Complementary Alternative Cardiovascular Medicine

Chapter 9 /Prayer and CVD 147
who rotated the patients in this study were Jewish, Christian, Buddhist,
Native American, and of shamanic traditions and also included “graduates
of secular schools of bioenergetic and meditative healing.” The
patients and their physicians did not know whether they received the
interventions. The group receiving distant healing experienced fewer
hospitalizations with fewer days spent in the hospital, fewer outpatient
doctor visits, fewer new AIDS-defining diseases, and a lower illness
severity level. This group also had significantly improved mood compared
with the control group. There was no difference found in CD4
counts.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing trials of intercessory prayer occurred
in a clinic for women undergoing in vitro fertilization (18). In this study
conducted in Korea, 219 women in a fertility clinic receiving in vitro
fertilization-embryo transfer were randomly assigned to receive either
distant intercessory prayer or no outside prayer in addition to standard
care. In this trial, neither the patients nor their providers were aware that
a trial was being conducted; therfore, informed consent was not obtained.
As with the Harris study noted above, the hospital’s IRB agreed to the
protocol, given the apparent lack of potential harm. To conduct the study,
patient photographs were e-mailed to a central location in the United
States, where the randomization was performed. This study used a twotiered
system of prayer—the first group of intercessors prayed for a
successful pregnancy for the patients to whom they were assigned,
whereas a second group prayed for the success of the first group’s prayers,
as “prayer amplifiers.”
The results of this study were striking—the group receiving the prayer
intervention had a significantly higher pregnancy rate compared to the
controls (50% vs 26%, p = 0.0013). The implantation rate of embryos
was also significantly higher in the patients receiving prayer (16.3% vs
8%, p = 0.0005). The authors had no other explanations to account for
their findings and suggested a repeat study to validate their results.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN HEALING PRAYER STUDIES
Although the application of prayer for healing purposes is an ancient
cultural practice in traditions throughout the world, the scientific literature
addressing this area can only be regarded as immature. There is no
definitive weight of evidence that could support changes in practice
standards or guidelines in cardiology or any other medical discipline.
With any newly evolving area of medical research, one of the first points
of concentration in planning future clinical trials is the development of
well-defined, common nomenclature for key descriptors, methodologic
variables, and end-point measures.