Mindfulness and Health Flashcards
What are “mind-body” interventions
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) defines mind-body interventions as “anything that uses the mind’s capacity to affect bodily function and symptoms”
Types of mind-body interventions
Traditional:
Cognitive behavioral therapy
Stress management
Support groups
Alternative/CAM: Meditation Tai Chi Yoga Relaxation Hypnosis Imagery Biofeedback Qi Gong Spirituality Dance, art, music therapy
Prevalence of CAM therapies in US adults (in 2007)
38% of Americans reported use of CAM in 2007 survey
CAM interventions
Growing use of CAM interventions
-40-45% of the adult US population have used CAM therapies in the past 12 months
-In CA, 65% have used CAM therapies in past 12 months
Particularly high use among people with chronic medical conditions
-use CAM when you feel like it’s things your Dr can’t help you with
Prevalence in cancer populations
80% of 2562 breast cancer survivors in CA reported use of CAM in 2011 report
Mind wandering and happiness
2250 adults contacted via iPhones at random moments during the day and asked:
How are you doing right now?
0 = very bad, 100 = very good
Are you thinking about something other than what you are doing?
Bubble area = frequency of occurrence
Mind wandering occurred in 46.9% of samples
People were less happy when their minds were wandering
-people are happier when they’re concentrating on what they’re doing (their current task)
-this is true even if it’s neutral mind wandering
Mind wandering and telomere length
267 midlife women completed questionnaires and provided blood samples for evaluation of telomere length (marker of cell aging)
-stress is associated with decreased telomeres
two questions:
- How often have you felt totally engaged in what you were doing?
- How often did you feel you didn’t want to be where you were?
Women who reported more mind wandering had shorter telomeres
- this is after just 4 years!
- mind wandering may be linked to some biological process
Mindfulness meditation
Mindfulness meditation is currently the most popular type of meditative practice
Mindfulness is “paying attention to present moment experiences with openness and curiosity”, without judgment
Originated in Eastern meditation practices, non-secular version popularized by John Kabat-Zinn
Mindfulness-based stress reduction
Eight weekly 2.5-3 hour group classes
+ Silent 7-hour retreat
+ Daily homework
Focus on cultivating mindfulness through formal practices, such as sitting and walking meditations
Also, integrating mindfulness into daily life to help cope with physical symptoms and emotional situations
Empirical research on mindfulness
Mindfulness has been investigated in trials conducted with clinical and non-clinical populations
- Medical conditions (e.g., heart disease, HIV, cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disease, fibromyalgia, pain, obesity, etc.)
- Psychiatric conditions (e.g., depression, anxiety, eating disorders, insomnia, etc.)
- Other (e.g., Veterans, low-income African American older adults, medical students, urban youth, etc.)
Mindfulness effects on psychological and physical outcomes
Meta-analysis of 47 randomized controlled meditation trials with ACTIVE control groups (Goyal et al., 2014)
-usually they will use a usual care control group and show that mindfulness is better than nothing but this meta-analysis used only trials with active control groups (they actually did SOMETHING)
- 15 with psychiatric populations
- 5 with smokers and alcoholics
- 5 with chronic pain
- 16 with diverse medical conditions
Showed positive effects on mental and physical health
- mindfulness does something to improve mental and physical health
- Mental health = depression, anxiety
- Physical health = pain
- wasn’t shown to do anything for stress
Mindfulness and the X-Y-Z model
Few (if any studies) have examined health effects of mindfulness programs
-So, can’t determine X to Z
What about effects of mindfulness on mechanisms (the “Y”)?
-Immune system
-HPA axis
-Sympathetic nervous system
Davidson et al. MBSR trial: antibody response to vaccination
Richard Davidson is a psychologist at University of Wisconsin who has been studying the neural effects of meditation for years
Conducted one of first MBSR trials to look at immune outcomes
Focus on antibody response to vaccination
Results:
Decreases in anxiety - beneficial effects on anxiety
Increases in antibody response to influenza vaccine - one of the only studies that has been able to manipulate and influence the body’s response to vaccination
Mindfulness and HIV
MBSR trials for individuals with HIV have shown positive effects:
Reduction in medication-related side effects and distress (Duncan et al., 2012)
Lower avoidance, higher positive affect (Gayner et al., 2011)
Both of these have been linked to health outcomes in HIV!
Creswell et al. MBSR trial:
Two arm RCT comparing 8 week MBSR to one-day stress reduction seminar
Participants were 47 HIV+ men
Outcomes:
CD4+ T cells
Results:
-1 day group had decline in CD4+ cells and that decline was buffered in 8 week MBSR group (remain stable)
-MBSR buffers CD4+ T cell decline in HIV+ men
Mindfulness and inflammation
Two arm RCT comparing mindfulness and “lifestyle education” (Malarkey et al., 2013)
Participants were 186 OSU faculty and staff with elevated CRP (looked for people with high levels of inflammation to begin with and tried to bring the inflammation down)
Did “low dose” MBSR – had one-hour lunchtime meeting per week for 8 weeks
Outcomes:
-CRP, IL-6
-Perceived stress, depression
Results:
- NO change in perceived stress or depression
- Decrease in CRP in mindfulness group, though NOTsignificant
- NO change in other inflammatory markers
they are all about 5 to begin with - if CRP goes over 3 then you are at a higher risk for inflammation
-this is looking at resting inflammation rate
