Spontaneous Remission
Alternative and complementary health practitioners have seen innumerable examples of the capacity of the human body to heal itself. Not only functional dis-ease (where there may not be any measurable pathological or physical change in the body’s functions) but in cases of pathological tissue change, the body’s ability to heal is often astounding. When such a healing takes place this is often called a “spontaneous remission” among modern medical practitioners: “spontaneous” because there is no apparent or measurable cause to this healing, and “remission” because there is a lessening or reversal of the disease process.
The Institute for Noetic Sciences is an organization that has been exploring “leading-edge research into the potentials and powers of consciousness—including perceptions, beliefs, attention, intention, and intuition. The Institute explores phenomena that do not necessarily fit conventional scientific models, while maintaining a commitment to scientific rigor.” One of their projects has resulted in the publication of an online database in which they have “assembled the largest database of medically reported cases of spontaneous remission in the world, with more than 3,500 references from more than 800 journals in 20 different languages.” For an introduction to this work, you can download the introductory page from the publication.
Such cases provide both hope and evidence for cancer patients (as well as other chronic disease sufferers) that the diagnosis of cancer is not necessarily a death sentence. It is important that those who have been diagnosed with cancer take a close look at the factors (especially the psychological and spiritual) involved in those patients who experienced a spontaneous remission.
See http://www.noetic.org/research/sr/faqs.html#Causes