Sunday, September 21, 2003
New Study Shows Prayer Has Positive Effect on Health
Can praying be good for your health? A decade ago, most doctors and scientists would have dismissed any connection between prayer and medicine. However, recent studies drawing a positive connection between faith and healing have sparked new debate in the United States over the issue.
A recent Gallup poll shows that 95 percent of the population of the United States believes in God, and nearly 80 percent of people over 65-years-old are members of a church.
A number of studies have shown that individuals who pray regularly and attend religious services stay healthier and live longer than those who rarely or never go to a church, synagogue or mosque.
Duke University recently released a study of 4,000 women and men of different faiths. All the participants were 65 or older.
The study found that the relative risk of dying was 46 percent lower for those who frequently attend religious services.
A study by the same group says those who pray regularly have significantly lower blood pressure than those who do not.
It also found that those who attend religious services have healthier immune systems.
Dr. Harold Koenig of Duke University is the director and founder of the Center for the Study of Religion, Spirituality and Health.
But he says his own research and recent studies by other universities have convinced him that prayer, much like exercise and diet, has a connection with better health.
"A religion-medical connection is not new or unnatural," he said. "Many patients are religious, and use it to cope with illness. Religion is related to mental health, social support and health behaviors. Better mental health, in turn, better social support, better health behaviors are related to better physical health. Thus religion should be related to physical health, and when you examine it, it is."
Studies at several medical centers conclude that prayer and faith help in the recovery from heart attacks, drug addiction, stroke, alcoholism and depression.
At the University of Miami, research showed AIDS patients who became long-term survivors were more frequently engaged in religious worship and involved in volunteer work.
Cynthia Cohen is a senior researcher at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University in Washington.
"So far, the studies seem to show that prayer, in particular, seems to work on some patients," said Ms. Cohen. "There are studies that show that prayer has apparently been associated with improved healthcare outcomes for a high proportion of patients in certain studies. However, there are other studies that show that prayer doesn't seem to have the same degree of effectiveness."
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