Focused Link: Spirituality may be just what the doctor ordered

The full article:
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051219/COLUMNIST29/51218016/-1/NEWS

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So you have faith in the doctor?

Doctors, it seems, have plenty of faith themselves – religious faith.

That’s the profile emerging from one of the first scientific studies of the religious beliefs among medical doctors in the United States.

Dr. Farr A. Curlin of the University of Chicago, who headed the survey of 1,144 physicians nationwide, picked the topic for several reasons.

Religious belief is strong in the United States. Surveys show that 83 per cent of the population believes in God and 74 per cent in life after death. Patients’ faith in God affects the way they cope with serious illness. It also affects their decisions about medical care, especially as life begins and ends.

Spirituality is getting a higher profile in medicine these days.

Some physicians are praying with their patients. Researchers are studying the use of prayer to treat disease, and how religious belief affects health.

A strong dose of faith may be good medicine.