Friday November 28, 2008, 8:49 pm

Between Heaven and Earth
An Introduction to

Integrative Approaches to Health Care

National Project on Alternative and Complementary Medicine

Standing Committee on Medical Education

Second Edition
Copyright © 1999, American Medical Student Association
Kristin Prevedel
Joseph S. Ross
Neil Segal
Margaret L. Thomas
Sarah Warber, M.D.
Leigh White
C. Dirk Williams
Audrey Young
Kristen Copeland
Miki Crane
Pamel M. Diamantis
Adam Dimitrov
Vivian Ka
Bobby Kapur
Marlene Mancuso
James J. Mehzir
Eva Olson, M.D.
Special Thanks to
AMSA’s Interest Group on Humanistic Medicine
and the Standing Committees on
Medical Education and Health Policy
Advisor
Patricia Muehsam, M.D.
1997-98 Project Coordinators
Ariana Vora


PAGE 37
Spirituality in Medicine: The Healing Within
by Adam Dimitrov, University of Miami School of Medicine
The healer knows
We heal no one
We cure no one;
To attempt a cure
Denies the truth:
Disharmony sown in the spirit
Reaps imbalance in the flesh.
To regain the point of balance
Only open your heart,
Merely offer your life;
Allow the Love to heal,
Allow the weak to grow;
Say “I am the healer,”
You step out of the flow.
For the Universe flatters no one,
But merely offers its Life
When you offer your own.
From The Tao of Healing
by Haven Trevino
Throughout medical history, spirituality and medi
cine have been partners in a complicated relationship.
Historians recount the dual duty of ancient priests
as that of religious figures as well as local healers. Both
the Old and New Testaments of the Bible contain accounts
of healing brought through spiritual intercessions.
Some argue that Jesus’s primary activity as described
by the Bible is that of healer. The Gospel writer
Luke is also documented as being a physician by profession.
1
For centuries, the link between physical healing
and spiritual intervention was viewed as sine qua non.
That paradigm remained strong within the Western
world throughout much of the Medieval Period. However,
the Renaissance and Enlightenment brought that
relationship to a bitter halt. The thinking of the 17th
Century leveled high logical standards against all aspects
of human society and culture. Religion and spirituality
were of little use in the realm of observation
and experimentation.
Religion survived and remained an important part
of Western culture; however, the association between
medicine and spirituality gradually dissolved. The practice
of medicine was “free” to view the human body as
purely physical, divorced of the trappings of an undetectable,
non-quantifiable force. Soon came great advances
in patient care including Joseph Lister’s antiseptic
technique and the discernment of the human
circulatory system as described by William Harvey in
his revolutionary work De Motu Cordis.3 Subsequently,
patients were also perceived as scientific objects, to be
acted upon by a physician whose knowledge of medical
science determined the course of action. In a sense,
the identity of the patient was less important than the
disease process. The patient-doctor relationship no
longer involved a cooperative healing interaction, but
rather a setting in which the physician predominantly
determined what was best for the patient. This new
method of healing, governed by physical observation
and scientific reasoning, rendered spirituality all but
meaningless with respect to health.
In a time when health care is increasingly complex
and expensive, Americans have shown an inclination
toward alternative or complementary therapies. In part,
that movement has also asserted the importance of the
mind-body-spirit connection for both patients and
physicians. More physicians today are considering the
spiritual aspects of well-being on the path to better
health. That trend signifies, according to Dale A.
Matthews, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine at
Georgetown University, “an historic reconciliation between
medicine and spirituality.” Supporting this observation,
Jan Ziegler writes, “It is not as if they were
always apart. Through the centuries, the history of
38
medicine was the history of religion. But then came
the discovery of pathogens; and, suddenly, medicine was
biomedicine.”4 [emphasis added]
It is important to draw a distinction between the
terms religion and spirituality. Zeigler states that religion
(at least as scientists use the term) “implies traditional
beliefs, attitudes and practices that are part of
an organization.” Spirituality may involve particular
elements of religion, but usually refers to “an
individual’s views and the related behaviors that express
relatedness to something greater than the self.”4 Therefore,
an individual may express a strong “spirituality”
despite being unaffiliated with a particular established
religion.
Researchers working on the link between one’s
spirituality and health status have found it difficult to
measure an individual’s degree of spirituality. A number
of groups have worked to devise objective questionnaires
that can give research a reliable measurement.
At the Department of Community Health and
Family Medicine at the University of Florida, Robert
L. Hatch, M.D., headed a study that led to the creation
of the Spirituality Involvement and Beliefs Scale (SIBS).
This instrument was designed to be widely applicable
across religious traditions, to assess actions as well as
beliefs, and to be easily administered and scored. SIBS
uses terms that avoid cultural-religious bias, and despite
the need for additional testing, appears to have
good reliability and validity.5
Despite the difficulty in assessing a patient’s degree
of spirituality, researchers have been quite successful
in connecting improvements in certain individuals’
health to a level of spiritual expression. Duke University
investigators recently found that elderly churchgoers
have a healthier immune system than those who
don’t attend religious services. Those who attended
church weekly or more often were significantly less
likely to have been admitted to the hospital, and of
those who were admitted, hospital stays were remarkably
shorter (11 versus 25 days) than their less vigilant
counterparts. A number of factors were controlled, including
sex, race, age and education. The study concluded
that “participation in and affiliation with a religious
community is associated with lower use of hospital
services by medically ill older adults, a population
of high-users of health care services.”6
Perhaps the most celebrated 20th century prayer
study was conduced in 1988 by Randolph Byrd, M.D.,
a staff cardiologist at U.C. San Francisco School of
Medicine. Dr. Byrd randomized 393 patients in a coronary
care unit to either a group receiving intercessory
prayer (that is, a group being prayed-for) or a control
group. In this study, none of the patients, physicians
or nurses knew who was receiving prayer. The patients
were prayed-for by volunteers who never entered the
hospital. The results were highly significant. Those
patients receiving prayer required less ventilatory support,
fewer endotracheal intubations and fewer diuretics
and antibiotics. Prayed-for patients also suffered
from less pulmonary edema and required CPR less often
than the control subjects.7
One individual rapidly becoming a household
name is Dean Ornish, M.D. Dr. Ornish has written a
number of books on health, diet, stress and the spirit,
including Love and Survival: The Scientific Basis for the
Healing Power of Intimacy and Eat More, Weigh Less. However,
he is most recognized for his highly publicized
program for reversing heart disease. Dr. Ornish conducted
a study with cardiovascular patients utilizing a
regimen consisting of diet, light exercise, love and stress
management through such techniques as stretching,
controlled breathing, meditation and prayer. The program
has been studied a number of times, including a
study by the National Institutes of Health. It proved so
successful that some insurance companies began to
cover Dr. Ornish’s program as an alternative to future
bypass surgery. His program remains the only one
known to reverse vascular damage without the use of
drugs or surgery.8,9,10 Dr. Ornish recently published the
results of a five-year follow-up study conducted on a
number of patients adhering to his program. Ornish
found that even more regression of coronary atherosclerosis
occurred after five years on the program than
after only one year.11
Additional studies involving spirituality have produced
significant data. One study found that religious
devotion appears to act as a buffer in stressful times
and that individuals who actively partake in the activities
of their religion are less likely to have depressive
symptoms.12 Another experiment examined the alleged
ability of humans to transmit “positive energy fields”
(positive intentionality) across long distances.13 More
medical research is certainly needed in this field to
further understand the healing power of spirituality
and to perhaps touch upon the mechanism by which it
improves health. However, enough has been offered
to date to support the inclusion of spiritual issues in
the patient’s health care plan.
How does acknowledgment of the importance of
spirituality in patient care affect the physician or physician-
in-training? For one thing, it would seem to demand
integration of the issue into medical school curricula.
In 1993, only three medical schools in the United
States offered courses on religious and spiritual issues;
there are now close to 30. A number of medical schools
have received grants to sponsor courses informing future
physicians of the role of religion and spirituality
in the lives of patients.14 Although the contemplation
of spiritual and religious issues has been increasingly
integrated into the curriculum of various medical
schools, more needs to be done to ensure that all medical
schools present their students with this important
aspect of the healing process.

Saturday November 29, 2008, 9:53 am
Indeed, Heaven can be right here on earth. Thank you Scott!

Saturday November 29, 2008, 10:44 pm
I *BELIEVE*! Great article Scott! Thanks!

Saturday November 29, 2008, 10:50 pm
Thank you Scott.

Sunday November 30, 2008, 5:42 pm
Noted. thanks .

Thursday December 4, 2008, 4:25 pm
I agree with all that .... our body can be a great temple instead of all messed up. So i guess the more one is serious the better the outcome. Most folks, including myself at times (throughout my life) do not want to do the work needed. Yet, its only called work...yet its positive effect makes you not want to use that 4 letter word... and its simply actions... these actions one does to make everything better. So thanks for sharing this info Scott.

Friday December 5, 2008, 7:10 pm
Good stuff, I only had time to skim, but converted to text and will read it on my MP4 player.

"May we all walk together in peace"

Saturday December 6, 2008, 2:50 am
cool, A funny thought sometimes when faith readings healings ect are tested - it unvariably doesent show a positive, Tarrot readers find this also, well those who do produce results some would say that is because the objectivity or the focus is lost.Yeshua did make a statement regarding this, I think echoing an earlier understanding i/e dont put God to the test ?!?

Monday December 8, 2008, 2:44 am

=======================
just in case any one thinks I'm gone, I'm here. the Eric, Randy, care2

person, that works for queen elizabeth, suspended my account, again,

after care2 deleted over 200 front page stories, that you are not allowed

to see, I guess they are worried about you figuring out something I've

been trying to tell you..again..

it takes about 3 minutes to open a new care2 account.

I'm pretty bored anyways, its about 5:00am, not tired not hungry,

no reason for suspension... care2 are a bunch of nwo controlled,

wait for the end to come, forget about their and your children,..type of

people

thats who I take the abuse for,.. it would be nice to know that they have

past next dec 31 2009, to be alive, and free.


Scott Shaubel, Lizzy, I've had it, time to crank it up, you are done, I have

not been wrong yet, and the only thing you have been able to do to me

in 2 years is suspend my care2 account,..

hahahahahah, I am laughing at you liz, you are done like dinner,.


don't be disalusioned by their lies. codex, nau,...are real.

Scott Shaubel
.. still here,.. always around,

=============================
every lyric and song I put in get deleted, every time I say queen

elizabeth, it gets deleted,
all were front page stories, voted by you,


wake up, speak up, stand up for your rights,..

Scott Shaubel
.. still here,.. always around,
==========================

this part,..is exactly correct..by a dead Bob Marley

But if you know what life is worth,You will look for yours on earth:
We sick an tired of-a your ism-skism game ...
-Dyin n goin to heaven in-a jesus name,.. lord.We know when we
understand:..Almighty,... God .... is a living man...You can fool some

people
sometimes,..But you cant fool all the people all the time...So now we

see the light
...what you gonna do?... We gonna stand up for our rights! yeah.

Scott Shaubel
.. still here,.. always around,
=======================================