Spirituality and Medicine/Health

I’ve discussed in previous posts how quantum physics gives us a basis for understanding how spirituality can affect outcomes. In short, quantum physics (specifically Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle) enables us to see that there is actually a cause and effect relationship to what we define as coincidences, meaning we can increase the chances of coincidences happening by the energy (thoughts, prayers, meditation, action, etc.) we put into the world.

This obviously has medical implications. A number of studies published in such peer-reviewed journals as Annals of Internal Medicine, Journal of Reproductive Medicine, Evidence-Based Medicine and more look at the use of prayer for improving health outcomes. Further the prayer is done by people in distant locations for people they have never met. The people doing the praying are only given the first names of the patients. The results show positive outcomes for the patients who received prayers, even though they didn’t know they were being prayed for. To many scientists these results are not undeniable proof of the power of prayer, but many of the studies are showing that there is enough of an impact that further study is warranted. The challenge is that conducting such studies is difficult. For example, in the control group that is not receiving prayers from the people doing the praying for the study, it is impossible to keep their family and friends from possibly praying for them. And if a loved one is in a critical care unit for heart problems, can you really tell the family to make sure no one prays for the patient because they’re involved in a study?

Any way, here is the most compelling of the results, found in a study in the Journal for Reproductive Health:

OBJECTIVE: To assess the potential effect of intercessory prayer (IP) on pregnancy rates in women being treated with in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET).

RESULTS: After clinical pregnancies were known, the data were unmasked to assess the effects of Intercessory Prayer (prayer for others) after assessment of multiple comparisons in a log-linear model. The IP group had a higher pregnancy rate as compared to the no-IP rate (50% vs. 26%, P = .0013). The IP group showed a higher implantation rate (16.3% vs. 8%, P = .0005). Observed effects were independent of clinical or laboratory providers and clinical variables.

(Source: Cha, KY, Wirth, DP, Lobo, RA (2001). “Does Prayer Influence the Success of In Vitro Fertilization-Embryo Transfer? Report of a Masked, Randomized Trial.” J Reprod Med. 49(11):944-5)