Clinical Study Considers The Power Of Prayer To Combat COVID-19 Facebook Twitter Flipboard Email

[brooklynite]

NPR

No vaccine or effective treatment has yet been found for people suffering from COVID-19. Under the circumstances, a physician in Kansas City wonders whether prayer might make a difference, and he has launched a scientific study to find out.

"It has to be a true supernatural intervention," says Dr. Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy.

A cardiologist at the Kansas City Heart Rhythm Institute, Lakkireddy is the principal investigator in a clinical trial involving 1000 patients with COVID-19 infections severe enough that they require intensive care.

The four-month study, launched on May 1, will investigate "the role of remote intercessory multi-denominational prayer on clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients," according to a description provided to the National Institutes of Health. Half of the patients, randomly chosen, will receive a "universal" prayer offered in five denominational forms, via Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism. The other 500 patients will constitute the control group. All the patients will receive the standard of care prescribed by their medical providers. Lakkireddy has assembled a steering committee of medical professionals to oversee the study.

"We all believe in science, and we also believe in faith," Lakkireddy says. "If there is a supernatural power, which a lot of us believe, would that power of prayer and divine intervention change the outcomes in a concerted fashion? That was our question."

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. wow. mega thoughts and prayers.

more than half of the country has been praying away trump for more than 3 years. no such luck.

[Butterflylady]

7. Absolutely

I've been thinking that for a long time.

[The Magistrate]

2. It May Keep Some Off The Streets And Out Of Mischief, Sir

That is to the good, I expect....


"One is often told it is wrong to attack religion, because it makes men virtuous. So I am told; I have not noticed it."

[totodeinhere]

3. If you believe in prayer and you think it makes you feel better then I'm all for it.

It could have some sort of placebo effect for some people. But please don't try to shove your religion down my throat and don't try to impose your morals on me in case I believe in socially liberal concepts such as a woman's right to choose and gay marriage.

[safeinOhio]

4. Be careful what you study.

If the results show a negative results for prayer, what then?

[brooklynite]

5. God works in mysterious ways.....

[Hav]

6. At least all are receiving the standard medical care

I was afraid for a moment that praying would be used instead of real care.

Also, this isn't a blind study, let alone a double blind study. Not sure how personal attitude and feelings affect outcomes of virus infections and how they measure the success but there are obvious reasons why studies often don't tell you whether you got the treatment that is tested for or not.

[hlthe2b]

8. Will to live in the individual is a very strong "mind over matter" influencer for health & survival

So, if a given "believer" in prayer is aware those around them are praying for them one has to believe that likely makes some difference. Just as someone who believes they are receiving effective medicine can respond, even though they are actually receiving a placebo.

SO, no. I don't think this is going to be readily "teased out" in any kind of scientific study. That said, the oath is to "first do no harm." Thus if it helps and doesn't hurt please proceed.

[Voltaire2]

10. When tested, that group had slightly worse outcomes

Not enough to be significant though. Look up Templeton Foundation intercessory prayer

Here for example: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/no-prayer-prescription/

[Voltaire2]

9. Study already conducted a long time ago.

The Templeton Foundation, hoping to prove that god answers prayers, instead proved that the only even remotely significant effect was a slight decrease in positive outcomes in the test group that knew they were being prayed for. Groups that didn’t know were they were being prayed for were no different than groups that weren’t being prayed for.