I don't know if God or religion is the determinant, or if it's believing
that life has a purpose and a feeling of one's place in that greater scheme
of things.
David Burman
[log in to unmask]

At 12:18 PM 4/5/02 -0500, you wrote:
>great!  I saw that story too.  Just like in the middle ages, deal with the
>difficulties in your present life by looking to the new one coming!
>
>God is obviously  a supporter of the status quo.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Susan Himel <[log in to unmask]>@YorkU.CA> on 04/05/2002 11:17:29 AM
>
>Please respond to Health Promotion on the Internet <[log in to unmask]>
>
>   Sent         Health Promotion on the Internet
>   by:          <[log in to unmask]>
>
>   To:          [log in to unmask]
>
>   cc:          (bcc: Dennis Raphael/Atkinson)
>
>
>
>   Subject      God is good medicine
>   :
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>another interesting twist on the social determinants/lifestyle debate ... the
>article is too long for click4hp, so if you want to read it in it's entirety,
>goto www.globeandmail.com and search for the article.
>
>God is good medicine
>Want to live a longer, healthier life? The answer may be in your place of
>worship, researchers are finding
>RON CSILLAG, Special to The Globe and Mail, Tuesday, April  2, 2002
>
>
>TORONTO --  Health-club membership: check. Ginkgo-and-kelp caplets: check.
>Cigarettes, down; veggies, up: check. Religion: che. . . what?
>
>Yes, health nuts and slugabeds alike, it's time to acknowledge something you
>may have heard in Sunday school or while perched on Grandma's knee: Like
>spinach, God is good for you.
>
>Medical science, especially in the West, may still turn up its nose at the mix
>of health and spirituality, but it's slowing coming around. At least 80 of 125
>medical schools in the United States offer courses in religion and
>medicine. In
>Canada, the Ontario Multifaith Council on Spiritual and Religious Care is
>calling for papers for a big conference in October at the University of
>Toronto
>on Spirituality and Health Care.
>
>The research -- scads of it -- continues to confirm more or less the same
>thing: People who follow a religious/spiritual path are more likely to enjoy
>greater longevity and superior overall health than those who do not. And
>prayer, meditation and other mind-body approaches, whether from the Eastern or
>Western religious models, appear to be beneficial to the healing process.
>
>That's not to suggest that atheists, agnostics and secular humanists will keel
>over tomorrow from heart attacks, or that the faithful are immune from
>alcoholism or obesity. While not all of us do such a great job of
>following the
>dictates of our religions and may enjoy good health anyway, the link between
>spiritual engagement and healthy behaviour is, finally, as close to undeniable
>as it has ever been.
>
>___
>
>At last count, more than 1,200 studies and 400 reviews, from Canada,
>Europe and
>the United States, show that:
>  Those who regularly attend a house of worship have demonstrably lower
> rates of
>illness and death than do infrequent or non-attenders.
>  For each of the three leading causes of death in North America -- heart
>disease, cancer and hypertension -- people who report a religious affiliation
>have lower rates of illness and higher rates of recovery.
>  Older adults who participate in private and congregational worship exhibit
>fewer symptoms, less disability and lower rates of depression, chronic
>anxiety,
>and dementia than those who do not.
>  Actively religious people live longer, on average, than the
> non-religious (up
>to seven years longer, say some studies). This holds true even when
>controlling
>for the fact that religious people tend to avoid health risks such as smoking,
>drinking and promiscuity.
>  Among African-Americans, religious participation has been found to be the
>single strongest determinant of psychological well-being -- more so than
>physical health or financial status.
>  Meditation and prayer have been found to improve patients' overall
> well-being.
>As your doctor might say, they can't hurt.
>
>The newest study, in this week's International Journal of Psychiatry in
>Medicine, found that that people who didn't attend services regularly were
>twice as likely to die of noncancerous digestive diseases, 21 per cent more
>likely to die of cardiovascular disease, including heart and stroke, and
>66 oer
>cent more likely to die to respiratory diseases, other than cancer.
>
>In all, the research points in one direction, at least as far as the
>psychological benefits of religion go: High, even moderate, levels of
>religious
>faith and/or spiritual awareness are associated with greater resilience to
>stress, lower levels of anxiety, better coping skills, a greater sense of
>belonging, and generally, a sunnier, more serene, take on life.
>____
>
>There are two groundbreaking books on the subject: The Handbook of
>Religion and
>Health, a 712-page bruiser that sifts through the studies linking religious
>practice with health, and the far more accessible God, Faith and Health by Dr.
>Jeff Levin, North America's premier chronicler of the new field and among
>those
>experts to note that followers of certain faith groups do better than others
>when it comes to disease and death.
>______
>
>Copyright 2002 | Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc.
>
>Send one line: unsubscribe click4hp to: [log in to unmask] to unsubscribe
>See: http://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/click4hp.html to alter your
>subscription
>
>Send one line: unsubscribe click4hp to: [log in to unmask] to unsubscribe
>See: http://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/click4hp.html to alter your
>subscription

Send one line: unsubscribe click4hp to: [log in to unmask] to unsubscribe
See: http://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/click4hp.html to alter your subscription