September 2, 2022: African Americans who go to church and pray regularly have better cardiovascular health than African Americans who are not as religious or have no religious beliefs, according to a new study.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Associationused survey responses and health screenings for 2,967 African Americans in and around Jackson, MI.
Those who attended religious services frequently were 15% more likely to achieve an intermediate or ideal cardiovascular health score according to the American Heart Association criteria.
Those who regularly prayed privately had a 12 percent increased chance of achieving an intermediate or ideal Heart Association metric for diet. Those who said they used “religious coping” were 14% more likely to be in good cardiovascular health.
The study’s lead author, cardiologist LaPrincess C. Brewer, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, said the results were somewhat surprising because diet, physical activityY of smoking they are extremely difficult to change.
People in the study were grouped by their self-reported levels of spirituality — that is, belief in the existence of a supreme being — and how often they attended church services, prayed in private, and used religion to cope. to stressful events and life challenges.
They were then grouped according to the American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7 health factors (diet, physical activity, nicotine exposure, weight, cholesterol, blood pressureand blood sugar levels). The association swapped the Simple 7 for the Essential 8 last June, adding the dream.
Brewer said the study may help doctors better treat African Americans, who statistics show tend to have poorer overall cardiovascular health than non-Hispanic whites. Death rates from heart disease are higher for African Americans than for white adults.
“Our findings highlight the substantial role that culturally tailored health promotion initiatives and lifestyle change recommendations can play in advancing health equity,” Brewer said in a news release. “The cultural relevance of interventions may increase the likelihood that they influence cardiovascular health and also the sustainability and maintenance of healthy lifestyle changes.”
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