Elisabeth Targ

Elisabeth Fischer Targ (1961 - 2002) was a psychiatrist specializing in psychic phenomena and the role of spirituality in health and healing. She died of a brain tumor on July 18th, 2002.

Education

Targ earned her undergraduate degree and her medical degree at Stanford University.

Research

Elisabeth Fischer Targ is probably best known for her study on the effects of prayer on patient outcomes in a group of people with AIDS. This presumably randomized, double-blind study which was published in the Western Journal of Medicine found that the subjects who were prayed for had significantly better health and lower morbidity than the subjects who were not prayed for. Unfortunately, it seems like the data had been unblinded, then "re-blinded" to look for data which confirmed her thesis. [ [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.12/prayer.html?pg=5&topic=&topic_set= "A Prayer Before Dying: WHAT TOO FEW PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT TARG'S FAMOUS AIDS STUDY"] ]

On top of that, her study had not focused on health or morbidity to start with but actual death rates. Unfortunately for the study (but fortunately for the people in the study), powerful antiretroviral drugs had been developed which greatly expanded the lifespan of individuals with HIV. This had the effect of rendering what the experiment had been originally brought to study obsolete. [ [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.12/prayer.html?pg=5&topic=&topic_set= "A Prayer Before Dying: WHAT TOO FEW PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT TARG'S FAMOUS AIDS STUDY"] ]

Additionally, in one of her studies, she found that group therapy was as useful as Prozac for fighting depression.

Controversy

Targ's studies on the effects of prayer were later questioned but never compromised. One writer claimed without substantiation that Targ had manipulated the results of the study to get the results she was looking for. A detailed story was published in Wired following this event. [ [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.12/prayer.html "A Prayer Before Dying"] ] Other medical commentary has lauded Targ's research as ground-breaking and visionary.

Personal

*Daughter of Russell Targ and Joan Targ
*Bobby Fischer was her maternal uncle
*Graduated from Palo Alto High School
*Ironically she was studying the affects of prayer on the disease which eventually killed her, Glioblastoma multiforme, a malignant form of brain cancer. She died 111 days after she was diagnosed with the disease. The prayers did not seem to have a significant effect on her disease [ [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.12/prayer.html A Prayer Before Dying] ]

Publications

A partial list of publications include:
*"Reinventing Medicine: Beyond Mind-Body to a New Era of Healing" by Larry Dossey
*"Breast Cancer: Beyond Convention" by Isaac Cohen, Debu Tripathy, and Mary Tagliaferri

External links

* [http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/newsh/items/blank/item_4525.html Spiritualhealth.com]

References