A mindfulness-based group intervention for patients with advanced cancer and their family caregivers improved patients' existential well-being and confidence in advance care planning, while usual-care patients did not show these gains. Caregivers in the mindfulness program also reported moderate improvements in quality of life and reduced burden one month later. However, most other outcomes—including anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, and cognitive avoidance—did not differ significantly between the mindfulness and usual-care groups. The pilot trial randomly assigned 33 patient-caregiver dyads to six weekly mindfulness sessions and 22 dyads to usual care, recruiting from five oncology clinics in the midwestern United States.
A 10-item version of the Cognitive Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised (CAMS-R) shows promise for measuring mindfulness in people with cancer. In a sample of 404 patients with breast, gastrointestinal, lung, or prostate cancer (half with stage IV cancer, 51% women), the scale's original four-factor structure (attention, present focus, awareness, acceptance) with an overall mindfulness factor fit the data reasonably well. Internal consistency was excellent. Higher mindfulness scores correlated with greater self-compassion and lower anxiety, depressive symptoms, rumination, psychological inflexibility, and avoidant coping. The scale performed consistently across genders, cancer types, and cancer stages. Further research should test whether the CAMS-R can detect changes from mindfulness interventions.
In mechanically ventilated patients with ARDS, esketamine combined with midazolam improved respiratory system compliance and oxygenation compared with remifentanil combined with midazolam. At 72 hours after medication, static compliance was higher in the esketamine group (49.8 ± 13.8) than in the control group (42.4 ± 11.9), while plateau pressure and peak airway pressure were lower. Both groups received equivalent sedation and analgesia. The findings suggest esketamine may offer respiratory advantages in this population.
A wearable mindfulness brain-computer interface (BCI) that uses electroencephalography (EEG) and artificial intelligence to assess a user's focus on breathing and provide real-time audiovisual feedback can reduce car sickness symptoms. In two real-world experiments with over 100 participants susceptible to car sickness, over 83% rated the BCI-based attention shifting as effective, with significant reductions in severity, especially for those with severe symptoms. EEG data analysis identified a neurobiological signature of car sickness, offering mechanistic insight into the intervention's efficacy. The authors propose this as a nonpharmacological alternative to pharmacological treatments with adverse side effects.