Religion and Cancer Mortality

Part of our occasional series on the positive life outcomes associated with faith, with thanks to Charlie Scott for the link:

From the Journal of Health and Social Behavior,

"Previous research has documented lower cancer mortality rates among religious groups characterized by doctrinal orthodoxy and behavioral conformity. In addition, there is evidence that the general population in an area with a high concentration of religious participants may experience health benefits resulting from diminished exposure to or increased social disapproval of behaviors related to cancer mortality. This research examines the effect of religious concentration and denominational affiliation on county cancer mortality rates. Our findings suggest that religion has a significant impact on mortality rates for all malignancies combined, for digestive cancer, and for respiratory cancer when we control for demographic, environmental, and regional factors known to affect cancer mortality."

See the previous articles in this series for the standard disclaimers about what conclusions can be drawn from this kind of study. In brief, its primary interest to me is that it tends to disprove previously common claims that religion is an unhealthy way of life.

Posted: Fri - October 27, 2006 at 11:06 AM |

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Religion and Cancer Mortality

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson