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Qur’anic healing for spiritual ailments: between tradition, religious law and contemporary law.

Med Law. 2008 Jun;27(2):259-84

Authors: Asman O

Qur’anic healing [al’ilaj bi-lqur’an] is a traditional spiritual healing method based on the Qur’an. It is practiced in various Muslim communities for the treatment of mental afflictions and other ailments. Through Qur’anic healing, the wider issue of religious and cultural related healing is presented, and the question of possible cooperation between physicians and healers is raised. Using a criminal court case brought before the Israeli Supreme Court in the mid 1950s, the legal and ethical aspects of practicing Qur’anic healing are discussed, including: healers’ liability, right to practice healing and legal “risks” involved in various methods of treatment. The legal analysis is based both on Israeli and Muslim law, demonstrating how similar legal results may be achieved through different legal systems and practices.

PMID: 18693481 [PubMed - in process]

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A population-based study of prevalence of complementary methods use by cancer survivors: a report from the American Cancer Society’s studies of cancer survivors.

Cancer. 2008 Aug 4;

Authors: Gansler T, Kaw C, Crammer C, Smith T

BACKGROUND.: The use of complementary methods (CMs) is widespread and increasing in the United States. Most literature on CM use among cancer survivors focuses on the treatment period, whereas only a few studies address use further along the cancer continuum. METHODS.: This study analyzed the prevalence and the medical and demographic associations of CM use among cancer survivors surveyed 10 to 24 months after diagnosis. The study’s sample-4139 survivors of 1 of 10 adult cancers-was selected from stratified random samples provided by statewide cancer registries and surveyed by mail and telephone. Three logistic regression models examined associations between medical and demographic factors and CM use among survivors of sex-specific and non-sex-specific cancers. RESULTS.: Of the 19 CMs included in the survey, the CMs most frequently reported were prayer/spiritual practice (61.4%), relaxation (44.3%), faith/spiritual healing (42.4%), nutritional supplements/vitamins (40.1%), meditation (15%), religious counseling (11.3%), massage (11.2%), and support groups (9.7%). Among these 19 CMs, the least prevalent were hypnosis (0.4%), biofeedback therapy (1.0%), and acupuncture/acupressure (1.2%). Survivors more likely to use CMs were female, younger, white, higher income, and more educated. CONCLUSIONS.: This study provides information regarding prevalence and medical-demographic determinants of CM use reported by a large, population-based sample of survivors of 10 cancers surveyed 10 to 24 months after diagnosis. These findings may be used by clinicians and researchers to inform their decisions regarding which CMs to address in practice and research. Cancer 2008. (c) 2008 American Cancer Society.

PMID: 18680170 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Perceptions about the cause of schizophrenia and the subsequent help seeking behavior in a Pakistani population - results of a cross-sectional survey.

BMC Psychiatry. 2008;8:56

Authors: Zafar SN, Syed R, Tehseen S, Gowani SA, Waqar S, Zubair A, Yousaf W, Zubairi AJ, Naqvi H

BACKGROUND: There is a cultural variability around the perception of what causes the syndrome of schizophrenia. Generally patients with schizophrenia are considered dangerous. They are isolated and treatment is delayed. Studies have shown favorable prognosis with good family and social support, early diagnosis and management. Duration of untreated psychosis is a bad prognostic indicator. We aimed to determine the perceptions regarding the etiology of schizophrenia and the subsequent help seeking behavior. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 404 people at the out patient departments of Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi. Data was collected via a self-administered questionnaire. Questions were related to a vignette of a young man displaying schizophrenic behavior. Data was analyzed on SPSS v 14. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 31.4 years (range = 18-72) and 77% of them were males. The majorities were graduates (61.9%) and employed (50%). Only 30% of the participants attributed ‘mental illness’ as the main cause of psychotic symptoms while a large number thought of ‘God’s will’ (32.3%), ’superstitious ideas’ (33.1%), ‘loneliness’ (24.8%) and ‘unemployment’ (19.3%) as the main cause. Mental illness as the single most important cause was reported by only 22%. As far as management is concerned, only 40% reported psychiatric consultation to be the single most important management step. Other responses included spiritual healing (19.5%) and Sociachanges (10.6) while 14.8% of respondents said that they would do nothing. Gender, age, family system and education level were significantly associated with the beliefs about the cause of schizophrenia (p < 0.05). While these variables plus ‘religious inclination’ and ‘beliefs about cause’ were significantly associated with the help seeking behavior of the participants. CONCLUSION: Despite majority of the study population being well educated, only a few recognized schizophrenia as a mental illness and many held superstitious beliefs. A vast majority of Pakistanis have non-biomedical beliefs about the cause of schizophrenia. Their help seeking behavior in this regard is inappropriate and detrimental to the health of schizophrenic patients. Areas for future research have been identified.

PMID: 18637176 [PubMed - in process]

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Spiritual healing.

Nurs Stand. 2008 May 14-20;22(36):24-5

Authors: Wright S

PMID: 18543720 [PubMed - in process]

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Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among adult patients for depression in Taiwan.

J Affect Disord. 2008 Apr 26;

Authors: Hsu MC, Creedy D, Moyle W, Venturato L, Tsay SL, Ouyang WC

BACKGROUND: This descriptive exploratory study investigated the prevalence and type of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) use among older Taiwanese patients with a diagnosis of depression. METHOD: Self-report questionnaire. RESULTS: A convenience sample of 206 in-patients (98% response rate) completed the survey. Nearly 70% (69.9%) reported using at least one form of CAM in the past 12 months. Twenty-one kinds of CAM were identified in the treatment of depression, the most common being herbal medicines, spiritual healing, and folk remedies. Only one-third (35.4%, n=73) had discussed CAM use with their psychiatrists. Participants with mild to moderate depression tended to use more CAM than participants with severe depression (GDS-SF: Cramer’s V=-.233; HDRS: Cramer’s V=.201). CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the high prevalence of CAM use among older adults with a diagnosis of depression in Taiwan. The popularity of CAM appears to be a consequence of people’s preference for a more holistic approach to health care. CAM use needs to be explicitly discussed between patients and health professionals as part of ongoing assessment, patient education and management.

PMID: 18442859 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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[Spiritual healing at a public psychiatric institution]

Forsch Komplementarmed Klass Naturheilkd. 2000 Dec;7(6):275-85

Authors: Messerli-Rohrbach V, Bösch J

INTRODUCTION: Complementary medicine has an increasing importance also in Switzerland, above all for somatic diseases. The spreading of these methods in psychiatry and psychotherapy is a far slower process. The psychiatric outpatient service of the Swiss region Baselland offered, besides conventional psychotherapy and several different complementary methods, the possibility of spiritual healing and evaluated it by scientific means. QUESTIONS: Is a cooperation between a spiritual healer and a public institution feasible? What are the results of the treatment? How ist the perception of the treatment by the patients? Is further research promising? METHOD: Patients with diverse and mostly long-term diseases willing to receive spiritual healing had, in addition to a conventional psychotherapy, been treated by a healer working in our facilities. Before and after the healing sequence as well as at the follow-up after 6 months the patients have been questioned by means of semistructured interviews to give their impression of the treatment and its results. The respective psychotherapists and the healer herself had to give their assessment of the treatment and its results as well. RESULTS: The analysis of the data of the first 20 patients resulted in 9 persons stating a better well-being, one a deterioration and 8 broke off the treatment prematurely in unchanged health condition. The majority of patients very much appreciated the treatment in terms of ease and relaxation, only one patient reacted with anxiety and interrupted the first treatment. At the follow-up after 6 months there has been no change to the initial results. Two persons could not be reached for the post-evaluation. DISCUSSION: Cooperation of a healer and a public psychiatric institution proved to be feasible and fruitful. For almost half of the patients, the treatment has been a remedy highly appreciated and only one patient has reacted negatively. Therefore it seems justifiable to further offer this type of treatment and to evaluate it. To back up this estimation further, also controlled research studies should be carried out with e.g. more homogeneous patient groups or with different healers.

PMID: 11155021 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Alternative medicine use in older Americans.

J Am Geriatr Soc. 2000 Dec;48(12):1560-5

Authors: Foster DF, Phillips RS, Hamel MB, Eisenberg DM

OBJECTIVES: Because there are few data describing alternative medicine use in older populations, we analyzed a nationally representative survey to quantify and characterize the use of alternative medicine in people aged 65 and older. DESIGN: We utilized data collected in a nationally representative, random, telephone survey of adults, measuring use of conventional medical services and use of 20 alternative medicine therapies in the last 12 months. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2,055 adults, 311 of whom were aged 65 and older and who constituted our sample of older Americans. RESULTS: Overall, 30% of people aged 65 and older used at least one alternative medicine modality in the last year compared with 46% of those less than age 65 (P < .001), and 19% of older people saw a provider of alternative medicine within the past year compared with 26% of those less than age 65. The alternative medicine modalities used most commonly by those aged 65 and older were chiropractic (11%), herbal remedies (8%), relaxation techniques (5%), high dose or mega-vitamins (5%), and religious or spiritual healing by others (4%). Older persons with a primary care provider used alternative medicine more frequently (34% vs 7% P < .05) than those with no primary care provider. Patients who saw their physician more frequently were more likely to use alternative medicine (0 visits 7%, 1-2 visits 22%, 3-6 visits 35%, 7 or more visits 44% P < .05). Six percent of older patients were taking both herbs and prescription drugs. Of older patients who used alternative medicine, 57% made no mention of their use of any alternative modality to their doctor. CONCLUSIONS: Thirty percent of Americans aged 65 and older reported using alternative medicine (amounting to 10 million Americans based on extrapolations to census data) and 19% visited an alternative medicine provider (making 63 million visits based on extrapolations to census data) within the past year. The two modalities used most commonly were chiropractic and herbs, both of which may be problematic in older patients. Physicians should ask all patients, including those aged 65 and older, about their use of alternative medicine, and in those aged 65 and older, physicians should ask specific questions about the user of chiropractic and herbal medicine.

PMID: 11129743 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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A study of alternative health care use for gastrointestinal disorders.

Gastroenterol Nurs. 2000 Jan-Feb;23(1):19-27

Authors: Giese LA

The discomfort and frustration often experienced by patients with gastrointestinal (GI) disorders may lead many to seek alternative health care (AHC). This study was conducted to describe AHC use by patients with GI disorders in a convenience sample (N = 73) from a tertiary hospital in Florida. AHC was explored within social exchange theory. Measurement instruments included the Alternative Health Care Gastrointestinal Sociodemographic Questionnaire, Alternative Health Care Use Questionnaire, and Alternative Health Care Advantages/Disadvantages Questionnaire. The study indicated that 32 subjects (43%) had used AHC for their GI disorders during the past 2 years. Most frequently used AHC included relaxation therapy, herbs, lifestyle diets, megavitamins, massage, and home remedies. There was a greater use of AHC by young persons (t = 2.39, p = .02) and by those not retired (chi 2 = 4.58, p = .03). AHC was associated with perceived rewards (r = .38, p = .03) and perceived profits (r = .38, p = .03). AHC was not associated with type or duration of GI disorder or other demographic variables. Subjects specifically cited benefits with relaxation therapy, vegetarian diets, spiritual healing, fish oil for inflammatory bowel disease, and use of milk thistle for hepatitis.

PMID: 11096804 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Developing research methodology in spiritual healing: definitions, scope, and limitations.

J Altern Complement Med. 2000 Aug;6(4):299-300

Authors: Murphy DG

PMID: 10976972 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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The efficacy of “distant healing”: a systematic review of randomized trials.

Ann Intern Med. 2000 Jun 6;132(11):903-10

Authors: Astin JA, Harkness E, Ernst E

PURPOSE: To conduct a systematic review of the available data on the efficacy of any form of “distant healing” (prayer, mental healing, Therapeutic Touch, or spiritual healing) as treatment for any medical condition. DATA SOURCES: Studies were identified by an electronic search of the MEDLINE, PsychLIT, EMBASE, CISCOM, and Cochrane Library databases from their inception to the end of 1999 and by contact with researchers in the field. STUDY SELECTION: Studies with the following features were included: random assignment, placebo or other adequate control, publication in peer-reviewed journals, clinical (rather than experimental) investigations, and use of human participants. DATA EXTRACTION: Two investigators independently extracted data on study design, sample size, type of intervention, type of control, direction of effect (supporting or refuting the hypothesis), and nature of the outcomes. DATA SYNTHESIS: A total of 23 trials involving 2774 patients met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Heterogeneity of the studies precluded a formal meta-analysis. Of the trials, 5 examined prayer as the distant healing intervention, 11 assessed noncontact Therapeutic Touch, and 7 examined other forms of distant healing. Of the 23 studies, 13 (57%) yielded statistically significant treatment effects, 9 showed no effect over control interventions, and 1 showed a negative effect. CONCLUSIONS: The methodologic limitations of several studies make it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about the efficacy of distant healing. However, given that approximately 57% of trials showed a positive treatment effect, the evidence thus far merits further study.

PMID: 10836918 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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