Evidence suggests that neighborhood disadvantage predicts preterm delivery (PTD). However, the design of most existing studies precludes within-group analyses, which would allow the identification segments of the population at highest risk, as well as preventive factors. African Americans (AA) are disproportionately affected by PTD, are disproportionately concentrated in disadvantaged neighborh...

Several respondents implied that the attempt to study the remote effects of prayer is wrong in principle. This is because, according to Dr Sandweiss, science deals with facts, not “miracles.” Yet, if events occur in controlled laboratory studies, as suggested by evidence cited below, these happenings presumably follow natural law and are not considered miraculous. We should be cautious in calli...

Following the publication of my 1993 book Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine,1 I received several letters from religious individuals who were profoundly upset. The views of prayer and healing set forth in my book differed from theirs, and they wanted to set me straight. Some of the letters dripped with venom. The writers denounced me as a heretic and blasphemer. The...