By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow: Going to church is not only good for the soul, it is good for the body as well, Norwegian researchers have said.
Attendance at religious services lowers blood pressure, and the reduction is greater the more frequent the attendance, according to a study by the School of Theology and Religious Psychology Center at Sykehuset Innlandet, the Blagovest-info religious news portal reported.
The findings are almost identical to those previously reported in the US.
Further studies are needed to determine other health benefits and whether other religions, such as Judaism and Islam, have the same effect.
To establish what causes the effect new studies are needed to look at the same people at different times, the researchers said.