Prayer and the immune system.
Well, if the spiritual reasons weren’t enough to send you to church, scientists are discovering some health reasons as well.
Dr. Harold Koenig, co-director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at Duke University, outlined recent research during a Rural Health Conference at the University of Alabama.
One study he described measured patients for interleukin six, or IL-6, an immune system cytokine that indicates inflammation. It found that people who attend religious services weekly had lower levels of IL-6, indicating a stronger immune system. A more recent study focused on HIV patients, and found those with increased religious activity had lower viral loads and higher CD4 counts, another indicator of a stronger immune system. (Read more.)
This, as opposed to staying home on Sunday morning to watch golf on television, which I am told does nothing for the immune system.
May 25th, 2007 at 8:22 am
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