Study Finds Health Benefits in Religion

Going to church and reading the Bible regularly may do more than save your soul--they may extend your life.

In one of the biggest studies of its kind, Duke University researchers found that people 65 or older who faithfully participated in religious activities were 40% less likely to have high blood pressure.

Although the study doesn’t prove a causal relationship between belief in a higher power and good health, it does provide numeric evidence of another benefit of religious activity, study co-author Dr. Harold Koenig said.

“We’re becoming more aware that religious beliefs or practices [are] not negative for a person’s health,” Koenig said. “In fact they could be very positive.”

Numerous studies have shown that religious people are less depressed, have healthier immune systems and deal better with addictions than the nonreligious.

The Duke study, released in this month’s issue of the International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, involved nearly 4,000 North Carolinians whose blood pressure was studied between 1986 and 1994. The readings were adjusted for race, age, gender and other differences.