Is religion good for your health?

sea-maid submitted, created time 5 months 5 days (www.nature.com)

Science and religion, anyone? Come now, stifle those yawns. A paper published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B1 this week claims to offer a fresh perspective, with the startling suggestion that religion is a way to protect us from disease.

The general idea behind this theory — that religion is mainly a social construct — is actually much older than the authors, Corey Fincher and Randy Thornhill of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, acknowledge

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Benefits of "magic mushroom" therapy are long lasting

sea-maid submitted, created time 6 months 2 days (www.nature.com)

The benefits for people who have had positive or even mystical experiences induced by the psychedelic drug psilocybin — the psychoactive ingredient in "magic mushrooms" — linger for as much as a year, according to the latest follow-up study of such patients.

The study offers more support to those who argue that, when used responsibly, some drugs more commonly taken for leisure can safely be used to relieve the stress associated with severe chronic diseases such as cancer.

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Can a cell have a soul?

Nature uses spooky word game to illustrate correlation between religious belief and cooperative behavior

Darkfrog submitted, created time 1 year 5 months (www.nature.com)

What I found interesting about this is that the results seem as though they would be applicable to spiritual people regardless of official religious affiliation and they are shown to be comparable to belief in a worldly justice system. The common thread seems to be something bigger than oneself.

Look at the suggestible word game carefully. It can also read, "She felt the spirit eradicate." Even without an object, that's spooky.

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Physicians' Observations and Interpretations of the Influence of Religion and Spirituality on Health

amanda submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (archinte.ama-assn.org)

"Patients are likely to encounter quite different opinions about the relationship between their R/S and their health, depending on the religious characteristics of their physicians. "

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Spirituality Influences Health, Most U.S. Doctors Say

Dolly submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (www.livescience.com)

The majority of American doctors think that religion and spirituality play an important role in influencing patients' health, a new review found. And the more religious a doctor was, the more likely he or she was to have a positive view of the impact of religion and spirituality on health.

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