Originally published June 15 2005
Medical researchers study the power of prayer
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Prayer has long been said to soothe the spirit, but an article on the Marshfield News Herald website states recent medical research suggests prayer can benefit physical health as well.
Some medical research supports what the faithful have long believed - prayer not only can help heal the sick and soothe the spirit, it may also prevent health problems.
Throughout the United States, about 45 percent of the adult population prayed for health in 2002, according to estimates released last year by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Whether praying for herself or others, 59-year-old Karen Mitchell, a nurse practitioner at Marshfield Clinic, said a day doesn't go by without it.
Dr. Qasim Raza of Marshfield joins other Muslims throughout the world who are required by their religious beliefs to pray five times daily.
Raza, president of the Marshfield-based Islamic Society of Central Wisconsin, said that during prayer the troubles of life dissolve and a person is connected to the supreme being, or Allah.
In medical classification, prayer is part of research supported by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a division of the National Institutes of Health that examines a broad range of therapies and beliefs previously considered separate from traditional medicine, such as prayer, meditation, acupuncture or herbal remedies.
Researchers have unearthed a growing body of evidence linking the body and mind, and through "mind-body medicine," which includes prayer, the NCCAM is continuing to study spirituality and its potential effect on physical mechanisms in combination with traditional medicine.
"Maybe I'm in a situation where I need help from the outside in what I can do, and when I ask God to help me, God does," said John Freel, senior pastor of the Believers Church in Marshfield.
As a nurse practitioner, she will act as a medical provider for an orphanage, as well as work at a clinic for Missionary Health Service, both about a half hour from Trujillo.
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