MADISON, Wis., Jan. 4 Breast-cancer patients were found to have obtained mental-health benefits as a result of prayer via an online support group, said a U.S. study.Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center of Excellence in Cancer Communications Research conducted an analysis of message transcripts from 97 breast-cancer patients participating in an online support group recruited from Wisconsin and Michigan.From a psychological standpoint, there are a variety of reasons why cancer patients may benefit from prayer -- whether on the Internet or elsewhere, said lead author Bret Shaw of the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering. Some of the most common ways study participants used religion to cope with their illness included putting trust in God about the course of their illness and consequently feeling less stressed, believing in an afterlife and therefore being less afraid of death, finding blessings in their lives and appraising their cancer experience in a more constructive religious light.The findings are published in an advance issue of the journal Psycho-Oncology.Copyright 2007 by UPI
