Omega Med Corporation

In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives we often overlook or completely negate the power of the human spirit. But well within your reach are healing powers and better health. And it’s not in your medicine cabinet. It is not even in a bottle. It’s actually believing in something larger than yourself. It is spirituality and faith.

It is no new-age mumbo-jumbo. Studies show that religious people who receive appropriate medical treatment for what ails them fare better than others who receive medical care but don’t consider themselves spiritual.

According to Georgetown University School of Medicine researchers, a review of numerous studies attempting to measure the effect of religious beliefs on illness and recovery reveals that at least 80% of the studies show that spirituality and faith have a beneficial effect on health. In previous centuries, healing and religion went hand in hand. Now, in the 21st century, the combination is coming back. In fact, today, more than 30 medical schools in the United States teach courses on spirituality and healing. Just 3 years ago, there were only three schools offering such courses.

So is there power in prayer and spirituality?

An article published article by John Hopkins University’s The Journal of Humanistic Psychology (Vol. 38, No. 3), reported a double-blind study involving a coronary unit at San Francisco General Hospital. One hundred ninety-two coronary patients were assigned randomly to a “prayed for” group, while others were put into a control group. Home prayer groups consisting of five to seven people prayed on behalf of each person in the “prayed for” group without the person’s knowledge.

The patients for whom prayers were dedicated were five times less likely to require antibiotics (three patients compared to 16 patients in the control group), and three times less likely to develop pulmonary edema (six patients compared to 18) — a significant result. No one in the “prayed for” group required any mechanical ventilator equipment, compared to 12 who needed the equipment in the control group. Fewer patients died in the prayed for group.

Understand that this isn’t about curing, but about combining your own power and spirituality with the best that modern medicine has to offer. So regardless of your particular religion or spiritual belief, sending out a prayer may give you just what you need this holiday season — better health and peace. Amen.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 25th, 2010 at 2:44 pm and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.