A Scientific Study About Effects of Prayer

Balrogoz
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A Scientific Study About Effects of Prayer

 This apparently came out some time ago, but it's still relevant and interesting.

 

Prayer hurts heart health

 

Prayer makes girls preggers, unless the investigator is a fraud

 

I'd love to read the actual studies if anyone can find/provide them.  Or other studies of a similar nature.

 

[slight edit to the title...hope you don't mind! EXCELLENT post!] Entomophila

If I have gained anything by damning myself, it is that I no longer have anything to fear. - JP Sartre


JustAnotherBeliever
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Found these by typing Byrd

Found these by typing Byrd prayer in google. Thats the original heart study. I have a hard copy of it. Not sure where I got it. The new heart study is basically a refutation of the old study. I dont know if they even reference it.

http://members.aol.com/garypos/Harris_study.html

 

http://members.aol.com/garypos/Byrd_study.html


entomophila
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prayer study

I have downloaded the pdf file from Medline. Here is the abstract. If anyone is interested in the entire study, I have the pdf version, just send me a PM with your email address. The word "prayer" is highlighted because I used it as a search term.

American heart journal, 2006 Apr, 151(4):934-42

Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP) in cardiac bypass patients: a multicenter randomized trial of uncertainty and certainty of receiving intercessory prayer.

"BACKGROUND: Intercessory prayer is widely believed to influence recovery from illness, but claims of benefits are not supported by well-controlled clinical trials. Prior studies have not addressed whether prayer itself or knowledge/certainty that prayer is being provided may influence outcome. We evaluated whether (1) receiving intercessory prayer or (2) being certain of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with uncomplicated recovery after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. METHODS: Patients at 6 US hospitals were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: 604 received intercessory prayer after being informed that they may or may not receive prayer; 597 did not receive intercessory prayer also after being informed that they may or may not receive prayer; and 601 received intercessory prayer after being informed they would receive prayer. Intercessory prayer was provided for 14 days, starting the night before CABG. The primary outcome was presence of any complication within 30 days of CABG. Secondary outcomes were any major event and mortality. RESULTS: In the 2 groups uncertain about receiving intercessory prayer, complications occurred in 52% (315/604) of patients who received intercessory prayer versus 51% (304/597) of those who did not (relative risk 1.02, 95% CI 0.92-1.15). Complications occurred in 59% (352/601) of patients certain of receiving intercessory prayer compared with the 52% (315/604) of those uncertain of receiving intercessory prayer (relative risk 1.14, 95% CI 1.02-1.28). Major events and 30-day mortality were similar across the 3 groups. CONCLUSIONS: Intercessory prayer itself had no effect on complication-free recovery from CABG, but certainty of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with a higher incidence of complications."


Eloise
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entomophila wrote:but

entomophila wrote:

but certainty of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with a higher incidence of complications."

So... if you're gonna pray for someone, they'd be better off if you didn't tell em?

That's nice to know, someone should reference it on the front page of this site to deter people posting that annoying little phrase from the outset:

Health Notice: Declaring your intention to pray for another member of this site may cause more harm than good {see: American heart journal, 2006 Apr, 151(4):934-42}

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