Prayer might not cure cancer, but it makes some cancer patients feel psychologically better, new research claims. Transcripts of online support group sessions for 97 breast cancer patients were analyzed, and researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found an association between improved mental health and patients who used a higher percentage of words such as pray, worship, faith, holy, and God during those sessions. (Interviews with the patients later on showed that those who use these words were engaging directly in prayer, not just sprinkling those words in their dialogues.) The association held even when the researchers compared patients with similar levels of religious beliefs. The study did not select for patients of any particular religion, but participants expressed mainly Christian beliefs, although there were a few Native American and Hindu religious quotes in the transcripts. All in the mind Patients in the study filled out a survey before participating in the online support sessions and then another one four months later to assess psychological changes. A text analysis program run on the session transcripts revealed that those who used more of the words suggestive of religious beliefs and practices had higher levels of functional […]
A survey by researchers at Villanova University has found that 85 percent of Roman Catholic dioceses that responded had discovered embezzlement of church money in the last five years, with 11 percent reporting that more than $500,000 had been stolen. The Catholic Church has some of the most rigorous financial guidelines of any denomination, specialists in church ethics said, but the survey found that the guidelines were often ignored in parishes. And when no one is looking, the cash that goes into the collection plate does not always get deposited into the church’s bank account. ‘As a faith-based organization, we place a lot of trust in our folks,’ said Chuck Zech, a co-author of the study and director of the Center for the Study of Church Management at Villanova. ‘We think if you work for a church – you’re a volunteer or a priest – the last thing on your mind is to do something dishonest,’ Mr. Zech said. ‘But people are people, and there’s a lot of temptation there, and with the cash-based aspect of how churches operate, it’s pretty easy.’ Specialists in church ethics said they believed this was the first study to assess […]
Brain scans have given US scientists a clue about how we create a mental image of our own future. The Washington University team say that specific areas of the brain are active when thinking about upcoming events. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study could help doctors trying to understand damage inflicted by strokes, injuries or diseases. The findings tally with damage spotted in the brains of patients who have lost the ability to ‘think ahead’. The brain remains the most poorly understood organ of the body, but the use of MRI scans to examine the way they work has taken off in recent years. When patients or volunteers are placed in the functional MRI scanner and asked to think or move in a particular way, specific areas of the brain ‘light up’ on the scan image, corresponding with increased electrical activity in those regions. The technique has developed to the extent that scientists can almost know what patients are thinking about simply by looking at the brain areas they are using. The latest project looked at one of the qualities thought to be unique to humans – the ability to […]
BIRMINGHAM, Al. — Rocketing healthcare costs cripple our poor and our economy because it is actually cheaper for those living below poverty income level to quit low-paying jobs and receive government medical aid than to pay high insurance costs and medical bills for their children. In his position as director of Alabama’s Housing Authority, Al Rohling witnessed this firsthand. So he quit his job and formed Child Caring Foundation, an organization that joined with Blue Cross, Blue Shield to provide free medical insurance for children. Previously in Alabama, more than 230,000 children were uninsured, but since 1988 this number has fallen to around 70,000, thanks to programs such as the Child Caring Foundation. Rohling travels throughout Alabama with volunteers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham to offer health screenings at schools. Other states, such as Illinois and California, are following this trend, even though some government officials are frowning on these charitable programs, like Senator Christen Radogno, who, in an interview with Chicago Tribune, voiced her concern about insurance programs like these being too generous.
One of the world’s leading experts on climate change has warned that the Earth is being turned into a ‘different planet’ because of the continuing increase in man-made emissions of greenhouse gases. In an interview with The Independent, Jim Hansen, who was one of the first scientists to warn of climate change in scientific testimony to the US Congress in 1988, claimed that we have less than 10 years to begin to curb carbon dioxide emissions before global warming runs out of control and changes the landscape forever. Last year, Dr Hansen, director of the Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies, part of Columbia University in New York, complained that Nasa public relations officials appointed by the Bush administration had tried to gag him by limiting his access to the media. But in talking to this newspaper he was outspoken, warning that there are already worrying signs that global warming is beginning to trigger dangerous ‘positive feedbacks’ within the climate, which can accelerate the rate of climate change. Dr Hansen said: ‘We just cannot burn all the fossil fuels in the ground. If we do, we will end up with a different planet. I mean a planet […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
