Attend Religious Services, Live Longer

(WebMD)  Going to church -- or any kind of religious service -- may prolong your life.

A new study shows that older women who regularly attend religious services
reduce their risk of death by 20%. The study was published in Psychology and Health.

Researchers from Yeshiva University's Albert Einstein College of Medicine
grouped all religions together, looking only at whether the women attended
services regularly and whether those services brought them comfort.

Organized religion creates a social network with regular routines, which is
known to enhance well-being. However, even when researchers adjusted for that
factor, the women going to services were still less likely to die.

"Interestingly, the protection against mortality provided by religion cannot be entirely explained by expected factors that include enhanced social support of friends or family, lifestyle choices, and reduced smoking and alcohol consumption," lead author and clinical assistant professor of psychology Eliezer Schnall says in a news release. "There is something here that we don't quite understand. It is always possible that some unknown or unmeasured factors confounded these results."

Researchers evaluated 92,395 postmenopausal women participating in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study, a national, multi-ethnic, long-term study aimed at addressing women's health issues funded by the National Institutes of Health. The women, all between the ages of 50 and 79,
answered questions about their behaviors, health, and religious practices.

Researchers followed participants for an average of 7.7 years and made adjustments for known risk factors, such as age and health history, when evaluating risk of death. They found that women attending religious services at least once per week showed a 20% mortality risk reduction compared to those not attending services at all.

In addition to looking at mortality broadly, researchers examined the risk
of death from cardiovascular disease. They did not find that religion had an
impact on the women's risk of death by this particular cause.

By Caroline Wilbert
Reviewed by Elizabeth Klodas
©2005-2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved

[mchoulj]

If church is the place where our focus is on God, not on ourselves, and on how we can help others, then I believe we will live more purposeful, fulfilled lives. This is not so much because of what happens in church alone as much as what happens outside of church because of what can or should happen inside of church.

[slim1h2o]

mikespeir
timothyone;

I agree with both posts,,well said, both of you....

Church will only give you a false hope, and a false sense of security.

[mchoulj]

This makes perfect sense, as church can be a place where one can find comfort, peace, and purpose in the midst of our busy lives.

[deanmartian]

Thanks cwbhyt, spoken like a true moral hypocrite of your ilk.

[timothyone-2009]

After the reading of his father''s will, Bill said "Thank God". Later he told his wife he thought the family needed to begin attending church again to show thanks to God for his blessings. His brother Bob, who was left out of the will, remains embittered and sleeps in on Sundays. At the mission.
Attending church can''t extend life, but being able to afford fruits, vegetables, good medical care and gym memberships can. Ever seen an impoverished black child at the health club? How often do our poorest get a bag of fruit at home, that is, compared to the children of the affluent? Is there anything more stressful than living in poverty?

Church is just another part of the good life, the part where the wealthy ask God to continues to "bless" them. The poor who attend faithfully die in need of health care and decent nutrition like all the rest.

Why blame those who live in crippling despair with parents who have been sickened by lives of despair, whose parents and grandparents lived equally desperate lives? When they eat McDonald''s grease, and develop other unhealthy habits, we can only blame the society that put them and kept them in that environment while others are allowed to hoard 1000 times more than anyone could possibly ever use, and then do everything possible to put their faces and money on television, creating more stress and anger for the cheated poor.

[e-mail]

[mtminds]

This works only for the guilty looking to for relief.

[mikespeir]

No thanks. If I kick off a year or two earlier, so be it. I wasted too many years trying to believe what I was increasingly finding unbelievable. No more!

[ludvig1-2009]

My mom is not in good enough health to go to church anymore, even though she attended regularly. I imagine that a lot of older ladies aren''t in good enough health although they''d like to go to church. So this might be an unscientific study with an agenda.

[cwbyht]

DIe you stupid atheists! Hell awaits!!

[deanmartian]

I agree with many of the posts. As a skeptic in the areas of "god" and religion, if something may bring any positives despite the inability of the believers to prove their god''s existence on an imperical or any level I hope they may find happiness and joy in whatever way they can. Personally I do not belive in the invisible cloud beings Christians, Hebrews, and Muslims do, yet it is not my job to make anyone believe in what I do, and why should I?