Hemi-Sync® Journal 2008-3&4 (Summer/Fall)

Journal HEMI-SYNC ® Vol. XXVI Summer/Fall 2008 Nos. 3 & 4 A Research and Educational Publication of The Monroe Institute Editors: Shirley Bliley, Ann Vaughan Layout & Design: Grafton Blankinship The HEMI-SYNC JOURNAL, a publication of The Monroe HEMI-SYNC® AND RADIATION ONCOLOGY: Institute®, an educational and research organization dedicated to exploring and developing the uses and A PILOT STUDY understanding of human consciousness, offers current reporting on research and application of the Hemi- by Jonathan Holt, MD,1 Alicia Recore, PhD,2 Duncan Sync® technology in a variety of professional fields. Savage, MD,3 Ralf Kiehl, MD,4 and Todd Doyle, MD5 The HEMI-SYNC JOURNAL is published by The Monroe 1Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, State Institute, 365 Roberts Mountain Road, Faber, VA 22938- University of New York at Buffalo 2317. Telephone: (434) 361-1252. Membership rates 2Project Director for Complementary Therapy from $50 to $100 per year. Program, St. Peter's Hospital, Albany, NY © 2008 The Monroe Institute. All rights reserved. No part 3, 4, 5Radiation Oncologist, St. Peter's Hospital, may be reproduced without permission. Albany, NY Background Hemi-Sync, a binaural-beat brain-wave entrainment major complaint of radiation patients. Fatigue is a ma- technology and consciousness-modulating tool devel- jor complaint and to a lesser extent, pain and general oped by Robert Monroe and his associates, can be com- discomfort. When the project was conceived there was bined with guided meditation to produce a useful tool no specific exercise for radiation therapy, although one for behavioral medicine: the field of treating medical was later released. After consultation with The Monroe problems with behavioral modalities. The authors ap- Institute, we selected MIND FOOD Energy Walk for plied the technology to the problem of side effects of our study. The exercise blends binaural-beat frequencies radiation treatment in cancer patients. with nature imagery to encourage rest and rejuvena- In 2000, Monroe Products released Chemotherapy tion. Companion, an exercise in the MIND FOOD® series. It Brain-wave entrainment technology such as Hemi- was designed to provide therapeutic images and sug- Sync is the modern expression of a long tradition of gestions combined with binaural beats to patients un- using sound and imagery for healing that antedates dergoing chemotherapy. The purpose of Chemotherapy the Egyptian and Greek civilizations. There was even Companion was to alleviate nausea and pain. Our group, a mystical Jewish-Kabbalistic tradition of healing im- based at St. Peter's Hospital in Albany, an affiliate of agery (Kamenetz 2007). Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung Albany Medical College, wanted to initiate a pilot study (2000), French psychologist Robert Desoille (1938), to investigate the efficacy of Chemotherapy Companion. and Italian psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli (2000) in- Medical oncology at St. Peter's Hospital was done by corporated trance and imagery for psychological and various medical practices within the hospital. Radia- general health. In the United States, Carl and Steph- tion oncology, on the other hand, was organized into anie Simonton (1978) pioneered the use of relaxation a cohesive department. Unfortunately, the major focus exercises and imagery exercises for cancer patients. of Chemotherapy Companion is nausea, which is not a Slightly later, surgeon Bernie Siegel (1986) established Next Page HEMI-SYNC® JOURNAL Summer/Fall 2008 Exceptional Cancer Patients (ECaP), a nonprofit or- the authors of this study concluded that Hemi-Sync ganization to promote group support, as well as trance could be useful for the relief of symptoms in the radia- and imagery work, in the care of patients with cancer tion oncology population. and other chronic illnesses. Psychiatrist David Spiegel Methods conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled study demonstrating that group therapy and group hypnosis Volunteer patients were recruited from the radiation exercises were correlated with significantly increased oncology clinic at St. Peter's Hospital in Albany, New longevity in breast cancer patients (Spiegel et al. 1989). York. An informational flyer was posted in the clinic. Robert Moss (1996) has written, lectured, and taught Alicia Recore, PhD, made herself available to discuss extensively in the United States on the related topic of the study with patients who expressed an interest in the conscious dreaming. project and provided an informed consent form. Several Hemi-Sync albums have demonstrated their The patients who decided to participate were provided usefulness for cancer patients. These include the SUR- with an audiocassette of MIND FOOD Energy Walk. GICAL SUPPORT series, which has been used by vari- The exercise features Hemi-Sync frequencies primarily ous surgeons and patients. Two anesthesia studies us- in the alpha/theta range and some in the delta range at ing SURGICAL SUPPORT exercises were completed its conclusion. The narration by Darlene R. Miller, PhD, and published in peer-reviewed journals (Kliempt et al. first guides the listener to relax while counting from one 1999; Lewis et al. 2004). The POSITIVE IMMUNITY to ten. The listener is then invited to lie on a beach and series was designed with AIDS patients in mind but absorb the healing energy of the earth. From there he or has also been used by cancer patients. GOING HOME, she is directed into the water to absorb that energy and a two-album series designed for hospice patients and then up to a meadow to absorb the energy of grass, trees, their families, has had a role to play in oncology care, and wind. The exercise concludes by guiding the listener and the first author has discussed several case studies into restful sleep. The patients were encouraged to use the (Holt 2000, 2004, 2006) of that application. Brian Dai- tape on a daily basis. They were provided with the Brief ley, MD, an attending emergency room physician at Ro- Fatigue Inventory (Mendoza et al. 1999), a questionnaire chester General Hospital, Rochester, New York, has lec- to assess the impact of fatigue on general activity. Patients tured and written on combining Hemi-Sync with energy filled out the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) daily in the work and other complementary modalities in oncology course of listening to MIND FOOD Energy Walk. At the treatment and uses such modalities with his patients. end of the study, participants also completed a patient Dr. Dailey collaborated on the creation of Chemotherapy satisfaction questionnaire, which included questions Companion. about pain (if it was relevant). The patients were also More than two decades of observation and research interviewed by Dr. Recore and information was obtained document the effect of binaural beats on EEG patterns regarding tape-listening patterns. and states of consciousness. James Lane and colleagues The tables below summarize the results for the sixteen completed a study demonstrating that Hemi-Sync beta patients who returned the BFI questionnaire between signals can increase the amount of beta waves measured 2002 and 2006 and include data on listening frequency in EEG spectroscopy and increase performance on a and listening times, as well as the results of the patient vigilance test (Lane et al. 1998). Research at The Mon- satisfaction questionnaire. One patient died before roe Institute has demonstrated that Hemi-Sync tones treatment was completed, and one patient dropped out promote a frequency-following response conducive to for an unspecified reason. Four reported by phone that interhemispheric synchrony as measured on EEG brain the tape was helpful for fatigue and pain but did not fill maps (Atwater 1997). The first author completed sev- out the questionnaire. Only two of the sixteen found eral pilot studies (Holt 2004) demonstrating that bin- the tape ineffective for pain and fatigue. One of the two aural-beat exercises increase interhemispheric synchro- did, however, find it effective for relaxation. All sixteen ny scores and dramatically increase EEG power in the patients who filled out the questionnaire said they would alpha/theta range. They also enhance hypnotizability recommend the tape. More than half of the patients who (Brady and Stevens 2000). Based on the above findings, participated found the tape effective for fatigue. Next Page ii HEMI-SYNC® JOURNAL Summer/Fall 2008 Hemi-Sync Final Results Numeric Change with Patient related Data RESULTS: NUMERIC CHANGE in PATIENT RATINGS on BRIEF FATIGUE INVENTORY ( January 2002 – June 2006)