Church Attendence

[Zam-Zam]

I long suspected this might be the cease, and now there seems to be some evidence to support it:

Going to church could help you live longer, study says

(CNN)Many Americans say they attend church because it helps them stay grounded and gives them spiritual guidance. A new study suggests that regular attendance may also help increase their lifespan.

Researchers looked at data on nearly 75,000 middle-age female nurses in the United States as part of the Nurses' Health Study. The participants answered questions about whether they attended religious services regularly every four years between 1992 and 2012, and about other aspects of their lives over the years.
The researchers found that women who went to church more than once a week had a 33% lower risk of dying during the study period compared with those who said they never went. Less-frequent attendance was also associated with a lower risk of death, as women who attended once a week or less than weekly had 26% and 13% lower risk of death, respectively.
Women who regularly attended religious services also had higher rates of social support and optimism, had lower rates of depression and were less likely to smoke. However, the researchers took into account these differences between churchgoers and non-churchgoers when they calculated the decrease in death rates of 13% to 33%.


Complete text: http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/16/health/religion-lifespan-health/index.html


Certainly "good news" for some of us.....:>)

 

[Arkady]

I long suspected this might be the cease, and now there seems to be some evidence to support it:

Going to church could help you live longer, study says

(CNN)Many Americans say they attend church because it helps them stay grounded and gives them spiritual guidance. A new study suggests that regular attendance may also help increase their lifespan.

Researchers looked at data on nearly 75,000 middle-age female nurses in the United States as part of the Nurses' Health Study. The participants answered questions about whether they attended religious services regularly every four years between 1992 and 2012, and about other aspects of their lives over the years.
The researchers found that women who went to church more than once a week had a 33% lower risk of dying during the study period compared with those who said they never went. Less-frequent attendance was also associated with a lower risk of death, as women who attended once a week or less than weekly had 26% and 13% lower risk of death, respectively.
Women who regularly attended religious services also had higher rates of social support and optimism, had lower rates of depression and were less likely to smoke. However, the researchers took into account these differences between churchgoers and non-churchgoers when they calculated the decrease in death rates of 13% to 33%.


Complete text: http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/16/health/religion-lifespan-health/index.html


Certainly "good news" for some of us.....:>)

My assumption is you'd get similar outcomes for attending pretty much anything regularly -- that what you're testing for is health and energy levels. Sicklier and depressed people are going to have trouble getting out of bed for any regular activity, especially a social one, so any test that disproportionately eliminates the more sickly and depressed will tend to find lower mortality rates.

 

[as seen on tv]

I long suspected this might be the cease, and now there seems to be some evidence to support it:

Going to church could help you live longer, study says

(CNN)Many Americans say they attend church because it helps them stay grounded and gives them spiritual guidance. A new study suggests that regular attendance may also help increase their lifespan.

Researchers looked at data on nearly 75,000 middle-age female nurses in the United States as part of the Nurses' Health Study. The participants answered questions about whether they attended religious services regularly every four years between 1992 and 2012, and about other aspects of their lives over the years.
The researchers found that women who went to church more than once a week had a 33% lower risk of dying during the study period compared with those who said they never went. Less-frequent attendance was also associated with a lower risk of death, as women who attended once a week or less than weekly had 26% and 13% lower risk of death, respectively.
Women who regularly attended religious services also had higher rates of social support and optimism, had lower rates of depression and were less likely to smoke. However, the researchers took into account these differences between churchgoers and non-churchgoers when they calculated the decrease in death rates of 13% to 33%.


Complete text: http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/16/health/religion-lifespan-health/index.html


Certainly "good news" for some of us.....:>)

does this provide better (or worse?) results than:

- owning a dog
- transcendental meditation
- walking 10,000 steps a day
- going vegetarian
- a glass of red wine each night

 

[connieb]

I long suspected this might be the cease, and now there seems to be some evidence to support it:

Going to church could help you live longer, study says

(CNN)Many Americans say they attend church because it helps them stay grounded and gives them spiritual guidance. A new study suggests that regular attendance may also help increase their lifespan.

Researchers looked at data on nearly 75,000 middle-age female nurses in the United States as part of the Nurses' Health Study. The participants answered questions about whether they attended religious services regularly every four years between 1992 and 2012, and about other aspects of their lives over the years.
The researchers found that women who went to church more than once a week had a 33% lower risk of dying during the study period compared with those who said they never went. Less-frequent attendance was also associated with a lower risk of death, as women who attended once a week or less than weekly had 26% and 13% lower risk of death, respectively.
Women who regularly attended religious services also had higher rates of social support and optimism, had lower rates of depression and were less likely to smoke. However, the researchers took into account these differences between churchgoers and non-churchgoers when they calculated the decrease in death rates of 13% to 33%.


Complete text: http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/16/health/religion-lifespan-health/index.html


Certainly "good news" for some of us.....:>)

I long suspected this might be the cease, and now there seems to be some evidence to support it:

Going to church could help you live longer, study says

(CNN)Many Americans say they attend church because it helps them stay grounded and gives them spiritual guidance. A new study suggests that regular attendance may also help increase their lifespan.

Researchers looked at data on nearly 75,000 middle-age female nurses in the United States as part of the Nurses' Health Study. The participants answered questions about whether they attended religious services regularly every four years between 1992 and 2012, and about other aspects of their lives over the years.
The researchers found that women who went to church more than once a week had a 33% lower risk of dying during the study period compared with those who said they never went. Less-frequent attendance was also associated with a lower risk of death, as women who attended once a week or less than weekly had 26% and 13% lower risk of death, respectively.
Women who regularly attended religious services also had higher rates of social support and optimism, had lower rates of depression and were less likely to smoke. However, the researchers took into account these differences between churchgoers and non-churchgoers when they calculated the decrease in death rates of 13% to 33%.


Complete text: http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/16/health/religion-lifespan-health/index.html


Certainly "good news" for some of us.....:>)

I think that they should really explore the correlation between church attendance and self discipline.

My personal observation is that those of my aquaintance who have the most self discipline are the people who are overally more successful. They also lead by far healthier lifestyles than others who don't.

Self discipline, is critical for success in education and career advancement. And, people who have more education and better careers generally live physically less demanding lives and can afford better diets and better healthcare. Self discipline is also critical in avoiding addictive behaviors which lead to health problems. Self discipline is also critical in avoiding the kinds of things that end up creating more problems. For instance, driving while intoxicated, or being in a car with someone who is intoxicated or who may have drugs on them where you could be in trouble because of their drugs, because you are not interested with being cool, fitting in and upholding your own values are more important than the potential of fun or exciting experience.


And lets face it, it takes a lot of self discpline to make getting up early on a Sunday when the rest of the world is chilaxing, to be a regular church goer. So, in addition to just being more positive people which is obviously good for your health, I would bet that so much of it comes from the personality of self control.

 

[Zam-Zam]

does this provide better (or worse?) results than:

- owning a dog
- transcendental meditation
- walking 10,000 steps a day
- going vegetarian
- a glass of red wine each night

I don't know. If anyone does, that would be interesting to discuss.

What the study does suggest is a corollary between longer life and regular church attendance.

 

[Zam-Zam]

My assumption is you'd get similar outcomes for attending pretty much anything regularly -- that what you're testing for is health and energy levels. Sicklier and depressed people are going to have trouble getting out of bed for any regular activity, especially a social one, so any test that disproportionately eliminates the more sickly and depressed will tend to find lower mortality rates.

That would be an assumption, as you said, I'm not sure if it's true or not. More data would be necessary before drawing that conclusion.

 

[Arkady]

That would be an assumption, as you said, I'm not sure if it's true or not. More data would be necessary before drawing that conclusion.

There's already data supporting it:

https://jonbarron.org/anti-aging/social-clubs-prolong-life
http://www.wsj.com/articles/retiring-after-65-may-help-people-live-longer-1462202016

Teasing out cause and effect would be interesting. Is it that those with mental, physical, family, and financial problems have more trouble making it to church/social clubs/a job regularly, and therefore those who don't do those things regularly, as a group, don't live as long? Or is it that doing those things actually improves health (by encouraging physical action and building networks that could be beneficial during a health crisis)? Or both? Sounds like a good avenue for research.