In previous e-mailings we have already discussed the impact of going to church on the body's immune system. Going to church does appear to defend us from diseases and help us recover more quickly. What about other types of healing, such as the healing of broken bones? It seems there is evidence for this too.

A study of elderly women in 1990, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, showed that those of religious commitment (including church attendance) recovered more quickly from broken hips. The religious women spent less time in the hospital, could walk farther at the time of their release, and suffered less depression than those who professed no religious commitment.