In recent years, interest in understanding the effects of religion on health has grown among the medical and scientific communities (Levin 1996). Popular news magazines, such as Time and Newsweek, and television shows have devoted ample coverage to the interplay of religion and health (Begley2001a, Begley 2001b, Greenwald 2001, Woodward 2001). Moreover, many well-controlled studies have clearly shown significant effects of religion-related variables on various indices of health. We review what is currently known about clinical effects of religious and spiritual practices, and the challenges that researchers and health care practitioners may face in designing appropriate studies and translating results to clinical practice. In order to facilitate and improve investigations of effects of religion on health, we discuss plausible models of the ways in which brain systems might mediate effects of religious beliefs and practices on health.
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