March 31, 2006

Study shows Prayers did not help with recovery

Category: Spiritual — by Amit Chaudhary @ 9:10 am

Following study showed prayers did not help in recovery. From a australian newspaper, thanks for the part democracy\dictatorship that is Google News. I do not discard prayers, but neither do I discard a well observerd neutral study.

Secret to a speedy recovery: no prayers, please

PRAYERS offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people undergoing heart surgery, a large study has found.

In fact, patients who knew they were being prayed for had higher rates of post-operative complications, perhaps because of the expectations the prayers created, the researchers findings have suggested.

Because it is the most scientifically rigorous investigation of whether prayer can heal illness, the study, begun almost a decade ago and involving more than 1800 patients, has for years been the subject of speculation.
The researchers monitored 1802 patients at six hospitals who had coronary bypass surgery.

The patients were broken into three groups. Two were prayed for; the third was not. Half the patients who received the prayers were told they were being prayed for; half were told they might or might not receive prayers.

Prayers were performed by members of three Christian groups in monasteries and elsewhere - two Catholic and one Protestant - who were given written prayers and the first name and initial of the last name of the prayer subjects. The prayers started on the eve of or day of surgery and lasted for two weeks.
Analysing complications in the 30 days after surgery, researchers found no differences between those patients who were prayed for and those who were not.

But a significantly higher number of patients who knew they were being prayed for - 59 per cent - suffered complications, compared with 51 per cent who were uncertain. The authors left open the possibility this was a chance finding. But they said being aware of the strangers’ prayers may also have caused some patients a kind of performance anxiety.

The study also found more patients in the prayer group - 18 per cent - suffered major complications, like heart attack or stroke, compared with 13 per cent in the group that did not receive prayers.

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March 27, 2006

Concept of scanner as a personality

Category: Spiritual, Life, Personal development — by Amit Chaudhary @ 8:29 am

Concept of scanner, a person who tries many things(work, hobbies) in life.From Being “scattered” and proud of it and Are You a Scanner? by Barbara Sher

Excerpt from her book Refuse to Choose!

If you’re a Scanner, you are a very special kind of thinker. Unlike those people who seem to find and be satisfied with one area of interest, you’re genetically wired to be interested in many things. Because your behavior is unfamiliar — even unsettling — to the people around you, you’ve been taught that you’re doing something wrong and you must try to change.

“But what you’ve been told is a mistake — you have been misdiagnosed. You’re a different creature altogether. What you’ve assumed is a disability to be overcome by sheer will is actually an exceptional gift. You are the owner of a remarkable, multitalented brain trying to do its work in a world that doesn’t understand who you are and doesn’t know why you behave as you do

I personally liked her book I could do anything if I only knew what it was by Barbara Sher which covers the same topic.

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March 15, 2006

Yoga Journal on Caffeine and Coffee

Category: Health — by Amit Chaudhary @ 8:53 pm

Caffeine overload can trigger anxiety attacks, jitteriness, impatience, mood swings, and insomnia. But quitting cold turkey is not necessarily the answer either, as caffeine withdrawal may lead to irritability, constipation, and headaches.

The usual suggestion for quitting caffeine is to cut back gradually, beginning with your choice of foods and especially beverages. High levels of caffeine are found in coffee, cocoa, and chocolate, as well as in soft drinks, maté, and healthy teas like black, green, and kukicha twig.

When you’re ready to go caffeine-free, Weed suggests beginning over a long weekend when your activities are minimal.

Ref: Yoga Journal: Quitting Time

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