'Miracles are real': Doctor reveals how faith and medicine promote long-term health

Maintaining good health and longevity sometimes takes more than medicine, according to Dr. Marc Siegel.

In his new book, "The Miracles Among Us," the Fox News senior medical analyst shares miraculous stories of healing and life-saving moments that exceed the bounds of medical intervention.

"The book is amazing because it tells itself," he said. "The stories aren't mine; the stories are real. And what's interesting about them is that they are compilations that lead up to miracles."

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Siegel said he was inspired by his father, who lived to be 102 years old, and his mother, who lived to be 100. They credited their longevity to their love for each other.

"They were bound together by love; they didn't want to leave the other alone," he said. "It's a real love story."

"But beyond that, it's because physicians participated in keeping them alive and keeping them going down a lane to survival rather than saying they're too old."

The doctor added, "God is found in coincidences, he's found in visions, he's found in dreams, he's found in angels, he is found in unexpected happenings and unexpected recoveries and people waking up from comas that shouldn't."

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Even those who don't follow a certain religion still share a belief in a "larger reality," according to Siegel, including physicians.

"Over 70% [of physicians] believe in religion, and over 70% believe in miracles," he said. "But the real problem, and why I wrote this book, is because they don't always apply those beliefs to their patients and to their practices, and I want them to."

Siegel shared one story in his book called "The Rebbe," featuring a carpenter and his wife who had three children. The third child appeared to be in poor health.

The carpenter's rabbi told him to check his mezuzah, a small, sacred object kept by the front door of Jewish homes. One of the idols that resembled a heart appeared to be broken, so the rabbi told the carpenter to have the child's heart checked.

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A cardiologist then confirmed that the child had a hole in his heart, but was too young for surgery at only 3 months old.

Despite the rabbi's plea for the baby to have surgery, the doctor declined - until the child had a nearly fatal cardiac arrest and they were forced to operate.

Siegel recalled that the "rabbi was right," and the boy's life was saved.

"I want people to understand that you can be both a deeply committed scientist and deeply committed to your religion," he said. "I want people to realize we need this now. We need healing prayers."

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"I want people to be inspired that they're going to find miracles in their own lives, that there are miracles among us, that we all have a miracle to tell," he added. "I want people to come forward and tell their miracles, and I want them to experience them now at a time of great divisiveness, derision, depression and anxiety."

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Siegel encouraged readers to learn from these stories, taking away how people could begin an ordinary day and end up in a place that is "just magical."