Maybe there really is something in it… I certainly felt better after the "thigh slapping, belly laughs and (being) doubled up in mirth" experienced by reading this article.

I genuinely never expected to see Miley Cyrus and Einstein conflated in one sentence.

Plus I don't know what's more frightening the concept of 'clown doctors' or 'legislative liaison for Christian science'.

Having the recent experience of witnessing a highly spiritual and devout Christian's descent into dementia any perceived benefit of spirituality disappeared at about the first sign of personality change to belligerence. When that settled down it was replaced with an essentially 'nice' core-persona who didn't seem to remember God but certainly insisted he'd never been married and had six children – the mere suggestion seemed risible to judge from the smile it evoked.

Couldn't tell whether double incontinence humorously lightened his mood – not all muscle relaxation is a good thing. An awareness of and response to music endured longest and was the last to go, but I think it more accurate to describe this as emotional rather than spiritual.

My take on all of this? There is no possibility of "spiritual nourishment" without cognition.

Meanwhile, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that indicative trials with Bexarotene on neural pathways compromised as in dementia, prove themselves as efficacious. I'd be prepared to pray for that – assuming I remember what prayer is.

It’s great to see your interest in the subject of spirituality and health. There are many medical schools already researching in this field and results are driving changes in treatment for both mental health and ageing. I’ve listed a few institutions for your information:
The Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center
Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Center for the Study of Health, Religion, and Spirituality, Indiana State University
Duke Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health
George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health, GWU Medical Center
Research Institute for Spiritualty and Health, Switzerland

And here are a couple of links to research papers and books in this new field of research:
Spirituality as a determinant of health for those with disabilities (Faull and Kalliath, 2000)
The role of spirituality in medicine (Hassad, 2008)
God, Faith and Health: Exploring the spirituality-healing connection (Levin, 2001)
The Cure Within (Harrington, 2008)

Trusting that the links will appear when this is posted.

Oops, the links didn’t work. Trying again.....

It’s great to see your interest in the subject of spirituality and health. There are many medical schools already researching in this field and results are already driving changes in dealing with mental health and ageing. I’ve listed a few institutions for your information:

The Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center http://www.spiritualityandhealth.org
Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital http://www.massgeneral.org/bhi/
Center for the Study of Health, Religion, and Spirituality, Indiana State University http://web.indstate.edu/psychology/cshrs/
Duke Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health http://www.spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/index.html
George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health, GWU Medical Center http://www.gwish.org/
Research Institute for Spiritualty and Health, Switzerland http://www.rish.ch/

And here are a couple of links to research papers and books in this new field of research:
Spirituality as a determinant of health for those with disabilities (Faull and Kalliath, 2000) http://www.mang.canterbury.ac.nz/people/nilakant/spirit/Spirituality_and_Health.pdf
The role of spirituality in medicine (Hassad, 2008) http://www.racgp.org.au/afp/200811/200811hassed.pdf
God, Faith and Health: Exploring the spirituality-healing connection (Levin, 2001) http://www.amazon.com/God-Faith-Health-Spirituality-Healing-Connection/dp/0471218936
The Cure Within (Harrington, 2008) http://www.amazon.com/Cure-Within-History-Mind-Body-Medicine/dp/0393065634

Not just one canned boilerplate response from the author, but two! I feel honoured -- spiritually, of course.

Oh yes, Halleluia!
Lets all just pray hard to an invisible being in the sky, and all our health problems will just fade away.
It's like we have never tried this before.

People who push this 'holier than thou' barrow make me feel sick.
They prey on sick people's vulnerabilities by suggesting they can be saved, but only if they pray hard enough, or are 'touched' by other much more holier persons, and especially if they are singing loudly and holding their arms up to the sky.

Oh, and if they provide money to the cause (research?) as well of course...

There is indeed a great body of positive research on the possibilities of some spiritual practices, and attitudes, for health and healing. BUT, how does Ms Stroud make the extraordinary leap from discussing a connection between 'spiritualilty / religion and health' TO
"Separately, science and Christianity are like a match and a stick of dynamite … their potential underutilized. Together, watch out. There is an explosion of insight ..."?
How did "Christianity" suddenly jump into the discussion?
Why does she seemingly eliminate Buddhism with its meditation, Hindu yoga, other religions, or non-religious spirituality (or the Worship of the Great Wombat for that matter) from the link to health and healing?
I would have thought there was much greater research linking some of the non-christian spiritual practices to health, than there is for christian activities. Ms Stroud - explain please.