Healthy Aging

The February 16, 2018, edition of Time, raised the question “Do Religious People Live Longer?” This article identified studies or research related to church, temple and mosque attendance; and the use of prayer and its impact on longevity. In the initial section, a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2016, was cited. According to the Time article, the results indicated that women that attended a religious service more than once a week had a 33% lower chance of dying during a 16 year study follow-up period. A second study published in PLOS One found that regular service attendance was linked to reductions in stress and even mortality. These worshipers were 55% less likely to die in the 18 year follow-up. A number of variables that may or may not have been addressed in these two studies come to mind. 1. There was statistical significance in the first study for women and apparently for both men and women in the second study. Why, the difference? 2. What were the worshiper’s ages in both studies? 3. What was the socioeconomic status of the worshipers? 4. The BMI index, pre health conditions and other health issues in both studies needs to be addressed in order to give some assessment as to the physical health of the subjects being studied. There is another significant variable that may be a valuable component in this research. Previous research studies regarding aging have identified that loneliness was a significant variable associated with health and longevity. As we are social animals, it is not surprising that being connected with and to other humans is important. Attending a group on a regular basis, significantly contributes to becoming a member. Perhaps, these two studies were measuring human connections provided by group affiliation and association. Studies attempting to evaluate prayer, disease outcomes, and long-term survival are inconclusive at this point. For example, a study published by the American Heart Journal, found a surprising result. In this study, people, undergoing heart surgery, were told that there were others praying for them. Unfortunately, these surgeries experienced more complications than a control group. Maybe, you can’t leave your praying to someone else before you have heart surgery. Praying can be thought of as self-talk. Positive self-talk or positive praying allows one to have a single focus, and can become associated with deep breathing or relaxation. We know that relaxation is beneficial for one’s health as it reduces stress, and eliminates external influences/noises and distractions. Deep breathing becomes yoga like .Furthermore, Yoga has been associated with decreases in both heart rate and blood pressure. I support yoga as well as positive self-talk messages. Prayers and going to church, temple or mosque may result in long-term aging and may have to do in meeting affiliative needs and combating loneliness. However, what good would long-term aging be for the mentally and physically unhealthy with conditions like depression, Alzheimer’s, dementia, diabetes, or some other discomfort? We know that some organizations are toxic and hateful. So join your groups carefully. For me, a more realistic pursuit would be creating a healthier lifestyle. In fact, I provided 7 such prescriptions in my book “It Has Nothing To Do With Age.”