# immune function and mindfullness meditation



## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

Alterations in Brain and Immune FunctionProduced by Mindfulness Meditation," by Rich Davidson & 9 of his colleaguesin the current issue of Psychosomatic Medicine (pages 564-570).The authors write that the "findings demonstrate that a short program inmindfulness meditation produces demonstrable effects on brain and immunefunction."Here's how the article begins: "With the widespread and growing use ofmeditative practices in hospitals and academic medical centers foroutpatients presenting with a range of chronic stress and pain-relateddisorders and chronic diseases, under the umbrella of what has come to becalled mind/body or integrative medicine, the question of possiblebiological mechanisms by which meditation may affect somatic, cognitive, andaffective processes becomes increasingly important."The study examined mindfulness meditation: "The meditation training . . .was directly modeled on the MBSR intervention originally developed at theUniversity of Massachusetts Medical Center (25, 26). The effects of MBSRhave been reported in numerous clinical studies with diverse populations, aswell as in medical students (27, 28). One study demonstrated significanteffects of mindfulness on the rate of skin clearing in patients withmoderate to severe psoriasis (29)."The article concludes: "To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration ofa reliable effect of meditation on an in vivo measure of immune function. .. . The observation that the magnitude of change in immune function wasgreater for those subjects showing the larger shift toward left-sidedactivation further supports earlier associations between these indices (12,13). . . . Our findings indicate that a short training program inmindfulness meditation (MBSR) has demonstrable effects on brain and immunefunction and underscores the need for additional research on the biologicalconsequences of this intervention."The online version of the article requires a subscription to the journal.However, the article's author note states that reprint requests can be sentto:Richard J. Davidson, PhDLaboratory for Affective Neuroscience, University of Wisconsin1202 W. Johnson St.Madison, WI 53706Email: <rjdavids###facstaff.wisc.edu>from another listBada


----------



## Guest (Aug 18, 2003)

So we think... so we are?


----------

