Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
March 1, 2020
Charmaine Sonnex, Chris A Roe, Elizabeth C Roxburgh
A randomized controlled trial examined whether modern Pagan spell-casting produces measurable healing effects. Forty-four participants were randomly assigned to receive the intervention either early or later. All participants wrote requests, provided a photograph and personal item, and attended weekly guided body-scan meditations before completing the WHOQOL-BREF quality-of-life measure. General health improved significantly across all participants from weeks 1 to 4, and physical and psychological domains also improved. However, there were no significant differences between the groups that received the spell-casting intervention at different times, indicating that the improvements cannot be attributed to the spells themselves.
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
September 1, 2019
William R Marchand, Brandon Yabko, Tracy Herrmann et al.
Among 98 veterans with psychiatric disorders enrolled in an 8-week mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) class at a Veterans Administration Medical Center, average attendance was 4.87 of 8 sessions and only 16% attended all sessions. Greater numbers of pre-MBCT emergency department visits and psychiatric admissions predicted fewer sessions attended. Among the 27% of patients who had at least one psychiatric admission in the two years before or after the intervention, psychiatric admissions decreased significantly from pre- to post-MBCT; emergency department visits did not change significantly. The authors conclude that MBCT may be difficult to implement in outpatient VAMC settings due to high attrition and suggest screening for dropout risk, shorter interventions, or coupling MBCT with pleasurable activities.
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
October 1, 2017
Ava LaVonne Vinesett, Riitta Rutanen Whaley, Cheryl Woods-Giscombe et al.
A randomized pilot study compared a modified Central African ngoma ceremony (Ngoma) with mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in 21 women over 8 weeks. Both groups showed improvements in depression, anxiety, emotional well-being, and social functioning, with social bonding increasing in both groups as a possible mechanism. Participants found both interventions credible. The ngoma ceremony demonstrated significant and durable beneficial effects comparable to MBSR, suggesting indigenous rhythm-dance ceremonies warrant investigation in larger clinical studies for distress and health status in Western culture.
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
July 1, 2017
Sarah Bowen, Vanessa C Somohano, Rachel E Rutkie et al.
A pilot mixed-methods study adapted mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) for clients in methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) and tested its feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy. Fifteen adults from a methadone clinic completed a 6-week MBRP course. Focus groups and satisfaction surveys indicated the intervention was feasible and acceptable. Self-reported depression, craving, and trauma symptoms improved significantly from baseline to postcourse; anxiety and experiential avoidance also changed in the expected direction but did not reach statistical significance. The results support further trials of mindfulness-based approaches in MMT settings.
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
May 1, 2016
Diana Koszycki, Jennifer Thake, Céline Mavounza et al.
A 12-week group mindfulness-based intervention tailored for social anxiety disorder (MBI-SAD) was tested against a waitlist control in a randomized trial with 39 participants. The intervention combined mindfulness, self-compassion training, and exposure exercises. 81% of participants attended at least 75% of sessions, indicating feasibility. Compared to the waitlist, MBI-SAD led to greater improvements in social anxiety symptom severity, depression, and social adjustment, and enhanced self-compassion and certain mindfulness facets. Gains were maintained at a 3-month follow-up. The authors suggest the intervention is promising and call for a comparison with cognitive-behavior therapy.
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
May 1, 2014
Susaree Prakhinkit, Siriluck Suppapitiporn, Hirofumi Tanaka et al.
A randomized trial compared Buddhist walking meditation (BWM) with traditional walking exercise (TWE) in 45 elderly adults aged 60-90 with mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms. Both exercise groups improved in muscle strength, flexibility, agility, balance, cardiorespiratory endurance, and vascular function (flow-mediated dilation). Depression scores decreased only in the BWM group. BWM also reduced low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, cortisol, and interleukin-6, while both groups lowered total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and C-reactive protein. The authors conclude that BWM appears to confer greater overall improvements than TWE.
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
February 1, 2014
Matthew J Leach, Andrew Francis, Tahereh Ziaian
This paper describes the design of a pilot randomized wait-list controlled trial testing whether a 13-hour Transcendental Meditation training program can improve psychological stress, quality of life, affect, and cognitive performance in community-dwelling dementia caregivers in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks, with results expected in early 2014. The authors contend that if effective, TM could offer a simple, cost-effective strategy to help caregivers cope with the demanding role.
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
July 1, 2011
Dounya Schoormans, Ivan Nyklíček
Practitioners of mindfulness meditation and transcendental meditation did not differ in self-reported mindfulness skills or psychological well-being, despite differences in their meditation techniques. All facets of mindfulness correlated with well-being measures across both groups. The frequency of meditation practice, measured in days per week, was the only factor that predicted higher mindfulness and lower perceived stress. The study suggests that how often one meditates may matter more for mindfulness and well-being than the specific type of meditation practiced. The groups differed in demographics, which were statistically accounted for.
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
February 1, 2011
Beverly Rubik
In a single-session pilot study, 12 adults (six Transcendental Meditation practitioners and six non-meditators) used a neurofeedback system to increase gamma brainwaves from the prefrontal cortex. Both groups successfully increased gamma output, with meditators showing greater increases than controls. Participants reported the strongest associations with the descriptors 'happy' and 'loving', and the weakest with 'stressed' and 'disappointed'. The findings suggest that increasing prefrontal gamma amplitude through neurofeedback is linked to positive emotions and reduced stress, and that meditation experience may enhance the ability to modulate gamma brainwaves.
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
December 1, 2010
Maria Engström, Johan Pihlsgård, Peter Lundberg et al.
Moderately experienced meditators with less than two years of practice show significant activation in the hippocampus and parahippocampal formations during silent mantra meditation, as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Activation also occurred in the middle cingulate cortex and precentral cortex, but not in the anterior cingulate cortex, and only small clusters appeared in the prefrontal cortex. The findings suggest that hippocampal activation occurs early in meditation practice and across different meditation styles, including relaxation. The authors propose further research to clarify whether this hippocampal activity relates to memory consolidation.
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2010
Alberto Chiesa
Vipassana meditation, an ancient mindfulness practice, may activate prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex during meditation and increase cortical thickness in attention-related areas, as well as subcortical gray matter in right insula and hippocampus among long-term practitioners, based on three neuro-imaging studies. Three clinical studies in incarcerated populations suggest it could reduce alcohol and substance abuse but not post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. One clinical study in healthy subjects suggests it may enhance mature defenses and coping styles. However, these findings come from few, mainly poor-quality studies and should be considered preliminary.
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
December 1, 2008
David W. Orme-Johnson
Double blinding is not an appropriate control for placebo in meditation research. A viable alternative is to make treatment and control groups equivalent on nonspecific therapeutic attention factors and expectation. High quality meditation research must also use qualified instructors, have high compliance levels, ensure proficient practice, use state-of-the-art measurement methodology, and ensure control subjects are not inadvertently practicing meditation. The AHRQ report did not assess these determinants of research quality. A wide range of study designs have demonstrated that the traditional goal of meditation, a state of inner silence called 'transcendental consciousness,' has unique physiological characteristics with implications for health, cognition, and behavior.
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
April 1, 2008
Eduard P A Van Wijk, Rainer Lüdtke, Roeland Van Wijk
Long-term meditation is associated with lower spontaneous ultraweak photon emission (UPE), a non-invasive measure linked to oxidative stress. Men who practiced transcendental meditation (TM) showed 27% lower UPE, and those practicing other meditation techniques (OMT) showed 17% lower UPE, compared to non-meditators. The reductions were consistent across 12 anatomic locations. The similar emission patterns among groups suggest meditation may influence overall oxidative metabolism, though further verification is needed to confirm oxidation as the source of the differences.
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2007
Catherine E Kerr, Rachel H Wasserman, Christopher I Moore
Touch Healing therapies—treatments involving tactile contact or guided somatic attention—are common across cultures and increasingly used in mainstream medicine for chronic pain, yet their mechanisms are poorly understood. This review proposes that their effectiveness stems from neural plasticity in somatosensory cortical maps. Key shared features include light touch, directed somatosensory attention, a behaviorally relevant and relaxed context, and repeated sessions—all elements known to reorganize sensory cortex. Meditation practices may provide training that resists maladaptive somatic representations. The model yields predictions for how Touch Healing induces cortical plasticity and dynamics in pain relief.
Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2006
Eduard P A Van Wijk, Heike Koch, Saskia Bosman et al.
People emit ultra-weak light (biophotons) from their bodies, and this emission may reflect free radical activity. In 20 healthy male nonsmokers, half of whom had practiced Transcendental Meditation (TM) twice daily for at least 10 years, emission intensities were lower in TM practitioners than in controls. The percentage of emission from most body locations did not differ between groups, except for the throat and palm. The data suggest that long-term TM practice is associated with altered ultra-weak photon emission, supporting the idea that meditation may influence free radical reactions.