Benefits of Prayer

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Benefits of Prayer

 

Kenneth Cooper, author of `it's Better to Believe', says that having

deep personal convictions and values can do wonders for almost every

aspect of your physical and emotional well-being. He listed several

specific enhancements to health that have been linked to firm, inner

commitments to moral principles, social values, God, or even oneself.

 

Less Depression, Smoking, And Alcohol Abuse

 

In a study of more than five hundred African-American men conducted

by Wayne State University in Detroit, significant correlation

between the participants' religious involvement and their health.

The researchers identified a number of indicators of true religious

commitment, including overall religiosity and church attendance.

They found these were linked to various beneficial health effects,

such as less depression, little or no smoking, and infrequency of

alcohol consumption. (Source: November 1994 issue of the Journal of

the National Medical Association)

 

 

 

Healthier Mothers And Babies

 

Maternity patients with a strong religious commitment, and their

newborns, who were studied at the Department of Family Medicine,

East Carolina University, had fewer medical complications than

maternity patients without a religious affiliation. (Source:

November 1994 issue of Southern Medical Journal)

 

 

 

Protection From Colon And Rectal Cancer

 

In an Australian study of patients with cancer of the colon or

rectum, 715 cancer patients were compared with 727 "controls"

without cancer.

 

The researchers found that the respondents who saw themselves as

most religious were less likely to have cancer than those who were

not as religious. In other words, self-perceived "religiousness" was

a statistically significant protective factor against the disease!

 

Another interesting finding in this study was that self-reported or

perceived religiousness was associated with median survival times of

sixty-two months. In contrast, those patients who reported

themselves as "non-religious" had a median survival time of only

fifty-two months. (Source: November 1993 issue of the Journal of the

Royal Society of Medicine)

 

 

 

Improved Coping With Breast Cancer

 

A number of studies have associated a deep religious faith with an

ability to cope more effectively with cancer, including breast

cancer.

 

Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San

Antonio published a study about the impact of deep faith on the

condition of women with breast cancer. They found that with a group

of Anglo-American patients, "intrinsic religiousness" was a strong

predictor of spiritual well-being and hope- both of which are

important factors for successfully coping with cancer. (Source:

Oncologocial Nurse's Forum, September 1993)

 

 

 

A Healthier Emotional Balance

 

A study at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, ranked

participating young men and women as high, medium, or low in the

quality of their personal religious commitment. Those in the high

religious category, regardless of their religious denomination,

scored highest for self-esteem, emotional maturity, and

nondepression. (Source: June 1993 issue of Psychological Reports)

 

 

 

Lower Blood Pressure, Healthier Cardiovascular System And Reduced

Stress

 

A commitment to maintain significant social ties, including marriage

and religious community involvements -and a willingness to act on

such commitments-can have tremendous beneficial effects on health.

 

A study on this issue, involving more than 1,100 healthy men and

women aged seventy to seventy-nine, was reported by Yale

epidemiologist Lisa Berkman at a January 1995 meeting of the

American Medical Association. She confirmed that strong emotional

support and social ties can help lower blood pressure and enhance

survival after a heart attack.

 

Berkman also found that significant social ties, including close

friendships and family relationships, improved the levels in the

brain of the chemicals norepinephrine and cortisol, which have been

associated with excessive stress.

 

Stronger Marriage Ties

 

Religious compatibility between spouses at the time of marriage has

a large influence on marital stability. A study, conducted by E. L.

Lehrer and C. U Chiswick of the Economics Department of the

University of Illinois at Chicago, also found that spouses of

different faiths generally break up more often than those with a

common faith. (Source: August 1993 issue of the journal Demography)

 

 

 

A commitment to a meaningful marriage-rather than just cohabiting

with a partner or remaining single-has also been linked in

scientific studies to some specific health benefits. Researchers

from the University of Chicago found that divorced men had twice the

rate of alcohol abuse as married men. Divorced women also had more

problems with alcohol than their married counterparts. Other

researchers reported that those who live together before marriage

have higher divorce rates, are more likely to be sexually disloyal,

and are generally less happy than married couples. (Source:

Conferences of the Population Association of America, April 1995)

 

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14 exclusive Prayer E - card with Sathya Sai Baba & Shirdi Sai Baba

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