10/24/97 - 1131

Religious People Are Healthier - Scientists Say

USA (VNN) - Associated Press reports of a scientific study conducted by Duke's Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development:

"Older adults who attend religious services regularly are twice as likely to have strong, stable immune systems as those who don't, a new study said.

Blood levels of the undesirable immune system protein interleukin-6 (IL-6) were lower in people over age 65 who attended services at least once a week, according to the study of 1,718 older adults in North Carolina.

"Those who go to church or synagogue regularly are physically healthier, mentally healthier and they have healthier immune systems," Harold Koenig, a Duke psychiatrist and lead author of the study, said today. ``It certainly appears that they are healthier.''

Koenig and Harvey Cohen, director of Duke's Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, measured blood samples drawn from the study participants for levels of IL-6 - an immune-system protein linked to a wide array of age-related diseases - and other substances that regulate immune responses in the body.

The study, part of the largest national survey ever conducted on aging, was published in the October issue of the International Journal of Psychiatry.

"What makes this study so exciting is it tries to look at the pathway or mechanism that explains that general relationship," said Dr. Marcia Ory, chief of social science research at the National Institute on Aging, which helped fund the study.

"This is the first study that I know that tried to look at the pathways to translate religiosity to medical outcome," she said today.

The findings supported a similar link between religion and good health Koenig uncovered last year in personal interviews with 4,000 randomly selected elderly people."