HHS HealthBeat (February 24, 2009)

Spirituality, teens and chronic illness

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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

For a teenager, inflammatory bowel disease – chronic infection of the intestines – can be tough to live with. But researchers say spirituality can help.

At the University of Cincinnati, Michael Yi and Sian Cotton examined that in 67 IBD patients.

Cotton says teens who were higher in spirituality had fewer signs of feeling depressed and had better emotional well-being.

Yi thinks spirituality may be a way for the teens to cope.

Cotton tells teens:

[Sian Cotton speaks] "If it is in the faith realm for you, your parents, even your health care providers, may be actually more open to talking about these issues than you might think."

The research in the Journal of Pediatrics and the Journal of Adolescent Health was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: February, 24 2009