic therapy has been in use for the past 40 years. A well-recognized and standard use is to enhance the healing of nonunion fractures. It also has been claimed that this therapy is effective in treating osteoarthritis, migraine headaches, multiple sclerosis, and sleep disorders.²
Some animal and cell culture studies have been conducted to elucidate the basic mechanism of the pulsating electromagnetic therapy effect, such as cell proliferation and cell-surface binding for growth factors.  However, detailed data on the mechanisms of action are still lacking.

Millimeter Wave Therapy
Low-power millimeter wave (MW) irradiation elicits biological effects,
and clinicians in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe have used it
in past decades to treat a variety of conditions, ranging from skin diseases and wound healing to various types of cancer, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases, and psychiatric illnesses.⁷
In spite of an increasing number of in vivo and in vitro studies, the nature of MW as a veritable energy medicine is not well understood. It has been shown, for example, that MW irradiation can augment T-cell mediated immunity in vitro.⁸  However, the mechanisms by which MW irradiation enhances T-cell functions are not known. Some studies indicate that pretreating mice with naloxone may block the hypoalgesic and antipruritic effects of MW irradiation, suggesting that endogenous opioids are involved in MW therapy-induced hypoalgesia.⁹
Theoretical and experimental data show that nearly all the MW energy is
absorbed in the superficial layers of skin, but it is not clear how the
energy absorbed by keratinocytes, the main constituents of epidermis,
is transmitted to elicit the therapeutic effect.¹⁰
It is also unclear whether MW yields clinical effects beyond a placebo
response.

Sound Energy Therapy
Sound energy therapy, sometimes referred to as vibrational or frequency therapy, includes music therapy as well as wind chime and tuning fork  therapy. The presumptive basis of its effect is that specific sound frequencies resonate with specific organs of the body to heal and support the body. Music therapy, a veritable energy medicine, has been the most studied among these interventions, with studies dating back to the 1920s, when it was reported that music affected blood pressure.¹¹

Other studies have suggested that music can help reduce pain and anxiety. Music and imagery, alone and in combination, have been used to entrain mood states, reduce acute or chronic pain, and alter certain biochemicals, such as plasma beta-endorphin levels.¹²

These uses of energy fields truly overlap with the domain of mind-body medicine.

Light Therapy
Light therapy is the use of natural or artificial light to treat various ailments, but unproven uses of light extend to lasers, colors, and monochromatic lights. High-intensity light therapy has been documented to be useful for seasonal affective disorder, with less evidence for its usefulness in the  treatment of more general forms of depression and sleep disorders.¹³

Hormonal changes have been detected after treatment. Although low-level laser therapy is claimed to be useful for relieving pain, reducing inflammation, and helping to heal wounds, strong scientific proof of these effects is still lacking to include as a veritable energy medicine modality.

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