The Healing Power of Faith How Belief and Prayer Can Help You Triumph Over Disease

An infirm, lifetime alcoholic suddenly becomes sober and strong. A patient undergoing open-heart surgery amazes the doctors with a speedy convalescence. A cancer patient given only a few months to live defies the predictions. What accounts for such remarkable recoveries? Is it miracle or medicine?In this extraordinary book, Dr. Harold G. Koenig presents groundbreaking scientific evidence that provides answers to these puzzling medical mysteries. You will read about the pioneering study that found nonreligious patients with heart disease to be three times more likely to die following surgery than their religious counterparts. You'll learn why saying prayers regularly can be as effective as taking medicine, and why prayer and medicine together are such a potent combination.Here you will meet the unforgettable patients who taught the doctors so much as they triumph over life-threatening disease, heartbreaking marital problems, dangerous addiction, and more. With simple, practical methods for harnessing the power of faith, this potentially lifesaving book provides an astonishing and immensely effective strategy for healing.

Harold G. Koenig, M.D., is the Director of Duke University's Center for the Study of Religion/Spirituality and Health. He is also Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Koenig is the author of fourteen books and over 175 articles for a professional audience. This is his first book for the general public. He lives in Durham, North Carolina, with his wife and two children.