Say Two Hail Marys, and Call Me in the Morning
Religion seems to boost some patients' health. But not all doctors see a role for faith in medicine
Reader Comments
Spirituality and medicine
Whcih God? What kind of prayer? How is "spirituality" defined? Many questions still remain unanswered. All that the studies quoted show is that positive expectation may benfit patients which is already known the doctors.
Dr. T.Sudhakar Bhat
Meditation, the Brain and Claims to Spirituality
Thanks for the article! Now let's connect the dots between the rhetoric and practices of neuroscience and rhetoric and practices of spiritual practice as noted by ethnoographers. Decades of scientific and ethnographic research have shown respective relevance of meditation and "immersive" or "focused" attention practices in Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Islamic and Christian monastic communities.
May I suggest that we take a whole-systems approach to addressing the issue, avoiding the dualistic and reductive materialist pitfalls of previous centuries? If 21st century technologies of systems science can teach us anything, all cultural practices, be they medical, neuropsychological, spiritual or religious point the way to understanding the inter-relationship of brain, mind, body and "soul."
A hot button topic that will no doubt stay in the position of "on."
Synaptically yours,
M. A. Greenstein, Ph.D., R.Y.T.
The George Greenstein Institute, creating a sustainable future by coaching bodies, brains and minds!
www.bodiesinspace.com
Offensive title
I agree with Goscienski in that you don't need to be crude in your choice of title.
Citations needed
The assertion that there are studies which support this view are absent. To my knowledge there are no such studies performed with scientific rigor supporting it. No doubt there is anecdotal evidence, such as the subject of this article, but it only proves that a person of unquestioning faith is not a reliable factual source. Ask the question, why did this person contract the condition in the first place?
Religion & Health
Your article is balanced but I find the article title offensive. Please don't mock what many millions of us hold sacred.
