Prayer Doesn146;t Work

Do prayers hasten recovery from sickness? No, according to a recent, comprehensive study, By Denise Gellene and Thomas H. Maugh II

The largest study yet on the therapeutic power of prayer from strangers has found that it provides no benefit to the recovery of patients who have undergone cardiac bypass surgery. In an unexpected twist, patients who knew prayers were being said for them had more complications after surgery than those who did not know, researchers reported Thursday in the American Heart Journal. The complications were minor, and doctors surmised that they were probably due to the increased stress on patients worried that their conditions were so bad that they needed extra prayers.

The Rev Dean Marek, a Catholic priest who was involved in the research, said he wasn8217;t surprised by the results. 8216;8216;I am always a little leery about intercessory prayer,8217;8217; said Marek. 8216;8216;What we have in mind for someone else may not be what they have in mind for themselves 8230; It is clearly manipulative of divine action and personal choice.8217;8217; Dr Herbert Benson, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a study investigator, added: 8216;8216;Nothing this study has produced should interfere with people praying for each other.8217;8217;

Some scientists hoped the results of the 2.5 million study, conducted at six U.S. medical centers, would bring an end to the long controversy over therapeutic prayer. 8216;8216;There have now been two big studies, with hundreds and hundreds of patients, that show no effect,8217;8217; said Dr. Harold G. Koenig, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University School of Medicine. Thursday8217;s study was intended to settle the matter in the most scientific manner possible. It was funded by the John Templeton Foundation, a group dedicated to studying the intersection of spirituality and science, and the Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp.

The study was designed as a random and blind trial, meaning that most patients did not know whether they were being prayed for. Such trials are considered the gold standard for scientific proof. More than 1,800 patients were divided into three groups: those who knew they were being prayed for, those who were prayed for but knew only that it was a possibility, those who weren8217;t prayed for and had been told it was possibility. About 65 percent of patients said they strongly believed in the power of prayer.

Two Catholic and one Protestant prayer groups offered the prayers. The groups were given patients8217; first name and the first initial of their last name. The groups started praying the night before surgery and continued for two weeks. Researchers said the groups were selected because they were prepared to offer prayers on short notice. All members recited the same intercession, asking for 8216;8216;a successful surgery and a quick, healthy recovery and no complications.8217;8217;

The results showed that prayer had no beneficial effect on patients8217; recovery 30 days after surgery. Overall, 59 percent of patients who knew they were being prayed for had complications, compared to 51 percent of the patients who did not receive prayers, but the difference was not statistically significant.

Atrial fibrillation, a fluttering of the heart that can be related to stress, was the most common complication in all groups, but was more likely to occur among patients who knew people were praying for them. 8216;8216;We conclude that telling people introduces the stress response,8217;8217; said Dr Charles Bethea of Integris Baptist Heart Hospital in Oklahoma City and an investigator in the study. He surmised that patients thought, 8216;8216;Am I so sick that they had to call in the prayer team?8217;8217;

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Bob Barth, spiritual director of Silent Unity of Lee8217;s Summit, Missouri, the Christian prayer group involved in the study, said the results didn8217;t shake his confidence in prayer. 8216;8216;People of faith don8217;t need a prayer study to know that prayer works,8217;8217; he said, adding that he hoped future studies would shed light on which forms of prayers are most effective.

The Los Angeles Times