Research from the Asian cultures is more ample,
however, much of it remains untranslated. In addition, until
recently, the rigors held as essential to research in the
western model of scientific inquiry were generally
misunderstood in the more empirical model of the Asian
sciences. In 1988, The First World Conference on the
Academic Exchange of Medical Qigong was held in Beijing,
China. The abstracts of 128 papers, many of which are on
scientific subjects with necessary controls, have been
translated into english.(4) Further, excellent controlled
studies on Qigong, from China, and Yoga, from India, have
begun to appear on the Med-Line data base, primarily under
"breathing exercises".
A major stumbling block in writing on subjects from
the traditional Asian systems of medicine and health care is
the "Qi" of the Chinese and the "Prana" of the Indians.
These words are not generally considered to have english
equivalents. There is a broad array of possible translations
including: bio-electro-magnetic energy, bio-energy, subtle
energy field, sum of all optimal human function, vital
energy, awareness, intention and others. Over half of the
scientific research articles from the 1988 conference in
Beijing have the word "Qi" in the title. Until Western
science has either come to accept "Qi" and "Prana" into the
scientific language, or to have generated agreeable
definitions, research literature using these words will
probably remain somewhat inadmissable in the west.
Bioenergetic research is not unknown to western
science. Harold Saxton Burr in 1935 described a system of
electro-dynamic fields.(5) He worked with the
electromagnetic currents in the bodies of salamanders and
then in humans which he finally named L-fields (life
fields).(6) Robert Becker reconfirmed Burr's work and
applied DC current to regenerating salamander tails and
healing human bone fractures. In his work with the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) Becker clarified that the
perineural (nerve sheath) network is highly conductive.(7)
B.E.W. Nordenstrom has described the Vascular interstitial
closed circuit as a system of preferential ion conductance
pathways comprising a network of biological circuitry.(8)
There is some suggestion that even more subtle energies
resonate in the human system and may be projected over
sustantial distances.
One of the most interesting features of the Qigong
tradition is the phenomenon known as "Qi emission" or
"external conductance of the Qi". Besides the self applied
aspects of Qigong through breath, movement and meditation
there is an application of Qigong to others performed by a
Qigong master or Qigong doctor over a distance. This same
phenomena has a rich history in the west as psychic or
mental healing. Healers in the Soviet Union have been
observed exchanging energy and heat into patients to help
balance their biological function.(9)
This area is of great interest and raises fundamental
questions in the interface of biology and physics. Such
expert applied techniques are a potential distraction from
the possible revolution in health care and medicine that
self applied Qigong, Yoga and other forms of self care could
provide. Whether self applied or procured from masters the
benefits of Qigong and Yoga/Pranayama, to be embraced by
Western science, will have to have a clear physiological
basis. Such a physiological foundation may actually comprise
the conductive media for the "Qi" and "Prana". In any case
an exploration of the physiological mechanisms activated by
the practice of Qigong and Yoga/Pranayama is needed. In
instances, where it is clear that a particular mechanism is
highly probable but not assured through specific research on
Qigong or Yoga practitioner subjects, we will refrain from
absolute statements and defer to "may", "possibly", "seem",
"likely", etc with these words pointing to areas where
research is needed to demonstrate the mechanism clearly