February is the month when the American Heart Association conducts a major campaign to raise heart health awareness, particularly among women. It's a campaign that deserves attention the other 11 months as well.

Coronary heart disease is the number one killer of Americans, and the number one killer of women. Its risk factors include smoking, poor diet, lack of exercise and stress. It is this last factor that catches my attention.

As a lupus patient, I have developed both coronary heart disease and coronary valve disease. I am vigilant and dutiful when it comes to the medical management of my conditions. And I know that prayer is extremely helpful in managing my own stress.

If stress can contribute to the development and/or exacerbation of heart disease, can it follow that prayer, which can certainly ease spiritual and emotional stress, could be an essential coping tools for potential and current heart disease patients? Is there scientific proof of prayer's benefit?

The research is still inconclusive, and likely will be until scientists develop quantifiable ways to measure qualitative outcomes like sense of well-being, stress reduction, and the spiritual benefits to prayer.

For example, as published in The Lancet (2005; 366:211-217), a group of scientists and physicians reported on a recent trial of intercessory prayer and music, imagery and touch (MIT) therapy. A total of 748 cardiac patients in nine medical centers in the U.S. underwent percutaneous coronary intervention or elective catheterization.

Of these patients, 182 were assigned "prayer only," meaning they were prayed for by established congregations of various religions, but receive no MIT; 192 patients were assigned standard care only (no prayer and no MIT). Other patients received either only MIT or a combination of prayer and MIT.

Although it was certainly positive that the scientific community chose to include prayer, the study was limited in many ways. It did not take into account whether patients themselves prayed. It also did not take into account other forms of cardiac procedures, nor did it follow patients beyond several months' time.

After assessing both in-hospital "adverse cardiological events" (complications) and readmission or death by six months after the procedures, the scientists concluded that neither prayer nor MIT significantly improved patient outcome.

"Scientific quantification of the methods, mechanisms, safety and effectiveness of 'frontier medicine' is at a very early stage," the report said. "Active bedside compassion and prayers for the sick are widely practiced for healing through the world. Whether bedside and remote [prayer] practices have any effect on clinical outcomes remains controversial."

But another study underlines a more popular appreciation of prayer. In 2004, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health did a community-based survey on the use of prayer, and alternative medical therapies such as acupuncture, yoga and massage. Of the more than 30,000 Americans surveyed, 43 percent said they prayed for health, far more than used the other alternative therapies. Clearly, if we pray for health, we are not alone!

In his book, "Thriving with Heart Disease" (Free Press, 2003), cardiac psychologist Wayne M. Sotile, Ph.D., offers ten tips to help the cardiac patient cope with their journey with heart disease. Number one on the list: "Accept that living with heart illness requires that you manage your mind, your body, your spirit, and your relationships." Prayer is part of the spiritual component, and can have far-reaching, positive consequences, especially as it takes the patient out of his or her present, difficult condition.

"Every thriving heart patient I have known over the past 25 years has something in common with others," Sotile writes. "All have said that, in one way or another, the illness forced them to look beyond themselves and seek a higher purpose in life."

Although scientific studies sometimes have contradictory outcomes, he writes, "…we do know that praying, meditating, and other forms of mindfulness associated with religious practice soothe the spirit, the body, and the mind, and this makes people healthier."

There is anecdotal evidence that calm, quiet prayer can lower blood pressure, relax the body, and reduce emotional strain. It can also be a way to find simplification in a complicated life, to discern God's will for work and leisure activities, and to strengthen faith and reliance on God. When combined with effective medical care, appropriate diet and exercise regimens, smoking cessation and lifestyle modification, stress reduction is recognized in the medical community as an important aspect of cardiac health.

And prayer --- truly patient, seeking, listening prayer --- is, I have found, a valuable practice to nurture calm, peace, and a healthful, heartfelt happiness while living with the challenges of cardiac heart disease.

Maureen Pratt, a Los Angeles Catholic author who focuses on spirituality and health topics, will speak at the March 16-18 International Conference on Care & Kindness at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. Her website is: www.maureenpratt.com.