Scientific Research on Faith and Health

People who attend church have a 25% reduction in mortality (live longer) than people who are not churchgoers. (This is true even after controlling for variables linked to church attendance, such as social support and healthy lifestyle.)

American Journal of Public Health, 1998

Thos who attend religious services more than once per week have a 7-year survival advantage over those who don't attend. Black attendees have a 14-year advantage over blacks who don't attend. (This is after controlling for variables linked to church attendance.)

Demography, 1999

Heart surgery patients who found strength and comfort in their religious faith were 14 times less likely to die following heart surgery.

Dartmouth Medical School, 1995

Persons living in religious kibbutzim in Israel had less illness and a 50% lower mortality rate than those in secular kibbutzim, even when the secular community was tighlty-knit.

Kark et al, 1996

A study of nearly 4,000 persons 65 or older showed that those attending religious services at least once per week and doing prayer or Bible study at least daily had a 40% decreased risk of diastolic hypertension (high blood pressure).

International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 1998

For every 10-point increase in an "intrinsic religiosity" score of patients with depression, there was a 70% increase in speed of remission of depression.

American Journal of Psychiatry, 1998

(Source: Advocate Health Care)