Prayer doesn't cure the sick, says study (page 2)

katiekitten

It cuts both ways.

My partners ex girlfriend prayed for me and him not to work out, and she cast spells on us. And were still together. So its all a load of cobblers.

katiekitten

Mind you, my partners nob dropped off and I got rickets...

rocketman

The reason for this conclusion is obvious - Jehovah's Witnesses were not involved. God answers only their prayers.

Class

Dustin

Well, at least those studies are accurate. Praying to nothing isn't bound to cure much.

tetrapod.sapien

My partners ex girlfriend prayed for me and him not to work out, and she cast spells on us.

LOL,...praying and casting! she must have been desperate. "please god, let his wanker fall off!!" ... "psst, hey satan, if god is snoozing again, can you throw her some rickets? i'll make it worth your while, big boy, "...

yet another example of 20th century intelligence... oh, er...i mean 21st century...

Double Edge

When a patient was assigned prayer therapy, the second-tier groups were not given information on the name, age or illness, but were simply notified that a patient had been enrolled and asked to pray for the prayers of the primary-tier congregations," the authors explained.

Hell, if I was sick, I wouldn't want that group praying for me. Sounds a little too impersonal and sterile to me. I would want the good 'vibes' flowing from people I know and care about.

Of course, there are always the "counter-point" studies, such as:

The Proof That Prayer Works

There is ample proof that prayer works. Many scientific studies have been conducted that validate this observation.

A 1993 Israeli survey following 10,000 civil servants for 26 years found that Orthodox Jews were less likely to die of cardiovascular problems than "nonbelievers." And a 1995 study from Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., monitoring 250 people after open-heart surgery concluded that those who had religious connections and social support were 12 times less likely to die than those who had none.

In an attempt to understand the depression that often accompanies hospitalization, Duke University researchers assessed 1,000 hospital patients from 1987 to 1989; patients who drew on religious practices, including prayer, were found to cope far better than those who didn't.

NIH recently convened a panel to determine the merits of integrating conventional medicine with behavioral and relaxation therapies to treat hypertension. The team found that the conflation of therapies, of which prayer was a key component, "can lower one's breathing rate, heart rate, and blood pressure."

The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque is studying the power of prayer to heal alcoholics. And there is a prayer-and-healing study in progress at Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington, the nation's leading naturopathic-training institute. Certainly, following a spiritual or religious lifestyle might lead to better health; the devout may be less likely to succumb to the hazards of smoking, drinking, and sleeping around. However, for the non-believers, it is hard to understand how intercessory or non-local prayer works. This is thew situation when the sick persons are prayed for and don't even know it.

In the most widely publicized studies of the effect of intercessory prayer, cardiologist Randolph Byrd studied 393 patients admitted to the coronary-care unit at San Francisco General Hospital. Some were prayed for by home-prayer groups, others were not. All the men and women got medical care. In this randomized, double-blind study, neither the doctors and nurses nor the patients knew who would be the object of prayer.

The results were dramatic and surprised many scientists.The men and women whose medical care was supplemented with prayer needed fewer drugs and spent less time on ventilators. They also fared better overall than their counterparts who received medical care but nothing more. The prayed-for patients were:

-- Significantly less likely to require antibiotics (3 patients versus 16)

--Significantly less likely to develop pulmonary edema-a condition in which the lungs fill with fluid because the heart cannot pump properly (6 versus 18).

-- Significantly less likely to require insertion of a tube into the throat to assist breathing (0 versus 12).

To read “the rest of the story”: http://1stholistic.com/Prayer/hol_prayer_proof.htm

zen nudist

In the most widely publicized studies of the effect of intercessory prayer, cardiologist Randolph Byrd studied 393 patients admitted to the coronary-care unit at San Francisco General Hospital. Some were prayed for by home-prayer groups, others were not. All the men and women got medical care. In this randomized, double-blind study, neither the doctors and nurses nor the patients knew who would be the object of prayer.

if this is the one widely publized a few years ago, as it seems to be, the scientists later found the books were cooked and none of the data could be considered reliable after that.... the founder of the study was a lady who grew up among faith healers and when she got brain cancer immediately went straight to the medical profession for help.... her friends did find out about it but all their prayers did nothing to prevent her death.

Crooked Lumpy Vessel

The whole prayer thing always confused me. Pray to God for only spiritual things and not physical things. Then another says to pray to God for all things. Then I hear that God only hears the prayers of Witnesses etc.

But this is reality. Samantha Runnion was a 5 year old little girl, innocent of heart and mind. This little girl was snatch by a man 4 times her size who raped her and then killed her. He thre her nude body on the side of a dirt road like a piece of garbage. Where was God? Do you think she prayed? Was he watching?

A family of witnesses coming back from a convention in Tennessee stopped at a rest area and began witnessing to a group of teens. These teens abducted the family and shot them. The bullet holes in the shape of a pentagram in the father's chest. Where was God? Do you think they prayed? God didnt do them any special favors.

Then sister blabbermouth says thay God was looking out for her because the McTeenager at McDonalds forgot to put mayo on her sandwich and God was looking out for her because she didnt like mayo. I dont know about you...makes me wanna vomit.

I had a brother say to me that maybe God was allowing people at the hall to treat me badly...that HE was testing me to see how I would react. This told me a lot about mind manipulation. He was telling me that I was a failure and that God sees everything. I told him... I know God sees everything. God watched Samantha get raped and did nothing. If I was there I would have stopped him and I am nobody. Brother dingaling looked like he was going to get sick.

No we are on our own here. We can talk to our invisible friend if we want to. I believe in something greater than myself. Dont know for 100% certainty who or what that is. And the person standing next to me is only a person with a head, two arms and two legs. When did that pumpkin head become the authority on life, death and morality.

Like I said, the whole prayer thing confuses me.

FlyingHighNow

My partners ex girlfriend prayed for me and him not to work out, and she cast spells on us. And were still together. So its all a load of cobblers.

Mebbe. But then mebbe who ever she prayed to didn't like her either, so it left you alone.

Frog

oh what a p*sstake this study is! I think it's absolutely brilliant. Might shut a few of those prayremongering people up for a while. You remember those awful TMS announcements about sister so-&-so layed up in hospital, and comments about our prayres being with them during their time of sickness. I guess the next week when the funeral announcements were made, either we had prayed enough or out lipservice to the almighty just didn't pay off?! Frog x

Prayer doesn't cure the sick, says study

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