Hi Mario, In the cause and effect scenario (aka chicken and egg story) you suggest only those with cognitive function, epitomized by you, go to church regularly. Is there a suggestion that those who have already lost their cognitive function do not attend church? Hmm..hmm. Is it like those with cognitive function, regularly attend bridge club events? If one with lack of cognitive function attends bridge club events, likely they would find themselves with no partners or players to spend an evening with. Fortunately that does not happen with church.
The scientific study based on their published conclusion, attributes the church attendance as the cause of the benefit in maintaining MMSE and CES-D scores. I hate to say this, but is this not what the Goan grandmothers used to claim? On told that someone does not attend church their kindest comment was, "Dev poita!" Surely some Goans may recount even sterner warnings. Grandmothers did not have in their vocabulary "Cognitive functions", and "Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score"; and "Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) score". Likely you may know, these tests are used to diagnose and treat mental states including Alzheimer's disease - a comparative rare disease amchem tempar. Yet it was likely the punishment that grandmothers would attribute to the almighty, on those rare souls who skipped church service for bridge.:=)) I hope you appreciate some of these comments are made tongue-in-cheek. Regards, GL ------------ Mario Goveia observes: I thought it was my cognitive function that was leading me to go to church - not the other way around:-)) Now I can't wait to see the results of a similar study that examines the effects of regular attendance at one's bridge club on one's cognitive function:-)) ------------ Scientific study concludes: Conclusion. Church attendance appears to be beneficial for maintaining cognitive function of older persons. Church attendance moderates the impact of clinically relevant depressive symptoms on subsequent cognitive function.
