David Larson,M.D.,president of the National Institute for Health-Care Research,and researchers Mary Milano and Constance Barry have analyzed scientific data on the effects of religion in a number of areas, including substance abuse, heart disease, surgery, marital relations and suicide. Encouraging religious commitment, then say, could offer a multifaceted way of reducing expenditures for treatment of addictions and mental disorders,leading to shortened hospitalizations through faster recovery rates and decreased need for expensive prescription drugs.