Is there any evidence to suggest that people with strong religious
beliefs live longer?

Hi,
I personally believe that any person with strong beliefs will live
longer. The reason I believe is that once you strongly believe in
religion, you life becomes very much organized, systematic and your
mental and physical health improves, which will help you in living
longer.

A study was done to find out the link between the religious beliefs
and activities of patients to better health.
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/doc/1047/1:RELIGION33/1:RELIGION33030999.html

Another study [http://www.valleyskeptic.com/faithm~2.htm] also
supports this. According to this study,
"people who believe in God, who are religious, who pray, or who hold
strong "spiritual" affinities, have lower blood pressure, recover from
diseases and surgery faster, have greater longevity, and in general
show many indicators of superior general health. In other words,
spiritual health equals physical health."

There is a book which speaks on the affect of belief in religion with
longevity.
http://www.templetonpress.org/recentreviews_detail.asp?book_id=18

An article in the Forbes Magazine on "Prayer as medicine" states
several study reports that prayer does have an affect on the life of a
person. According to this article,
"Your health is affected by your state of mind, and that your state of
mind is affected by your religious beliefs"
http://www.templeton.org/archives/forbes-prayer.asp

One more article on "The Faith Factor: Is Religion Good For Your
Health" supports this:
http://awesomepower.net/ff.htm

There are several studies which show that people with strong religious
beliefs are likely to be healthier and live longer than their
less-religious counterparts.
http://www.tennessean.com/health/stories/98/trends1223.htm

Search terms used:
scientific study to prove that people +religious +beliefs +live
+longer
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=scientific+study+to+prove+that+people+%2Breligious+%2Bbeliefs+%2Blive+%2Blonger

There are many and many studies supporting this, but as I wrote in the
beginning, if a person firmly follows religion, he is following the
correct approach to live a happy life along with faith in God and once
he is on the correct approach, he will live longer (This is my
personal belief).

I hope this will help you.
Thanks and Regards,
netcrazy-ga

Sorry... I missed one word in my answer. Here is the corrected
statement:

"I personally believe that any person with strong beliefs in Religion
will live longer."

Thanks
netcrazy-ga

Are you asking the question because you want to find a better way to
live?  The healthier alternative?  Or to win an argument?  The answer
is quite different in these cases.  I certainly believe that religion
and/or spirituality has a great impact on health, having experienced
this myself numberous times.  However, if I wanted to marshall
evidence to win a debate of some kind, I would have to at least be
aware that statistics don't always mean what you think they mean.  For
a good critique of these particular research findings, see:
http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/deanfulltexttopics.cfm?ID=35463&storytype=DeanTopics

I suppose that if you identify "religious beliefs" with the sort of
beliefs and associated behavioral patterns typical of, say,
contemporary bourgeois Westerners, then, sure, there may be some
correlation between "longevity and religious beliefs."  However, let
us not forget those who don't fit the modern milquetoast mold -- from
those, such as Joan of Arc, whom we venerate as saints, to those, such
as a suicide bomber, whom we might regard with a more difficult kind
of awe.

In the Holy Bible (KJV of 1611), there are numerous verses that are
self-explanatory on this subject. I will list a few that can be
referenced by anyone interested in pursuing on their own time. Thus
said, this information is only profitable to those who are open to
learning God's inspired Word. First, Deut.4:40, "Thou shalt keep
therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee
this day,that it may go well with thee,and with thy children after
thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth , which the
Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever." A couple other similar references
are Deut.5:16, Deut.22:7. In the New Testament, Ephesians 6:2-3, Paul,
inspired by God wrote, "Honour thy father and mother; which is the
first commandment with promise;That it may be well with thee, and thou
mayest live long on the earth.

Hi,
 Deepak Chopra ( A famous thinker and observer)  talks about Logevity
in Timeless Mind, Ageless Body.
 He refers to some specific country which has special word for 'living
grandparents of grandparents'. They have 5 times more people than
United States who crosses life over 100. There age goes all the way
upto 170 years as high limit.
  Referring to 'timeless  mind', he agrees and enhances Einstin's
theory of relativity about time.

  Osho says, Time exists because we have 'fear of the past' and 'greed
from the
future'.

 To answer the question,
  May be people who believes religion eliminates the above things
subconciously , ie.. fear and greed and hence live longer.

Artist.

I don't know why people would go about giving an answer to a
scientific question without consulting peer-reviewed medical journals.
 They are the ONLY source of answers for questions like the one you
posed.

SHORT ANSWER

Yes.

LONG ANSWER

Here is the evidence.  The following is the abstract of a
meta-analysis published in a journal entitled "Mayo Clinic
Proceedings." (Mayo Clin Proc 2001 Dec;76(12):1225-35).  The article
is entitled "Religious involvement, spirituality, and medicine:
implications for clinical practice" and is written by Mueller PS,
Plevak DJ, Rummans TA.

"Surveys suggest that most patients have a spiritual life and regard
their spiritual health and physical health as equally important.
Furthermore, people may have greater spiritual needs during illness.
We reviewed published studies, meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and
subject reviews that examined the association between religious
involvement and spirituality and physical health, mental health,
health-related quality of life, and other health outcomes. We also
reviewed articles that provided suggestions on how clinicians might
assess and support the spiritual needs of patients. Most studies have
shown that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with
better health outcomes, including greater longevity, coping skills,
and health-related quality of life (even during terminal illness) and
less anxiety, depression, and suicide. Several studies have shown that
addressing the spiritual needs of the patient may enhance recovery
from illness. Discerning, acknowledging, and supporting the spiritual
needs of patients can be done in a straightforward and
noncontroversial manner. Furthermore, many sources of spiritual care
(e.g., chaplains) are available to clinicians to address the spiritual
needs of patients."

I couldn't have said it better myself!