Study Shows Prayer Tied To Prevention Of Alzheimer’s
A new joint American-Israeli study has found that praying
regularly can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by 50 percent.
The study, which was funded by the National Institutes of
Health in Washington, D.C., found that women, who have a significantly larger
chance of developing forms of dementia, may be able to prevent the disease
through prayer.
“We found that people with higher levels of spiritual
well-being had a significantly slower progression of Alzheimer’s disease,”
Yakir Kaufman, the head of the neuropsychiatric department at Herzog hospital
in Jerusalem told The Media Line.
The Israeli organization Melabev has ten centers serving
about 600 Alzheimer’s patients for whom prayer is part of the daily routine.
“If prayer is done in a center or a religious facility, it is communal and
there is a social aspect,” said Susan Sachs, the director of public relations
and development at Melabev. “It gives hope and perspective, and for many people
it helps retain their dignity. They’re doing something that they did all their
lives.”
Melabev provides an alternative to institutionalizing
Alzheimer’s patients by providing a full day of activities. Sachs estimates
there are 100,000 people suffering from the disease in Israel. The centers
provide them with laminated cards with the most popular prayers printed in
large type, although many of the patients rely on memory, which also helps
strengthen their cognitive function. While prayer has some cognitive elements,
it strengthens emotional functioning even more.
As the patients’ cognitive function declines, his or her
emotional function may be strengthened, according to Leah Abramowitz, the head
of the Institute for the Study of Aging at Melabev. She told The Media Line
that, “It’s like a baby who can feel his mother’s emotions and will start
crying if she is angry or tense. It’s like the person who is fully blind will
have more acute hearing.”
According to the study, prayer, whether public or
private, can also lower stress levels, which is one of the risk factors for
Alzheimer’s. Other risk factors include high blood pressure, heart disease and
diabetes.
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