The secret of long life... go to church

Doctors could prescribe a course of church attendance to benefit patients 

By Elizabeth Day

12:01AM GMT 26 Dec 2004

Those who made their annual trip to church on Christmas day will have to think again. Research shows that regular churchgoers live longer than non-believers.

A 12-year study tracking mortality rates of more than 550 adults over the age of 65 found that those who attend services at least once a week were 35 per cent more likely to live longer than those who never attended church.

The research also found that going to church boosted an elderly person's immune system and made them less likely to suffer clogged arteries or high blood pressure.

Susan Lutgendorf, psychology professor at the University of Iowa, who carried out the study, said: "There's something involved in the act of religious attendance, whether it's the group interaction, the world view or just the exercise to get out of the house. There's something that seems to be beneficial."

Robert Wallace, a co-author of the report, added that doctors could even prescribe a course of church attendance to benefit patients.

"It was an interesting and provocative find," he said. "I think that now, we will be trying to aggregate the meaning and experience of going to church to the extent that one can produce medical intervention based on a better understanding of that."

The researchers found that among individuals who reported never attending religious services, the risk of death over the 12-year period was 52 per cent.

By contrast, the risk of death of those who attended church services more than once a week was 17 per cent over the same period.

Thirty five per cent of the 64 participants who never attended church died before the end of the study.

By comparison, 85.5 per cent of participants who went to church twice or more a week survived.

Regular church attendance was associated with lower levels of Interleukin-6, a chemical that can cause arterial damage at elevated levels and is linked to age-related diseases.

Although the researchers acknowledged that regular churchgoers could lead more abstemious lives, they insisted that they had factored these variants into the study by examining a control group of equally healthy non-believers. The variation, they said, had made no appreciable difference.

"It is possible that more frequent religious attenders may have engaged in better health behaviours, such as exercise or lower dietary fat intake," the researchers wrote.

"The present data included a limited assessment of health behaviours such as smoking, sleep, alcohol intake, cigarette use and obesity.

"This is the first study of which we are aware to find support for the hypothesis that more frequent religious attendance in a population-based sample of older adults is associated with lower mortality."

Rev John Hardie, a Church of Scotland priest and former chaplain of St Paul's Cathedral in Dundee, celebrated his 88th birthday this year and attributed his longevity to a Christian way of life.

"If you live the type of life that a Christian should live and take things in modernation, then you do live longer," he said.

"I find that I can have a drop of alcohol now and then and I smoke a pipe, but I don't inhale. At the moment, I go to church once a week but I'm a bit unsteady on my pins and I find that I need another priest to help me lift the chalice when I take communion at the altar."

A Church of England spokesman said: "For some people, the fact that there is a greater power whom we are confident loves us and has our best interests at heart, must remove the daily stresses and worries of those who do not believe.

"But of course, faith is not an ant colony: there are probably as many different explanations for why this research has found what it has as there are people who took part."

Prof Lutgendorf's findings would appear to be borne out by a number of devoted Christians who have enjoyed remarkably long lives.

Dame Thora Hird, the actress who presented the BBC1 religious programme, Songs of Praise, lived to 91. She was a regular churchgoer before her death last year.

Pope John Paul II celebrated his 84th birthday this year and still carries out a gruelling schedule of travel and daily appointments.

Rev Edward Lewis, the chief executive of The Hospital Chaplaincies Council, said that although the research was "very interesting," it was not reflected in his experience.

"Sickness or illness hit people who go to church just as much as those who don't," he said. "People get cancer at 30 even if they go four or five times a week.

"Going to church doesn't protect us from all the horrible things that happen, but it gives us the strength to cope with them."

Church-goers are more optimistic, study finds

CHICAGO — Regular attendance at religious services is associated with a more optimistic outlook and a lesser inclination to be depressed, compared to those who do not attend services at all, a study concluded on Thursday.

The study's findings supports previous research that religious participation can promote psychological and physical health -- and reduce mortality risks -- possibly by calming people in stressful times, creating meaningful social interactions and helping curtail bad habits.

Those who said they attended services more than once a week in the previous month were 56 percent more likely to be above the median score in a measure of optimism than those who did not attend services, according to the study published in the Journal of Religion and Health.

And those who reported attending services weekly were 22 percent less likely to be depressed or have depressive symptoms compared to non-attenders.

But a researcher on the study cautioned against people assuming that adopting a religion and heading off to a church, synagogue, temple or mosque would brighten their lives.

"There is a correlation, but that does not mean there is causality," said Eliezer Schnall, an associate professor of clinical psychology at Yeshiva University in New York. "One could argue people who are more optimistic may be drawn to religious services.

"The person who says, 'I guess if I go to services, that will make me more optimistic' -- while a possibility, that may not be true," he said.

Another caveat Schnall offered was that the study examined older women, so the benefits of religious activity may not apply to younger people or to males. Older women in particular have been shown in past research to engage in more social interaction at services, and to gain the most from it.

Schnall worked on a 2008 study of the same group of women that found those who attended religious services regularly reduced their risk of death by 20 percent over the follow-up period that averaged nearly eight years.

"We're trying to connect the dots here," he said. "We know they're less likely to die, and health outcomes can be related to psychological factors."

The two studies examined answers provided by nearly 93,000 women, aged 50 to 79, who participated in the Women's Health Initiative study that began in 1991. Funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the survey tracks women's health, habits, beliefs and outcomes.

In response to questions asked when they enrolled, 34 percent of the women said they had not attended services in the previous month, 21 percent attended less than once a week, 30 percent attended weekly, and 14 percent more than once week.

They also answered a raft of questions to judge their level of optimism and their susceptibility to depression.

Schnall said there was no "dose response" when it comes to frequency of attending religious services and mental health.

But religious practice in general can encourage a "positive worldview, include calming rituals, and have other psychological and social benefits," the report said.

The study found people who attend services regularly were 28 percent more likely to report having positive social support -- which often meant they were more likely to have someone to help with chores or take them to the doctor if they needed it.

Religious people may also be more likely to avoid smoking or drinking alcohol in excess, to visit physicians, and to engage in other healthy lifestyle behaviors, it said.

When compared to other social groupings such as sporting events or playing cards, fellow religious congregants can provide closer confidants, Schnall said.

There are occasions, however, where religious disagreements with clergy, family members, or fellow parishioners can create psychological strains, the report noted.

研究：經常參加禮拜 想法較樂觀

【台灣醒報記者莊瑞萌綜合報導】據美國一所大學研究，平時有參與教會活動或是參加其他信 仰活動的人，想法較正面樂觀，也較不易出現憂鬱或沮喪的情緒。研究人員認為，最主要的因素是因為他們可以與人分享生活中的挫折及結交朋友。

美國葉史瓦大學研究人員訪問近10萬名50歲以上的女性，調查發現固定有信仰活動的人，例如參加教會禮拜，對生活保持正面態度的比例較一般不去教會的人高出56％，出現心情沮喪的比率也較 其他人減少27％，研究人員史諾表示，「參加禮拜與保持樂觀之間，的確有強烈關係。」

《路透社》曾報導，在2008年一 份報告中指出，習慣參加教會禮拜的人死亡率比從未參加教會的人約低20％，對於今年這項新的研究結果，史諾則提醒，「並非只要到教會，人就可以從悲觀馬上 變成一個超級樂觀的人。」
在這次研究中，研究人員也分析了其它因素維持樂觀的因素，例如參加教會可以與牧師分享生活上的困難，有人可以協助就醫以及保持良好的人際關係，這些 都可能讓民眾對生活抱持較為樂觀的態度。

本次研究結果刊登在《The Journal of Religion and Health》期刊。

我的車需要油～

由於我的小Kelisa還在車廠休養，
所以目前的我暫時還是繼續開恩典堂會友借我的車。

今晚的晚餐，
為一位弟兄送別。
從餐廳開回家的路上，
突然覺得車子的狀況怪怪的。
特別是在轉彎時會突然沒力。

看看油表，
雖然只剩最後一小格，但應該還能跑一段路。
繼續開著開著，
在轉彎時又出現同樣狀況。

這時車上的各位開始緊張了。
到底怎麼回事？
車子壞了嗎？
怎麼辦？怎麼辦？

最糟的是，
快到家時，
車子竟然在十字路中間拋錨了。
我們趕緊重新發動車子。
試了幾次之後，
感謝主！
車子發動了！
我們趕緊把車子開進叉路。

沒想到才開不到幾秒，
車子又拋錨了！！！
這次我們順利把車子停在路邊，
還不至於影響交通。
但不管我們試了幾次，車子就是無法發動。

我趕緊打電話給車主，
語帶歉意的告訴他，
車子不能發動了。

這時車主問我油表還剩多少？
我說只剩最後一格。
聽了之後，
車主也很不好意思的說他忘了提醒我油表的指示針有問題。
所以千萬不能讓油表太低。

聽了他的解釋後，
我才如釋重負。
至少知道問題出在哪裡，且知道如何解決。

我只要請朋友帶我去附近的加油站買油回來添就好了。

油表指示針的烏龍事件，
不正好反映基督徒的屬靈生命嗎？

我們“以為”自己很瞭解神的話；
我們“以為”自己跟神的關係良好；
我們“以為”自己能繼續服事神。

殊不知這些只是“自我感覺良好”，
一相情願的想法罷了～

等到挫折挑戰來臨，
我們才發覺，原來“油箱”早就沒有油了。

想起兒時唱過的一首歌：我的燈需要油

我的燈需要油，求主常賜下；使我燈永遠發亮光；
我的燈需要油，求主常賜下，使我燈發光到主作王。

唱和撒那，唱和撒那，唱和撒那，賀萬王之王！
唱和撒那，唱和撒那，唱和撒那賀我王！

讓我們求主繼續為我們加油，
為主發光發熱！