Davidson
Science and medicine are waking up to accept the evidence that there is significant benefit to religious and spiritual practices. A rapidly increasing number of credible research papers from prestigious universities in North America is attesting to this fact.
Spirituality is the way you find meaning, hope, comfort and inner peace. Many people find spirituality through religion, music, art or nature. Others find it in their values and principles.
The word, religion is derived from the Latin, religare, which means 'to tie fast' or 'to bind together'. It suggests a community of persons bound together by a common belief system which outlines values, morals, and the interpretation of the purpose of life.
Spirituality and medicine
Nearly 50 medical schools in the United States now offer, to health workers, courses in spirituality and medicine. Also, those who wish to endorse the growing trend towards including spirituality into medical practice are encouraged by the fact that most researchers report a positive relationship between religious commitment and health.
In 84 per cent of studies, religious commitment was helpful in the prevention of illness (including depression, substance abuse and physical conditions), in coping with illness and in recovery from illness.
A paper reviewing research on religious practice and mortality by Judy C. Hays and Harold G. Koenig referred to a survey done in 1986 as part of the National Institute of Health's Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE) programme. A random sample of 3,851 of adults aged 64-101 years, residing in the Piedmont of North Carolina area, was surveyed. In this study investigators examined the effects of private religious activities like prayer and Bible study on survival.
The conclusion was that persons with no disability and little or no private religious activity were 63 per cent more likely to die during the follow-up than those who had religious activity.
The connection between religion and health was, however, not always positive. At the medical inpatient services of Duke University Medical Centre or the Durham VA Medical Centre, 595 patients, age 55 or over, were investigated. Investigators concluded that hospitalised men and women who experience a religious struggle with their illnesses appear to be at increased risk of death.
Patients who believed that God was punishing them, had abandoned them, didn't love them, didn't have the power to help, or felt their church had deserted them, experienced 19 to 28 per cent greater mortality during the two-year period following hospital discharge than those who did not share these beliefs.
Doctor's recommendations
So seriously is the link between spirituality and health considered that the American Association of Family Physicians has published a document outlining the following recommendations to patients:
"If you are being treated for an illness, it's important for your doctor to know how your spirituality might be affecting your feelings and thoughts about your medical situation.
If you think your spiritual beliefs are affecting your health care decisions or your ability to follow your doctor's recommendations, tell your doctor."
If you have spiritual beliefs, worries or concerns that are causing you stress, it is best to talk it over with your pastor and your doctor.
Dr. Sonia Davidson MD, general practitioner, Advocate of Integrative Medicine and Minister of Religious Science; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.
