what's clinically significant to you? Personally, 65% more likely to be alive would look pretty good to me ...
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2005-07-15T172140Z_01_B232717_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-HEALING-TOUCH-DC.XML Dana Healing touch, music, aids heart surgery patients Fri Jul 15, 2005 6:21 PM BST Printer Friendly | Email Article | RSS By Alison McCook NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who learned about relaxed breathing and received soothing touch and music before heart surgery were more likely to be alive 6 months after the procedure, suggesting that these additional steps help speed recovery, according to a study released today. People who were prayed for off-site, however, fared no better after their heart procedures, according to a report in The Lancet. Study author Dr. Mitchell W. Krucoff told Reuters Health that this study is an "early step," and researchers still have a lot to learn about how to integrate high-tech approaches to medicine with "the rest of the human being." "This is not 'God failed the test,' or 'God passed the test,"' Krucoff, from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, told Reuters Health. "It's way too early." During the study, Krucoff and his colleagues assigned 748 patients undergoing heart surgery to receive either off-site prayer from congregations of various religions, or music, imagery and touch therapy, also called MIT, or no intervention. Patients did not know if they were being prayed for. Before surgery, as part of MIT, people trained in "healing touch" put their hands in specific places on patients' bodies, designed to shift energy around the body and promote healing. Patients also listened to their choice of soothing music, which included approximately 10 minutes of guided imagery. They learned about deep breathing, which they were told to continue during the procedure, for which they were awake. People who were prayed for appeared to fare no better after the heart procedure, and neither prayer nor MIT therapy had any effect on patients' risk of in-hospital heart events or readmission to the hospital within 6 months. However, those who received MIT were 65 percent less likely to die within the following 6 months than people who did not receive the intervention. In addition, MIT-users experienced a "profound" decrease in emotional distress before the procedure, relative to non-MIT-users, Krucoff said in an interview. Previous research shows that stress can increase inflammation throughout the body, which can interfere with healing after heart surgery, Krucoff noted. It's possible that, by reducing patients' anxieties about surgery, MIT assists in their recovery, he added. In addition, patients given MIT may simply feel more cared for when they receive extra attention from the music, touching and imagery, and that may help in their recovery, Krucoff noted. "We have no idea what mechanisms are there," he said. In an accompanying editorial, the journal notes that studying prayer and alternative therapies "are proper subjects for science, even while transcending its known bounds." SOURCE: The Lancet, July 16, 2005. On 7/15/05, Larry C. Lyons <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Nope no effect according to this double blind study. Not after the > hear cathereterization nor for the six month followup. The meditation, > imagery and therapy group showed a slightly decreased mortality rate, > but while it was statistically significant, it was not clinically > significant. > > larry > > On 7/15/05, Sam <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > So praying for strangers doesn't work? > > > > On 7/15/05, Larry C. Lyons wrote: > > > Interesting study released in the Lancet today > > > > > > Although prayer did not influence outcome, if the patient received > > > what was called music imagery and touch therapy were more relaxed > > > prior to the procedure, they did no better than controls on measures > > > of major heart problems or being readmitted to the hospital. However > > > the MIT treated patients have a lower risk of death at a six month > > > follow-up. > > > > > > http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/InterventionalCardiology/tb/1362 > > > > > > from the site: > > > > > > Review > > > DURHAM, N.C. July 14-Can prayers for divine intervention affect the > > > outcomes of cardiac interventions? God only knows. > > > > > > That's the dispassionate, science-based conclusion of investigators in > > > the multicenter MANTRA II trial, a study looking at the effects of > > > distant prayer and of combined music, imagery, and touch therapy on > > > patients scheduled to undergo cardiac catheterization. It was > > > published in the July 16 issue of The Lancet. > > > > > > In a study involving 748 patients at eight centers slated for > > > catheterizations, patients who, unbeknownst to them, were randomly > > > assigned to be the subjects of multi-faith prayers before their > > > procedures, fared no better than controls (un-prayed for) patients, > > > reported Mitchell W. Krucoff, M.D. of the Duke Clinical Research > > > Institute here and colleagues. > > > > > > In addition to seeing no effect of prayer, they found that patients > > > who were randomly assigned to receive music, imagery and touch therapy > > > shortly before their scheduled procedures reported having lower stress > > > going into the procedure. Yet they did no better than controls on > > > measures of major cardiovascular events or hospital readmission, > > > although treated patients have a lower risk of death at a six month > > > follow-up. > > > > > > > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:164997 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
