PRAYING for hospital patients can make their illnesses worse and lead to significant post-operative complications, new research has found.

The biggest study into the relationship between prayer and healing found that, on the whole, prayers offered by strangers had no effect on patients' recovery.

But heart surgery patients who knew people were praying for them ended up with a higher rate of post-operative complications, such as abnormal heart rhythms. Researchers suggested this was perhaps due to the anxiety of knowing others were praying for their recovery.

In the past decade, scientists have carried out at least ten studies into the effects of prayer, and some have shown that "intercessory prayer" - prayer by strangers - can accelerate healing in patients.

The new study, involving more than 1,800 patients over ten years and costing about £1.5 million, was intended to overcome flaws in the earlier investigations and end years of speculation in both the medical and religious communities.

In the study, three Christian groups prayed for patients, starting the night before surgery and continuing for two weeks. Volunteers prayed for "a successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications" for specific patients - they were given only the first name and first initial of the surname.

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 that they might or might not receive prayers. The results showed prayer had no effect on complication-free recovery. But 59 per cent of the patients who knew they were being prayed for developed a complication, compared with 52 per cent of those who were told it was only a possibility.

Researchers found the most common complication among those patients was atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat that can be affected by anxiety. They speculated that knowing about the prayers made many patients nervous. "It may have made them uncertain, wondering, am I so sick they had to call in their prayer team?" Dr Charles Bethea, a cardiologist and the study's co-author, said.

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Euphoric Reviewed by Euphoric on . Praying for the sick makes them feel even worse PRAYING for hospital patients can make their illnesses worse and lead to significant post-operative complications, new research has found. The biggest study into the relationship between prayer and healing found that, on the whole, prayers offered by strangers had no effect on patients' recovery. But heart surgery patients who knew people were praying for them ended up with a higher rate of post-operative complications, such as abnormal heart rhythms. Researchers suggested this was Rating: 5