The Healing Power of Prayer Is Tested by Science

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

The Healing Power of Prayer Is Tested by Science

Wall Street Journal (12/20/95) P. B1
Pereira, Joseph

Researchers across the country are trying to determine what effect prayer has on healing. Critics, however, are outraged that public funds are being spent on such studies. Interest in prayer was boosted in the mid-1980s, when a study of nearly 400 coronary patients found that the prayed-for group was much less likely to require drugs or develop fluid in the lungs. One current AIDS experiment involves 20 praying people who were asked to "send intentions" from such cities as New York and Washington, D.C. Ten members of that group received intentions, while the remaining 10 did not. The researchers are looking for unusual changes in T-cell levels to determine prayer's effect on the advanced AIDS patients. The study is being sponsored by the Noetic Sciences Institute in Sausalito, Calif.

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