Does prayer belong in hospitals?

It doesn’t matter what your religious background is, it’s good to believe in something. Whether you’re Catholic, Muslim, Jewish or any other denomination, the integral part of religion is having a faith in a higher power. One way we can feel connected with our faith is through prayer.

We pray for many reasons. We pray to feel closer to that universal higher power, we pray for others and we pray for our health. There have been reports that those who have prayed for good health have recovered from serious illness.

But is this the will of God, Buddha or a coincidence?

The link between prayer and good health has been the topic of study and debate, and the question begs to be asked: Does prayer belong in hospitals?

The power of prayerr
A doctor from Thomas Jefferson Hospital has been studying the effects of prayer on the human brain for over 20 years. By injecting patients with a radioactive dye, Dr. Andrew Newberg can see how prayer affects brain activity through brain scans.

He notes that when individuals are at rest, the brain scans show areas of red, but when they become deep in prayer the red turns to yellow, indicating changes to brain activity. Newberg also says these changes in brain activity levels affect change in different neurotransmitters, the chemicals in our brain, suggesting prayer promotes the ability to heal.

Because the brain controls basic body functions like heart rate, blood pressure and the immune system, the act of praying could activate changes throughout the body, which could have a healing effect.

Read more at http://www.belmarrahealth.com/does-prayer-belong-in-hospitals/