Religion Scientifically Healthy as suggested by some individuals

[Ron_Tomkins]

I'm really tired, I swear to God (relax, I meant that as an expression). I had a long day. I swear I would really sit down and read this but not tonight

That's why I decided to share this article with you and hear your thoughts ... (tomorrow... when I check this thing again)

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1879016,00.html

[bokonon]

I'd be interested in learning more about what causes the placebo effect on the molecular and cellular level. Having a label is all well and good, but decompiling it and understanding how it actually works would be better.

[Tumblehome]

I only read the first page, but I can see why your blood is angried up. The article is supposedly about the benefit of belief vs. the lack of benefit of non-belief in fighting disease, yet it contains the following sentence:

People who believe in a loving God fare better after a diagnosis of illness than people who believe in a punitive God.

Surely belief in a punitive God is religious, too. Sheesh! This isn't about belief vs. non-belief, but about feeling good vs. not feeling good. I wonder why the article makes it solely about religion.

Your viral load goes down when you include spirituality in your fight against HIV because your levels of cortisol — a stress hormone — go down first.

No doubt, but why can it only be spirituality and not, say, marijuana? (I suspect marijuana's usefulness against disease has less to do with biology and more to do with feeling brighter and better about yourself which would reduce stress, at least for a while.)