The study you refer to is the one entitled âPositive Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer in a Coronary Care Unit Populationâ by Randolph Byrd, M.D., published in the Southern Medical Journal, July 1988. Dr. Byrd.
This study has been rejected as invalid for several reasons.
A big one being that the process they followed was flawed
and the study was not actually double blind.
Furthermore, the study has never been successfully
replicated by another group. The newer Harris study attempted
to and failed.
Even Dossey admitted:
"Do we know any more about the possible effects of prayer from this experiment? I am afraid the answer may be no."
Even more troublesome is the following:
When Irwin Tessman, Ph.D., professor of biological sciences at Purdue University, requested of Dr. Byrd that Dr. Tessman be allowed to review the raw data that went into the study, he was refused. Since Dr. Byrdâs claim is one of the supernatural, it would seem appropriate that all aspects of the study be reviewed by independent investigators.
Something smell fishy? Ugghhh yeah
These studies, to my knowledge, have all been debunked
and rejected on the basis of flawed process, flawed
statistics, and at least in one case, outright FRAUD.
If you have links to any actual study which has been
validated by the medical community (replicated and proven sound), please let us know.
I am aware of no such study.
The power of "extraneous" prayer to date has not been proven
or accepted by medical science.
Now I need to make an important distinction here.
The above studies are about people being prayed for
BY OTHER PEOPLE without their knowledge.
Prayer by people, for themselves, and by their loved ones,
I believe can have a very real positive biological effect on them.
But this is explainable without the need of supernatural beings.
The effects of the placebo effect and positive thought in general,
and their effects on health are pretty well documented.
Some reading:
http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/avalos_17_3.html
http://members.aol.com/garypos/medicine.html
peace
axeman