Spirituality and Health 

by Larry Dossey, MD

         Throughout human history, spirituality - the sense of being connected with a power and presence greater than one's individual self -has provided people who are coping with illness a source of strength. Today, medical research is affirming these benefits. In fact, 60 of the nation's 125 medical schools currently have courses exploring the relationship between spirituality and health.

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Twenty years ago, Dr. Jeffrey S. Levin, an epidemiologist whose research was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, uncovered more than 200 studies that had lain on the sidelines of medical research for years, which dealt with this subject. Levin found a consistent trend: on average, individuals who followed some sort of spiritual path in their life - it did not seem to matter which religion was involved - lived longer and enjoyed better health in the process.

An example of a study confirming these benefits is that of Dr. Thomas Oxman and his colleagues at Dartmouth School of Medicine. They followed individuals undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery and found that those who had a place in their life for religious meaning and spiritual values were more likely to survive surgery and have a good post-op course.

How does spirituality affect our health? Some of the effects are relatively straightforward. For example, many religions advocate wise health practices such as not smoking or consuming alcohol. Religious devotion also promotes social interaction through attending worship services, and being socially connected has been proved to have positive health benefits.

Religious faith also provides meaning and purpose to your life, which contribute to health.

Specific religious practices are also healthy. For instance, when we sit quietly in prayer and meditation, our blood pressure and heart rate diminish, and stress levels decline.

Prayer is found in perhaps all spiritual traditions. When someone prays for you, can it help? Several studies in recent years suggest that the answer is "yes."

In 1998 Dr. Elisabeth Targ and her colleagues at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine did two studies assessing the role of "distant healing" in persons with advanced AIDS. The subjects were assigned randomly to either the distant healing or control group, and no one knew who was in which group. All individuals were treated with standard medical treatments. The results showed that those who received distant healing, which often took the form of prayer, did much better on average - a lower fatality rate, fewer and shorter hospitalizations, and a higher quality of life.

In 1999, Dr. William Harris and his colleagues at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, examined whether intercessory prayer could affect the course of almost a thousand individuals in the coronary care unit.

Like the AIDS study, this was a double-blind test, meaning that no one knew who was and who was not receiving prayer. The prayed-for heart patients, like the prayed-for individuals with AIDS, did better on average than those not receiving prayer.

Is it time to bring spirituality and prayer back into medicine alongside drugs and surgery? Most people do believe so. In a survey, Dr. Dana King and his colleagues asked hospitalized persons whether they believed their doctor should be concerned about their spiritual welfare. Seventy-five percent said yes, and 50 percent said they wanted their doctor to pray not only for them but with them.

Some people, however, believe that spirituality and medicine don't mix.

They worry that people may think they developed a disease as punishment for sin. Others warn that spirituality may be cheapened by being viewed as merely another tool in the doctor's black bag -- the latest penicillin or aspirin. Some fret that doctors may evangelize sick persons. Others say that religion and spirituality are such private matters that they are none of the physician's business. All these concerns should be taken seriously, but if we physicians are sensitive and considerate these pitfalls can be avoided . After all, these issues are not new.

A decade ago many physicians were opposed to inquiring about the sexual practices of their patients because they felt this area was utterly private. But with the epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases we physicians changed our attitude. Today we've learned to deal with sexual issues with skill and gentleness, and we can do the same with spirituality.

I once took care of a cancer survivor who blessed her chemotherapy before she took it, and she prayed for her surgeon prior to her operation. Her attitude shows that we do not have to choose sides between medical science and spirituality. Conventional therapy and spirituality can be used in harmony - a "both/and," not an "either/or," approach.

Courtesy of Coping ® Magazine, July/August, © 2000, Media America Productions, All Rights Reserved.