The Wall Street Journal: The number of Americans who attend religious services at least once a week jumped nearly three points to 27.5 percent during the two years ended in 2004, according to statistics to be released in May by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center.
This leap could be good news for the nation's health. A growing body of scientific evidence shows that Americans who attend religious services at least once a week enjoy better-than-average health and lower rates of illness, including depression. Perhaps most important, the studies show that weekly attendance confers a significant reduction in mortality risk over a given period of time.
These studies have received almost no attention, in part because there is skepticism among many medical scientists about the validity of these studies. A 2001 National Institutes of Health panel reviewed the mounting pile of medical literature purporting to link religion to health.
The panel found scant evidence of the benefit of religion on illness, and found that patients who used religion to cope fared slightly worse than those who didn't. But the panel's examination of studies showing the effect of church attendance on health reached an altogether different conclusion.
