Faith is good for you!

I read today a news item that said:-

Liver transplant patients who were actively ‘seeking God’ were up to three times more likely to survive, a new study has found. Published in the journal Liver Transplantation, the study of 179 patients found that, two years after their operation, only 7 per cent of patients who leaned heavily on their religious beliefs had died, compared with 20 per cent of non-religious patients. Dr Franco Bonaguidi said the key appeared to be ‘high religious coping’ and seeking ‘God’s help’, irrespective of religious creed or church attendance. The study pointed to previous research which also revealed higher survival rates for religious believers with HIV as well as heart and kidney dialysis patients.

Source: Daily Telegraph (6/10)
This is not new news really.I read of a large scale study of mental health which showed that people of faith had fewer problems of mental health or coped better. The suggestion was that belonging to a wider community of faith gave a sense of belonging, of having worth as individuals-