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Religion and science share a complex history as well as a complex present. At various times worldwide, medical and spiritual care was dispensed by the same person. At other times, passionate (even violent) conflicts characterised the association between religion and medicine and science. As interest in alternative and complementary medicine has grown, the notion of linking religious and medical interventions has become widely popular, especially in the USA. For many people, religious and spiritual activities provide comfort in the face of illness.
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Sloan et al. (1999) studied this question.
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