Month: November 2020

Improve Sleep and Social Anxiety with Mindfulness

psyjdc Leave a comment

Improve Sleep and Social Anxiety with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Self-compassionate people tend to have lower levels of social anxiety—perhaps because self-compassion includes mindfulness, which soothes the stress associated with anxiety.” – Jill Suttie

 

It is a common human phenomenon that being in a social situation can be stressful and anxiety producing. Most people can deal with the anxiety and can become quite comfortable. But many do not cope well and the anxiety is overwhelming, causing the individual to withdraw. Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is characterized by a persistent, intense, and chronic fear of being watched and judged by others and feeling embarrassed or humiliated by their actions. This fear may be so severe that it interferes with work, school, and other activities and may negatively affect the person’s ability to form relationships.

 

Anxiety disorders have generally been treated with drugs. But there are considerable side effects and these drugs are often abused. There are a number of psychological therapies for anxiety. But, about 45% of the patients treated do not respond to the therapy. So, there is a need to develop alternative treatments. Recently, it has been found that mindfulness training can be effective for anxiety disorders including Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD).

 

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) has also been found to be associated with sleep disturbance. Mindfulness-based practices have been reported to improve sleep amount and quality and help with insomnia. So, it makes sense to explore the interactions of mindfulness training, sleep quality, and Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD).

 

In today’s Research News article “Sleep quality and treatment of social anxiety disorder.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6698895/) Horenstein and colleagues recruited healthy control participants and adult patients diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). The patients were randomly assigned to either a wait-list control condition or to receive 12 weekly 2.5 hour sessions of either Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy (CBGT) or Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) along with home readings and practices. MBSR training employs meditation, body scan, yoga, discussions, and home practice. CBGT explores and attempts to change inaccurate or negative thinking so the patient can view challenging situations more clearly and respond to them in a more effective way. They were measured before and after the 12-week treatment period and 12 months later for mental illness, sleep quality, and social anxiety.

 

They found that at baseline the patients diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) had significantly poorer sleep quality than healthy control participants. After treatment both the Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy (CBGT) or Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) groups had significant improvements in Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) compared to baseline and the wait-list control participants. In addition, the patients who received MBSR had significant improvement in sleep quality. But this did not significantly differ from patients receiving CBGT. Sleep quality, however, did not significantly modify the treatment responses and changes in sleep quality over treatment did not predict changes in social anxiety.

 

These results are interesting and demonstrate that both Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy (CBGT) or Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) effectively reduce social anxiety in patients with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) while MBSR also improves sleep quality in these patients. This replicates previous findings that mindfulness training improves SAD and sleep. The new contribution of the present study was that sleep quality was not related to improvements in SAD.

 

So, improve sleep and social anxiety with mindfulness.

 

“Lack of sleep, or poor quality sleep, can worsen social anxiety in those with the disorder and even trigger similar feelings in others.” – Relax Melodies

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Horenstein, A., Morrison, A. S., Goldin, P., Ten Brink, M., Gross, J. J., & Heimberg, R. G. (2019). Sleep quality and treatment of social anxiety disorder. Anxiety, stress, and coping, 32(4), 387–398. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2019.1617854

 

Abstract

Background and Objectives:

Poor sleep is prevalent among individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and may affect treatment outcome. We examined whether: (1) individuals with SAD differed from healthy controls (HCs) in sleep quality, (2) baseline sleep quality moderated the effects of treatment (Cognitive-behavioral group therapy [CBGT] vs. mindfulness-based stress reduction [MBSR] vs. waitlist [WL]) on social anxiety, (3) sleep quality changed over treatment, and (4) changes in sleep quality predicted anxiety 12-months post-treatment.

Design:

Participants were 108 adults with SAD from a randomized controlled trial of CBGT vs. MBSR vs. WL and 38 HCs.

Methods:

SAD and sleep quality were assessed pre-treatment and post-treatment, and SAD was assessed again 12-months post-treatment.

Results:

Participants with SAD reported poorer sleep quality than HCs. The effect of treatment condition on post-treatment social anxiety did not differ as a function of baseline sleep quality. Sleep quality improved in MBSR, significantly more than WL, but not CBGT. Sleep quality change from pre- to post-treatment in CBGT or MBSR did not predict later social anxiety.

Conclusions:

MBSR, and not CBGT, improved sleep quality among participants. Other results were inconsistent with prior research; possible explanations, limitations, and implications for future research are discussed.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6698895/

 

Improve the Symptoms of Lymphangioleiomyomatosis, a Rare Lung Disease, with Yoga

psyjdc Leave a comment

Improve the Symptoms of Lymphangioleiomyomatosis, a Rare Lung Disease, with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“The daily practice of yoga can help in strengthening the muscles of the chest, increase lung capacity and boost oxygen intake.” – Ayurvalley

 

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a very rare lung disease “caused by the abnormal growth of smooth muscle cells, especially in the lungs and lymphatic system. This abnormal growth leads to the formation of holes or cysts in the lung.” (Cleveland Clinic). It is a progressive disease that has symptoms similar to asthma and bronchitis. It is most prevalent in women during the prime of their lives, ages 20 to 40 years. There are no cures for LAM and treatment usually involves drugs that slow the disease progression.

 

Yoga has been shown to improve exercise tolerance and overall health and includes breathing exercises. Indeed, it has been shown that yoga practice improves the mental and physical health of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). So, it may be appropriate for patients with Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). Hence, there is a need for research into the effectiveness of yoga practice for LAM.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effects of yoga on exercise capacity in patients with lymphangioleiomyomatosis: a nonrandomized controlled study.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7075042/) Li and colleagues adult patients with lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) who have stable disease and assigned them to either no-treatment or to receive Hatha yoga training for 90 minutes once a week for 24 weeks along with twice a week for 15 minutes home practice. They were measured before and after training for walking and afterward dyspnea, VO2peak and anaerobic threshold during an exercise test, lung function, activity, quality of life, anxiety and depression.

 

They found excellent participation and compliance with 92% attendance at the yoga training sessions and a median at how practice of 75 minutes per week. They found that in comparison to baseline and the no-treatment control group that the patients who received yoga training there was a significant large improvement in walking, and cardiopulmonary anerobic threshold, and peak workload.

 

These excellent results have to be tempered by the fact that the yoga and control groups were not randomly assigned. Rather patients within a city were compared to patients outside the city. But, as pilot results, they support a development of a large randomized control trial. The results suggest that yoga practice significantly improves motor function and cardiopulmonary function in patients with lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). This would represent a significant improvement in the patients’ health.

 

So, improve the symptoms of lymphangioleiomyomatosis, a rare lung disease, with yoga.

 

“the beneficial effects of yoga on exercise capacity and pulmonary function were the most robust.” – Brandon May

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Li, X., Xu, W., Zhang, L., Zu, Y., Li, Y., Yang, Y., Xiang, Y., Xiang, Y., Chen, L., Liu, W., Chen, L., & Xu, K. F. (2020). Effects of yoga on exercise capacity in patients with lymphangioleiomyomatosis: a nonrandomized controlled study. Orphanet journal of rare diseases, 15(1), 72. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13023-020-1344-6

 

Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the effects of yoga on exercise capacity and quality of life in patients with lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), a rare cystic lung disease in women.

Patients and methods

This was a nonrandomized, controlled study conducted in Beijing, China (August 27, 2017 – April 26, 2018). Twenty-six participants were allocated to the intervention (yoga) group (n = 13) or control group (n = 13). The yoga intervention involved a 24-week program of yoga class training for 90 min once a week and no fewer than 2 at-home sessions per week (at least 15 min per session). The 6-min walking distance (6MWD), lung function, serum vascular endothelial growth factor-D (VEGF-D) levels, quality of life, and symptoms of anxiety and depression were measured at baseline, 12-week and 24-week follow-up. An incremental cardiopulmonary exercise test was conducted at baseline and the 24-week follow-up.

Results

Eleven patients completed the yoga training program. The yoga group exhibited improvements in the following outcomes versus those of the control group: 6MWD (+ 55 ± 29 m vs + 18 ± 49 m, P = 0.04), anaerobic threshold (3.4 ± 2.4 ml/min/kg vs 1.6 ± 1.4 ml/min/kg, P = 0.035) and peak work load (11.7 ± 14.6 W vs 0.2 ± 9.1 W, P = 0.027). There was no significant difference in peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak), lung function, VEGF-D level, and quality of life between the yoga and control groups. No adverse effects were found in the yoga group.

Conclusion

Yoga is a feasible and safe intervention for pulmonary rehabilitation and potentially improves exercise capacity in patients with LAM.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7075042/

 

Decrease Hypertension with Tai Chi

psyjdc 1 Comment

Decrease Hypertension with Tai Chi

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Tai chi may be just as effective as popular methods for lowering blood pressure, such as weight loss and lowered sodium intake. . . tai chi may positively affect blood cholesterol, related lipids and inflammation. This means that enjoying tai chi regularly may lower your chance of heart disease.” – Abbot

 

High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) is an insidious disease because there are no overt symptoms. The individual feels fine. But it can be deadly as more than 360,000 American deaths, roughly 1,000 deaths each day, had high blood pressure as a primary or contributing cause. In addition, hypertension markedly increases the risk heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and kidney disease.  It is also a very common disorder with about 70 million American adults (29%) having high blood pressure and only about half (52%) of people with high blood pressure have their condition under control. Treatment frequently includes antihypertensive drugs. But these medications often have adverse side effects. So, patients feel lousy when taking the drugs, but fine when they’re not. So, compliance is a major issue with many patients not taking the drugs regularly or stopping entirely.

 

Obviously, there is a need for alternative to drug treatments for hypertension. Mindfulness practices have been shown to aid in controlling hypertension. Mindful movement practices such Tai Chi and Qigong are ancient Chinese practices involving mindfulness and gentle movements. They are easy to learn, safe, and gentle. So, it may be appropriate for patients with hypertension who lack the ability to engage in strenuous exercises. Indeed, Qigong practice has been shown to reduce blood pressure. There have been a number of studies performed and it is useful to summarize what has been learned.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Efficacy of Tai Chi and Qigong Exercises on Blood Pressure and Blood Levels of Nitric Oxide and Endothelin-1 in Patients with Essential Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7414352/) Liu and colleagues review, summarize, and perform a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of Tai Chi practice in treating hypertension. They found 9 published randomized controlled trials including a total of 516 patients.

 

They report that the published research found that Tai Chi practice produced a significant reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure and blood endothelin-1 levels and significant increases in blood nitrous oxide levels. Endothelin-1 is a powerful vasoconstrictor and Nitrous Oxide is a powerful vasodilator. So, the reduced levels of Endothelin-1 and increased levels of Nitrous Oxide in patients performing Tai Chi may be a physiological mechanism by which the practice lowers blood pressure.

 

These findings suggest that Tai Chi practice is a safe and effective treatment to lower blood pressure in patients with hypertension. Some advantages of Tai Chi include the facts that it is not strenuous, involves slow gentle movements, and is safe, having no appreciable side effects, it is appropriate for all ages including the elderly and for individuals with illnesses that limit their activities or range of motion. It can also be practiced without professional supervision and in groups making it inexpensive to deliver and fun to engage in. This makes Tai Chi practice an excellent treatment for hypertension.

 

So, decrease hypertension with Tai Chi.

 

“High blood pressure can precede cardiovascular complications, such as a heart attack, so it is important to keep it in check. If your blood pressure is too high, there is a simple exercise you can do at home. . . Evidence suggests tai chi, a mind-body practice that has its origin Chinese martial arts, can lower high blood pressure.” – Adam Chapman

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Liu, D., Yi, L., Sheng, M., Wang, G., & Zou, Y. (2020). The Efficacy of Tai Chi and Qigong Exercises on Blood Pressure and Blood Levels of Nitric Oxide and Endothelin-1 in Patients with Essential Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2020, 3267971. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/3267971

 

Abstract

Objective

Tai Chi and Qigong are the two similar traditional Chinese wellness exercises. A strong body of published clinical randomized controlled trials (RCTs) has investigated the health benefits of Tai Chi and Qigong exercises (TCQE) in patients with essential hypertension (EH). This is the first meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of TCQE on blood pressure (BP) and blood levels of nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) in EH patients and explore the potential antihypertensive mechanism of TCQE.

Methods

We conducted a literature retrieval for Chinese and English studies in seven databases from their respective inceptions until January 14, 2020. All RCTs examining clinical efficacy of TCQE for EH patients were considered. The major therapeutic outcomes of TCQE were changes in the blood levels of NO, ET-1, and BP in EH patients. Methodological quality of the included RCTs was detected via The Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. We evaluated the data reported and performed the meta-analysis by Review Manager 5.3 software.

Results

9 RCTs involving 516 EH patients were included. The intervention duration lasted from 1.5 months to 6 months. The results of comprehensive analysis showed that compared with control interventions, experimental interventions were more effective in reducing the systolic blood pressure and the diastolic blood pressure and contributed higher blood levels of NO and lower blood levels of ET-1.

Conclusions

TCQE could be an effective complementary and alternative therapy for EH. The lower BP in EH patients who practice TCQE may have some connection with exercise-related increased blood NO levels and decreased blood ET-1 levels. However, further research is needed to make clear the efficacy of TCQE in management of EH and the mechanism of lowering BP in TCQE.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7414352/

 

Mindfulness Trained Over the Internet Improves Stress Management in Healthy Adults

psyjdc Leave a comment

Mindfulness Trained Over the Internet Improves Stress Management in Healthy Adults

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness gently builds an inner strength, so that future stressors have less impact on our happiness and physical well-being.” – Shamash Alidina

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to be effective in improving physical and psychological health. One reason for these benefits is that mindfulness training improves the individual’s physical and psychological reactions to stress. Stress is an integral part of life, that is actually essential to the health of the body. In moderation, it is healthful, strengthening, and provides interest and fun to life. If stress, is high or is prolonged, however, it can be problematic. It can significantly damage our physical and mental health and even reduce our longevity, leading to premature deaths.

 

It is important that we develop methods to either reduce or control high or prolonged stress or reduce our responses to it. Mindfulness practices have been found routinely to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress. and this appears to be important for health. The vast majority of the mindfulness training techniques, however, require a trained teacher. The participants must be available to attend multiple sessions at particular scheduled times that may or may not be compatible with busy employee schedules and at locations that may not be convenient. As an alternative, training over the internet  has been developed. This has tremendous advantages in decreasing costs, making training schedules much more flexible, and eliminating the need to go repeatedly to specific locations. But the question arises as to the effectiveness of this approach in inducing mindfulness and reducing stress and improving psychological well-being in healthy individuals in real-world work settings.

 

The evidence has been accumulating. So, it is reasonable to step back and summarize what has been learned about the effects of mindfulness provided over the internet on the individual’s ability to manage stress. In today’s Research News article “A meta-analysis: Internet mindfulness-based interventions for stress management in the general population.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7360300/) Zhang and colleagues reviewed, summarized, and performed a meta-analysis of the published research controlled trials investigating the effects of mindfulness training provided over the internet on the management of stress in healthy participants. They identified 16 controlled trials.

 

They report that the published research found that mindfulness training of healthy participants provided over the internet produced significant increases in mindfulness and significant decreases in perceived stress with moderate effect sizes and significant decreases in anxiety and depression with small effect sizes. These results occurred regardless of the method of delivery of mindfulness training and whether students, staff, or both were the subjects. In addition, they found that when therapist guidance was present the effect sizes were larger.

 

It has been well established the mindfulness training decreases perceived stress, anxiety, and depression in a variety of healthy and ill populations and with a variety of delivery methods. The present meta-analysis demonstrates that mindfulness training over the internet is effective in improving stress management and mental health in healthy individuals. The results also suggest that having some guidance from a therapist provided along with the internet-based training improves the effectiveness of the treatments.

 

These results suggest that mindfulness training is widely effective and can be delivered cheaply and conveniently to large numbers of geographically diffuse populations. Since, stress is so ubiquitous in modern society, mindfulness training may be a way to counter the effects of that stress on physical and mental health.

 

So, mindfulness trained over the internet improves stress management in healthy adults.

 

“Learning how to accept your present-moment experience is really important for reducing stress. It seems to be a key element of mindfulness training.” – Emily Lindsay

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Zhang, Y., Xue, J., & Huang, Y. (2020). A meta-analysis: Internet mindfulness-based interventions for stress management in the general population. Medicine, 99(28), e20493. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000020493

 

Abstract

Background:

Psychological stress was an important mental health problem among the general population and warrant research to inform strategies for effective prevention. iMBIs provide a possibility to offer easily accessible, efficacious, convenient, and low-cost interventions on a wide scale. However, the efficacy of iMBIs in the general population remains unclear. The aim of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the effects of iMBIs for stress reduction in the general population.

Methods:

A systematic search in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Medline, Cochrane Library, CNKI, and Wanfang Data databases was performed up to April 10, 2019. The overall effect sizes of the iMBIs on stress, depression, anxiety, and mindfulness were recorded by the metric of Hedges’ g with 95% confidence interval (CI), Z-value, and P value.

Results:

Sixteen eligible studies were included in the meta-analysis. The overall results indicated that iMBIs had small to moderate effects on stress (Hedges’ g = −0.393) and mindfulness (Hedges’ g = −0.316) compared with the control group. Results from subgroup analyses revealed that the type of sample and delivery mode had a greater impact on heterogeneity across the studies. Meta-regression found that the overall effect might be moderated by guidance for iMBIs.

Conclusion:

The present meta-analysis suggested that iMBIs had small to moderate effects in reducing stress and improving mindfulness of the general population in comparison with the control group. Future research is needed to explore how iMBIs are remolded to improve adherence and suit specific individuals.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7360300/