1 Mditate, Inc. Where Meditation Meets the Art and Science of Life
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1100 Quail St, Suite 100 Newport Beach, CA 92660 Where meditation meets the art and science of life While meditation has deep ancient and religious origins, it has recently become popular as a way to de-stress or cope with the whirlwind of modern living - but it is so much more than that. With consistent practice, meditation has profound effects on our physical health. It enhances our well-being and emotional outlook, which in part may account for these beneficial physical effects. Compiled below is only the tip of the iceberg of peer-review, published science supporting meditation. Perhaps it will change the way that you look at ‘just sitting and doing nothing.’ Adam M. Rotunda, M.D. Founder Topic Page Why meditate? 2 Meditation and aging 4 … and brain structure 7 … and mental illness 9 … and the immune system 11 … and cancer patients 12 … and pain 14 … and sleep 16 … and children and adolescents 18 … and the workplace 20 … and gastrointestinal health 22 … and high blood pressure 24 … and the educational system 30 … and the healthcare system 33 1 MDitate, Inc. Who is meditating and why? Cramer H, Hall H, Leach M, et al. Prevalence, patterns, and predictors of meditation use among US adults: a nationally representative survey. Sci Rep. 2016;6:36760. Abstract Emerging evidence suggests substantial health benefits from using meditation. While there are some indications that the popularity of meditation is increasing, little is known about the prevalence, patterns, and predictors of meditation use in the general population. In this secondary analysis of data from the 2012 US National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) (n = 34,525), lifetime and 12-month prevalence of meditation use were 5.2% and 4.1%, respectively. Compared to non-users, those who had used meditation in the past 12 months were more likely to be 40-64 years, female, non-Hispanic White, living in the West, at least college-educated, not in a relationship, diagnosed with one or more chronic conditions, smoking, consuming alcohol and physically active. Meditation was mainly used for general wellness (76.2%), improving energy (60.0%), and aiding memory or concentration (50.0%). Anxiety (29.2%), stress (21.6%), and depression (17.8%) were the top health problems for which people used meditation; 63.6% reported that meditation had helped a great deal with these conditions. Only 34.8% disclosed their use of meditation with a health provider. These findings indicate that about 9.3 million US adults have used meditation in the past 12 months; and that mental health problems were the most important reason for meditation use. Lauricella S. The ancient-turned-new concept of "spiritual hygiene": an investigation of media coverage of meditation from 1979 to 2014. J Relig Health. 2016;55:1748-62. Abstract A spiritual-yet not religious-practice, meditation has been touted as beneficial to boosting the immune system, lowering blood pressure, alleviating migraines, and increasing gray matter in parts of the brain. While scientific research on meditation is beginning to quantify its benefits, there is increasing concern among the scientific community that news outlets glorify the potential benefits of meditation. This paper considers coverage of meditation in mainstream print media by analyzing 764 articles printed in English from worldwide media outlets from 1979 to 2014. Frame theory analysis is employed to better understand how meditation is presented in print media and how the perception of the practice is interpreted by readers. Results indicate that articles reflect the health and wellness challenges present in contemporary culture, together with a desire for personal relief from such issues. The paper suggests that the practice of meditation as "spiritual hygiene" is indicative of a sociocultural shift in which meditative techniques are becoming increasingly recognized, encouraged, and practiced. Khoury B, Knäuper B, Schlosser M, et al. Effectiveness of traditional meditation retreats: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Psychosom Res. 2017;92:16-25. Abstract An increasing number of studies are investigating traditional meditation retreats. Very little, however, is known about their effectiveness. To evaluate the effectiveness of meditation retreats on improving psychological outcomes in general population. A systematic review of 2 MDitate, Inc. studies published in journals or as dissertations in PSYCINFO, PUBMED, CINAHL or Web of Science from the first available date until October 22, 2016. A total of 20 papers (21 studies, N=2912) were included. Effect-size estimates of outcomes combined suggested that traditional meditation retreats are moderately effective in pre-post analyses (n=19; Hedge's g=0.45; 95% CI [0.35, 0.54], p<0.00001) and in analyses comparing retreats to controls (n=14; Hedge's g=0.49; 95% CI [0.36, 0.61], p<0.00001). Results were maintained at follow- up. No differences were observed between meditation styles. Results suggested large effects on measures of anxiety, depression and stress, and moderate effects on measures of emotional regulation and quality of life. As to potential mechanisms of actions, results showed large effects on measures of mindfulness and compassion, and moderate effects on measures of acceptance. In addition, changes in mindfulness levels strongly moderated clinical effect sizes. However, heterogeneity was significant among trials, probably due to differences in study designs, types and duration of the retreats and assessed outcomes, limiting therefore the implications of the results. Meditation retreats are moderately to largely effective in reducing depression, anxiety, stress and in ameliorating the quality of life of participants. Chiesa A, Serretti A. Mindfulness-based stress reduction for stress management in healthy people: a review and meta-analysis. J Altern Complement Med. 2009;15:593-600. Abstract Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a clinically standardized meditation that has shown consistent efficacy for many mental and physical disorders. Less attention has been given to the possible benefits that it may have in healthy subjects. The aim of the present review and meta-analysis is to better investigate current evidence about the efficacy of MBSR in healthy subjects, with a particular focus on its benefits for stress reduction. A literature search was conducted using MEDLINE (PubMed), the ISI Web of Knowledge, the Cochrane database, and the references of retrieved articles. The search included articles written in English published prior to September 2008, and identified ten, mainly low-quality, studies. Cohen's d effect size between meditators and controls on stress reduction and spirituality enhancement values were calculated. MBSR showed a nonspecific effect on stress reduction in comparison to an inactive control, both in reducing stress and in enhancing spirituality values, and a possible specific effect compared to an intervention designed to be structurally equivalent to the meditation program. A direct comparison study between MBSR and standard relaxation training found that both treatments were equally able to reduce stress. Furthermore, MBSR was able to reduce ruminative thinking and trait anxiety, as well as to increase empathy and self-compassion. MBSR is able to reduce stress levels in healthy people. However, important limitations of the included studies as well as the paucity of evidence about possible specific effects of MBSR in comparison to other nonspecific treatments underline the necessity of further research. Laneri D, Krach S, Paulus FM, et al. Mindfulness meditation regulates anterior insula activity during empathy for social pain. Hum Brain Mapp. 2017 May 15. [Epub ahead of print] Abstract Mindfulness has been shown to reduce stress, promote health, and well-being, as well as to increase compassionate behavior toward others. It reduces distress to one's own painful 3 MDitate, Inc. experiences, going along with altered neural responses, by enhancing self-regulatory processes and decreasing emotional reactivity. In order to investigate if mindfulness similarly reduces distress and neural activations associated with empathy for others' socially painful experiences, which might in the following more strongly motivate prosocial behavior, the present study compared trait, and state effects of long-term mindfulness meditation (LTM) practice. To do so we acquired behavioral data and neural activity measures using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during an empathy for social pain task while manipulating the meditation state between two groups of LTM practitioners that were matched with a control group. The results show increased activations of the anterior insula (AI) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) as well as the medial prefrontal cortex and temporal pole when sharing others' social suffering, both in LTM practitioners and controls. However, in LTM practitioners, who practiced mindfulness meditation just prior to observing others' social pain, left AI activation was lower and the strength of AI activation following the mindfulness meditation was negatively associated with trait compassion in LTM practitioners. The findings suggest that current mindfulness meditation could provide an adaptive mechanism in coping with distress due to the empathic sharing of others' suffering, thereby possibly enabling compassionate behavior. Meditation and aging Luders E, Cherbuin N. Searching for the philosopher's stone: promising links between meditation and brain preservation. Ann N Y