The reason why malaria, dengue and encephalitis beat a retreat at this time is because the cold deters mosquitoes even more than people. Further, water borne infections drop sharply as foods are preferred hot or fried (aloo tikis, parathas, tea rather than sharbats, paani batashas and salads) in which germs die.
Clinic attendance alone may not be a good indicator of the role of religious faith in a community’s health seeking behaviour. It is observed that a sharp drop in patients from concerned communities ,occur during Ramadan, around Diwali and Christmas, and may reflect social attitudes of deferring investigations or hospitalization till the festive time gets over, rather than a true decline in illness.
What then is the evidence that faith benefits health?
The faithful and devoted have been shown to live longer lives than their questioning counterparts, and fall ill less frquently. Faith, by providing a constant emotional support and a sense of purpose, helps reduce stress, keep stress hormone levels at lower levels, improves our ability to cope with hurdles in life, and also increases our capacity to accept and tolerate what is inevitable.
How the practice of faith by a community can be used to improve the health and well being of the followers unfortunately often depends upon its human leaders.
A church based approach to life-style change to reduce risk of heart disease was tried in South Carolina, USA. In this program called “Lighten Up”, church goers with rsik of cardio-vascular disease were given health messages and periodic health check-ups along with scripture-sudy. Of the 133 people covered by this program, 70% lost an average of 2 pounds, and showed significant improvement in their BP and triglyceride levels. Participants complied better to the health advice that came from their church, than if it had come from a doctor.
As most of our religious faiths have been in existence for centuries, and our practices are often steeped in tradition reinforced by time, any attempt to amalgamate modern thoughts or goals is unfortunately often met with reasonless resistance. With the levels of education and awareness rising steeply in society, a wise clergy could do well to encourage followers to live healthier lives based on modern scientific knowledge.
In earlier times, duties of a priest and doctor were often performed by a single person. Today the roles have split with priests focussing only on the soul and doctors caring only for the body. Religious bodies can make themselves more effective and relevant by going beyond theology and faith and encouraging health and well being among their followers.
Merry Christmas.
As published in HT City (Hindustan Times) dated 25 December, 2011.
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