HEMI-SYNC® AND RADIATION ONCOLOGY: A PILOT STUDY

Abstract

This pilot study is reprinted from the Monroe Institute Hemi-Sync Journal, Vol. XXVI, Nos. 3 & 4, Summer/Fall 2008

Hemi-Sync, a binaural-beat brain-wave entrainment technology and consciousness-modulating tool developed by Robert Monroe and his associates, can be combined with guided meditation to produce a useful tool for behavioral medicine: the field of treating medical problems with behavioral modalities.The authors applied the technology to the problem of side effects of radiation treatment in cancer patients.

Patients filled out the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) daily in the course of listening to MIND FOOD Energy Walk. At the end of the study, participants also completed a patient satisfaction questionnaire, which included questions about pain. Only two of the sixteen patients who returned the BFI questionnaire found the tape ineffective for pain and fatigue.

The data strongly support the binaural-beat exercise's effectiveness for relieving fatigue associated with radiation treatments. Though this was an open rather than a placebo-controlled study, the effect size is far beyond what one would expect from a placebo effect. This pilot study gives strong encouragement for using the Hemi-Sync technology as an adjunct to radiation oncology. Further investigation with a larger patient population is recommended.