Prayer and Heart Disease

I don't think many doctors feel they are god, Excitable. I think many get wrapped up in their ego, sure, but I think all doctors suffer from a need to FEEL like a god, and often struggle with the balance between healing and hurting, especially in chronic cases. I don't think any doctor would ever say they feel they are stronger or better than god, maybe instead they feel like a child playing dressup.

~MFP

Originally posted by Excitable_Boy
Found an interesting article about a woman in Florida who alledgedly received a miraculous cure through prayer:

Not as uncommon a story as you might think. Remissions are found in a lot of diseases (including fatal ones) -- and in ALL faiths and in athiests, too.

I think Marg has it right -- that the power of human contact/support greatly contributes to the healing. I think you could tell a religious person "I'll be praying for you" and then not bother to pray and the outcome would be as if you prayed (there's some stats that I saw that showed this.) So it is their belief that something is working that helps them heal.

Similar to the placebo effect.

Similar to the placebo effect.

Exactly. Some people have a strong will to live and are probably more likely to get through something than someone who has little or no will to live. Also, if someone is alone or lonely, they are probably more apt to succumb easier to things than someone that has family and friends pulling for them and praying for them and giving them constant support.

I guess it depends if you WANT to stick around and you have people in your life that make it clear they care about you and want you around also vs. someone who is alone and doesn't have much of a life and thus, has little will to live.

I saw a motivational speaker one time who discussed this. He felt that if you say, had cancer, you could fight it off by simply telling your body to reject it. Say to yourself "I refuse to let this cancer harm me. I want this cancer to leave my body. I will not let you kill me...etc." He felt this kind of self help and maybe mixed with self meditation could actually help people get better and of course he had documented cases where it did.

I just use cancer as an example...it supposedly can work for anything (if you want it to).....does it really work? Who knows....but a positive attitude will certainly do more than a negative one!!

My answer when patients ask me if they should pray or take this vitamin or that supplement is just "it can't hurt". Honestly, as long as the substance you are taking doesn't have any known adverse effects or interactions with your medications, prayer/herbs/teas/etc. can't hurt your chances. It's only when you supplant medicine with these things that they become harmful.


~MFP

[edit on 4/1/2006 by bsl4doc]

A very good book on this subject is Healing Words by Dr. Larry Dossey.
It's all about prayer and the studies done on it. The book also brings out thoughts about local and non local time during prayer. Seems as though prayer can change an already bad report by going back in time before the outcome was known. Interesting read.

Hey All

Has anyone here commented on the findings that people who *knew* they were being prayed for did worse than the people who didn't?

I'm certainly going to say 'I'm praying for you', to the -In Laws next time.

TD

Originally posted by TaupeDragon

Has anyone here commented on the findings that people who *knew* they were being prayed for did worse than the people who didn't?

I found it hilarious when I heard that on the news. I think this might be the case though, because for one to hear, "By the way, we're praying for you," one might think, "Wow. Is it that bad?" Perhaps these people who are aware of others praying for them are just worrying themselves into getting worse.

"Worry and stress affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, the whole nervous system, and profoundly affects heart action." --Charles W. Mayo, M.D.