If you have rheumatoid arthritis, or other wellness concerns caused by chronic inflammation such as asthma, mindfulness meditation can help to reduce your symptoms. This is according to a new study from researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which found that mindfulness meditation can help people with conditions in which psychological stress is known to contribute to pain.
Melissa Rosenkran, lead author of the study published in the journal Brain, Behaviour and Immunity, noted the convenience and benefits of practicing mindfulness meditation to combat arthritis. ‘The mindfulness-based approach to stress reduction may offer a lower-cost alternative or complement to standard treatment, and it can be practiced easily by patients in their own homes, whenever they need,’ she said.
In conjunction with the Centre for Investigating Healthy Minds in the Waisman Centre, neuroscientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison tested exactly how effective mindfulness meditation can be in reducing pain. This study was the first of its kind, as, unlike any other pain study before, the researchers established controls for other therapeutic mechanisms that may influence the pain intensity, such as social interaction, instruction, or learning new skills.
By way of comparison, the investigators looked at two different approaches to reducing stress. The first was a programme designed to enhance health in ways that weren’t associated with mindfulness meditation and the second was, obviously, mindfulness meditation. Using capsaicin cream, the researchers induced inflammation in volunteers and then measured their immune and endocrine levels. These levels were measured again after the participants were trained in either of the stress reducing techniques. The researchers also induced psychological stress using a tool called Trier Social Stress Test.
The results of the study demonstrated that behavioural changes were still effective in reducing emotional stress, but the mindfulness meditation-based approaches helped these people deal with pain associated with inflammation better. However, Rosenkranz warned that this doesn’t mean mindfulness meditation is a magic pill to reduce pain. ‘This is not a cure-all, but our study does show that there are specific ways that mindfulness can be beneficial, and that there are specific people who may be more likely to benefit from this approach than other interventions,’ she said.