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Improve Depression During the Perinatal Period with Mindfulness

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Improve Depression During the Perinatal Period with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Pregnancy is a challenging terrain for everyone to navigate. And if you are entering that space with some history of depression, it can be particularly challenging.” – Sona Dimidjian

 

The period of pregnancy is a time of intense physiological and psychological change. Anxiety, depression, and fear are quite common during pregnancy. More than 20 percent of pregnant women have an anxiety disorder, depressive symptoms, or both during pregnancy. A debilitating childbirth fear has been estimated to affect about 6% or pregnant women and 13% are sufficiently afraid to postpone pregnancy. It is difficult to deal with these emotions under the best of conditions but in combinations with the stresses of pregnancy can turn what could be a joyous experience of creating a human life into a horrible worrisome, torment.

 

The psychological health of pregnant women has consequences for fetal development, birthing, and consequently, child outcomes. Depression during pregnancy is associated with premature delivery and low birth weight. Hence, it is clear that there is a need for methods to treat depression, and anxiety during pregnancy. Since the fetus can be negatively impacted by drugs, it would be preferable to find a treatment that did not require drugs. Mindfulness training has been shown to improve anxiety and depression normally and to relieve maternal anxiety and depression during pregnancy.

 

Mindfulness practices have been found to help with coping with loss and its consequent grief.  Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) was specifically developed to treat depression. MBCT involves mindfulness training, containing sitting, walking and body scan meditations, and cognitive therapy That is designed to alter how the patient relates to the thought processes that often underlie and exacerbate psychological symptoms.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Perinatal Women with Depression or Bipolar Spectrum Disorder.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7021274/), Miklowitz and colleagues recruited women with major depressive or bipolar disorders who were either pregnant, within 1 year postpartum, or trying to get pregnant. They were provided with weekly 2-hour sessions for 8 weeks of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). They were measured before and after treatment and at 1 and 6 months later for psychological symptom severity, reoccurrence of major depression, mindfulness, and acceptability of treatment.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline, after Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) there were significant reduction in depression and increases in mindfulness. The women on average moved from mildly to minimally depressed categories. These improvements were maintained 1 and 6 months later. The women who had major depressive disorder had significantly greater improvements in depression than the women with bipolar disorder.

 

These results suggest that Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an effective treatment for depression in perinatal women with lasting benefits. This should help relieve the women’s suffering and help them to be better mothers to their children. MBCT has been shown to be effective for a wide variety of patients with depression. The present study increases the types of depression that are known to respond positively to MBCT.

 

So, improve depression during the perinatal period with mindfulness.

 

“mindfulness training could help improve mothers’ experience of labor and reduce the likelihood of postpartum depression.” – Jenn Knudsen

 

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

 

Miklowitz, D. J., Semple, R. J., Hauser, M., Elkun, D., Weintraub, M. J., & Dimidjian, S. (2015). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Perinatal Women with Depression or Bipolar Spectrum Disorder. Cognitive therapy and research, 39(5), 590–600. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-015-9681-9

 

Abstract

The perinatal period is a high-risk time for mood deterioration among women vulnerable to depression. This study examined feasibility, acceptability, and improvement associated with mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in perinatal women with major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar spectrum disorder (BSD). Following a diagnostic evaluation, 39 perinatal women with a lifetime history of MDD (n = 27) or BSD (n = 12) enrolled in an 8-week program of MBCT classes (2 h each) that incorporated meditation, yoga, and mood regulation strategies. Participants were pregnant (n = 12), planning pregnancy (n = 11), or up to 1-year postpartum (n = 16). Participants were self-referred and most had subthreshold mood symptoms. Assessments of depression, (hypo)mania, and anxiety were obtained by interview and self-report at baseline, post-treatment and at 1- and 6-month post-treatment. Women with a history of MDD were more likely to complete the classes than women with BSD. Of 32 women who completed the classes, 7 (21.9 %) had a major depressive episode during the 6-month post-treatment follow-up. On average, participants with MDD reported improvements in depression from pre- to post-treatment. Mood improvement was not observed in the BSD group. In the full sample, improvements in depression symptoms across time points were associated with increasing mindful tendency scores. This study was limited by its uncontrolled design, heterogeneous sample, and questionnaire-based assessment of mindfulness skills. MBCT may be an important component of care for perinatal women with histories of major depression. Its applicability to perinatal women with BSD is unclear.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7021274/

 

Cost Effectively Improve Cancer Patients’ Quality of Life with Mindfulness

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Cost Effectively Improve Cancer Patients’ Quality of Life with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“People don’t ask to be diagnosed with cancer, but they’re given an opportunity to, in a real sense, experience the vividness and the exquisiteness of the moment.” – Linda Carlson

 

Receiving a diagnosis of cancer has a huge impact on most people. Feelings of depression, anxiety, and fear are very common and are normal responses to this life-changing and potentially life-ending experience. These feeling can result from changes in body image, changes to family and work roles, feelings of grief at these losses, and physical symptoms such as pain, nausea, or fatigue. People might also fear death, suffering, pain, or all the unknown things that lie ahead. So, coping with the emotions and stress of a cancer diagnosis is a challenge and there are no simple treatments for these psychological sequelae of cancer diagnosis.

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to help with cancer recovery and help to alleviate many of the residual physical and psychological symptoms, including fatigue, stress,  sleep disturbance, fear, and anxiety and depression. The effectiveness of mindfulness training for the psychological symptoms of cancer has been established. But whether it is cost-effective relative to other treatments has not been investigated.

 

The vast majority of the mindfulness training techniques, however, require a trained therapist. This results in costs that many parents can’t afford. In addition, the participants must be available to attend multiple sessions at particular scheduled times that may or may not be compatible with parents’ busy schedules and at locations that may not be convenient. As an alternative, mindfulness trainings over the internet have been developed. These have tremendous advantages in making training schedules much more flexible, and eliminating the need to go repeatedly to specific locations. But the question arises as to the cost effectiveness of these online trainings.

 

In today’s Research News article “Cost-utility of individual internet-based and face-to-face Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy compared with treatment as usual in reducing psychological distress in cancer patients.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7027540/), Compen and colleagues recruited past or present cancer patients with high anxiety levels and randomly assigned them to be on a wait-list receiving treatment as usual or Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) either delivered face-to-face or over the internet. Face-to-face MBCT occurred in 8 weekly 2.5-hour sessions with 45 minutes of daily practice at home. The internet version had similar content but was delivered asynchronously personally with email exchanges with therapists.

Costs were calculated by calculating the costs of normal treatment as usual as well as indirect costs from absenteeism, productivity losses etc. and the costs of delivering the services. Quality of life was assessed for each patient.

 

They found that the costs of delivery of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) was equivalent between face-to-face and internet delivery. The productivity losses and total costs were significantly less with both MBCT deliveries compared to treatment as usual. Quality of life was significantly higher with both MBCT deliveries and was maintained at a 9-month follow-up.

 

The results suggest that delivering Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) either face-to-face or over the internet reduces total costs of treatment and work-related losses and improved the quality of life of cancer patients. This suggests that MBCT is a cost effective way of delivering treatment to cancer patients, making their lives better.

 

So, cost effectively improve cancer patients’ quality of life with mindfulness.

 

“Cancer is a traumatic event that changes a person’s life. Utilizing mindfulness tools can provide peace and hope. Practicing mindfulness on a daily basis can assist with long term effects of happiness and positivity. – Erin Murphy-Wilczek

 

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

 

Compen, F., Adang, E., Bisseling, E., van der Lee, M., & Speckens, A. (2020). Cost-utility of individual internet-based and face-to-face Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy compared with treatment as usual in reducing psychological distress in cancer patients. Psycho-oncology, 29(2), 294–303. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5246

 

Abstract

Objective

It was previously determined that group‐based face‐to‐face Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and individual internet‐based MBCT (eMBCT) are equally efficacious compared with treatment as usual (TAU) in reducing psychological distress. In this study, the incremental cost‐utility of both interventions compared with TAU was assessed.

Methods

This cost‐utility study included 245 self‐referred heterogeneous cancer patients with psychological distress who were randomized to MBCT, eMBCT or TAU. Healthcare costs and (informal) work‐related productivity losses were assessed by interview. Outcomes were expressed in EuroQol‐5D‐3L utility scores and quality‐adjusted life years (QALY). An economic evaluation with a time‐horizon of 3 months was conducted from the societal perspective in the intention‐to‐treat sample. In addition, secondary explorative analyses of costs and quality of life during the 9‐month follow‐up were conducted based on linear extrapolation of TAU.

Results

Paid work‐related productivity losses and societal costs were lower in both intervention conditions compared with TAU during the 3‐month intervention period. Moreover, quality of life (utility scores) improved in eMBCT versus TAU (Cohen’s d: .54) and MBCT versus TAU (.53). At a willingness to pay of €20000 per QALY, the mean incremental net monetary benefit was €1916 (SD=€783) in eMBCT and €2365 (SD=€796) in MBCT versus TAU. Exploration of costs demonstrated an equal pattern of eMBCT and MBCT being superior to TAU. Quality of life at 9‐month follow‐up remained improved in both interventions.

Conclusions

Results indicate that eMBCT and MBCT are cost‐saving treatments whilst simultaneously improving quality of life for distressed cancer patients.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7027540/

 

Improve Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Patients with Mind-Body Practices

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Improve Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Patients with Mind-Body Practices

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness makes a profound difference for breast cancer patients and survivors, both physically and mentally.” – Laura Dorwart

 

Receiving a diagnosis of cancer has a huge impact on most people. Feelings of depression, anxiety, and fear are very common and are normal responses to this life-changing and potentially life-ending experience. Coping with the emotions and stress of a cancer diagnosis is a challenge and there are no simple treatments for these psychological sequelae of cancer diagnosis. But over half of the people diagnosed with cancer are still alive 10 years later and this number is rapidly increasing. Breast cancer is very common with 1 out of every 8 women developing breast cancer sometime during their lives.

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to help with cancer recovery and help to relieve chronic pain. It can also help treat the residual physical and psychological symptoms, including stress, sleep disturbance, fear, and anxiety and depression. Mind-body practices have been shown to be effective in improving the psychological symptoms occurring in breast cancer patients. There has been a considerable amount of research conducted and it makes sense to step back and summarize what has been learned.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Effect of Complementary and Alternative Medicines on Quality of Life in Patients with Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7017686/), Nayeri and colleagues review and summarize the published research studies of the effectiveness of mind-body practices for the treatment of breast cancer patients. They identified 28 clinical trials, 18 of which were randomized controlled clinical trials.

 

They report that 27 of the 28 trials found that mind-body practices result in significant improvement in the quality of life of women with breast cancer. The mind-body practices used included yoga, acupuncture, art therapy, music therapy, guided imagery, cognitive-behavioral stress management, and mental exercise techniques.

 

These findings are overwhelmingly positive suggesting that mind-body practices are safe and effective treatments to improve the quality of life of women living with breast cancer. This is particularly important as there are such a large number of women living with the current or residual symptoms of breast cancer and its treatment. These practices then are important for the relief of their suffering.

 

So, improve quality of life in breast cancer patients with mind-body practices.

 

“The routine use of yoga, meditation, relaxation techniques, and passive music therapy to address common mental health concerns among patients with breast cancer is supported by high levels of evidence,” – Debu Tripathy

 

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

 

Nayeri, N. D., Bakhshi, F., Khosravi, A., & Najafi, Z. (2020). The Effect of Complementary and Alternative Medicines on Quality of Life in Patients with Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review. Indian journal of palliative care, 26(1), 95–104. https://doi.org/10.4103/IJPC.IJPC_183_19

 

Abstract

Background:

Breast cancer disease and its classic treatment lead to decrease in patients’ quality of life (QOL). This systematic review aimed to compare the effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) categories on the QOL of women with breast cancer.

Methods:

English clinical trials from PubMed, Emabase, Scupos, and Google Scholar databases were searched electronically by the end of 2018 with the Cochrane Collaboration protocol. Two researchers independently extracted data such as participants’ characteristics, CAM methods, QOL assessment tools. CAMs were classified into three categories of dietary supplements, herbal medicine, and mind-body techniques.

Results:

During the initial search, 1186 articles were found. After reviewing titles, abstracts, and full texts based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 28 clinical trials were included in the systematic review, 18 of which was randomized controlled trial (RCT). Participants included women with breast cancer who were undergoing the first three phases of breast cancer or postcancer rehabilitation. Among CAM interventions, one article used a dietary supplement, and the other 27 articles included a variety of mind-body techniques. Twenty-seven studies showed improved QOL (P > 0.05).

Conclusion:

The findings may indicate the potential benefits of CAMs, especially mind-body techniques on QOL in breast cancer patients. Further RCTs or long-term follow-up studies are recommended. Moreover, the use of similar QOL assessment tools allows for more meta-analysis and generalizability of results, especially for the development of clinical guidelines.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7017686/

 

Improve Physical Function and Postural Control Complexity in Older Adults with Peripheral Neuropathy with Tai Chi

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Improve Physical Function and Postural Control Complexity in Older Adults with Peripheral Neuropathy with Tai Chi

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“slow and fluid movements improve the body’s alignment, posture, strength, flexibility, coordination, balance, and stamina. Many of these benefits of Tai Chi are consistent with many other forms of low-impact exercise, with the added benefit of focus on improved posture, balance, and alignment.” – Robert Humphries

 

The process of aging affects every aspect of the physical and cognitive domains. Every system in the body deteriorates including motor function with a decline in strength, flexibility, and balance. Impaired balance is a particular problem as it can lead to falls. In the U.S. one third of people over 65 fall each year and 2.5 million are treated in emergency rooms for injuries produced by falls. About 1% of falls result in deaths making it the leading cause of death due to injury among the elderly. Falls, with or without injury, also carry a heavy quality of life impact.

 

Peripheral neuropathy can compound the effects of aging on motor ability. It involves damage to the peripheral nerves carrying information to the spinal cord and brain. This results in deficits in sensory information from the body and motor control. Peripheral neuropathy can impair muscle movement, prevent normal sensation in the arms and legs, and cause pain. In this way peripheral neuropathy may further impair older adults motor abilities and increase the likelihood of falls.

 

Tai Chi training is designed to enhance and regulate the functional activities of the body through posture, regulated breathing, mindful concentration, and gentle movements. It includes posture and balance training and has been shown to improve balance and coordination. Indeed, Tai Chi training has been shown to reduce the likelihood of falls in the elderly. One possible way that Tai Chi training may contribute to the decrease in falls is by improving postural control. This interesting speculation has not been previously investigated in older patients with peripheral neuropathy.

 

In today’s Research News article “Complexity-based measures inform Tai Chi’s impact on standing postural control in older adults with peripheral neuropathy.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3640896/), Manor and colleagues recruited older adults (average age 71 years) with peripheral neuropathy. They were provided 3 1-hour Tai Chi classes per week for 24 weeks. They were measured before and after training for foot sole sensation, leg strength, mobility, functional ability, and postural control, including measures of balance, speed, area under the curve, and complexity of postural control while standing.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline, after Tai Chi training there were significant improvements in foot sole sensation, leg strength, mobility, and physical function, including knee extension, walking, and speed. There was also a significant increase in postural control complexity. In addition, they found that the greater the increase in postural control complexity the greater the improvements in foot sole sensation, mobility, and functional ability.

 

This study did not have a control condition so conclusions must be tempered with the understanding that the results may have been due to time-based confounding variables. Nevertheless, the results suggest that Tai Chi practice improves the physical condition and abilities of older adults with peripheral neuropathy. Aging is associated with a loss of motoric complexity. The improvement in postural complexity observed in the present study may then represent the ability of Tai Chi practice to restore this complexity and thereby help the older adults’ physical abilities.

 

So, improve physical function and postural control complexity in older adults with peripheral neuropathy with Tai Chi.

 

“We work to maintain great posture for a 60-120 minute class, reap the benefits, feel great, and then go home and try to emulate the posture in our natural environment.” – Scott

 

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

 

Manor, B., Lipsitz, L. A., Wayne, P. M., Peng, C. K., & Li, L. (2013). Complexity-based measures inform Tai Chi’s impact on standing postural control in older adults with peripheral neuropathy. BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 13, 87. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-13-87

 

Abstract

Background

Tai Chi training enhances physical function and may reduce falls in older adults with and without balance disorders, yet its effect on postural control as quantified by the magnitude or speed of center-of-pressure (COP) excursions beneath the feet is less clear. We hypothesized that COP metrics derived from complex systems theory may better capture the multi-component stimulus that Tai Chi has on the postural control system, as compared with traditional COP measures.

Methods

We performed a secondary analysis of a pilot, non-controlled intervention study that examined the effects of Tai Chi on standing COP dynamics, plantar sensation, and physical function in 25 older adults with peripheral neuropathy. Tai Chi training was based on the Yang style and consisted of three, one-hour group sessions per week for 24 weeks. Standing postural control was assessed with a force platform at baseline, 6, 12, 18, and 24 weeks. The degree of COP complexity, as defined by the presence of fluctuations existing over multiple timescales, was calculated using multiscale entropy analysis. Traditional measures of COP speed and area were also calculated. Foot sole sensation, six-minute walk (6MW) and timed up-and-go (TUG) were also measured at each assessment.

Results

Traditional measures of postural control did not change from baseline. The COP complexity index (mean±SD) increased from baseline (4.1±0.5) to week 6 (4.5±0.4), and from week 6 to week 24 (4.7±0.4) (p=0.02). Increases in COP complexity—from baseline to week 24—correlated with improvements in foot sole sensation (p=0.01), the 6MW (p=0.001) and TUG (p=0.01).

Conclusions

Subjects of the Tai Chi program exhibited increased complexity of standing COP dynamics. These increases were associated with improved plantar sensation and physical function. Although more research is needed, results of this non-controlled pilot study suggest that complexity-based COP measures may inform the study of complex mind-body interventions, like Tai Chi, on postural control in those with peripheral neuropathy or other age-related balance disorders.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3640896/

 

Reduce Inflammation in Mildly Cognitive Impaired Elderly with Mindfulness

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Reduce Inflammation in Mildly Cognitive Impaired Elderly with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness practice was not directly linked to lower inflammation levels, but may have bolstered stress resilience among at-risk adults by preventing an increase in inflammatory biomarker levels.” – Grace Bullock

 

The immune system is designed to protect the body from threats like stress, infection, injury, and toxic chemicals. One of its tools is the Inflammatory response. This response works quite well for short-term infections and injuries. But when inflammation is protracted and becomes chronic, it can itself become a threat to health. It can produce autoimmune diseases such as colitis, Chron’s disease, arthritis, heart disease, increased cancer risk, lung disease, sleep disruption, gum disease, decreased bone health, psoriasis, and depression. In the elderly it is associated with the onset of dementia.

 

Needless to say, chronic inflammation can create major health problems. Indeed, the presence of chronic inflammation is associated with reduced longevity. So, it is important for health to control the inflammatory response, allowing it to do its job in fighting off infection but reducing its activity when no external threat is apparent. Of course, it is far better to prevent chronic inflammation in the first place than to treat it later. Mind-body techniques such as yoga, Tai Chi and meditation have been shown to adaptively reduce the inflammatory response. Mindfulness training, then, may reduce the prospect of the development of dementia by reducing the inflammatory response.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness improves inflammatory biomarker levels in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: a randomized controlled trial.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7026149/), Ng and colleagues recruited elderly (> 60 years of age) who had mild cognitive impairment but not dementia and randomly assigned them to receive once a week for 1 hour for 12 weeks of either health education or mindfulness awareness practice. For the next 6 months they received monthly booster sessions. The mindfulness awareness practice was based upon the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program adapted for the elderly. The participants were also instructed to practice daily at home. Before and after training and 6 months later the participants contributed blood samples that were assayed for inflammatory biomarkers of high-sensitivity (hs)-CRP, BDNF, and DHEA-S. They also contributed salivary samples that were assayed for the inflammatory biomarkers of cortisol, IL-1β, and IL-6.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the health education group, the elderly participants who received mindfulness training had significantly lower blood levels of high-sensitivity (hs)-CRP at the end of training and 6 months later. This effect was particularly strong in female participants. Male participants had significantly reduced IL-6 and IL-1β levels at the end of training.

 

These findings are potentially very important. high-sensitivity (hs)-CRP has been associated with the onset of dementia. Hence, mindfulness training may significantly reduce this risk factor for dementia. Mindfulness training has been shown to improve the symptoms of dementia. The present findings suggest that mindfulness training may work to improve dementia by lowering high-sensitivity (hs)-CRP. It remains for future research to investigate this tantalizing prospect.

 

The results suggest that mindfulness training reduce biomarkers of inflammation in the elderly with mild cognitive impairment. Inflammation is characteristic of dementia. The results suggest that mindfulness training may reduce the likelihood that mild cognitive impairment develops into full-fledged dementia by reducing inflammation in the elderly. Regardless, the reduction in inflammation would be predicted to improve the overall health and longevity of the elderly.

 

So, reduce inflammation in mildly cognitive impaired elderly with mindfulness.

 

“Meditation is associated with many psychological and physical benefits. “In general, it’s been shown to decrease blood pressure and inflammation.” – Heidi Goldman

 

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

 

Ng, T., Fam, J., Feng, L., Cheah, I. K., Tan, C. T., Nur, F., Wee, S. T., Goh, L. G., Chow, W. L., Ho, R. C., Kua, E. H., Larbi, A., & Mahendran, R. (2020). Mindfulness improves inflammatory biomarker levels in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: a randomized controlled trial. Translational psychiatry, 10(1), 21. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-0696-y

 

Abstract

Few randomized controlled trials investigated the effects of mindfulness intervention on older adults diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Furthermore, there have been hypotheses and theoretical mechanisms on the benefits of mindfulness intervention on biomarkers of stress, inflammation, and neuroplasticity implicated in MCI that warrant empirical evidence. We conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial to examine whether Mindful Awareness Practice (MAP) improved biomarker levels in older adults with MCI. Fifty-five community-dwelling older adults aged 60 and above were randomized into either the treatment arm, MAP, or the active control arm, the health education program (HEP). Researchers who were blinded to treatment allocation assessed the outcomes at baseline, 3-month, and 9-month follow-ups. Linear-mixed models were used to examine the effect of MAP on biomarker levels. MAP participants had significantly decreased high-sensitivity c-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels at 9-month (β = −0.307, 95% CI = −0.559 to −0.054 P = 0.018). Exploratory sub-group analyses by sex showed significantly decreased hs-CRP in females only (β = −0.445, 95% CI = −0.700 to −0.189, P = 0.001), while stratification by MCI subtype showed hs-CRP decreased only in amnestic-MCI (aMCI) (β = −0.569, 95% CI = −1.000 to −0.133, P = 0.012). Although total sample analyses were not significant, males had significantly decreased interleukin (IL)−6 (β = −1.001, 95% CI = −1.761 to −0253, P = 0.011) and IL-1β (β = −0.607, 95% CI = −1.116 to −0.100, P = 0.021) levels at 3-month and non-significant improvements at 9-month time-point. MAP improved inflammatory biomarkers in sex- and MCI subtype-specific manners. These preliminary findings suggest the potential of mindfulness intervention as a self-directed and low-cost preventive intervention in improving pathophysiology implicated in MCI.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7026149/

 

Reduce Dating Violence Due to Perceived Infidelity with Mindfulness

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Reduce Dating Violence Due to Perceived Infidelity with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“It takes patience, mindfulness and knowledge of trauma-informed practices to effectively implement lasting and profound changes to victims of domestic and sexual violence.” – Sara Mahoney

 

Dating should be a time for young people to get together, get to know one another and have fun. But all too often, dating involves violence or aggression. Nearly 1.5 million high school students in the U.S. experience physical abuse from a dating partner each year, 33% are victims of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner, and 10% have been purposefully hit, slapped or physically hurt. Dating violence doesn’t just occur in High School as 43% of college women experience violent or abusive dating behaviors. Sadly, only about a third of the victims ever tell anyone about the abuse. Hence it is important to find ways to prevent dating violence. Mindfulness has potential to reduce dating violence.

 

Dating violence is often linked to suspicions regarding the infidelity of the partner and frequently to alcohol intake. It is not known if mindfulness in some way affects the influence of infidelity suspicion on physical assault. In today’s Research News article “Dispositional Mindfulness as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Perceived Partner Infidelity and Women’s Dating Violence Perpetration. Journal of interpersonal violence.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6944186/), Brem and colleagues investigate the moderating influence of mindfulness on the relationship between perceived infidelity and violence perpetration.

 

They recruited college women who were involved in a romantic relationship. They were asked to complete measures of physical assault perpetration, mindfulness, perceived partner infidelity, and alcohol use. The majority of perceived infidelity reported consisted of their partner “checking out” or flirting with another.

 

They found that the higher the levels of mindfulness, the lower the levels of alcohol use and physical assault. Additionally, they found that the higher the levels of perceived infidelity the higher the levels of alcohol use and physical assault. They also found, taking alcohol intake into account, that the relationship between perceived infidelity and physical assault was significant for women low in mindfulness but not for women high in mindfulness, suggesting a moderating influence of mindfulness.

 

These results are correlational and as such causation cannot be determined. But, it has been demonstrated in previous research that mindfulness produces reductions in violent and aggressive tendencies. So, it is likely that the present findings are due to the causal consequences of mindfulness on violence and aggression. Nevertheless, the results suggest that mindfulness may lower perpetration of physical assault by preventing suspicions regarding infidelity being expressed as physical assault. This in turn suggests that mindfulness training may be useful in reducing violence and aggression in romantic relationships.

 

So, reduce dating violence due to perceived infidelity with mindfulness.

 

“Although they are not designed specifically to reduce incidences of domestic violence, programs that teach people mindfulness and meditation have shown some promise in reducing incidences of violence in several settings.” – Michael Kraut

 

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

 

Brem, M. J., Wolford-Clevenger, C., Zapor, H., Elmquist, J., Shorey, R. C., & Stuart, G. L. (2018). Dispositional Mindfulness as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Perceived Partner Infidelity and Women’s Dating Violence Perpetration. Journal of interpersonal violence, 33(2), 250–267. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260515604415

 

Abstract

Mindfulness gained increased attention as it relates to aggressive behavior, including dating violence. However, no known studies examined how the combined influences of dispositional mindfulness and perceived partner infidelity, a well-documented correlate of dating violence, relate to women’s dating violence perpetration. Using a sample of college women (N = 203), we examined the relationship between perceived partner infidelity and physical dating violence perpetration at varying levels of dispositional mindfulness, controlling for the influence of alcohol use. Results indicated perceived partner infidelity and dating violence perpetration were positively related for women with low and mean dispositional mindfulness, but not for women with high dispositional mindfulness. These results further support the applicability of mindfulness theory in the context of dating violence. Implications of the present findings provide preliminary support for mindfulness intervention in relationships characterized by infidelity concerns.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6944186/

 

Improve Autism in Adolescents with Mindfulness

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Improve Autism in Adolescents with Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“mindfulness has emerged as a way of treating children and adolescents with conditions ranging from ADHD to anxiety, autism spectrum disorders, depression and stress. And the benefits are proving to be tremendous.” Juliann Garey

 

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that tends to appear during early childhood and affect the individual throughout their lifetime. It affects a person’s ability to communicate, and interact with others, delays learning of language, makes eye contact or holding a conversation difficult, impairs reasoning and planning, narrows and intensifies interests, produces poor motor skills and sensory sensitivities, and is frequently associated with sleep and gastrointestinal problems. ASD is a serious disorder that impairs the individual’s ability to lead independent lives including complete an education, enter into relationships or find and hold employment. Mindfulness training has been shown to be helpful in treating ASD.

 

Providing care for an adolescent with autism can be particularly challenging. These children’s behavior is characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors. These make it difficult to relate to the child and receive the kind of positive feelings that often help to support caregiving. The challenges of caring for a child with autism require that the parent be able to deal with stress, to regulate their own emotions, and to be sensitive and attentive to their child. These skills are exactly those that are developed in mindfulness training. It improves the psychological and physiological responses to stress. It improves emotion regulation. And it improves the ability to maintain attention and focus in the face of high levels of distraction.

 

In today’s Research News article “MYmind: a Concurrent Group-Based Mindfulness Intervention for Youth with Autism and Their Parents.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6945985/), Salem-Guirgis and colleagues recruited youths (aged 12-23 years) with autism and their parents. The youths received a mindfulness training program (MYmind) employing elements of cognitive behavioral therapy, meditation, and yoga while the parents received a mindful parenting program. Training occurred in 9 weekly, 1.5 hour, sessions combined with daily home practice. The youths were measured before and after training and 10 weeks later for autism symptoms, mindfulness, emotion regulation, and mental health including adaptive skills, behavioral symptoms index, externalizing problems, and internalizing problems. Parents were measured for mindfulness, depression, anxiety, stress, and mindful parenting.

 

They found that following the program and at the 10-week follow-up the parents had significant increases in mindfulness and mindful parenting. After the program and at follow-up the parents reported significant improvements in emotion regulation, social motivation, and autism symptoms in the youths, including significant decreases in restrictive and repetitive behaviors. Finally, the youths had significant improvements in emotion regulation, especially the ability to experience positive emotions.

 

It should be noted that there wasn’t a control group. So, conclusions must be tempered with the understanding that there may be confounding factors at work here. Nevertheless, the results suggest that the MYmind program may be effective in improving autism symptoms, behavior, and emotion regulation in autistic youths and improve mindfulness and mindful parenting in their parents. This may be very helpful in improving the youth and the family system needed to deal with autism and markedly improve the lives of the youths and their parents. This justifies performing a large randomized controlled clinical trial in the future.

 

So, improve autism in adolescents with mindfulness.

 

“many parents of children with ASD who engage in a mindfulness-based practice see a decrease in their child’s aggression and challenging behaviors and an improvement in the child’s overall functioning.“ – Katy Oberle

 

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

 

Salem-Guirgis, S., Albaum, C., Tablon, P., Riosa, P. B., Nicholas, D. B., Drmic, I. E., & Weiss, J. A. (2019). MYmind: a Concurrent Group-Based Mindfulness Intervention for Youth with Autism and Their Parents. Mindfulness, 10(9), 1730–1743. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01107-9

 

Abstract

Objectives

The current study evaluated the use of MYmind, a concurrent mindfulness program in which youth with autism and their parents simultaneously receive group specific mindfulness training. Youth with autism can experience emotional and behavioral challenges, which are associated with parental stress. Mindfulness-based programs are emerging as a promising support for these challenges, for both children and parents. While two studies have documented the use of concurrent parent-child programs, neither involve control conditions.

Methods

Using a within-subject repeated measures design with a baseline component, 23 parent-child dyads were assessed on mindfulness, mental health, and youth emotion regulation and autism symptoms. Participants also rated their perceived improvement on a social validity questionnaire.

Results

There was improvement in youth autism symptoms, emotion regulation, and adaptive skills, and in parent reports of their own mindfulness following the program. There was also some indication of a waitlist effect for parent mental health, but not for other outcome variables. Participant feedback was mainly positive.

Conclusions

MYmind has the potential to contribute to emotion regulation and adaptability in youth with autism, and mindfulness in parents, though more rigorous controlled trials are needed.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6945985/

 

Improve College Student Well-Being with Online Mindfulness

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Improve College Student Well-Being with Online Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Student life can be stressful, but that doesn’t mean students have to let stress take over their lives. By incorporating mindfulness and meditation into daily routines, students can not only relieve the pressure, but also improve their memory, focus and ultimately their grades.” – Kenya McCullum

 

In the modern world education is a key for success. Where a high school education was sufficient in previous generations, a college degree is now required to succeed in the new knowledge-based economies. There is a lot of pressure on university students to excel so that they can get the best jobs after graduation. This stress might in fact be counterproductive as the increased pressure can actually lead to stress and anxiety which can impede the student’s physical and mental health, well-being, and school performance.

 

Mindfulness training has been shown through extensive research to be effective in improving physical and psychological health and particularly with reducing the physical and psychological reactions to stress and increasing resilience in the face of stress. Indeed, these practices have been found to reduce stress and improve psychological health in college students.

 

The vast majority of the mindfulness training techniques, however, require a trained therapist. This results in costs that many clients can’t afford. In addition, the participants must be available to attend multiple sessions at particular scheduled times that may or may not be compatible with their busy schedules and at locations that may not be convenient. As an alternative, mindfulness training over the internet have been developed. These have tremendous advantages in decreasing costs, making training schedules much more flexible, and eliminating the need to go repeatedly to specific locations. In addition, research has indicated that mindfulness training online can be effective for improving the health and well-being of the participants.

 

In today’s Research News article “An Eight-Week, Web-Based Mindfulness Virtual Community Intervention for Students’ Mental Health: Randomized Controlled Trial.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7055779/) Ahmad and colleagues examine the effectiveness of an online mindfulness virtual community to improve well-being in college students. They recruited college students and randomly assigned them to a wait list control condition or to receive an 8-week web-based program called Mindfulness Virtual Community that was developed to specifically address the students’ needs. It was implemented in either a full or partial version. The full Mindfulness Virtual Community included 12 modules of mindfulness practice and psychoeducation for student-specific stresses, discussion forums, and group live videoconferences. The partial version contained only the 12 modules. They were measured at baseline and in the middle and end of the 8-week program for anxiety, depression, stress, quality of life, life satisfaction, and mindfulness. They also self-reported their perceived academic performance and class absences.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the wait list control condition, both the full and partial Mindfulness Virtual Community interventions produced significant reductions in depression, perceived stress, and self-reported absences and significant increases in mindfulness, quality of life, and self-reported academic performance. Only the partial Mindfulness Virtual Community produced a significant reduction in anxiety.

 

These are encouraging results that suggest that a student-centered mindfulness training over the internet can be effective in improving the mental health of college students and perhaps their performance in school. College life can be difficult and stressful for the students with difficult adjustments and pressure to perform. The fact that mindfulness training can be of help in reducing the perceived levels of stress and improve the psychological health of the students may be very important for their eventual success. Indeed, their self-reported academic performance improved and they self-reported fewer absences, suggesting just such an improvement in success occurred.

 

The facts that this program was web-based and that the presentation of the video modules alone was effective indicates that this program can be implemented inexpensively to large numbers of students even in different colleges over wide geographical regions. Since it is web based the students can conveniently schedule this participation within their busy schedules. In addition, the training can occur anywhere. Hence, web-based mindfulness training may be an almost ideal solution to the psychological health problems encountered by college students.

 

So, improve college student well-being with online mindfulness.

 

“Learning how to meditate and be more mindful was one of the best things I’ve done as a student here. I’ve struggled with anxiety for many years, and became really overwhelmed by everything by my sophomore year. My grades started to fall as I slept less and tried to take on more and more. I’m so thankful for the skills I learned in this class. It’s not only made me a better student, but it’s also made me a happier person!”

 

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

 

Ahmad, F., El Morr, C., Ritvo, P., Othman, N., Moineddin, R., & MVC Team (2020). An Eight-Week, Web-Based Mindfulness Virtual Community Intervention for Students’ Mental Health: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR mental health, 7(2), e15520. https://doi.org/10.2196/15520

 

Abstract

Background

Innovative interventions are needed to address the increasing mental health needs of university students. Given the demonstrated anxiolytic and antidepressant benefits of mindfulness training, we developed an 8-week, Web-based Mindfulness Virtual Community (MVC) intervention informed by cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) constructs.

Objective

This study investigated the efficacy of the MVC intervention in reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress among undergraduate students in Toronto, Canada. The secondary outcomes included quality of life, life satisfaction, and mindfulness.

Methods

The first 4 weeks of the full MVC intervention (F-MVC) comprised: (1) 12 video-based modules with psycho-education on students’ preidentified stressful topics and topically applied mindfulness practice; (2) anonymous peer-to-peer discussion forums; and (3) anonymous, group-based, professionally guided, 20-min live videoconferences. The second 4 weeks of F-MVC involved access only to video-based modules. The 8-week partial MVC (P-MVC) comprised 12 video-based modules. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 4 parallel arms: F-MVC, P-MVC, waitlist control (WLC), and group-based face-to-face CBT; results for the latter group are presented elsewhere. Students recruited through multiple strategies consented and were randomized: WLC=40; F-MVC=40, P-MVC=39; all learned about allocation after consenting. The online surveys at baseline (T1), 4 weeks (T2), and 8 weeks (T3) included the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 item, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Perceived Stress Scale, Quality of Life Scale, Brief Multi-Dimensional Students Life Satisfaction Scale, and Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire. Analyses employed generalized estimation equation methods with AR(1) covariance structures and were adjusted for possible confounders (gender, age, birth country, paid work, unpaid work, physical activities, self-rated health, and mental health counseling access).

Results

Of the 113 students who provided T1 data, 28 were males and 85 were females with a mean age of 24.8 years. Participants in F-MVC (n=39), P-MVC (n=35), and WLC (n=39) groups were similar in sociodemographic characteristics at T1. At T3 follow-up, per adjusted comparisons, there were statistically significant reductions in depression scores for F-MVC (score change −4.03; P<.001) and P-MVC (score change −4.82; P<.001) when compared with WLC. At T3, there was a statistically significant reduction in anxiety scores only for P-MVC (score change −7.35; P=.01) when compared with WLC. There was a statistically significant reduction in scores for perceived stress for both F-MVC (score change −5.32; P<.001) and P-MVC (score change −5.61; P=.005) compared with WLC. There were statistically significant changes at T3 for quality of life and mindfulness for F-MVC and P-MVC vs WLC but not for life satisfaction.

Conclusions

Internet-based mindfulness CBT–based interventions, such as F-MVC and P-MVC, can result in significant reductions in symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in a student population. Future research with a larger sample from multiple universities would more precisely test generalizability.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7055779/

 

Mindfulness is Associated in Improved Emotion Regulation with Mothers

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Mindfulness is Associated in Improved Emotion Regulation with Mothers

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“With [Mindfulness Meditation] training or practice . .  we become more able to allow disturbing emotions and thoughts to pass through awareness. We develop the ability to NOT act or react to every emotion or thought we have.” – Timothy Pychyl

 

There has accumulated a large amount of research demonstrating that mindfulness has significant benefits for psychological, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. It has been shown to improve emotions and their regulation. Practitioners demonstrate more positive and less negative emotions and the ability to fully sense and experience emotions, while responding to them in appropriate and adaptive ways. In other words, mindful people are better able to experience yet control their responses to emotions. The ability of mindfulness training to improve emotion regulation is thought to be the basis for a wide variety of benefits that mindfulness provides to mental health and the treatment of mental illness especially depression and anxiety disorders.

 

One way that meditation practices may produce these benefits is by altering the brain. The nervous system is a dynamic entity, constantly changing and adapting to the environment. It will change size, activity, and connectivity in response to experience. These changes in the brain are called neuroplasticity. Over the last decade neuroscience has been studying the effects of contemplative practices on the brain and has identified neuroplastic changes in widespread areas. In other words, mindfulness appears to mold and change the brain, producing psychological, physical, and spiritual benefits.

 

The majority of studies examining brain responses to emotional stimuli employ relatively artificial materials such as emotion laden pictures of scenes independent of the participant’s actual environment and are not related to the actual experiences of the participants. It is important to investigate how mindfulness affects the individual’s emotions and the brains responses to emotional stimuli related to the everyday experiences of the individual.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness-related differences in neural response to own infant negative versus positive emotion contexts.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6969079/), Laurent and colleagues recruited mothers of 3-month old infants. The had them complete a measure of mindfulness that included observing, describing, acting with awareness, non-reacting, and non-judging facets. They collected videos of the mothers engaged with peekaboo with their infants (positive emotions) and holding the infant’s arms to their sides (negative emotions) and presented them while the mothers underwent functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) of their brains.

 

They found that the mothers’ showed greater activation of the brain in general to the positive (peekaboo) own-infant video than to the negative (arm restraint video). Of the facets of mindfulness, mother who were high in nonreactivity and non-judging had greater brain activations to the own-infant peekaboo video than the arm restraint video. These activations occurred in widespread areas of their brains.

 

These results are interesting and suggest that mothers who are mindful, especially with nonreactivity and non-judging, have greater brain activation to seeing positive own-infant scenes than to negative own-infant scenes. This suggests that mindfulness is related to increased responses to emotionally positive events in their real environments than to emotionally negative events. This may explain the improved moods of mindful people. Their brains are tuned to positivity.

 

So, mindfulness is associated in improved emotion regulation with mothers.

 

“The appearance of things change according to the emotions and thus we see magic and beauty in them, while the magic and beauty are really in ourselves.” – Kahlil Gibran

 

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

 

Laurent, H. K., Wright, D., & Finnegan, M. (2018). Mindfulness-related differences in neural response to own infant negative versus positive emotion contexts. Developmental cognitive neuroscience, 30, 70–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2018.01.002

 

Abstract

Mindfulness is thought to promote well-being by shaping the way people respond to challenging social-emotional situations. Current understanding of how this occurs at the neural level is based on studies of response to decontextualized emotion stimuli that may not adequately represent lived experiences. In this study, we tested relations between mothers’ dispositional mindfulness and neural responses to their own infant in different emotion-eliciting contexts. Mothers (n = 25) engaged with their 3-month-old infants in videorecorded tasks designed to elicit negative (arm restraint) or positive (peekaboo) emotion. During a functional MRI session, mothers were presented with 15-s clips from these recordings, and dispositional mindfulness scores were used to predict their neural responses to arm restraint > peekaboo videos. Mothers higher in nonreactivity showed relatively lower activation to their infants’ arm restraint compared to peekaboo videos in hypothesized regions—insula and dorsal prefrontal cortex—as well as non-hypothesized regions. Other mindfulness dimensions were associated with more limited areas of lower (nonjudgment) and higher (describing) activation in this contrast. Mothers who were higher in mindfulness generally activated more to the positive emotion context and less to the negative emotion context in perceptual and emotion processing areas, a pattern that may help to explain mindfulness-related differences in well-being.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6969079/

Improve Type 2 Diabetes with Mindful Movement

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Improve Type 2 Diabetes with Mindful Movement

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Living with diabetes is a major life stressor, from the physical and psychological aspects of managing blood sugar and medications to the eating challenges. A great deal of what we go through in life is beyond our control. The diabetes is always going to be there, but until you connect with what you’re feeling and experiencing, you’re not going to be able to make conscious choices about living with its many challenges.” – Ivy Marcus

 

Diabetes is a major health issue. It is estimated that 30 million people in the United States have diabetes and the numbers are growing. Type 2 Diabetes results from a resistance of tissues, especially fat tissues, to the ability of insulin to promote the uptake of glucose from the blood. As a result, blood sugar levels rise producing hyperglycemia. Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the United States. In addition, diabetes is heavily associated with other diseases such as cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, stroke, blindness, kidney disease, and circulatory problems leading to amputations. As a result, diabetes doubles the risk of death of any cause compared to individuals of the same age without diabetes.

 

Type 2 diabetes is largely preventable. One of the reasons for the increasing incidence of Type 2 Diabetes is its association with overweight and obesity which is becoming epidemic in the industrialized world. A leading cause of this is a sedentary life style. Current treatments for Type 2 Diabetes focus on diet, exercise, and weight control. Recently, mindfulness practices have been shown to be helpful in managing diabetes. Mindful movement practices such as Tai Chi and Qigong  and yoga are mindfulness practices that are also gentle exercises. There is accumulating research on the effectiveness of these mindful movement practices for the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes. So, it makes sense to examine what has been learned.

 

In today’s Research News article “Meditative Movements for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7016481/), Xia and colleagues review, summarize, and perform a meta-analysis of the published research literature on the effectiveness of mindful movement practices for the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes. They found 21 controlled studies; 6 employing Tai Chi practice, 3 Qigong practice, and 12 yoga.

 

They report that the published research found that mindful movement practices produced significant reductions in fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and postprandial blood glucose levels. These results suggest that mindful movement practices improve glycemic control in type 2 diabetes. There were no significant differences found between different mindful movement practices.

 

They also report that the published research found that mindful movement practices produced significant reductions in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and significant increases in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. These results suggest that mindful movement practices improve blood lipid levels in type 2 diabetes. There were no significant differences found between different mindful movement practices.

 

The improvements observed produced by Tai Chi, Qigong  and yoga practices are very important for the treatment and control of type 2 diabetes. Glycemic control is a key to successful treatment and lipid control is important for reducing cardiovascular problems that can occur. So, these exercises significantly improve the metabolic state of patients with type 2 diabetes. The fact that the different practices were equivalent in effectiveness suggests that the patient can select the practice type that they enjoy most and best suits their lifestyle.

 

So, improve Type 2 Diabetes with mindful movement.

 

“Practicing mindfulness exercises and daily physical activity has been shown repeatedly to help manage stress and depression, and promote mental balance and happiness. Mindfulness exercises are therefore a crucial component in both preventing and managing type 2 diabetes, and reducing the risk of complications for type 1 and type 2 diabetics.” – Defeat Diabetes Foundation

 

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

 

Xia, T., Yang, Y., Li, W., Tang, Z., Huang, Q., Li, Z., & Guo, Y. (2020). Meditative Movements for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2020, 5745013. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/5745013

 

Abstract

Objective

Physical activity plays a specific role in the fundamental aspect of diabetes care. It is necessary to develop exercise programs for these patients. The aim of this systematic review is to summarize current evidence regarding the effectiveness of meditative movement in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods

The following databases were searched: PubMed, CENTRAL, Web of Science, Ovid LWW, and EMBASE. Two independent investigators searched and screened the studies by finding duplications, excluding irrelevant titles and abstracts, and then selecting eligible studies by reviewing full texts. 21 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Meta-analyses were performed on glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose (FBG) and postprandial blood glucose (PPBG), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and body mass index (BMI).

Results

Meta-analyses showed that meditative movements significantly improved FBG, HbA1c, PPBG, TC, LDL-C, and HDL-C. No improvement was found in BMI.

Conclusions

The results demonstrated a favorable effect or tendency of meditative movements to improve blood glucose and blood lipid levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The special effects of meditative movements in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients need further research.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7016481/