While still a very controversial topic, the influence of religion on health is being more and more openly discussed in the medical world. Many doctors believe that a higher power intervenes on behalf of patients, and that miracles do happen. If you want to discuss religion with your doctor, it may not be as taboo a subject as it seems.
A survey of over 1,000 physicians asked questions about how religion impacts health and health care. The findings are surprising in showing how widespread the belief that religion can alter the course of illness is among physicians.
More than half (54%) of the doctors said that God sometimes acts to affect a person’s health, and 33% said that spirituality and religion can help prevent heart attacks, infections and other specific medical problems. Only 1% thought religion was negative, and 2% thought is was neutral.
Not surprisingly, the responses were related to the physicians’ own religious beliefs. Doctors who were very religious were about 7 times more likely to believe that religion could influence health.
Source(s): Farr A. Curlin; Sarah A. Sellergren; John D. Lantos; Marshall H. Chin. Physicians' Observations and Interpretations of the Influence of Religion and Spirituality on Health. Arch Intern Med. 2007.
