Spiritual healing as adjunct therapy for rheumatoid arthritis.

At the request of the Confederation of Healing Organizations (CHO) the addition of spiritual healing (SH) to conventional therapy has been compared with conventional therapy alone in 29 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using a parallel group design. Clinical and biochemical assessments were recorded at intervals while subjects received a 6-month course of spiritual healing. Initial psychological assessment was also performed.

The effect of sulphasalazine on neutrophil superoxide generation in rheumatoid arthritis.

The production of superoxide by the peripheral blood neutrophils of 19 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis was measured during treatment with sulphasalazine (SASP). The response to drug treatment was determined by change in plasma viscosity, CRP, early morning stiffness and articular index over a 10-point scale. Of the 19 patients studied, eight were considered to have responded well to SASP and seven to have responded poorly or not at all.