BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
January 25, 2007
James M. Davis, Michael F. Fleming, Katherine Bonus et al.
196 citations
A pilot study tested a modified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program as a smoking cessation intervention. Eighteen participants attended weekly mindfulness sessions and attempted to quit smoking in week seven without medication. Six weeks after the quit day, 56% (10 of 18) had biologically confirmed seven-day smoking abstinence. Greater meditation practice was linked to higher abstinence rates and lower stress and emotional distress. The findings suggest mindfulness training may help with smoking cessation and merits further research in a larger controlled trial.
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
August 8, 2017
R. Ho, Adrian H Y Wan, Jessie S. M. Chan et al.
4 citations
A planned randomized controlled trial will compare mindfulness and Baduanjin (a form of Qigong) against a waitlist control group for people with colorectal cancer. The study aims to see whether these mind-body exercises improve cancer-related symptoms, mental health, quality of life, and stress levels. One hundred eighty-nine participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: mindfulness training, Baduanjin practice, or a waitlist. Both intervention groups will receive 8 weeks of their respective program. Assessments will occur at baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 6 months after the intervention. Based on prior research, the authors expect both interventions to lead to better outcomes than the control group.
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
June 1, 2012
Gaelle Desbordes, Riccardo Barbieri, Luca Citi et al.
Electrocardiogram recordings from eight healthy adults without prior meditation experience, collected as part of a larger randomized controlled trial, showed that an eight-week mindful-attention meditation intervention increased heart rate variability (HRV) and decreased the LF/HF ratio, indicating improved autonomic function and more predominant vagal tone. These changes were not seen in the control group. A marked increase in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) occurred during meditation compared to rest. The authors suggest RSA may be a useful marker of the meditative state and encourage further research on HRV measures as indicators of autonomic health after meditation.
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
March 25, 2016
Kristoffer Jonsson, Anette Kjellgren
Floating in a quiet, dark, salt-saturated water tank—a technique called Flotation-REST—reduces symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), according to a randomized trial with 46 self-diagnosed GAD participants. Those who completed twelve flotation sessions showed significant decreases in GAD symptoms, sleep difficulties, emotional regulation difficulties, and depression compared to a waiting-list control group. At post-treatment, 37% of the flotation group reached full remission. Benefits, except for depression, were maintained at six-month follow-up. The treatment had ambiguous or no effects on pathological worry and mindfulness. No negative effects were reported. The findings suggest Flotation-REST may serve as a complementary treatment for GAD.
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
February 27, 2016
A. Feliu‐Soler, Xavier Borràs, M. Peñarrubia-María et al.
This 12-month randomized controlled trial will test whether adding Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) to usual care for fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is more effective and cost-effective than usual care plus a psychoeducational program (FibroQoL) or usual care alone. The study will enroll 180 adult FMS patients and measure functional, quality of life, distress, and cost outcomes, along with brain structure and function (via MRI) and inflammatory markers (IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and high-sensitivity CRP) in half the participants. The results are expected to clarify whether MBSR produces brain and inflammatory changes and whether it is a cost-effective add-on therapy for FMS.
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
May 8, 2015
M. Leach, A. Francis, T. Ziaian
A pilot trial tested whether Transcendental Meditation (TM) training could reduce stress and improve quality of life, mood, and cognitive performance in people caring for family members with dementia. Seventeen caregivers were randomly assigned to a 12-week TM program or a wait-list control. The TM group showed significantly greater improvement in response speed on a cognitive test compared to the control group. Changes in other measures of stress, depression, and quality of life did not reach statistical significance, though trends favored TM. Adverse events were mostly mild and transient. Because the study was small, no firm conclusions can be drawn about TM's effectiveness for dementia caregivers.
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
October 25, 2014
A. Kjellgren, Jessica Westman
A series of twelve flotation tank sessions over seven weeks significantly reduced stress, depression, anxiety, and worst pain, while increasing optimism and sleep quality in healthy adults. No significant changes occurred in a wait-list control group. A correlation was found between mindfulness in daily life and the degree of altered states of consciousness experienced during flotation. The findings suggest flotation-REST has beneficial effects for relatively healthy individuals.
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
March 11, 2014
S. Eisendrath, Erin P Gillung, K. Delucchi et al.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) added to antidepressant medication is no more effective than a control program (Health-Enhancement Program, HEP) for reducing depression severity in adults with treatment-resistant depression. Adults with moderate to severe depression who had not responded to at least two antidepressant trials were randomly assigned to either MBCT or HEP, both as add-ons to their usual medication. After 8 weeks, changes in depression severity, response rates, and remission rates were measured. Participants were followed for one year. The study addresses the need for effective non-pharmacologic treatments for treatment-resistant depression, which affects up to 40% of depressed patients.
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
December 20, 2011
Kathi J Kemper, Hossam A Shaltout
A preliminary study tested whether the psychophysiologic benefits of non-verbal communication of compassion (NVCC) could be detected even when subjects were blinded to the intervention. Healthy women (mean age 43.6 years) were told the study examined time and touch on the autonomic nervous system. A practitioner with over 10 years of loving-kindness meditation (LKM) experience delivered both non-tactile and tactile LKM. Blinding was maintained. Despite this, subjects reported significant improvements in stress (5.5 vs. 2.2), relaxation (3.8 vs. 8.8), and peacefulness (3.8 vs. 9.0) on visual analog scales, and showed significant reductions in respiratory rate and improved heart rate variability during both tactile and non-tactile LKM. Extending compassion may be good medicine.