Weekly religious services may extend life

[Wandered Off]

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Attending a weekly religious service, regardless of your faith, may lower your risk of death by 20 percent compared to people who don't attend services, researchers are reporting.
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Results of the study were published in the current issue of the journal Psychology and Health.

Religion May Help Extend Your Life - Yahoo! News

God's way of getting heathens to heck that much sooner? What I want to know is are they sure it doesn't just seem to extend your life? I remember those Baptist services I used to attend would feel as if they went on and on forever... (just a little joke )

Any thoughts on this?

 

[Quagmire]

Of course attending church increases your lifespan. After hearing all that fire and brimstone ectetera church goers are so afraid of death they're going to hang on as long as they can.

 

[Riverwolf]

I think it's psychological. Now I don't pretend to know every thing about human psychology, but I suspect that fear of death can shorten lifespan, and religious services will help you understand that there's nothing to fear.

I suspect this because fear causes the heart to pump faster, which, like with any other overworked muscle, can weaken it.

But I could be wrong.

 

[MoonWater]

"lower risk of 'DEATH'?" Does that mean church-goers have a 20% chance of living forever?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Any thoughts on this?

This bit is telling:

Schnall noted that there were many reasons why this could be so. But the main reason, he said, could be that people who go to religious services every week may be in better physical shape. "Maybe they're just healthy enough to go to services," he said.

There's always a danger in assuming a cause from a correlation. Without a plausible mechanism for how a causal relationship might work, it's just as valid to say that health is a strong predictor of religious observance as it is to say that religous observance is a strong predictor of health.

Also, keep in mind that the study was on women who were aged 50 to 79 at the start of the study. I think it's safe to assume that their study group included a significant number of widows. Maybe it's just weekly social interaction that helps a person's health. The women who went to church every week got that; the other group of women would have had a mix: some would have had regular social interaction and some wouldn't have.

The point the researchers made I think is the best one, though: when a woman's health deteriorates to the point that she can't get to church any more, she would move from one group to the other. There may be a fair bit of selection bias built into the study.

 

[3.14]

its not about quantity its about quality

 

[cardero]

Religion May Help Extend Your Life - Yahoo! News

God's way of getting heathens to heck that much sooner? What I want to know is are they sure it doesn't just seem to extend your life? I remember those Baptist services I used to attend would feel as if they went on and on forever... (just a little joke )

Any thoughts on this?

Church, Police Probe 7 Murders, Gunman Apparently Walked Out Of Church Service Two Weeks Ago - CBS News

5 Dead In Louisiana Church Shooting, 4 Killed In Church, Suspect's Wife Found Dead Later - CBS News


3 Killed in Mo. Church Shooting


Gunmen kill 16 in Pakistan church / Assault during Catholic service

Two Unitarian Universalists killed in church shooting
uuworld.org : two unitarian universalists killed in church shooting

 

[Dunemeister]

It's no surprise to me that attending church services extends your life. There's a sort of parody view that church services involve boring liturgy and fire-and-brimstone preaching. It's simply not so. For those who have bought into the theology and purpose of church, the services are encouraging and empowering.

It's also true that if you go to church once a week, it's also true that you probably have other contact with the people who attend the church. And i'd say that it's the mid-week contact with the community members that does more for your longevity than anything else.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

"lower risk of 'DEATH'?" Does that mean church-goers have a 20% chance of living forever?

Hee hee.

That reminds me of the one and only actuary joke I know:

Actuary: This is a really nice town you've got. Clean air, clean water... it looks like a really healthy place to live. What's the death rate like around here?

Farmer: Same as in town. One per person.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

There's a sort of parody view that church services involve boring liturgy and fire-and-brimstone preaching.

I've went to a couple churches that preached that. I see it preached on TV more than anything else. Maybe not the liturgy, but fire and brimstone is a common topic, and whose gonna go there and whose not.

That's an interesting study. It will be interesting to see the whys of it.

 

[texan1]

It's no surprise to me that attending church services extends your life. There's a sort of parody view that church services involve boring liturgy and fire-and-brimstone preaching. It's simply not so. For those who have bought into the theology and purpose of church, the services are encouraging and empowering.

It's also true that if you go to church once a week, it's also true that you probably have other contact with the people who attend the church. And i'd say that it's the mid-week contact with the community members that does more for your longevity than anything else.

I think this is true. People who have an active social life, are involved in their community and who have a sense of purpose are probably happier and live longer. For some, this is provided through their church, and others get this same kind of fulfillment elsewhere. There are also statistics that indicate that people who retire early die younger. I suspect it is for the same reasons - they no longer have the same amount of social interaction or sense of purpose in their life.

 

[ThereIsNoSpoon]

Religion May Help Extend Your Life - Yahoo! News

God's way of getting heathens to heck that much sooner? What I want to know is are they sure it doesn't just seem to extend your life? I remember those Baptist services I used to attend would feel as if they went on and on forever... (just a little joke )

Any thoughts on this?

Could be true ... it keeps you from all the things that cause pleasure and might be dangerous like motorbiking, walking the street ending up in a gang war and so on

Interestingly there is a study that says: Praying for the sick can increase their illness.

 

[Heneni]

Interestingly there is a study that says: Praying for the sick can increase their illness.

Who was it...queen...who said..WHO WANT TO LIVE FOREVER!

I havent frequented a church in a while. To tell you the truth, (and not all churches are the same granted), i never felt more alive then when i left church. And, that was the happy clappy church.

Dont laugh, but i attented three services most sundays. I couldnt wait to get to church. But the preaching didnt seem to feed me. And i was starving on the inside while jumping around on the outside.

Eventually i quite church, and that was hard because i missed the happy clappy environment.

The problem wasnt that i did not feel gods pressence there, its just that i constantly felt his pressence being ignored.

I started to think there was something wrong with me. Well, not that there isnt, but it ultimately came down to following the church leader, or following my heart. I chose the latter.

Heneni

 

[Kathryn]

Hehee, currently I believe the death rate is about 100 percent.

That being said, I would assert that regular church (or mosque or synagogue or whatever religious meeting place) attendees probably have lower-risk lifestyles in general. I would also bet that regular attendees are more involved in their communities, which probably translates into a lower depression rate - which creates a more healthy lifestyle as well.

But if you go to too many of those Wednesday night dinner thingies, you'll get fat.

 

[Ozzie]

Religion May Help Extend Your Life - Yahoo! News

God's way of getting heathens to heck that much sooner? What I want to know is are they sure it doesn't just seem to extend your life? I remember those Baptist services I used to attend would feel as if they went on and on forever... (just a little joke )

Any thoughts on this?

Well spending time in a religious service means you are less likely to be in the pub sinking beers and chain smoking, both of which are proven to not extend your life. So maybe a "misspent youth" can be compensated for by conversion to a religious lifestyle?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Well spending time in a religious service means you are less likely to be in the pub sinking beers and chain smoking, both of which are proven to not extend your life. So maybe a "misspent youth" can be compensated for by conversion to a religious lifestyle?

Given the age range of the subjects (50 to 79 at the start of the 7-year study), I think the effect that the researchers noted in the article probably plays a large role in the result: typically, when a person's health starts to decline with age, a point will be reached when it's not practical or possible to do things like go to church every week.

So... you've really got four groups:

1. middle-aged to elderly women who want to participate in regular religious services and are able to do so.
2. middle-aged to elderly women who don't want to participate in regular religious services but would be able to do so if they chose.
3. middle-aged to elderly women who want to participate in regular religious services but are unable to do so, presumably mainly because of health reasons.
4. middle-aged to elderly women who don't want to participate in regular religious services but wouldn't be able to anyhow.

So... the apples-to-oranges comparisons would be group 1 vs. group 2, group 3 vs. group 4, or (if the sizes of the groups are right) groups 1 and 3 vs. groups 2 and 4. However, the way this study is set up, you're really comparing group 1 to groups 2, 3 and 4 combined.

Effectively, we have a study of mortality (or morbidity? I always get those confused) differences between two groups where the study is structured in such a way that most of the generally unhealthy people are relegated to only one of the groups. That makes for a heck of a selection bias.