Tong Ren: RESEARCH STUDY BY millie pepple

Research Project  -  Millie Pepple Conference Call Analysis 1/29/2008

Conference Calls as a Method of Delivering Tong Ren Therapy

OCI Healing Research Foundation, Inc.

Millie Pepple MSN, APRN, BC

Millie Pepple has been a nurse working primarily in emergency medicine and critical care for 33 years. Her study was conducted under the direction of the OCI Research Committee and the leadership of Hilary Bender, Ph.D., Th.D.

Purpose

    The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of Tong Ren therapy on people receiving treatments through conference calls.  The project will examine the variety of health conditions that are treated on the conference calls, and both the immediate and long-term results.

Objectives

1.     A review of conference call data will reveal whether or not the majority of people seeking healing through Tong Ren conference calls have increased comfort and relaxation following the call.

2.     This study will reveal whether or not group treatments, as used in conference calls, may promote healing in the individual person requesting treatment, as well as others on the call.  

3.     This study will reveal that the conference call patrons show signs of healing as witnessed by medical diagnostic data.

Background

    According to the OCI Healing Research Foundation, Inc., Tong Ren healing is defined as a therapy developed by Tom Tam, as an integral part of the Tom Tam Healing Systems. Tong Ren is a form of energy therapy for restoring health and vitality.  Tong Ren is based on a belief that a disease is related to interruptions, or blockages, in the body’s natural flow of chi, neural bioelectricity, blood, or hormones.  Tong Ren seeks to remove these blockages, restoring the body’s natural ability to heal itself, even when illnesses are chronic, debilitating, or otherwise untreatable.

    Tong Ren combines western knowledge of anatomy and physiology with the ancient principle of ‘chi’, or life force energy, to create what many consider to be a powerful new healing modality.  Drawing on the Jungian theory of the ‘collective unconscious,’ Tong Ren is believed to access energy from this universal source and direct it to the patient.  Because no physical contact is involved or necessary, Tong Ren is often practiced as distance healing.

    In a typical therapy session, the Tong Ren practitioner uses a small human anatomical model as an energetic representation of the patient, tapping on targeted points on the model with a lightweight magnetic hammer.  The practitioner directs chi to blockage points corresponding to the patient’s condition, breaking down resistance at these points.  As blood flow, neural transmission, and hormone reception are restored, the body is then able to heal.

    Tong Ren therapy is delivered in a variety of settings.  People may choose to receive individual treatments in a clinic setting with the therapist or over the telephone.  Many people, all over the world, are treated in group settings with a group of therapists.  This is referred to as a “Guinea Pig” class. Live broadcast guinea pig classes are also available at www.tongrenstation.com.

    Another method for receiving a Tong Ren treatment is through conference calls.  It is a group treatment session where each person wishing to be treated calls into the conference call telephone number from home.  There are specific conference calls for individuals with cancer, thyroid disease, anxiety and depression, arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, diabetes and metabolism and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.  One call each week is specifically for people who have Spanish as their primary language.

    There are calls on Tuesday and Thursday evenings that are open to people with any physical or emotional concern.  These particular calls are the focus of this study. People who are seeking healing are initially screened for name, diagnosis, chief complaint and pain level.  They are treated in groups with people with a similar diagnosis and after the group treatment each person is spoken to individually.  Inquiries are made regarding any sensations that may have been noted and if the caller has had complaints of pain, they are asked about the status of their pain.  Brief individual treatments are provided as needed.  Each call includes a moderator who obtains the information and manages the call, and a therapist that calls the points to be tapped. Many times other therapists will call in to assist with the treatments.

Implementation Plan

    Information for this study was obtained from conference calls occurring on Tuesday and Thursday evenings between January 29, 2008 and May 27, 2008. Information obtained included the caller’s first name, the diagnosis, the chief complaint, and the sensation noted during the treatment.  Some callers shared their pain levels on a 0-10 scale before and after the treatment and some callers shared the results of scans and ultrasounds.

    People who are not available to give post-treatment feedback were not included in this study.  This may occur when a very ill person is treated at the request of a family member or friend.  Other times, when the therapist asks to speak with a person after the group treatment, they do not respond.  Sometimes, the following week these people will explain to the moderator that they had fallen asleep during the previous week’s treatment.

    Initial information and follow-up information was obtained on 500 caller instances.  The percentage of callers who received favorable responses to their treatment and the variety of caller responses will be identified.  There were many callers that called into the conference call multiple times, so the actual number of different callers, their gender, and their locale will also be identified, as well as the health concerns of these callers.  An analysis of pre and post-pain levels received will be obtained.  Any diagnostic testing shared by the callers will be identified.  

Results

    Twenty conference calls were monitored for data collection during the first 5 months of 2008.  There were 126 different callers involved in this study with 72% of the callers being female and 28% of the callers being male.  The number of calls made by each caller varied between 1 and 19 times with 89 callers calling in less than 5 times and 15 callers calling in 10 or more times.  Callers access the conference call from all over the United States, including Hawaii.  There have been callers from Canada, and one caller from France.

    Forty-five percent of the callers, or a total of 57 callers have been diagnosed with cancer. The cancers include brain, breast, ovarian, lung, adrenal, uterine, esophageal, stomach, prostate, appendix, renal, bone, cervical, vulvar, tonsil, thyroid, colon, tongue, anal, skin, bile duct, pancreatic, sarcoma, lymphoma, and leukemia.  The cancer with the highest incidence of callers is breast.  Some callers receiving Tong Ren treatments for cancer are concomitantly receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatments. But, many reported relief of symptoms related to chemotherapy and radiation treatments.   

    Other frequently seen complaints included muscular-skeletal pain, including neck, back, hip and knee pain. There are a number of callers seeking assistance with infections.  The sites include dental, ear, kidney, toe, cervix, prostate, and pneumonia.

    There is one caller who has been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.  There is one with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and several who have been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.  There are a few with complaints related to the eye, including blepharitis, visual disturbances, cataracts and ptosis.  There are callers with anxiety, depression, anger, and cognitive dysfunction.  There are callers with allergies, chronic fatigue syndrome,  hormone imbalance, hypothyroidism, hyperlipidemia, Parkinson’s, tinnitus, eczema, migraine headaches, as well as other health concerns.

    Of the 500 total calls, 98% of the callers or 490 total callers voiced positive effects such as relaxation, warmth, and partial or total pain-relief.  Of the ten people who did not notice positive effects, four were first time callers, who called into future conference calls and on each subsequent call noted positive effects.  One went on to call an additional 17 times during the course of this study, and had positive responses that were both subjective and objective in nature.  This phenomenon may be related to anxiety related to the first call or may be related to the positive cumulative effects seen with Tong Ren treatments.

    There were four call encounters where positive effects were denied by callers that were experiencing a great deal of distress related to cancer or cancer related treatments.  One remained very uncomfortable on two different conference calls.   She had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and had a great deal of discomfort related to ascites.  One had been diagnosed with stomach cancer and her complaints of extreme nausea did not remit following the treatment.  Another had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  He complained of abdominal discomfort related to constipation.  At the end of the call, his abdominal discomfort was not significantly altered.

    During the first call of this study, a caller denied feeling any positive effects.  It is unknown if this was her first call, but on subsequent conference calls, she voiced positive effects.  On the final call of this study, a caller denied feeling any positive effects. It is unknown what effects she would receive from potential subsequent calls.

    Sensations experienced by the callers ranged from relaxation and warmth to partial or total relief of symptoms. Some callers described a buzzing or vibration type sensation.

Callers had a wide range of complaints and sensations with a brief synopsis as follows:

§    Shoulder pain with immediate improvement in range of motion and decrease level of pain

§    Leukoplakia noting mouth tingling

§    Neuropathy with numbness lessened

§    Trigeminal Neuralgia with relief of facial pain

§    Shingles with burning discomfort relieved

§    Amyloidosis noting that his weakness and shortness of breath was lessened and that he was able to ambulate with less distress

§    Allergies and sinus congestion noting the breathing was cleared

§    Prostatic hypertrophy noting sensation of electrical vibration down the back of his left thigh

§    Hand numbness with complete return of sensation to the hand

§    Dental abscesses with sensation of energy moving through the lower jaw

§    Ptosis noting that sinuses were clearer than they had been in years

§    Hip pain, not mentioned during interview, improved

§    Bell’s Palsy with eye pain relieved, and speech improved

§    Ear infection with total relief of ear pain

§    Cervical cancer with warmth in the pelvis

§    Colon cancer with warmth in the rectal area

§    Esophogeal cancer noting easy swallowing and released sense of blockage

§    Redness at site of tick bite notes that area of redness is smaller

§    Lung cancer with chest pain noting chest pain totally relieved.

§    Two back to back callers with abdominal pain related to liver metastasis noted complete pain relief

§    Leukemia noting that she feels great and stating that she feels like ‘joy has washed over her’

    At times callers will note relief of their symptoms while another caller is being treated.  This occurred during one call with two callers with headaches and later occurred with two callers with visual disturbances.

    Another incident occurred on April 1st, again suggesting that energy goes where it’s needed, regardless of where it is directed.  A Tong Ren therapist called into the conference call to observe the call.  Neither the moderator nor the therapist directing the call, were aware that she was on the call.  Following the call, she contacted the therapist and told him of her persistent asthma.  She reported that when the therapist did thymus work on a caller, she noted significant improvement in her asthma symptoms.

    Of the 500 patient encounters, 239 had complaints of pain.  Pre and post-pain levels, on a 0-10 scale, were received on 25 or 10.5% of the callers.  When comparing the mean pre-pain level and the mean post-pain level, the overall pain level was reduced by 64.6% following the treatments. Eighteen of these callers were diagnosed with cancer.  Two callers complained of musculoskeletal pain, two complained of migraine headaches and one had been diagnosed with prostatitis.

    Twenty-seven callers offered pre-pain levels, but not post-pain levels.  The pain source, pre-pain level and response to the treatment are as follows:

§    Cancer—Level 7—‘Pain Better’

§    Musculoskeletal (M/S)—Level 3-‘Pain better’

§    Cancer—Level 7—‘Better’

§    M/S—Level 2—‘Better’

§    Cancer-Level 6-‘Better’

§    Cancer-Level 5—‘Much better’

§    Cancer-Level 2-‘Better’

§    Cancer-Level 9-‘Comfortable now’

§    Cancer-Level 7-‘Pain released’

§    Cancer-Level 4-‘Pain releasing’

§    M/S—Level 3-‘Relaxed’

§    M/S-Level8-‘Pain better’

§    Cancer-Level 7-‘Relaxed’

§    Headache-Level 5-‘Warm’

§    Cancer-Level 6-‘Pain improved’

§    Cancer-Level 7-‘Better’

§    Cancer-Level 3-‘Feels better’

§    Cancer-Level 6-‘Warm, relaxed’

§    Testicular pain-Level 5-‘Pain improved’

§    Cancer-Level 4-‘Pain better’

§    Cancer-Level 5-‘Pain improved’

§    M/S-Level 7-‘Fell asleep-Pain decreased’

§    Cancer-Level 4-‘Pain better’

§    Cancer-Level 7-‘Pain better’

§    M/S-Level 1—‘Feels good’

§    M/S-Level 7-‘Pain reduced’

The callers share, not only the immediate effects of the treatments, but also the effects noted during the week following the treatment and results of scans and ultrasounds.  The diagnosis and results are as follows:

§    Bilateral breast cancer—PET scan negative

§    Stage 4 breast cancer—Cancer cleared from lungs and brain on scan

§    Brain cancer-MRI shows no tumor growth

§    Renal cancer with foot blisters related to chemo- blisters healing

§    Liver cancer-scan shows tumor size decreased

§    Skin cancer incised-wounds healed more quickly than expected

§    Stage 4 renal cancer-Scan shows slowed growth of sacral and chest tumors

§    Stage 4 lung cancer-Scan shows 1 tumor to be gone and others not growing; The previous scan showed that 9 tumors had been eliminated

§    Colon Cancer-CT scan shows no cancer

§    Breast Cancer—CT scan stable

§    Lung Cancer-Scan shows no tumor growth

§    Esophageal Cancer-Scan shows esophageal tumors to be shrinking, but liver tumor larger

§    Ovarian Cancer-Laboratory tumor markers normal

§    Papillary thyroid cancer-Ultrasound shows calcified lymph nodes to be gone

§    Breast cancer-MRI shows no new growth and softening of the tumor

 

Discussion

    The conference calls, that were monitored, had four different therapists leading the calls.  The percentage of callers that voiced positive effects varied between 97.6% and 100% in each of the four therapists. It may lead to the inference that the positive responses were related to the Tong Ren therapy rather than a specific therapist.  This is one area where further study may be warranted.

    It is difficult to determine how significantly pain is reduced with cancer versus other disorders due to the low number of pre and post-pain levels.  But, with the pre and post-pain levels, and the pre-pain level and qualitative responses, pain of all types seems to respond favorably to Tong Ren therapy.

    The scan results are extremely positive.  These results may not be fully attributable to the conference calls.  It is known that some of the callers also attend guinea pig classes and some have individual treatments.  Also, an unknown number of callers also receive chemotherapy and radiation treatments.  The number of repeat callers would suggest that they believe that the conference calls play a significant role in their healing.

Conclusion

    This research project examined Tong Ren conference calls that were open to all callers, during the first 5 months of 2008.  The research in this study supported this researcher’s objectives.  The study showed that the majority of callers had positive responses to the treatments, such as pain relief, warmth, and relaxation.   It was also noted that the treatments were used with great effectiveness concomitantly with Western medicine treatments to counteract the adverse effects of the chemotherapeutic agents. 

    Group treatments were found to be very effective at treating the intended recipient, as well as callers with similar symptoms.  Scan reports shared by the callers diagnosed with cancer reveal signs of healing in these callers.

    This study may be useful in the promotion of Tong Ren conference calls for persons seeking healing who are unable to attend guinea pig classes or individual healing sessions.  The study indicates that many people receive some perceived benefit, especially with pain relief and relaxation, as indicated by self-reported ratings and repeat calls.  While further study may be warranted, this study suggests the effectiveness of Tong Ren therapy as a long distance healing modality.