Faith and the cardiovascular system

Results presented at the American Society of Hypertension indicate that religious people have lower blood pressure. By studying over 5000 African Americans, the largest study of its kind, they found that female gender, lower socioeconomic status, increasing age, and lower levels of cortisol were associated with more religious activities. Those with more religious activities and participation had significantly lower diastolic blood pressure, and significantly lower systolic blood pressure. High levels of cortisol, it should be noted, are a marker for stress.

These results support earlier studies, so they are not particularly surprising. What I found interesting is their confirmation of anecdotal observations that older people and women tend to be more religious. I wonder why that is so.

This also complements another recent study, where people were prayed for by strangers; that is the people themselves did not pray. In that study, researchers looked at effect of prayer on cardiac bypass patients, and found that prayers by strangers did not have any positive effects. That report contradicts some other reports, and so this question is not yet 100% settled. However, as best as we can tell, prayer by strangers does not help.

So what does this all mean? Being religious yourself may help relax and be more healthy. That may not be surprising given that paryer is all about relaxation. As for prayers from others, well it’s almost certain they don’t help. As always in science, we need more research to figure this one out.

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