Belief in Faith Healing and HbA1c: Exploring the Mediating Role of Meaning in Life.

This study investigates the relationship between belief in divine healing (faith healing) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), a biomarker of blood glucose control linked to diabetes. Using data from a nationwide survey of American adults, the researchers found that belief in divine healing is not limited to Conservative Christians but is more broadly distributed across the population. They identified a nonlinear relationship between faith healing beliefs and HbA1c levels: individuals with weak belief in divine healing tend to have higher (worse) HbA1c values, whereas stronger belief is associated with lower (better) HbA1c levels, with benefits emerging only at intense levels of belief. Additionally, a religious sense of meaning in life—but not a general sense of meaning—was found to mediate this relationship, suggesting that faith-related meaning may play a role in the health outcomes associated with divine healing beliefs.