Medicine & Prayer

Since the article at bottom was published, numerous articles have appeared
on AOL and MSN on this subject.  Click on the following links to see these studies featured on WebMD:

"Can Prayer Heal" - Scientists Have Some Surprising Answers
  http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1674.51527 

"Probing the Power of Prayer"
  http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1668.50132

"Does a Religious Heart Make for a Healthy Mind?"
  http://aolsvc.health.webmd.aol.com/content/article/1728.53338

"Religious People Live Longer Than Non-believers"
  http://aolsvc.health.webmd.aol.com/content/article/1728.60239

"Spirituality May Help People Live Longer"
  http://aolsvc.health.webmd.aol.com/content/article/1738.50058 

"Privately Spiritual" - Prayer & Meditation Can Improve Health, Studies Find
  http://aolsvc.health.webmd.aol.com/content/article/1738.51023

(Following is an article from the Dec '97 Issue of Ladies Home Journal)

"RX: Religion"

Can spirituality actually bring about healing?  Evidence suggests that it does.  Since the 1950's, studies have demonstrated that prayer can ease asthma, high blood pressure and anxiety.  In laboratory experiments, prayer from the scientists seemed to affect the growth rate of fungi, yeast and plants.  Other research shows that religious affiliation and frequent  though many experts attribute this partly to the strong social network and healthy behaviors encouraged by religious communities.

Epidemiologist Jeff Levin, Ph.D., is a senior research fellow at the Nat'l
Inst. for Healthcare Rsch. (NIHR) in Rockville, MD, a non-profit organization
dedicated to the study of religion and health.  Having reviewed more than 200 medical studies dating back to the 19th century, Levin concludes that
religious commitment enhances health and that evidence shows prayer plays a therapeutic role in disease. "In fact, a lack of spirituality seems to be a risk factor for higher rates of illness," he adds.

Randolph C. Byrd, M.D., a former cardiologist at San Francisco General
Hospital, conducted a landmark 1988 study on the effects of intercessory
prayer (praying on someone else's behalf).  Byrd randomly divided 393
coronary-care patients into two groups:  those who did receive prayers from people they'd never met, and those who didn't.  After ten months,  patients receiving prayer had fewer complications, needed less medication and had a slightly better overall medical course than those in the control group.  Dale Matthews, M.D.,  a senior fellow at NIHR, is currently testing the healing effects of hands-on and intercessory prayer on rheumatoid arthritis patients.

But the mystery remains:  No one has yet been able to explain just why prayer works.  Herbert Benson, M.D., a presidient of the Mind/Body Medical Institute and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, in Boston asserts that the mere act of believing - be it in God, the doctors or one's own inner strength - is the key to healing.

Of course,  many faithful patients (and some of their doctors) have no doubt that a higher power is indeed at work.  In a recent NEWSWEEK poll,  79% of respondents who pray regularly said they believed God answers prayers for healing.  Says Levin, "Scientists are hung up on the 'whys.'  Most people think the 'whys' are interesting, but they just want to get better."