{"id":267,"date":"2010-07-04T21:16:00","date_gmt":"2010-07-04T20:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2010\/07\/test-your-knowledge-on-religion-and-health.html"},"modified":"2014-11-12T05:04:15","modified_gmt":"2014-11-12T04:04:15","slug":"test-your-knowledge-on-religion-and","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2010\/07\/test-your-knowledge-on-religion-and.html","title":{"rendered":"Test your knowledge on religion and health"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Doctors these days are expected to keep up to date by taking regular courses. Read the materials, answer the questions, and viola! You get some credits towards your \u2018continuing medical education\u2019 (or CME). <\/p>\n

Just recently, one provider offered a bit-sized piece of CME asking Is Religiosity or Spirituality Protective For Heart Disease?<\/a> Well, of course I had to check it out. You can too \u2013 anyone can take it and it\u2019s only short (you have to register, but that\u2019s free).<\/p>\n

First, they hit you with a conundrum. Basically, it\u2019s the story of one Jorge Delgado, who is middle aged and healthy, but with high cholesterol and overweight. But Mr Delgado doesn\u2019t want to take any medications, and here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n

Mr. Delgado responds that he is unwilling to take medications because he feels healthy and that he believes that reducing his weight is not a realistic goal, given his family\u2019s cultural values and use of food as an integral part of all social activities. He is proud that his wife and children actively participate in all family events and attend church with him weekly. He has read that being religious and attending church regularly prolongs life and reduces the risk for dying of heart disease. He is willing to increase his church attendance to improve his health. How should his physician respond?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, what should a responsible physician do? Well, anyone who actually wants to take the quiz should turn away now. Because the correct answer, based on the latest scientific evidence, is\u2026<\/p>\n

That turning to religion does not in itself protect you from heart attacks and stroke, although religious people do tend to have healthier behaviours. They list all the evidence to back that up.<\/p>\n

But then they make a mistake. They say that \u201cReligiosity\/spirituality has been demonstrated to increase the incidence of \u2026 obesity\u201d. The evidence for this is a study<\/a> published earlier this year.<\/p>\n

But that study is purely correlational, like pretty much all the evidence linking religion to health (both good and bad). It shows you that the link is there (at least in the US), but doesn\u2019t tell you why. It certainly doesn\u2019t prove that religion is the cause!<\/p>\n

\n

\"Creative<\/a><\/span> This article by Tom Rees<\/b> was first published on Epiphenom<\/a>. It is licensed under Creative Commons<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Doctors these days are expected to keep up to date by taking regular courses. Read the materials, answer the questions, and viola! You get some credits towards your \u2018continuing medical education\u2019 (or CME). Just recently, one provider offered a bit-sized piece of CME asking Is Religiosity or Spirituality Protective For Heart Disease? Well, of course […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2091,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nTest your knowledge on religion and health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Doctors these days are expected to keep up to date by taking regular courses. Read the materials, answer the questions, and viola! 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