By its very nature we commonly assume that "faith" cannot be proven or disproven by science however, intriguing clinical research has been carried out by Mitchell Krucoff, M.D., and Suzanne Crater, N.P., at Duke University Medical Center.
In their study, Krucoff and Crater researched patients with heart disease. The level of each patient's spirituality was evaluated through assessment tools. Some patients received only standard medical therapy. Others received standard therapy along with therapies from various fields of alternative medicine. A final group of patients received the standard therapy and were prayed for by prayer groups including Carmelite nuns near Baltimore. None of the groups knew that prayers were being said for them to avoid any argument as to a "placebo affect".
Measured against the standard therapy only group, the group being prayed for experienced a 50 to 100 percent reduction in diverse outcomea. Patients strongly involved in a faith community did better than those who were not regardless of the therapy received. Patients not rooted in a faith community had better outcomes when they were prayed for than when they were not. Patients who prayed on their own at least once a day or who considered faith important in their lives also had better outcomes when receiving alternative therapies.
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