AD Wisdom Pearl #5
Praying regularly may cut the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in half, says a recent Israeli-American joint study.
A recent study, funded by The U.S. National Institutes of Health (presented at a Tel Aviv conference) showed that female participants who prayed on a regular basis exhibited a 50% less chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), or mild dementia.
The study did not give the details on the connection between memory loss and prayer. But the phenomenon of prayer reducing AD risks was explained by Professor Rivka Inzelberg, lead researcher from Tel Aviv University, as follows: “Prayer is a custom in which thought is invested, and the intellectual activity involved in it may constitute a protective measure against the disease.”
In the study, 60% of the women involved said they prayed regularly and 40% did not, so the data were easily interpreted by researchers. When the male prayer study was conducted, 90% said they prayed regularly; thus skewing the results (due to an unequal number of people in the non-praying comparison group).
There have been other studies in the past (such as a 2005 study) concurring with evidence pointing to the slowing of the progress of AD, as a result of regular prayer.
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