Studies yield a variety of findings about the benefits of prayer – and intercessory prayer

In a study conducted by Duke University Medical Center of 150 patients who had undergone angioplasty between 1997 and 1998, patients who received alternative therapy following angioplasty were 25 percent to 30 percent less likely to suffer complications and "those who received intercessory prayer had the greatest success rate." The intercessory prayer was provided by seven prayer groups of varying denominations around the world. Dr Harold Koenig, associate professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center, says: "Some of the greatest scientific achievements have come from those who step outside of the box and I believe that is what this study does. The results tend to lean toward prayer helping people, but more study is needed."

However, another study conducted at Duke University two years later and involving 750 patients who underwent heart surgery contradicted those earlier findings. Before their operations, group participants were randomly split in two, with only half being prayed for by a variety of religious groups, including Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Muslins. Prayer teams were alerted by email to start intercessory prayer as soon as possible after the patient was enrolled in the trial. Patients were followed up for six months after having undergone the angioplasty procedure. The effects of prayer in participants were found to make no difference. This was the largest study ever conducted on the effects of prayer on patients undergoing heart surgery.

In an attempt to determine which, if any religious practices influence well being, psychologists from Sheffield Hallam University conducted a different type of prayer study involving 251 men and 223 women between the ages of 18 and 29. For the study, they measured participants' reasons for having a religious belief, their church attendance and their tendency for having depression. They found that in both men and women, the frequency with which they prayed closely correlated with their having fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety. In addition, those who incorporated prayer into their lives not only were less likely to be mentally ill, but they had considerably higher self-esteem. Those in the study who attended church for social reasons only tended to be more depressed. The findings, suggested researchers in the British Journal of Health Psychology, "would appear to support the view that a religious coping model is integral to the understanding of the relationship between religiosity and psychological well-being."

News Release: Heart patients benefit from prayer   www.news.bbc.co.uk

News Release: No health benefit from prayer   www.news.bbc.co.uk

News Release: Praying aids mental health  www.news.bbc.co.uk