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Power of prayer flunks an unusual test
Large study had Christians pray for heart-surgery patients. In the largest study
of its kind, researchers found that having people pray for heart bypass surgery
patients had no effect on their recovery. In fact, patients who knew they were
being prayed for had a slightly higher rate of complications.
Long-Awaited Medical Study Questions the Power of Prayer
Prayers offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people who
were undergoing heart surgery, a large and long-awaited study has found. And
patients who knew they were being prayed for had a higher rate of post-operative
complications like abnormal heart rhythms, perhaps because of the expectations
the prayers created, the researchers suggested.
Why Do the Faithful Need Scientific Studies of Prayer?
All Things Considered, January 17, 2005 · Over the past several years, there have been several scientific studies about the power of prayer to heal. Commentator Steve Waldman wonders why people want so much for science to back up faith, and talks about a survey on prayer conducted by
BeliefNet.com, where he is an editor.
Study of Heart Patients Sees No Power in
Prayer
Day to Day, March 31, 2006 · Praying for sick people does not aid their recovery, at least according to a new study of heart surgery patients. The findings will be published in the April 4 issue of The American Heart Journal. Dr. Jeffery Dusek of Harvard Medical School, a researcher involved in the study, discusses the results with Alex Chadwick.
Atheist
Experience #443: Interpreting the results of prayer - Apr 9,
2006
Tracie takes on how Christians are apt to interpret
outcomes of their prayers. |