Prayer-Health Benefits Dispelled [10-Year Study Says Prayer May Hurt Patients]

C-Health/AP ^ | Mar. 31, 2006 | Malcolm Ritter

[sully777]

NEW YORK (AP) - Does praying for a sick person's recovery do any good? In the largest scientific test of its kind, heart surgery patients showed no benefit when strangers prayed for their recovery. And patients who knew they were being prayed for had a slightly higher rate of complications. Doctors could only guess why...

...The study followed about 1,800 patients at six medical centres. It was financed by the Templeton Foundation, which supports research into science and religion, and one of the participating hospitals. It will appear in Tuesday's issue of the American Heart Journal.

The research team tested the effect of having three Christian groups pray for particular patients, starting the night before surgery and continuing for two weeks. The volunteers prayed for "a successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications" for specific patients - their identities known only by first name and first initial of the last name.

The patients, meanwhile, were split into three groups of about 600 apiece: those who knew they were being prayed for, those who were prayed for but only knew it was a possibility, and those who weren't prayed for but were told it was a possibility.

The researchers didn't ask patients or their families and friends to alter any plans they had for prayer, saying such a step would have been unethical and impractical...

[sully777]

[Excerpt from AP story] "...Several scientists questioned the concept of the study. Science "is not designed to study the supernatural," said Dr. Harold G. Koenig, director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at the Duke University Medical Center.

The researchers emphasized that their $2.4 million US study could not address whether God exists or answers prayers made on another's behalf. The study could look only for an effect from the specific prayers offered as part of the research, they said.

The study "did not move us forward or backward" in understanding the effects of prayer, said Dr. Charles Bethea, a co-author and cardiologist at the Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City. "Intercessory prayer under our restricted format had a neutral effect."

Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School, co-principal investigator of the study, agreed. "We cannot come to a conclusion, except to say that by this study design, with its limitations, this is what we found," he said...[snip]

[COBOL2Java]

Well, there you have it. A certain atheist in California will sue when someone for whom prayers were offered gets sicker. Outlaw prayer now!

[sully777]

[Another snip from the story]...Koenig, of Duke University Medical Center, who didn't take part in the study, said the results didn't surprise him.

"There are no scientific grounds to expect a result and there are no real theological grounds to expect a result either," he said. "There is no god in either the Christian, Jewish or Moslem scriptures that can be constrained to the point that they can be predicted."

Within the Christian tradition, God would be expected to be concerned with a person's eternal salvation, he said, and "why would God change his plans for a particular person just because they're in a research study?"

Dr. David Stevens, executive director of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations, said he believes intercessory prayer can influence medical outcomes, but that science is not equipped to explore it.

"Do we control God through prayer? Theologians would say absolutely not. God decides sometimes to intervene, and sometimes not," he said.

As for the new study, he said, "I don't think ... it's going to stop people praying for the sick."

[sully777]

There's nothing in the article or in the study that mentions outlawing prayer. Science seems to find no benefit and minimal-nil harm in intercessory prayers.

I was wading through some other research studies and the upshot was the quackery of alternative medicines that hurt patients. Prayer is the least problematic to doctors of all alternative models of care.

A local evangelist in Tulsa states in our Sunday paper, "We don't base what we're doing on scientific studies. We believe things happen according to our faith. How does a scientific study measure faith?" ~~Reve. Billy Joe Daugherty

[sully777]

Further research found at least one pastor discounting the study without actually reading it thoroughly. The Florida Baptist Witness wonderes if the "right christians" were used in the study.

Meanwhile atheist blogger hailed the report as proof that religious people (christians in particular) are more than annoying but can be downright hurtful.

So much for actually reading a scientific study.

[mcshot]

To through a question into the mix:

What constitutes adequate prayer? Be it thoughts, whisperings, on your knees verbalizations,and etc,.

[sully777]

From the study: "... The volunteers prayed for "a successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications" for specific patients - th
eir identities known only by first name and first initial of the last name. .."

Researchers demanded no specific rituals/rules for prayer, nor could they in order for the study to be as accurate as possible. The Bible gives every form of prayer mentioned as appropriate, plus the lesser known forms of screaming, crying, fasting, laying down prone, standing with arms raised, and the ever popular sackcloth and ashes.

Then we enter the extra-biblical world of votives, tokens, idols, chants, whippings, etc..

Interestingly, people from both the scientific world and religious communities say, "Without question, the Deity/deities is/are capricious." That is one thing everyone seems to agree upon, if they believe in God or gods

[hindsfeetnhighplaces]

Tell that to the man who just testified in our church about the miracle power of prayer. At 31 years old he suffered a massive brain aneurysm and received numerous miracles as a direct result of intercessory prayers on his behalf. The doctors all said he should be dead from an aneurysm of that size. Prayers started immediately when he collapsed on the floor of his cousins home. The doctors were amazed at how quickly the bleeding stopped. They were unable to perform the surgery needed to stop the bleeding due to mechanical failure of the machine needed to insert metal coils in the brain. This surgery needs to be done within the first 24 hours. Again, they did not expect him to live. The surgery began 48 hours later. They told the family that they expected two things to happen 1. he would have a stroke during the surgery and 2. he would be blind because of the surgery. Neither of these things happened. The doctors call this man a walking miracle. All because of prayer. On top of that, the hospital bill was $191,000. They received yet another miracle because of prayer. The bill was payed by some program that paid every penny of that bill. They now owe NOTHING.

[hindsfeetnhighplaces]

By the way, the program was not medi-caid and they had no insurance of any kind. They made just a little too much money to qualify for any kind of government aid.

[Old Professer]

Until they tell the IRS.

[SunkenCiv]

Study finds Prayer is Useless
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1612233/posts
This thread has been pulled.

[ClancyJ]

Any that would make a "study" determine whether they pray for an ill one, might just as well forget the whole thing. They have just foregone all issues of faith.

Any help provided would be as a result of faith in the power of prayer. If they use a study to determine value, I would not expect any results from the ensuing prayer.

Some people just cannot understand faith and a relationship with a Heavenly Father, so they seek scientific results. Maybe they should just pray to science since that is where their faith is.

[Integrityrocks]

Any time a group of people "test" (tempt) God's powers, you can be pretty sure God is not going to participate. This stuff just makes me shake my head; imagine what God thinks.

[SunkenCiv]

Study: Praying Won't Affect Heart Patients
ap/yahoo | 3-30-06 | malcolm ritter
Posted on 03/30/2006 4:48:18 PM EST by LouAvul
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1606374/posts

Study fails to show healing power of prayer
Reuters | 3/30/06 | Reuters
Posted on 03/30/2006 6:17:30 PM EST by paltz
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1606419/posts

[TalonDJ]

Isn't it great that God set things up so that people that were going to have complications had more people to pray for and care for them.

[MonroeDNA]

Yes, it is a test of their faith. LOL!

[sully777]

I checked the threads 10 different ways. Promise.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

All that study proves is that prayer isn't magic.

It's not ever been that you can say words A do ritual B and you will get result C...and that's the flaw of the study.