Hospitals in Switzerland use an old and unusual technique during operations to stop bleeding in patients.
It is a prayer known as “The secret”a type of medieval enchantment aimed at blood control, especially during heart surgery.
Fortunately, modern technology allows the use of epinephrine, clotting drugs, and even bandages for the same purpose, along with spiritual effort.
Some intrepid scientists only recently decided to study the effectiveness of secret prayer, perhaps because they already imagined the results of the tests. The results can be curious. “The secret” comes from a magical medicinal traditiona holdover from the practices of monks when healing efforts were simple and rudimentary.
Priests were commonly the physicians of their time, and they based one of Jesus’ miracles, from the synoptic gospels, on practice—specifically, the event where he heals a bleeding woman. Knowledge was passed on, considered a healing formula or prayer that, supposedly, would mobilize superior forces to act in the patient’s recovery.
Amazing results — or not
For the study authors, published in the magazine open heartit was a surprise to discover that this particular healer is still widely used in the French-speaking part of Switzerlandeven being considered a UNESCO intangible heritage.
To test its effectiveness, the results of 200 patients who underwent invasive coronary surgeries in the country were compared: 76% of them believed that “The Secret” would protect them from excessive bleeding, and they even asked the surgeon to perform it. This is perhaps the most surprising part of the study.
Half of those operated on received normal care, while the other half received the same care, but with “The Secret” being added to the procedures. The hemorrhage scale developed by the Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) was used to measure the blood loss of each patient, ranging from 1 to 5, in ascending order.
The practice no changes in bleeding during the operations, and the groups had more or less identical results. Among prayer recipients, 72% had no bleeding, while 16% scored on BARC scale 1, and 12% on scale 2.
As for those who only received common care, 73% did not bleed, 14% were in scale 1 and 13% in scale 2. None of them had high rates of bleeding, that is, scale 3 or above.
placebo and stress
Most of the participants believed that “The Secret” would be beneficial, but that it would not affect the hemorrhage. According to the scientists, although patients know that the practice has no importance for cardiology, it serves as a popular remedy for relieve anxiety of the superstitious.
It is neuropsychological conditioning, a placebo like any other belief or technique. feedback biological.
The study did not analyze the placebo aspect of medieval prayer and its effect on patients, but they imagine that it can really help relieve stress, which can actually help improve clinical outcomes and the well-being of some patients, depending on their superstitiousness.
