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 This is Topic: Spirit in the Health SciencesFollowing are the News Items published under this Topic.
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 Divine Healing: 500 Doctors from 26 Countries Gather to Present Evidence of Divine Healing
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More than 500 physicians from 26 countries gathered June 1-2 for a conference at the Grand Convention Center, Cebu City, the Philippines, in which medical doctors from around the world presented scientific evidence of divine healing.
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Published Jun 09, 2006 - 08:39 PM
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Going to church may extend life
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Weekly religious attendance could add years to your life, according to a medical study carried out in the US.
The effects of exercise, religious attendance and anti-cholesterol drugs on life expectancy were examined.
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Published Apr 05, 2006 - 02:00 PM
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Spirituality, hope linked to longevity, health
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"Spirituality is where people find meaning in their life. It's something higher than themselves, though not necessarily attached to religion," said Patricia Megregian, a board-certified chaplain and executive director of the Integrative Medicine Initiative at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
"Spirituality is what brings you peace and safety. It could be God or Goddess, or nature. Some people feel it with a beautiful sunset. Some people get it from meditation. For some, it's from their community. It's a feeling that you're connected to something greater, something larger than [yourself]. For some, that comes from their family," she said.
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Published Mar 28, 2006 - 01:55 PM
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Your Doctor May Be More Religious Than You Think
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University of Chicago researcher Dr. Farr Curlin, an assistant professor of internal medicine and his fellow researchers surveyed 1,260 practicing physicians in the United States. They found that 76 percent of the doctors believe in God, and 59 percent believe in some sort of afterlife. The researchers also found that 90 percent of the doctors attend religious services at least occasionally, compared to 81 percent of adults in the general population. And 55 percent said their religious beliefs influence how they practice medicine.
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Published Mar 19, 2006 - 06:24 PM
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Marital Squabbles Can Harm Your Health
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A word of caution for couples who routinely communicate through a sharp word and a slammed door: A bad marriage is bad for your health.
A new study suggests that spouses engaged in hostile relationships have consistently elevated stress levels that significantly impede their bodies' wound-healing capacity.
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Published Dec 07, 2005 - 03:49 AM
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Does prayer heal?
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Science looks at the role faith plays in maintaining good health
For thousands of years, spiritual leaders and healers were one and the same. Religious orders founded the first hospitals, and it wasn't until the 1800s that medical science finally broke free of faith. But the separation of body and spirit was pursued vigorously by medical science as it advanced. Sigmund Freud went so far as to compare religion to a neurosis.
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Published Nov 18, 2005 - 03:34 PM
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Is prayer effective as a painkiller?
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Americans have found a no-cost painkiller they say is as effective as prescription drugs: prayer.
More than half of those who responded to a USA TODAY/ABC News/Stanford University Medical Center poll released Monday say they use prayer to control pain. Of those,
- 90% say it worked well, and
- 51% say "very well."
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Published Aug 12, 2005 - 02:33 PM
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Balance of power between doctors and patients has been shifting
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Many US doctors believe that the religious convictions of their patients should outweigh their own professional advice when it comes to making certain medical decisions. When the patient is a child, however, a large majority of doctors say that they, and not the child's guardian, should have the final say, regardless of the guardian's religious beliefs.
These findings and others come from a survey of 794 physicians nationwide who answered various questions about religion and its effect on healthcare in the United States in an August poll.
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Published Aug 11, 2005 - 02:55 PM
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Survey Shows That Physicians Are More Religious Than Expected
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The first study of physician religious beliefs has found that 76 percent of doctors believe in God and 59 percent believe in some sort of afterlife. The survey, performed by researchers at the University of Chicago and published (early online) in the July 2005 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, found that 90 percent of doctors in the United States attend religious services at least occasionally, compared to 81 percent of all adults. Fifty-five percent of doctors say their religious beliefs influence how they practice medicine.
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Published Aug 02, 2005 - 04:29 PM
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Prayer, Noetic Studies Feasible; Results Indicate Benefit to Heart Patients
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Cardiac patients who received intercessory prayer in addition to coronary stenting appeared to have better clinical outcomes than those treated with standard stenting therapy alone, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center.
Their results further suggest that using rigorous scientific methods to study the therapeutic value of prayer and other noetic interventions appears feasible and warrants larger-scale, more definitive investigations. Noetic interventions are defined as "a healing influence performed without the use of a drug, device or surgical procedure," said the researchers.
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Published Jul 05, 2005 - 05:32 PM
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Survey: Most U.S. Doctors Believe in God
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A survey examining religion in medicine found that most U.S. doctors believe in God and an afterlife - a surprising degree of spirituality in a science-based field, researchers say.
In the survey 76 percent said they believe in God, 59 percent said they believe in some sort of afterlife, and 55 percent said their religious beliefs influence how they practice medicine.
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Published Jun 23, 2005 - 02:23 PM
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Prayer Effective As Painkiller?
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Americans have found a no-cost painkiller they say is as effective as prescription drugs: prayer.
More than half of those who responded to a USA TODAY/ABC News/Stanford University Medical Center poll released Monday say they use prayer to control pain. Of those, 90% say it worked well, and 51% say "very well."
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Published May 10, 2005 - 10:30 PM
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Meditation 'leads to longer life'
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The American Journal of Cardiology reports in its May 2, 2005, issue that the Transcendental Meditation technique, a non-drug stress-reduction method, reduces death rates by 23% and extends lifespan.
The first-of-its-kind, long-term, randomized trial evaluated 202 men and women, average age 71, who had mildly elevated blood pressure. Subjects in the study participated in the Transcendental Meditation program; behavioral techniques, such as mindfulness or progressive muscle relaxation; or health education. The study tracked subjects for up to 18 years. Vital statistics were obtained from the National Death Index.
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Published May 02, 2005 - 04:03 PM
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Happy People Make for Healthy People
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(HealthDay News) -- Drop in stress hormone tied to reduced disease risk, study suggests.
A happy camper is a healthy camper, say British researchers who have unearthed evidence of a biological connection between a positive sense of well-being and reduced risk for disease among middle-aged men and women.
In this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the authors report that simply being happy -- at work and at play -- is directly related with specific bodily functions that protect against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autoimmune deficiencies and stress-related illnesses.
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Published Apr 19, 2005 - 04:03 PM
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Spirituality May Slow Alzheimer's
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A rewarding spiritual life may help slow the devastation of Alzheimer's disease.
"The data suggest there may be an association, meaning people with higher levels of spirituality and religiosity have a slower progression of Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Yakir Kaufman, director of neurology services at Sarah Herzog Memorial Hospital in Jerusalem.
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Published Apr 14, 2005 - 06:16 PM
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Does belief in God affect health?
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A belief in God may improve a person's physical health, according to University of Chicago researchers who are launching the first comprehensive study to examine the relationship between religious attitudes and health.
Among the researchers' initial discoveries is that African Americans who say they have a strong relationship with God were significantly less likely to report depressive symptoms than those who did not. Among white participants in the study, there was very little impact of religious belief and reported depression.
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Published Apr 14, 2005 - 06:11 PM
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Dose of spirituality has healthful effect
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A variety of studies suggest that emotional happiness, including the kind often found among members of spiritual and religious communities, bolsters the immune system against the flu, colds, and other illnesses.
Among the apostles of spirituality in healthcare is the New England School of Whole Health Education, hidden in a shoe box of an alley in Wellesley. School founder Georgianna Donadio stresses the emotional and spiritual aspects of health. Mixed in the curriculum with ''Anatomy & Physiology," ''Applied Nutrition," and other traditional-sounding courses are offerings that examine major world religions, how they share a version of the Golden Rule, and why it's good for health.
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Published Feb 12, 2005 - 06:23 PM
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Don't worry, it's not hard to be happy
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The trouble with the happiness question is that it is unclear what it means. Is generally being in a good mood enough? Is it about everything going just the way you want in your life? Is it having good health, a roof over your head and people who care about you? What about having a sense of purpose and meaning in your life? What if you have all of the above but you are still feeling sad and guilty because you feel that most people in the world don't have what you have?
Studies generally have found that people who say they're happy have strong ties to family and friends and a spirituality that feeds them.
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Published Feb 12, 2005 - 06:19 PM
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Doctors often operate on faith
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A national survey of nearly 1,100 physicians offers a couple of revelations about doctors' views on faith, prayer and miracles.
First, it shows that physicians -- although educated in the empirical sciences -- are far more religious personally and more open professionally to the possibility of divine intervention than you might expect.
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Published Feb 12, 2005 - 06:14 PM
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Self-denial: Is it good for you?
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The start of Lent on Wednesday is the signal for many to give up anything from chocolate cake to cigarettes. But does this sort of sacrifice have any benefit? A few experts give their views.
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Published Feb 07, 2005 - 02:48 PM
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Can faith help the aged?
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A recent study completed at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto suggests that the rate of decline in patients with Alzheimer's disease is slower among those patients who have high levels of spirituality and private religious practices than in those who do not have spiritual beliefs.
The study was led by Yakir Kaufman of the Behavioural Neurology Program and the Rotman Research Institute, both at the Baycrest, and was presented at the 129th Annual Meeting of the American Neurological Association Convention in Toronto last fall.
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Published Jan 23, 2005 - 05:21 PM
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Is God an Anti-Depressant?
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Is there a secret weapon against depression? Research suggests it might be religion. Studies show that people who practice some sort of religion are happier and less stressed out than those who don't.
Those findings come as no surprise to Dr. Harold Koenig, a psychologist and co-director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at Duke University, who says there are a number of factors that contribute to religious people being happier.
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Published Jan 23, 2005 - 05:14 PM
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Brain scans aim to test 'faith factor' in coping with pain
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People who believe in God appear to fare better and survive longer in times of adversity, research has shown.
Now volunteers are to undergo brain scans to establish whether there really is a "faith factor".
A study to shed light on what goes on in the mind during a standardised form of suffering will be conducted at the new Oxford Centre for the Science of the Mind.
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Published Jan 13, 2005 - 02:47 PM
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The Health Benefits of Forgiveness
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Scientific study reveals serious mental, emotional and physical consequences of an unforgiving heart.
To forgive is human. It's just very hard. People are wired to respond with anger, hold grudges and seek revenge; and in spite of the teachings of religions, victims of wrongdoing usually do all three.
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Published Jan 10, 2005 - 02:23 PM
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Science or Miracle?; Holiday Season Survey Reveals Physicians' Views of Faith, Prayer and Miracles
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A national survey of 1,100 physicians, conducted by HCD Research and the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies of The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City over the past weekend, found that 74% of doctors believe that miracles have occurred in the past and 73% believe that can occur today.
The poll also indicated that American physicians are surprisingly religious, with 72% indicating they believe that religion provides a reliable and necessary guide to life.
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Published Dec 21, 2004 - 06:21 PM
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Study: Married Adults Healthier Than Most
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Confirming what many couples already knew, a government study from the National Center for Health Statistics concludes it's healthy to be married.
"Overall, this association between marital status and health persists regardless of socio-economic status, education and poverty, where people were born or their ethnicity," health statistician Charlotte Schoenborn said.
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Published Dec 16, 2004 - 02:56 PM
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Tips to Help Maintain a Healthy Brain
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While National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month is recognized each November, making lifestyle choices that can help maintain a robust and healthy brain is something that should be important all year long.
Over 4.5 million people in the United States have Alzheimer's disease, and 19 million have a family member who suffers from the disease. "Practically everyone in America knows someone who either has the disease or has a loved one afflicted with the disease," said Dr. Sandra Timmermann, gerontologist and Director of MetLife's Mature Market Institute. "About one in ten people over the age of 65 has Alzheimer's, and the percentages rise dramatically with age; the disease affects up to fifty percent of people over the age of 85. This has profound economic and emotional effects on our society."
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Published Dec 01, 2004 - 02:16 PM
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Healthy Diet: The Secret to a Healthier Diet Might Be at Church
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Are you searching for another reason to become active in your church besides spiritual sustenance? Researchers at Saint Louis University School of Public Health have discovered a link between church involvement and eating the fruits and veggies that are best for you.
"We’re saying church membership or having that church community is one of the key links in the long chain of social support structures that help people eat better," says Deidre Griffith, the Saint Louis University researcher who will be presenting the information at the American Public Health Association conference in early November.
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Published Nov 15, 2004 - 04:39 PM
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Optimism May Make for a Longer Life
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Older adults with a bright outlook on the future may live longer than those who take a dimmer view, a study out Monday suggests.
Researchers in the Netherlands found that older men and women judged to have optimistic personalities were less likely to die over the nine-year study period than those with pessimistic dispositions.
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Published Nov 02, 2004 - 03:02 PM
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Practicing faith keeps seniors out of rest homes
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People older than 50 who had strong religious or spiritual practices were less likely to enter a nursing home.
The study of 811 older patients found that those who reported the most religious activities and spiritual practices spent less time in nursing homes or rehabilitation centers.
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Published Oct 20, 2004 - 04:01 PM
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