Although most research studying the impact of psychological factors on immune function is fairly recent, the mind body connection between some physical disorders has been extensively studied. In many instances, a relationship has been found between psychological or social factors and the origin and exacerbation of these conditions.[1]

The possibility of influencing health with our minds and spiritual beliefs resonates well with the individualism of American culture. Prayer, spirituality, and mind body efforts are popular and are moving from the realm of the unconventional into mainstream medicine.[2]

Ninety-nine percent of doctors believe there is an important relationship between the spirit and the flesh, according to [a 1996 American Academy of Family Physicans] survey....

In a California study of prayer's effects on recovery from heart problems, half the nearly 400 subjects were the subjects of prayers by Christians, while the others received no known prayers from anyone affiliated with the study. Neither group was told about the prayers.

The patients who received prayers had half as many complications as those who didn't and had a lower rate of congestive heart failure, [professor at Georgetown Medical School Dale] Matthews said.

A second study, by Dartmouth Medical School, tracked how patients' own prayers helped them recover from bypass surgery.  The death rate after six months was 9 percent, Matthews said.  For churchgoers, however, the rate dropped to 5 percent.  None of the deeply religious patients died during that period....

Amen, say proponents of faith healing.[3]

At California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, Elizabeth Targ, M.D., is overseeing a national study to determine the effect of remote prayer on healing AIDS patients.  A previous study showed results that were promising enough to warrant further research.[4]

[1] David Sue, Derald Sue, & Stanley Sue, Understanding Abnormal Behavior, 4th ed. (Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1994), p. 239.
[2] Barrie R. Cassileth (University of North Carolina School of Medicine and Duke University School of Medicine), Reaching out: complementary therapy, Science and Medicine, Nov/Dec 1996, 3(6), p. 8.
[3] Brian Melley (The Associated Press), Medicine explores link between faith, healing; most doctors believe spirit and flesh related, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 16 Dec 1996, 133(301), p. A14.
[4] Jill Neimark, Do the spirits move you?, Psychology Today, Sep/Oct 1996, 29(5), p. 54.