Enjoy this video in which he speaks about some of the recent research.

Spirituality, religion and health: Part 1 on Vimeo.

View three additional video interviews with Dr. Koenig on the topic of spirituality, religion and health.

Annually, Chaplain John Ehman of the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia publishes Spirituality & Health: A Select Bibliography of Medline-Indexed Articles from the previous year. This year’s listing was published last month.

The  pervious 10 year’s of listings are at this link -  Annual Spirituality & Health Bibliographies of Medline-indexed Articles.

“The phenomenon is a “concussion” of the heart, says Scott Sharkey, a cardiologist at Minneapolis Heart Institute. “It’s really a heart attack which is triggered by stress rather than by a blocked artery,” he says.

Triggers for broken-heart syndrome seem as varied as the number of people affected. While death of a spouse or other close family member or friend is a common cause, breakups such as a divorce or separation have also sparked the event, according to a study of 136 patients by Dr. Sharkey and his colleagues published Jan. 26 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

For others, being overwhelmed by new software at work, seeing a poultry barn burn down, or losing money at a casino all have brought the condition on, doctors say.”

Read the entire article.

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23

Osteoporosis is the most widespread degenerative disease in the developed world, afflicting 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men over 50.

Despite the accumulating evidence for a connection between depression and decreased bone density, official authorities, such as the US National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization, have not yet acknowledged depression as a risk factor for osteoporosis, due to the lack of studies in large samples.

A study of several research efforts including thousands of people by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers has shown a clear connection between depression and a loss of bone mass, leading to osteoporosis and fractures. The results, say the researchers, show clearly that depressed individuals have a substantially lower bone density than non-depressed people and that depression is associated with a markedly elevated activity of cells that breakdown bone (osteoclasts).

What the Bible Says

God inspired writers of the Bible to share his truth and principles about the connection between our emotional and spiritual health and our physical health.  Take a look at the following verses related to this topic:

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22

“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones .“  Proverbs 14:30

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” Proverbs 3:7-8

“My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.” Psalm 31:10

What You Can Do

Seek to have a cheerful heart.

If you’re carrying bitterness towards someone, forgive them.

Have a reverential fear of God and his principles, and turn away from evil and sin.

If you’re jealous towards someone, ask God to take that nature away from you.  Be content with what you have and trust God to provide for your most basic and deepest needs.

If you are a believer in Christ, turn to God in a more dependant and surrendered way and allow his  Spirit to have more influence and control of your thought life and attitude.  Ask him to change you… to transform you from the inside out. (Romans 12:2)

As we walk with God in a personal way, following his commandments and principles out of love, we are able to become more and more like his Son, Jesus.  This transformation brings us greater inner peace, gentleness and joy. This often goes hand in hand with good physical health.

God seems to make it pretty clear in the Bible – the guidebook he has given us to live by.  Perhaps this is the best explanation concerning the link between depression and bone health.

Questions to Reflect On

What has your experience been regarding depression and bone health?  Can you personally see a link between the scriptures listed above and your health?

Related Resources

Article – Forgiveness

Article – His Instruction Manual … Our Guidebook for Healthy Living

Article – Spirituality and Your Health – Understanding the Connection

God’s Promises – Scriptures related to depression from InTouch Ministries

This chapter is one of the most concise writings I have read that explains the mind-body connection from a medical or scientific perspective. Among other topics, Badaracco discusses the following in the context of health and healing:

• The stress and relaxation responses
• Prayer, meditation and contemplation
• Mindfulness
• Habits of  thinking
• Negative emotions – the anxiety pandemic
• Allostatic load
• Memories and remembered wellness
• Suffering
• Neurogenesis
• The role of physicians and practitioners
• Personal transformation
• Media’s impact

As I read this chapter, I was not surprised to read that most all of the principles she mentioned about the findings of many researchers in this field of religion/spirituality and health are also principles that the writers of the Bible captured thousands of years ago.  These principles or spiritual truths were provided to us by our Creator, God, and science is beginning to get a handle on them – to understand them from a medical perspective. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Our role as believers in Christ or as seekers of the truth, is to believe and understand the truth that is recorded in the Bible… and then to apply it to our life… in the way we behave and the way we think.

More and more it is clear to me that our purpose in life is to be in a right relationship with God – to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength – and to love and serve others with the special gifts He has given us. (Mark 12:30-31) When we do this, God is glorified.  This is our purpose for being on this earth.

As we practice the principles found in the Bible – as we obey God out of love (John 14:15,23), one of the outcomes, in general, is a high quality of life including good health. (John 10:10) This is how God designed things to work.  Good health and well being should not be the motivator for practicing the Christian faith, but it’s often an outcome of putting into practice God’s principles that He’s provided us with in the Bible.

I’m looking forward to reading more of Badaracco’s book and to understand the impact that media, and in fact my writings, might have on people’s understanding and impression about the religion/spirituality-health link.

More Resources on the Spirituality/Religion-Health Link

Article - Spirituality and Your Health – Understanding the Connection

Article – Think Spiritual Thoughts/Renew Your Mind

Article – His Instruction Manual … Our Guidebook for Healthy Living

Poster Presentation – The Spirituality-Health Connection: Why It Exists A Christian perspective on this link supported by 194 scripture passages and 41 key principles.

Web Page – How God Designed Us

Web Page – Stress, Your Health and Faith

The study is said to be the first to show directly that there is a “wrong” time to eat. This was just reported in the current issue of the journal Obesity which showed that mice who ate at night gained more weight than mice who ate at normal hours.

Here is a summary article reported in the BBC News – “Eating Late at Night Adds Weight” and this following link is to the abstract of the article in the Obesity Journal – “Circadian Timing of Food Intake Contributes to Weight Gain.”

Just trying to keep you informed on issues affecting health.

Resources on Weight Management

Scripture List Related to Weight Loss and Weight Management

Visit the University of Pennsylvania Health System’s Pastoral Care Department for a listing of articles published on this topic between 1999 and 2008.

Here is the link for the most recent year – Spirituality & Health: A Select Bibliography of Medline-Indexed Articles Published in 2008.

Thanks to Chaplain John W. Ehman for compiling the listings.

Spirituality and Health Research On My Website

Links to Articles and Presentations on the Research in Spirituality and Health

Topics addressed in the 5-minute video:

• Intercessory prayer
• The power of belief
• Research design
• Mechanisms of religious practices and health outcomes

View the video of the interview here.

DR. NEWBERG: We’ve learned that being religious or spiritual has a very profound effect on who we are, has a very profound effect on our biology and on our brain, and what we’ve found more recently is that not only does it have a profound influence on who we are, but it actually can change our brain and to change ourselves over times.

Dr. NEWBERG: The more you use a part of the brain the more blood flow it gets and the brighter or more red it looks on the scans.

Follow the link below to read the interview or view it in a video.

The Brain and Faith.

“For as he(a man) thinketh in his heart, so is he.”  Proverbs 23:7 KJV

Articles I’ve Written on Faith and Health

Are Your Thoughts Causing Health Problems?

Think Spiritual Thoughts/Renew Your Mind – A Spiritual Exercise for a Healthier Life

This is the conclusion to a recent presentation I made at Duke University.

Two weeks ago I was fortunate to attend and present a poster presentation at the second annual meeting of the Society for Spirituality, Theology and Health.

The title of this year’s presentation was The Spirituality and Health Connection: Why It Exists – A Christian Faith Perspective. (a 2 page pdf file) As I mentioned in an earlier post while I was attending the meeting, what I attempted to do was capture the essence of the Christian faith as it pertains to health and wholeness on one poster-sized paper.

The presentation, supported by 194 scripture passages, captures 41 key principles that I contend make a difference in a person’s well-being and health. It also highlighted seven important medical truths and seven spiritual truths relevant to wellness and wholeness.

Eventually, I intend on revising the Spiritual Fitness Assessment I’ve developed to include many of these additional principles.

As I mention at the end of the poster, if you’d like to collaborate on a research project or educational initiative addressing these principles, I’d love to hear from you.

Have a terrific day!