Religion, Spirituality and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: A Matched Case-Control Study and Meta-Analysis

Matters of the Heart: Childhood Maltreatment, Religious Transitions, and Cardiovascular-Related Problems over the Life Course

Objectives:

Childhood maltreatment is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular-related problems, the leading cause of death in the United States. Drawing from cumulative inequality theory, this study considers whether transitions in religious attendance moderate the deleterious impact of childhood maltreatment on long-term cardiovascular risk.

Methods:

We utilize over 35 years of prospective panel data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth from the United States (1979–2015).

Results:

Our findings suggest that decreases in religious attendance between adolescence and adulthood (from high to low, and high to moderate attendance) were associated with elevated cardiovascular-related risk for those abused as children. Neither stable high attendance nor increases in attendance buffered against the impact of childhood abuse on cardiovascular-related problems.

Discussion:

We illustrate the importance of incorporating the role of stability and change in religious attendance across the life course and suggest directions for future research.

Religiosity Is Associated with Reduced Risk of All-Cause and Coronary Heart Disease Mortality among Jewish Men

Previous studies have found an inverse association between religiosity and mortality. However, most of these studies were carried out with Christian participants. This longitudinal study aimed to determine whether a composite variable based on self-reported religious education and religious practices is associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) and all-cause mortality in 9237 Jewish men aged 40-65 years at baseline, over a 32-year follow-up. Jewish men were characterized by their degree of religiosity, from the Ultra-Orthodox ("Haredim")-the strictest observers of the Jewish religious rules, and in descending order: religious, traditional, secular, and agnostic. Demographic and physical assessments were made in 1963 with a 32-year follow-up. The results indicate that Haredim participants, in comparison to the agnostic participants, had lower CHD mortality. Hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI)-adjusted by age, cigarette smoking, systolic blood pressure, diabetes, socioeconomic status, BMI, and cholesterol, was: [HR = 0.68 (95% CI 0.58,0.80)] for Haredim; [HR = 0.82 (95% CI 0.69,0.96)] for religious; [HR = 0.85 (95% CI 0.73-1.00)] for traditional; and [HR = 0.92 (95% CI 0.79-01.06) for secular, respectively (p for trend = 0.001). The same pattern was observed for total mortality. This study shows an association between religious practice among men and a decreased rate of CHD and total mortality.

In the Shadow of the Casinos: The Relationship between Religion and Health in Macau

Considerable research has shown that religion operates as a protective factor for one's health. However, there is still a lack of understanding of the mechanisms by which religion is linked to individual health and wellbeing, especially in predominantly secular societies. This study tried to address this gap by developing a theoretical model to examine how religiosity is related to life satisfaction and health perception in a non-Western culture. Macau, a Portuguese colony until 1999, remains a diversified culture because of its intermixed historical background from the East and the West. Through structural equation modeling, the analysis of data collected from a representative sample of Macau residents, using a multistage stratified sampling procedure, indicated a positive link between religiosity and health. Moreover, altruism and prejudice mediated a portion of the relationship between religiosity and health. Additionally, our results demonstrated that Macau residents who were more religious had a higher level of altruism and a lower level of prejudice. The link between religion and prejudice in Macau differs from that of many other cultures, indicating that the effect of religion on prejudice varies by cultural context. In sum, our study showed that even in the shadow of glittering casinos, religion is positively related to health.

Plasma protein expression profiles, cardiovascular disease, and religious struggles among South Asians in the MASALA study

Blood protein concentrations are clinically useful, predictive biomarkers of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Despite a higher burden of CVD among U.S. South Asians, no CVD-related proteomics study has been conducted in this sub-population. The aim of this study is to investigate the associations between plasma protein levels and CVD incidence, and to assess the potential influence of religiosity/spirituality (R/S) on significant protein-CVD associations, in South Asians from the MASALA Study. We used a nested case–control design of 50 participants with incident CVD and 50 sex- and age-matched controls. Plasma samples were analyzed by SOMAscan for expression of 1305 proteins. Multivariable logistic regression models and model selection using Akaike Information Criteria were performed on the proteins and clinical covariates, with further effect modification analyses conducted to assess the influence of R/S measures on significant associations between proteins and incident CVD events. We identified 36 proteins that were significantly expressed differentially among CVD cases compared to matched controls. These proteins are involved in immune cell recruitment, atherosclerosis, endothelial cell differentiation, and vascularization. A final multivariable model found three proteins (Contactin-5 [CNTN5], Low affinity immunoglobulin gamma Fc region receptor II-a [FCGR2A], and Complement factor B [CFB]) associated with incident CVD after adjustment for diabetes (AUC = 0.82). Religious struggles that exacerbate the adverse impact of stressful life events, significantly modified the effect of Contactin-5 and Complement factor B on risk of CVD. Our research is this first assessment of the relationship between protein concentrations and risk of CVD in a South Asian sample. Further research is needed to understand patterns of proteomic profiles across diverse ethnic communities, and the influence of resources for resiliency on proteomic signatures and ultimately, risk of CVD.

Religion, Spirituality, and Risk of End-Stage Kidney Disease Among Adults of Low Socioeconomic Status in the Southeastern United States

BACKGROUND

Religiosity, encompassing spirituality and religious practices, is associated with reduced disease incidence among individuals of low socioeconomic status and who self-identify as Black. We hypothesized that religiosity associates with reduced end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) risk among Black but not White adults of low socioeconomic status.

DESIGN

Cox models of religiosity and ESKD risk in 76,443 adults.

RESULTS

Black adults reporting high spirituality had reduced ESKD risk after adjusting for demographic characteristics [Hazard Ratio (HR) .82 (95% Confidence Interval (CI)) (.69-.98)], depressive symptoms, social support, and tobacco use [HR .81 (CI .68-.96)]. When clinical covariates were added, associations between spirituality and ESKD were slightly attenuated and lost significance [HR .85 (CI .68-1.06)]. Associations were not demonstrated among White adults.

CONCLUSIONS

Spirituality associates with reduced ESKD risk among Black adults of low socioeconomic status independent of demographic, psychosocial, and behavioral characteristics. Effect modification by race was not statistically significant.

Worldview Under Stress: Preliminary Findings on Cardiovascular and Cortisol Stress Responses Predicted by Secularity, Religiosity, Spirituality, and Existential Search

This study reports preliminary findings on the hypothesis that worldview can predict cardiovascular and cortisol responses to social stress. Based on theory and previous findings, we assumed that worldview security would provide a basis for stress resilience. Accordingly, religious and atheist individuals were expected to show higher stress resilience than spiritual and agnostic participants. Likewise, dimensional measures of religiosity and atheism were hypothesized to predict decreased, and existential search-indicating worldview insecurity-was hypothesized to predict increased physiological stress responses. Subjects included 50 university students who completed online questionnaires and took part in a standardized social stress test (Trier Social Stress Test). Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP), heart rate (HR), and salivary cortisol (SC) were assessed at baseline, immediately after stress testing, and during a forty-minute recovery period. Worldview comparisons revealed lower cardiovascular stress responses among religious than among atheist and spiritual participants and particularly high baseline SC among spiritual participants. Across the entire sample, existential search showed substantial positive correlations with SBP, HR, and SC stress parameters. The findings suggest that worldview security might partly explain the health benefits often associated with religion.

Prayers and beliefs among relatives of children admitted in pediatrics wards

Context:

Spirituality/Religion is important to many parents and they may call upon God to make the child healthier and normal.

Aims:

We surveyed parents/relatives of children admitted to in-patient services for their praying practices and beliefs thereof.

Settings and Design:

Cross-sectional survey in 150 parents/relatives of patients admitted to pediatric ward, pediatric intensive care (PICU) unit, and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) (50 each).

Materials and Methods:

We collected demographic, praying practices’ information and asked them to fill a Prayer Questionnaire Score Chart which classified the individual's religiosity.

Statistical Analysis Used:

Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, independent t-test, and one-way ANOVA were used for analysis.

Results:

Hindus constituted 126 (84%) participants. In 118 (78.67%) cases, mothers responded to survey. Average time of prayer in PICU (159 min) was more than NICU (109 min) and pediatric ward (114 min). Average frequency of prayer before admission (10.49) was less significant than frequency of prayer after admission (13.64) (P value < 0.001). Most of the people, 91 (60.67%), prayed by standing near statues of God or praying silently while recalling God's images. Almost all people, 149 (99.33%), believed that both medical care and prayer were required for recovery of patient. According to patient's relatives, average 52% recovery of patient was due to medicine.

Conclusions:

Prayer was an integral component of parents/relatives’ daily spiritual/religious ritual that was directed toward the admitted child's recovery. Statistically significant increase in frequency of praying after admission indicates the importance of prayers and spirituality in their minds as a part of treatment.