Do you feel better if you know that someone else is thinking about you?
How about praying for you?
Another of the little tidbits I picked up from my weekend reading was this: patients who are prayed for (whether they know about it or not) get better faster than those who aren't. Or at least that's what David Shields believes.
The author cited a 1988 study as the basis for his hypothesis.
But I did a little searching this morning and found the scientific results questionable.
Some later studies suggested no change in clinical outcomes for patients who were prayed for. Sceptics claimed that prayer made no difference whatsoever.
But, as someone noted, "The contribution that hope and belief make to a personal understanding of illness cannot be dismissed so lightly." There's positive thinking again.
And what is prayer, if not whispered hope?
Dr. Chairmaine Griffith from the British Heart Association concurs that, "Further evidence is emerging that people who have a more positive outlook appear to be less affected by stressful events, such as surgery."
I'm thinking about prayer because I attended 7 a.m. mass at St. Michael's this morning. Not for me, but for a colleague's father who is undergoing open heart surgery this week.
I'm hoping it helps. It can't hurt.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
It does help! My family is living proof. Wnen my Dad got really sick and slipped into a coma, we were told that we would lose him very quickly if his blood pressure didn't go up. We not only prayed, we talked to him as he lay there in a coma and told him how much we loved him and needed him and weren't ready for him to leave us. Over night, his blood pressure just continued to rise - and his doctor told us there was no medical reason for it.
We like to think it was my Mom, my brother and I that brought my Dad back. :)
I'll never doubt the power of positive thought again.
Post a Comment