Control Inflammation with Mind-Body Practices

August 27, 2015 psyjdc Leave a comment

When the body is confronted with damage, invasion of foreign material, or an unwanted virus it immediately sends out an alarm and recruits all of the body’s resources to fight off the potential damage. This is called the inflammatory response. It can be elicited by a myriad of different stimuli including a bug bite, a splinter, a virus infection, a bruise, or a broken bone. The inflammatory response dispatches cells and chemicals to the site to isolate and repair the damage. This is a key part of the body’s defense system, an indispensable protective response of self-defense.

To some extent the inflammatory response is an overreaction. The body triggers all of the resources and processes to defend itself until it can identify the precise problem and the targeted solution. This overreaction recruits mechanisms that are not needed and can actually be damaging. Paradoxically, the inflammatory response may produce tissue damage while it is engaged in healing and repair. But, the body’s logic is to get to the problem immediately with everything it has to insure survival first and deal with the consequences later. This is called acute inflammation and is short-lived, lasting only a few days.

If the inflammation continues for a longer period of time, it is termed as chronic inflammation and can last for weeks, months, or beyond. It is when inflammation is chronic that it becomes a major health problem. It can damage the tissues of the body producing or exacerbating disease. Inflammation may play a role in such diverse disorders as Alzheimer disease, meningitis, atherosclerosis, cystic fibrosis, asthma, cirrhosis of the liver, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), diabetes, osteoporosis, and even psoriasis.

Obviously, there is a need to have balance in the inflammatory response such that it deals with emergencies but stays restrained when no emergency is present. In today’s Research News article “Mind–body therapies and control of inflammatory biology: A descriptive review.”

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Bower and Irwin review the literature on the effectiveness of mind-body therapies such as Tai Chi, yoga, and meditation on restraining chronic inflammation. They concluded that mind-body therapies worked to help balance the inflammatory response at the gene level. They decreased the expression of inflammation-related genes and reduced pro-inflammatory signaling.

Mind-body techniques are known to have beneficial effects on health (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/why-is-mindfulness-so-beneficial/). Bower and Irwin’s results suggest one of the mechanisms by which they produce these benefits, by helping to balance the inflammatory response, making it a useful defense against inflection while restraining its potentially damaging effects.

So, engage in mind-body practices, control damaging inflammation, and improve health.

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

Age Healthily – Treating Insomnia and Inflammation

August 6, 2015 psyjdc 1 Comment

Disturbance of sleep is common in the elderly. It directly produces impairments in daily activities. But, it also increases the risk for chronic disease and mortality in older adults. In particular insomnia appears to increase inflammation. Heightened markers of inflammations are associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes and autoimmune diseases such as arthritis. In fact, inflammation is either directly or indirectly involved in nearly all diseases.

Chronic inflammation is the real problem. On the short term inflammation can be helpful in fighting off initial infection. But, if it continues over a prolonged period of time it can produce or exacerbate many health conditions. Since sleep disturbance in the elderly tends to be chronic and it increases inflammation it can be very detrimental to the individual’s health and thereby can increase mortality.

Obviously, it is important to the elderly to routinely get a good night’s sleep. In a previous post we discussed how insomnia affects older adults and contributes to decline in aging http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/aging-healthily-sleeping-better-with-mindful-movement-practice/

In this post we reported that mindful movement practices such as Tai Chi was effective for the treatment of insomnia in the elderly. This study, however, did not compare mindful movements to other potential treatments and did not measure inflammation.

In today’s Research News article “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy vs. Tai Chi for Late Life Insomnia and Inflammatory Risk: A Randomized Controlled Comparative Efficacy Trial”

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4153053/

Irwin and colleagues demonstrated that indeed Tai Chi was effective for insomnia in older adults but that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) was far superior, producing remission from insomnia in over half the participants treated with CBT compared to 30% for Tai Chi.

Importantly, Irwin and colleagues demonstrated that a marker of inflammation, C-reactive protein (CRP), was markedly reduced. CBT cut in half the proportion of participants with high inflammatory responses. In addition, the participants who had remission of insomnia had CRP levels that were nearly 50% lower. This is remarkable and indicates that CBT is highly effective in reducing not only insomnia but also the inflammatory response that frequently accompanies it. tai chi was also effective, but not to the same extent.

Although tai chi was not as effective as CBT it has marked advantages. CBT requires a formal treatment program with a trained therapist. This can be costly and inconvenient. Tai chi on the other hand can be engaged in without a therapist, at the convenience of the individual, and at virtually no cost. So, although CBT is superior in effectiveness, tai chi might be a better, more practical, alternative for many elderly.

So, it is important to treat insomnia in the elderly for their health and wellbeing. If practical choose Cognitive Behavioral Therapy but if that isn’t practical engage in tai chi practice.

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

Healthy Balance through Yoga

July 17, 2015August 18, 2015 psyjdc 2 Comments

The body’s immune system fights off potentially damaging agents by producing an inflammatory response. This response attacks and destroys the culprits and thus maintains the integrity of the body.

This inflammatory response, however, must be restrained the rest of the time. Too much inflammation, particularly on a chronic basis can be as harmful as a lack of inflammation to infection. Balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory mechanisms is required for health.

When the system is out of balance such that the inflammatory response is dominant on a continuous (chronic) basis it tends to promote the development of cancer, diabetes, depression, heart disease, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease. On the other hand, when the anti-inflammatory response is dominant on a continuous basis it leaves the individual vulnerable to infection. Hence, promoting the balance in the immune system is crucial for long-term health.

Yoga appears to do just that. Today’s Research News article, “Effect of Yoga Module on Pro-Inflammatory and Anti-Inflammatory Cytokines in Industrial Workers of Lonavla: A Randomized Controlled Trial” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4378732/

provides empirical evidence that yoga promotes immune balance.

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This might be one explanation why yoga practitioners tend to be healthier and live longer.

CMCS