Meditation, Stress Reduction Program May Help Arthritis Patients

The use of Mindfulness-based stress reduction program (MBSR), a form of meditation, may be of great help for arthritis patients according to a new study published in the October issue of the medical journal of Arthritis & Rheumatism -- Arthritis Care & Research.

According to this study people who practiced a form of meditation known as Mindfulness-based stress reduction were less stressed after six months than those given standard care.

However, the disease was no better, Pradhan, M.P.H., Ph.D., of the University of Maryland, and colleagues said in their study.

The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is an eight week course which combines meditation and Hatha yoga to help patients cope with stress, pain, and illness by using moment-to-moment awareness.

This program helps participants use inner resources to improve health and well being.

Kabat-Zinn, the MBSR creator, and colleagues have studied the effects of practicing moment-to-moment awareness on the brain, and how it processes emotions, particularly under stress, and on the immune system.

MBSR is a form of complementary medicine offered in over 200 U.S. hospitals and is currently the focus of a number of research studies funded by The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Pradhan and colleagues conducted a small pilot study in which 31 patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis were randomly assigned to mindfulness training for eight weeks followed by a four-month maintenance period.

Another group of 32 volunteers were assigned to a no treatment (control) group. They did not receive treatment at study start. (However as an incentive they received the treatment at study´s end).

All 63 participants were monitored during the study period and received care from rheumatologists. A Symptom Checklist-90-R, Which measures depressive symptoms, psychological distress, well-being and mindfulness was measured for each study participant.

Arthritis was measured using what is known as the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28).