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An excellent point.

A common dismissal of a religious benefit is it is only the placebo effect, a sham. I'm suggesting that if that is all it is, then there is still a measurable benefit to be gained from the placebo effect as reported in the research on the placebo effect.

While the placebo effect is recognized in religion and the belief in God, it is not likely that it will be a topic of research. The research is focused on the benefits of specific religious actvities like prayer, attending church, social connectedness, religious icons, etc. and how they relate to physical and mental health.

Much of the research is based on sociological and psychological studies. The research on the placebo effect suggests that the belief that something will help you whether it is a blue pill or the power of suggestion causes the release of beneficial neurochemicals. It establishes a clear connection between mind and body. While the studies below do not measure neurochemicals in prayer, the positive results are still in alignment if not above and beyond what would be expected from a blue pill.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101214085328.htm
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/03/21/spirituality-and-prayer-relieve-stress/
http://www.science20.com/catarina_amorim/more_faith_less_pain_religious_experiences_and_pain_resistance_linked

The so-called placebo effect from religion is asserted. Where has it been proved and when?

ruveyn

The studies on prayer always remind me of the attempts to apply Linguistics to literary analysis - one of which boldly concluded that Faulkner uses more words per sentence than Hemingway.

Using a tool for something far from its own purpose is problematic, especially when the researcher does not really understand the matter under investigation [or in other cases the technology]

I think you are being too rigid in your expectation here, ruveyn. From a medical research perspective, I would find it nearly impossible to establish a control. But that does not mean that I do not see the potential for a medically significant result in some patients.

Any experienced clinician will tell you that we see a variety of responses to therapy that are not always classifiable on strictly physiological grounds. If we accept the proposition that the brain regulates all physiological function, then it is not an unreasonable supposition that changes in brain chemistry are going to have a direct effect physiological activity elsewhere in the body. Every process within the body is, at root, a biochemical process that happens along a reaction pathway in which the affinity and concentration of enzymes, coenzymes and ligands has a direct impact on the synthesis of products from substrates. If the brain's particular chemistry at a given time is causing higher production of cofactors that are beneficial to a therapeutic effect, it stands to reason that the effect will be more likely to be observed (up to the point of saturation, of course)

We may not be able to quantify improved patient response as a result of positive emotional state, but physicians are not being pollyannas when we say that a patient's state of mind is an essential component in healing. Some patients will realize this benefit from being the subject of active care, some from the presence and support of family and friends, and others will realize this benefit from religious faith.

Now, that's not to say that a belief in God is a replacement for antibiotics. But it just might help the antibiotics work better. When I am treating a patient, I am not going to forego that potential advantage.

Quote from the research linked below:

http://www.univie.ac.at/mcogneu/lit/schjodt.PDF

The research presented here is similiar to the research done to investigate the activation in the dopaminergic system in the "placebo effect". Research is new, but ongoing to provide a better understanding of the connection between science and religion.

The term "placebo effect" has widely been used to discredit any physical or mystical benefit from the practice of religion. If you would like me to, I can provide links to this fact, but I think we are all aware of it.

In the attempt to provide a better understanding of the relationship between science and religion it wouldn't make any sense to relate the causation in the research to the nomenclature "placebo effect" even though the physical mechanism "the dopaminergic reward system" is the same system studied with prayer as it is with a "blue pill" to provide a better understanding of the physiological aspects of the "placebo effect".