Healing

Can prayer boost the odds of recovery from physical ailments? Studies on the question have yielded no clear-cut answers, although one well-known, 2006 study of people who prayed for others from long distances concluded that prayer had no effect on healing. A new study, however, found dramatic healing effects for people who were prayed over by someone in close physical proximity and who believed that this kind of prayer could heal them. This type of prayer, which often includes the healer laying hands on the patient, is practiced by some Pentecostal Christian groups.

What's a healthful food and what's a healing food? Is there a difference? At least since the mid-19th century, when the Battle Creek Sanitarium opened its doors and people flocked there to follow John Harvey Kellogg's regime of whole grains, nuts and frequent enemas, many Americans have sought food as medicine. I have a shelf of books with titles such as "Food - Your Miracle Medicine" and "The Food Pharmacy," and my smartphone is filled with snapshots of the "super foods" on display at a trade show: acai and goldenberry, chia, coconut and flax, goji berries and hemp, maca root and other berries, nuts, seaweeds and roots I've never heard of (yacon, lucuma, camu, maqui)

High noon in Duroville and nothing moved but a swirl of dust and a lone American flag flapping in the scorching breeze. Wild dogs, stricken by heat and light, could barely lift their heads. Dr. Alberto Manetta squinted hard at the jumble of sagging trailers and dirt roads winding through the 40-acre patch of California desert. In the months ahead, this impoverished mobile home community of up to 4,000 mostly Latino farmworkers would serve as a laboratory for the UC Irvine medical professor and about a dozen student volunteers -- sort of a model Third World village just two hours from campus.

PHOENIX - When Zack Greinke visited Los Angeles this week to get his sore right elbow examined, Dodgers physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache prescribed him treatment the team has used for the last five seasons: platelet-rich plasma therapy. Greinke's blood was drawn and filtered to concentrate the platelets, which are cell fragments that promote healing. The platelet-rich plasma was injected into his elbow. Though Greinke's injection was designed to temper inflammation, the Dodgers have used PRP therapy in recent years on a variety of injuries, many of which they have described as more serious than Greinke's.

Having missed three games because of a sprained right knee, Sparks center Lisa Leslie said Wednesday she will return to the lineup as early as July 22, when the Sparks visit the Seattle Storm. "It's already better," she said after practicing with the team. "The doctor said, 'You're much further ahead.'

The April 6 article on Hong Kong and healing arts by Dr. Karl Neumann is mu ch appreciated. However, the Hong Kong Tourist Assn. does not provide lists of recognized practitioners. What we do provide is a list of medical associations through which inquiries can be made, and they will provide the information on individual members. F. W. HOLLANDS director, Western region The Hong Kong Tourist Assn. off- ice is at 421 Powell St., Suite 200, San Francisco 94102-1568, phone (415)

After eight grueling years of casualties overseas and suicides at home, this vast Army base took an unusual step recently to aid soldiers and their families facing overwhelming grief. A former chapel with stained-glass windows was transformed into a Spiritual Fitness Center. It offers counseling, soothing music, a religious library and meditation space, among other services, to help survivors cope with psychological trauma. "When you're hit, you don't break," explained Brig.

Matt Kemp jogged onto the field at Dodger Stadium before crushing a string of pitches during batting practice and fielding grounders Tuesday. Just two weeks after being placed on the disabled list for the second time this season, the All-Star outfielder gave every indication he's on pace for a timely return to the lineup. And though there's no timetable, Dodgers trainer Sue Falsone said there have been no setbacks in Kemp's rehabilitation since he suffered a strained left hamstring May 30. It was the second time this season Kemp was taken out of the lineup because of the injury.

In his final impeachment trial opening prayer Friday, the Senate's chaplain offered thanks for the tenor of the debate and asked for healing for President Clinton and his family. The Rev. Lloyd Ogilvie, in his familiar resonant voice, thanked God for what he called "an open, honest debate of alternative solutions" and for a "spirit of unity" within the Senate. "Most important of all, we know that we can trust you with the results," Ogilvie said.

I never write letters to the editor, but I couldn't let James I. Reese's letter of Jan. 14 go without a response. Reese states that he is "not a member of the Moral Majority or an ultraconservative Christian," but his canceling his subscription because of "blatant homosexual advertising" indicates that he is, at the very least, archaic, narrow-minded and ignorant. Homosexuality is not a vice or a disease. What is truly sick is the attitude that one in 10 people should not be allowed to express their sexuality.

One morning 13 years ago, I brought my young son to a storefront children's gym in Culver City. Ezra had recently been diagnosed with autism, and someone - a doctor or a therapist - had suggested that Dave Rabb could help. I don't remember what I expected, but not the man I met: Dave was short and sturdy, in his 60s, with a Brooklyn accent and an attitude to match. I told him I wasn't sure Ezra would be able to follow directions - at 4, our son was remote and distracted and rarely made eye contact - but that I could help.

The 22-year-old Palmdale man who created Manti Te'o's fake girlfriend broke his silence for the first time, saying he perpetrated the elaborate hoax to build a relationship with the football star. Ronaiah Tuiasosopo pretended to be Te'o's girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, for months, communicating on the phone and through social media. Tuiasosopo went so far as to disguise his voice to sound like a woman's when he spoke to Te'o on the phone, his attorney, Milton Grimes, said in an interview with The Times.

The prospects of Dwight Howard's injured shoulder healing during the season may be far-fetched, and surgery could knock him out for a considerable period. "Six months," Howard said. "I'd rather live with it than have six months out again. That'd be two summers in a row, so I don't want that. " Instead he hopes to play through the injury. As Howard describes it, the labrum in his right shoulder is intact but torn away from the bone. "Will it heal?" Howard said. "I hope so. " Howard undergoes regular therapy, icing it after games.

The Chicago Blackhawks started being ripped apart seemingly minutes after they won the Stanley Cup in 2010. Other winning teams limped into training camps unrested, and faded away. After all, it's human nature to exhale after getting to the top of the mountain. Or at least to buy another round or two for old friends. "We've had our fun already," Kings center Anze Kopitar. And rightly so. The first Stanley Cup championship for the Kings ignited summer-long celebrations, from Southern California to Kopitar's native Slovenia.

Indianapolis Colts Coach Chuck Pagano has been through a lot this season. After being hired by the Colts during the off-season, Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia and missed most of the season while undergoing treatment. He re-assumed his head-coaching duties before the final regular-season game, a victory over the Houston Texans, and remained in that role for the Colts' wild-card playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, a season-ending 24-9 loss. Still, it was quite a season for the Colts, who had won just two games the previous year and revamped much of the team, opting to draft Andrew Luck as quarterback and trade all-time great Peyton Manning.

SAN DIEGO - Marine Cpl. Timothy Read, who lost a leg in Afghanistan and has been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, is applying some Rustoleum to a new drive shaft for his prized 2003 Mustang Mach 1. It's more than just a hobby. Working on cars and motorcycles, Read said, fills the aching void in his life left when his war wounds stripped him of the ability to be a combat Marine. "My hands are meant to be dirty," he said. "I'm meant to be busting my knuckles, doing a man's work.

Re "L.A. Court Blocks Mahony Deposition," May 6: I wonder if we will ever find anyone in Los Angeles with enough backbone to compel Cardinal Roger Mahony to answer questions regarding the molestation of young Catholics. First the district attorney and now a Superior Court judge have backed down. Doesn't Mahony realize that unless he answers these questions, this wound will never heal? This is a very sad day for anyone who looks up to the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. John Julis Bellflower

In response to the letter ("Sentencing in Mob Attack Was Justified," April 23) regarding the sentencing of two violent young men, (Russell Takeo) Scarce and (Derek Thomas) Jones: Pam Brande is almost right. First, we all have the right to a vigorous and intelligent defense, so kudos to attorney Kathy Jensen for trying her best. Second, there is an obvious answer to (Brande's) question "Am I missing something?" Both men had prior assault records. Here is where the question and the answer carry the same energy.

Maria Belón wasn't proud of her dumb luck. It had been nearly three years since the Indian Ocean tsunami roared into her family's Christmas vacation in Thailand, killing 230,000 people but somehow sparing her, her husband and her three sons. The family had since returned to Madrid, resumed their routines, but she carried on her shoulders the pain and suffering of surviving something that took so many others' lives. Lost in a quiet grief, unable to enjoy simple pleasures, she wasn't eager to share her story.

MAMMOTH LAKES - Before we get to the early snow, the new businesses, the zipping skiers and beaming boarders at Mammoth Lakes, let's remember how bad things have been this year for this corner of the Eastern Sierra. First, Mother Nature delivered scant snow in the 2011-12 season, driving tourism down just as the larger economy seemed to be recovering. Then in June, management at Mammoth Mountain, the resort that dominates the town, trimmed staff, cut salaries and announced the shuttering of its June Mountain ski operation - a painful blow to the tiny mountain community of June Lake, 20 miles north of Mammoth.