Science > Abortion > Templeton Study: Prayer Does NOT Work (No ***** Sherlock)
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Science > Abortion |
| User: |
"Yang, AthD h.c, Kicking AWOLs Cocaine Snorting Ass" |
| Date: |
31 Mar 2006 10:13:20 AM |
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Templeton Study: Prayer Does NOT Work (No ***** Sherlock) |
A bit of context. A few years back some prestigeous Ivy League type
doctor published a paper claimg that intercessionary prayers help
heart patients.
And then it was uncovered that the guy faked his study.
So now we have this.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-prayer31mar31,1,3169049.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
Largest Study of Prayer to Date Finds It Has No Power to Heal
The largest study yet on the therapeutic power of prayer by strangers
has found that it provided no benefit to the recovery of patients who
had 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
The complications were minor, and doctors surmised that they could
have been caused by the increased stress on patients worried that
their conditions were so bad they needed prayers.
Father Dean Marek, a Catholic priest who was involved in the research,
said he wasn't surprised by the results.
"I am always a little leery about intercessory prayer," said Marek,
director of chaplain services at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
"What we have in mind for someone else may not be what they have in
mind for themselves…. It is clearly manipulative of divine action and
personal choice."
Dr. Herbert Benson, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical
School and one of the study's lead researchers, added: "Nothing this
study has produced should interfere with people praying for each
other."
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.
"There have now been two big studies, with hundreds and hundreds of
patients, that show no effect," said Dr. Harold G. Koenig, professor
of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University. "Let's move
on now and direct our money somewhere else."
Some believers in prayer concurred.
Sister Carol Rennie, prioress of St. Paul's Monastery in St. Paul,
Minn., whose prayer group participated in the study, said faith
couldn't be scientifically analyzed. "God must be smiling broadly,"
she said. "It tells me, frankly, that God's way of working with people
is a mystery and that technology really can't determine the effects of
prayer."
Scientists have been trying for at least a decade to determine whether
organized prayer on the behalf of others can influence the outcome of
medical treatment.
Previous attempts, however, were flawed by experimental and
methodological errors that led critics to dismiss findings, both pro
and con.
Thursday's study was intended to settle the matter in the most
scientific manner possible. It was funded primarily by the John
Templeton Foundation, a group based in Pennsylvania that encourages
the study of spirituality and science. Results will be published next
week in American Heart Journal.
The study was designed as a randomized and blinded trial, meaning that
most patients did not know whether someone was praying for them or
not. Such trials are considered the gold standard for scientific
proof.
More than 1,800 patients were divided into three groups: those who
were told someone was praying for them; those who were told only that
someone might pray for them and got prayers; and those who were told
someone might pray for them but received no prayers. About 65% of the
patients said they strongly believed in the power of prayer.
Two Catholic monasteries and one Protestant group offered the prayers.
They were given patients' first names and the first initial of their
last names. The groups started praying the night before surgery and
continued for two weeks.
All members of the prayer groups recited the same intercession, asking
for "a successful surgery and a quick, healthy recovery and no
complications."
Researchers said they didn't ask family members of the sick people to
stop praying because it would have been unethical to do so, meaning
some people received more prayers than others.
The results showed that prayers had no beneficial effect on patients'
recovery 30 days after surgery. Overall, 59% of patients who knew they
were being prayed for had complications, compared to 51% of the
patients who did not receive prayers. The difference was not
considered 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 others were praying for them.
All groups were just as likely to develop infections or die.
"We conclude that telling people introduces the stress response," said
Dr. Charles Bethea of Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City
and a study researcher.
He surmised that patients thought, "Am I so sick that they had to call
in the prayer team?"
Dr. Richard P. Sloan, a professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia
University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the research,
said the study underscored the futility of trying to measure the power
of prayer.
One problem in the study, he said, was that in addition to the
organized prayer, some patients prayed for themselves and received
prayers from families, friends, people they work with or their
congregations.
"They have absolutely no idea how much prayer individuals in any of
the groups received," Sloan said. "If we can't know that, we can't
draw any conclusions whatsoever about the intervention."
Bob Barth of Silent Unity, the prayer organization in Lee's Summit,
Mo., that was the Protestant group involved in the study, said the
results didn't shake his confidence in prayer. "People of faith don't
need a prayer study to know that prayer works," he said.
But Koenig said clinical trials would never answer that question.
"Science is powerful and wonderful in determining the orbit of the
Earth, the speed of a bullet, the power of a new drug. But now we've
asked science to study something that occurs outside of space and
time.
"This shows you shouldn't try to prove the power of the supernatural,"
he said.
-----
Yang
a.a. #28
AthD (h.c.) conferred by the regents of the LCL
a.a. pastor #-273.15, the most frigid church of Celcius nee Kelvin
EAC Econometric Forecast and Sorcery Division
Proudly plonked by Lani Girl and Crazyalec (aka aka Yang's little poltregeist *****)
The Bush 'balanced' budget: 2 trillion and worsening
The Bush 'economic' policy: 12.5 million FEWER jobs than Clinton and counting
The Bush Iraq lie: -2326 GIs, one friend's co-worker's son and mounting
Having Bush ***** up my country: Worthless
-----
"Ahhhhhh, yessssssss, ummmmmmm - Alito, Alito, Alito"
-duke (duckgumbo@cox.net), aka PedophilEarl J Weber, 59
year old mateless, heirless biological failure
of Afton Oaks Apartment, Baton Rouge,who pussied
out of the Vietnam draft, showing his gay side
despite his avowed anti-gay bigotry
Contact duke's priest and ask
him why duke is such a racist:
http://www.stpatrickbr.org/
Father Gerard "Jerry" Martin
stpatrickbr<AT>bellsouth<DOT>net
Saint Patrick Catholic Church
12424 Brogdon Lane
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70816
.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: Templeton Study: Prayer Does NOT Work (No ***** Sherlock) |
31 Mar 2006 09:37:00 PM |
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Yang, AthD (h.c), Kicking AWOL's Cocaine Snorting ***** wrote:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-prayer31mar31,1,3169049.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
Largest Study of Prayer to Date Finds It Has No Power to Heal
The largest study yet on the therapeutic power of prayer by strangers
has found that it provided no benefit to the recovery of patients who
had 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
<snip>
"I am always a little leery about intercessory prayer," said Marek,
director of chaplain services at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
"What we have in mind for someone else may not be what they have in
mind for themselves.... It is clearly manipulative of divine action and
personal choice."
"You think praying at the Mayo clinic will help people?"
"Hey, I'm just trying to whip up a miracle!"
Sister Carol Rennie, prioress of St. Paul's Monastery in St. Paul,
Minn., whose prayer group participated in the study, said faith
couldn't be scientifically analyzed. "God must be smiling broadly,"
she said. "It tells me, frankly, that God's way of working with people
is a mystery and that technology really can't determine the effects of
prayer."
Translation:
"We know 'god' exists, he just doesn't want to be tested!"
Thursday's study was intended to settle the matter in the most
scientific manner possible. It was funded primarily by the John
Templeton Foundation, a group based in Pennsylvania that encourages
the study of spirituality and science. Results will be published next
week in American Heart Journal.
Simpleton Foundation is more like it.
What do they mean, "Thursday's test"? They did all the prayer,
surgery, and patient recovery in one day?
The study was designed as a randomized and blinded trial, meaning that
most patients did not know whether someone was praying for them or
not. Such trials are considered the gold standard for scientific
proof.
The blind leading the blind trials....
More than 1,800 patients were divided into three groups: those who
were told someone was praying for them; those who were told only that
someone might pray for them and got prayers; and those who were told
someone might pray for them but received no prayers. About 65% of the
patients said they strongly believed in the power of prayer.
If I were a patient, I would tell them to f-f-fade away, or that
I will "pray" that they die by spontaneous decapitation.
Two Catholic monasteries and one Protestant group offered the prayers.
They were given patients' first names and the first initial of their
last names. The groups started praying the night before surgery and
continued for two weeks.
See, there's the problem! The Cultholics didn't improve because
the Prostatents prayed for 'god' to kill them and the Cultholics
prayed for 'god' to kill the Prostatents. That's why patients
got worse, 'god' was intervening. Now do you believe, Yang?
The results showed that prayers had no beneficial effect on patients'
recovery 30 days after surgery. Overall, 59% of patients who knew they
were being prayed for had complications, compared to 51% of the
patients who did not receive prayers. The difference was not
considered statistically significant.
Some scientists claim that a patient's recovery can be tied to
their mental state, that thinking positive helps them do better.
"They're praying for me? Oh no, I must be close to death!"
But Koenig said clinical trials would never answer that question.
"Science is powerful and wonderful in determining the orbit of the
Earth, the speed of a bullet, the power of a new drug. But now we've
asked science to study something that occurs outside of space and
time.
"This shows you shouldn't try to prove the power of the supernatural,"
he said.
"Because we'll just embarass ourselves," he continued.
Bob Dog
-----
"Easily the biggest challenge facing the ID community
is to develop a full-fledged theory of biological
design. We don't have such a theory right now, and
that's a real problem. Without a theory, it's very
hard to know where to direct your research focus."
- Paul Nelson, creationist
and anti-science advocate
"Maybe he needs a new version of the Ten Commandments
-- George W. Bush's Ten Commandments:
Thou shalt not steal...votes.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's...country.
Thou shalt not kill...for oil.
Thou shalt not take grammar...in vain."
- Margaret Cho
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