Meditation may ease inflammatory conditions including psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and asthma, suggests a new report published in Brain, Behavior and Immunity.
In a small experimental study, participants in an eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program – focusing on the breath, mental content and bodily sensations while walking, sitting or practising yoga – experienced notably smaller post-stress inflammatory responses than control subjects.
While results didn’t conclusively tie the improvements to MBSR, authors deduced that the link between psychological stress and inflammatory response, and meditation’s anti-stress clout, made mindfulness a worthy treatment contender for conditions with a neurogenic inflammatory component.
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