prayer proven effective?

here

My sis sent me this article 
about a study conducted on heart patients in Kansas City.  A group of 990 patients with varying heart conditions were divided into two groups, one  unknowingly prayed for and one not.  Those that were prayed for suffered less complications with their illnesses.

I looked up the original research in Archives of Internal Medicine (which I can't link you to since I had to use my student ID to view it), and found that the patients who were prayed for had an 11%  lower CCU score, aka better heart health. The CCU score took into account the severity of the condition, complications after the procedure, and other measures of health.

The "intercessors" were from varying denominations of Christianity, and had to make a statement of their faith in God.


I was annoyed by the study (as a scientist), because they didn't (or couldn't) control all outside variables.  There was no way of knowing whether outside people were praying for group that was not supposed to be receiving prayer.  Because they people were not aware that they were in a study, there was no way of knowing what the religious preferences of the patient would be.

Despite this, I thought it was an interesting concept to study, and when I searched in the database, I found lots of studies on the efficacy of prayer. I certainly don't think that you can prove God with science, that would defeat the point of faith; however, I think it's a pretty cool idea that science could point to the existence of a higher power. Or at the very least, say that you can't disprove God with science. 

Hmmmm.

 Update: I CAN link you the article. sweet