Reiki treatment is considered a type of complementary medicine. The
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) is
currently sponsoring Reiki research in the areas of fibromyalgia,
advanced AIDS, anxiety, prostate cancer and diabetes.
Conducting Reiki research can be difficult. Normally when scientists
are conducting clinical research, they use two groups; one to receive
active treatment and one to receive an inactive treatment or placebo.
They use methods to insure that neither the patient nor the
practitioner knows which group is receiving the active substance and
which is receiving the placebo.
The reasoning behind this is simple. The power of suggestion is strong
in people. About 35% of patients will respond to any form of treatment,
whether active or inactive. This is known as the placebo effect.
In order to scientifically study Reiki treatment, all of the
practitioners would need to believe that they were using Reiki. Some
practitioners would somehow need to be taught to use Reiki
incorrectly....

More About Reiki: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/reikijenf