Scientific Studies on Faith

SCIENTIFIC STUDIES ON PRAYER

I thought I would take this occasion to share some interesting research that has just been released on the power of prayer.

HARVARD AND UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA STUDIES.
For the past 30 years, Harvard scientist Herbert Benson, MD, has conducted scientific studies on prayer. Benson has documented on MRI brain scans the physical changes that take place in the body when someone prays. When combined with recent research from the University of Pennsylvania, what emerges is a picture of complex and documented brain activity. It is truly amazing. (Source: WebMD)

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HEALTHCARE.
�Research focusing on the power of prayer in healing has nearly doubled in the past 10 years,� says David Larson, MD, MSPH, president of the National Institute for Healthcare Research, a private nonprofit agency. Even the NIH -- which "refused to even review a study with the word prayer in it four years ago" -- is now funding one prayer study through its Frontier Medicine Initiative (Source: WebMD).

DUKE UNIVERSITY.
Mitchell Krucoff, MD, a cardiovascular specialist at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C. has been studying prayer and spirituality since 1996 -- and practicing it much longer in his patient care. He says, "We're seeing systematic investigations -- clinical research -- as well as position statements from professional societies supporting this research, federal subsidies from the NIH, funding from Congress. All of these studies, all the reports, are remarkably consistent in suggesting the potential measurable health benefit associated with prayer or spiritual interventions." (Source: WebMD)

PRAYER AND SPIRITUALITY:
WHAT SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IS REVEALING

PRAYER AND FAITH REDUCES FEAR
Koenig, H.G. (1988): Religion and death anxiety in later life. The Hospice Journal, 4 (1), 3 24, reports, "Subjects very likely to use religious beliefs and prayer during stress were less likely to report anxiety and fear about death than were those not likely to use prayer or religious beliefs."

RELIGIOUS PEOPLE HAVE HEALTHIER LIFE STYLES
(2002). Journal of Religion and Health, 41(3):263-278 reports, "Religious activities and attitudes were inversely related to measures of physical illness severity and functional disability, and were less common among patients with prior psychiatric problems, hospitalizations for depression, drinking problems, and those currently taking psychotropic drugs."

CHURCH ATTENDANCE IMPROVES SURVIVAL
(1999). Does religious attendance prolong survival? A six-year follow-up study of 3,968 older adults. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, 54A(7), M370-M376, reports: "Investigators concluded that older adults, particularly women, who attend religious services at least once a week appear to have a survival advantage over those attending services less frequently."

RELIGION DECREASES HOSPITAL VISITS
(1998). Use of hospital services, church attendance, and religious affiliation. Southern Medical Journal, 91, 925-932, reports: "Investigators found an inverse relationship between frequency of religious service attendance and likelihood of hospital admission. Those who attended church weekly or oftener were significantly less likely in the previous year to have been admitted to the hospital, had fewer hospital admissions, and spent fewer days in the hospital than those attending less often; these associations retained their significance after controlling for covariates. Patients unaffiliated with a religious community had significantly longer index hospital stays than those affiliated."

SPIRITUALITY IMPROVES THE IMMUNE FUNCTION
Koenig, H.G., Cohen, H.J., George, L.K., Hays, J.C., Larson, D.B., Blazer, D.G. (1997) reports, "Attendance at religious services, interleukin-6, and other biological indicators of immune function in older adults. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 27, 233-250. These findings suggest that persons who attend church frequently may have more stable immune systems than less frequent attenders, which may help explain why frequent attenders have better physical health outcomes."

THERE ARE SOME NEGATIVE SPIRITUAL ASPECTS ON HEALTH
Journal of Gerontology (Medical Sciences), 55A, M400-M405 reports: "Patients who believed that God was punishing them, had abandoned them, didn't love them, didn't have the power to help, or felt their church had deserted them, experienced 19% to 28% greater mortality during the 2-year period following hospital discharge."

DOCTORS TEND TO BE NON-SPIRITUAL (Why is this?)
(1991). Religious perspectives of doctors, nurses, patients and families: Some interesting differences. Journal of Pastoral Care, 45, 254 267, reports, "Physicians were less likely to attend services weekly (35% of physicians vs. 62% of patients, 59% of families, and 51% of nurses. Physicians were less likely to indicate that religious coping was the most important factor that enabled them to cope with stress (9% of physicians vs. 44% of patients, 56% of families, and 26% of nurses). Physicians were less likely to be affiliated with conservative Protestant religious denominations (2% of physicians vs. 43% of patients and 49% of family members. This difference in perspective on religion between physicians and patients may serve as a block to effective communication in this area."

IMPORTANT BOOK
For those interested in a comprehensive study on how religion effects physical and mental health, I recommend this book:
Handbook of Religion and Health
By Harold G. Koenig, Michael E. McCullough and David B. Larson from Oxford University Press (2001).
This book reviews and discusses 1200 studies on the relationship between religion and a variety of mental and physical health outcomes, including depression and anxiety; heart disease, stroke, and cancer; and health related behaviors such as smoking and substance abuse. The authors examine the positive and negative effects of religion on health throughout the life span, from childhood to old age.

Sources used in this newsletter:
WebMD and http://www.dukespiritualityandhealth.org//