The Biology of Belief - Bruce H. Lipton [50]
The science of physics implies that the same harmonic resonance mechanism, by which sound waves destroy a goblet or a kidney stone, can enable similar energy harmonics to influence the functions of our body’s chemistry. But biologists have not explored these mechanisms with the passion with which they pursue new drugs. That is unfortunate because there is enough scientific evidence to suspect that we can tailor a waveform as a therapeutic agent in much the same way we now modulate chemical structures with drugs.
There was a time in medicine when electrotherapy was used extensively. At the end of the nineteenth century, the development of batteries and other devices that produce electromagnetic fields led to hastily constructed machines that were supposed to cure disease. The public sought out practitioners of this new-fangled healing art called radioesthesia. Word spread that these devices were very effective. In fact, they became so popular that magazines were likely to tout ads that read something like: “Be a Radioesthe-siast! Only $9.99—includes instructions!” By 1894, over 10,000 U.S. physicians, as well as an untold number of self-trained home consumers, were regularly using electrotherapy.
In 1895, D.D. Palmer created the science of chiropractic. Palmer recognized that the flow of energy through the nervous system is critical to health. He focused on the mechanics of the vertebral column, the conduit through which spinal nerves provide information to the body. He developed skills to assess and tune the flow of information by adjusting the backbone’s tensions and pressures.
The medical profession became threatened by Palmer’s chiropractors as well as homeopathic healers, radioesthesiasts, and other drugless practitioners who were taking away much of their business. The Carnegie Foundation published the Flexner Report in 1910 that called for all medical practices to be based on proven science. Because physicists had not yet discovered the quantum universe, energy medicine was incomprehensible to science. Denounced by the American Medical Association, chiropractic and other energy-based modalities fell into disrepute. Radioesthesiasts disappeared completely.
In the last forty years, chiropractic has made great inroads in the healing arts. In 1990, chiropractors won a lengthy court battle against the medical monopoly when the American Medical Association was found guilty of illegal attempts to destroy the profession. Since then, chiropractic has spread its sphere of influence—it is even accepted in some hospitals. And despite electrotherapy’s checkered past, neuroscientists are conducting exciting new research in the area of vibrational energy therapies.
The brain has long been recognized to be an electrical organ, which is why electroshock therapy has historically been used to treat depression. But scientists are now working on less invasive tools to treat the electric brain. A recent article in Science touted the beneficial effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which stimulates the brain with magnetic fields. (Helmuth 2001; Hallet 2000) TMS is an updated version of the same 19th century radioesthesia healing techniques that were once denounced by conventional medicine. New studies suggest that TMS can be a powerful therapeutic tool. If used properly, it can ease depression and alter cognition.
It is clear that we need interdisciplinary research in this promising and understudied area, research that encompasses quantum physics, electrical engineering, chemistry, as well as biology. Such research will be particularly welcomed because it is likely to result in therapies with far fewer side effects than drugs. But the research will only confirm what scientists and