(HealthDay News) The experiences of [24] Mozambicans, part of a study…, suggest to the researchers that "proximal intercessory prayer (PIP)" -- in which the healer is in close proximity to the patient, often touching or hugging him or her -- may be a useful complement to Western medical practice.
In this study, the degree of improvement seen in people with vision and hearing impairments was more than that seen previously in hypnosis and suggestion studies, the team noted.
And while they don't discount that much of the results may stem from a placebo effect, benefits did seem to occur in some individuals…
Although these authors did not look at the why's of healing prayer, a number of hypotheses are circulating as to how it could be beneficial.
"Placebo effects are certainly the best known of these kinds of mind-body interactions that take place," [study lead author Candy Gunther] Brown said. The effects could also be attributable to subjects being more motivated simply because they are being studied.
One physician believes prayer may have some as-yet-unexplained power to heal.
Community: As I keep saying, the placebo effect is very powerful, and, like the shamans and medicine men of yore, we should learn how to use it to aid in healing.
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Please do not give advice. We can best help each other by telling what works for us, not what we think someone else should do.