Skip to main content

Non Drug Pain Management Ideas: The Power of Prayer

Can prayer heal people?  I suppose the answer to that depends on if you believe in the power of prayer, or not.  I tend to believe that God answers all of our prayers, but sometimes God says no.  We do not always understand because we cannot see through the eyes of God...



I found an article on "Discovery Health" website that cites some interesting studies about this topic.  One study, conducted in 1988 by Randolph Byrd, a physician, looked at 393 patients who entered a cardiac care unit in a San Francisco Hospital.  Some of the patients were assigned to a group that received intercessory prayer (IP), while the other group did not receive IP.  None of the patients knew which group they were assigned to.  At the conclusion of the study, Byrd reported that 85% of the patients in the prayer group responded well to treatment, while 73% of the group that did not benefit from IP responded similarly.
Many similar studies patterned after Byrd's study followed.  A study by William Harris Kansas City, MO was one such study.  He reported that 67.4% of his IP group responded well, compared to 64.5% of the non-IP patients.

A larger study, known as STEP (Study of the Effects of Intercessory Prayer) was published in the American Heart Journal in 2006. This study involved 6 medical centers throughout the US.  This study divided patients who all had coronary artery bypass graft surgery into three groups:
  • those who received prayer from an outside group, but who were not aware they were being prayed for
  • those who did not receive prayer
  • those who were aware they were being prayed for
The outcome of this study was similar to Byrd and Harris but there were two interesting twists:
a) people in the prayer group had MORE complications than those in the non-prayer group
b) those who were aware that they were being prayed for fared the worst of all the groups.

After it is all said and done, the article concludes that it is difficult to study the supernatural in a scientific way for a number of reasons.  For one, none of these studies is or can be scientifically pure.

My conclusion:  If you know someone who is suffering it does not hurt to pray for them.  Maybe it is not the best idea to tell them about it, though!  Additionally, the power of belief is largely what is at play when it comes to believing..or dispelling...the power of prayer.


Source: howstuffworks.com

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Living with Chronic pain hits the big screen!

Been to the movies lately?  Jennifer Aniston is on the big screen in a recent release titled "Cake." Her character, Claire is a victim of chronic pain...she belongs to a support group, where all of the members are coming to terms with the suicide of one of their members.  Of course, she also takes pain medication and addiction is another of her problems...and of course there's more! I guess I am writing this post just to bring readers' attention to the fact that Hollywood has become aware of the crisis that is chronic pain.  This movie is a testament to that. People that don't have to live with this kind of pain don't fully understand the whole story.  Maybe this movie will shed some light on the issues. Here is the official trailer for the movie: Sources: prweb;NorthJersey.com;YouTube
Post a Comment
Read more

Beware Of The Tick!

It's tick season, everyone! And while we all know about Lyme Disease and its lingering effects, a new problem has entered the scene. According to the CDC, the Powassan virus is another tick-borne disease that has recently been recognized. The CDC says symptoms become apparent anywhere from one week to one month after infection. Symptoms include vomiting, weakness, confusion, loss of coordination, problems with speech and seizures. Approximately half of those infected by this virus have permanent neurological symptoms, which can include muscle wasting, problems with memory, and recurrent headaches. Many people who have been infected with Powassan virus required hospitalization and sometimes even respiratory support (i.e., a respirator). Treatment is focused on supportive measures. In the meantime, preventive measures are the best way to avoid Lyme disease, Powassan virus , or any other tick-borne virus.  You can read more about preventive measures by clicking here . Sour...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Multimodal Approach to Pain Management

OK..so if you've been following this blog you will notice that there are a good number of ideas to help manage chronic pain.  You might ask yourself, "Which one of these ideas is best for me ?" I would suggest that you might try any number of these things, depending on your level of ability/disability, health care team recommendations, and your personal interests.  There are a number of reasons for doing this: 1) The patient is in control..with few exceptions, it is your decision what to try/not try and how many different things you want to experiment with at any time. 2) Non drug pain management ideas do not have any of the drug interactions or side effects that medications have.  You may have to set limits or modify activity according to personal circumstances, but usually it does not hurt to try any of them. 3)You usually do not need a prescription for most of the ideas I have described.  There are a few exceptions, such as physical therapy.  There ...
Post a Comment
Read more