Cancer And Religion: Spiritual Beliefs May Help Well-Being Of Patients

Science can't simply predict if there's more to this life than meets the eye. Yet a new study suggests that cancer patients may be better able to cope with the help of religion or spiritual values. The findings are published in the journal Cancer.

In this study, researchers analyzed 44,000 cancer patients and found that belief in God enabled them to experience better health outcomes than non-believing counterparts. The research was broken down into three parts, with the first part examining the physical health of the patients participating in the study. Findings revealed that those with religious beliefs tended to fare better overall.

The second part of the study specifically examined the mental health of patients who had religious beliefs. It revealed that those who believed in something more tended to have better states of mind.

The third and final portion of the study showed that the social lives of cancer patients who believed in god had better social health, overall.

"One plausible explanation is that when patients view God as a loving, benevolent being, that may provide a source of comfort and strength to the patient, allowing him or her to manage the distressing nature of their symptoms even if the frequency of symptoms did not change," said Researcher John Salsman, an associate professor of social sciences and health policy at Wake Forest School of Medicine in North Carolina, in a news release. 

"An alternate example from personality research is that people who are more likely to be religious are more agreeable in nature," he added. "They would also be less likely to complain about their physical health, even in the midst of treatment for cancer."

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