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

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  Subject      God is good medicine
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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.

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