Meditation Changes Gene Expression

There is now evidence that mindfulness meditation can alter gene expression. Research carried out jointly by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelona, Spain revealed that participating in a day of mindfulness meditation activities reduces levels of pro-inflammatory genes. Perhaps meditation could be used to treat chronic inflammatory conditions.

Effervescent, Dispersible And Soluble Medicines Are Bad For Health

It’s now well-known that having high levels of salt in one’s diet can lead to high blood pressure and associated cardiovascular disease. What is not commonly known, is that effervescent (fizzy), dispersible and soluble medicines have a high sodium content. In a study published in the British Medical Journal, Dr George from the University of Dundee compared the risk of cardiovascular events (heart attacks, strokes, etc.) for patients taking effervescent, soluble versions of medication with non-sodium versions of the same medicine.

Over a million people were followed for about 7 years. After all factors had been taken into account, the results showed that patients taking the sodium rich tablets had a 16% higher risk of cardiovascular problems than patients taking the non-sodium versions. The patients on the high sodium pills were also 7 times more likely to develop hypertension and had a 28% higher death rate than the other group!

Some of you may be thinking “that doesn’t concern me, I don’t take any prescribed medication”, but what about ‘over the counter’ medication and supplements? Paracetamol, Vitamin C, multivitamins, etc. I’ll tell you what I’ve done with all my effervescent, dispersible and soluble tablets…straight in the bin, that’s the best place for them!

Alcohol Slows Fracture Healing

A team at Loyola University Medical Center lead by Roman Natoli has discovered how alcohol can slow the healing of fractures. The study was conducted on mice and showed that alcohol:

• inhibits bone formation leading to bones that are less mineralised and weaker
• impairs normal cellular function by causing oxidative stress
• lowers levels of proteins that recruit stem cells to the fracture site (stem cells mature into bone cells)

The amount of alcohol given to the mice was equivalent to being about 3 times over the legal driving limit.

MBT: To Wear Or Not To Wear?

Ever wondered whether MBT shoes really work? Well, a study was commissioned by companies that manufacture rocker sole shoes. The research was carried out by a team of physiotherapists from King’s College London. 115 people with chronic low back pain (CLBP) were randomly split into 2 groups; one was asked to wear rocker shoes for a minimum of 2 hours a day and the other was asked to wear  flat soled shoes for the same duration. The subjects were followed for a year. At the end of the study the researchers concluded that “rocker sole shoes appear to be no more beneficial than flat sole shoes in affecting disability and pain outcomes in people with CLBP. Flat shoes are more beneficial for LBP aggravated by standing or walking.”

Watermelon Relieves Post-Exercise Muscle Soreness

Encarna Aguayo and colleagues from the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena in Spain have published a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that supports the use of watermelon juice to relieve post-exercise muscle soreness. They attribute the effect to the amino acid L-citrulline.

Meaning And Purpose Improve Health

Steven Cole et al. from UCLA have recently shown that having a deep sense of purpose and meaning in life can lead to positive genetic changes such as lowering the levels of inflammatory gene expression and strengthening the expression of antiviral and antibody genes. Theoretically, this could mean that those with a strong sense of purpose and meaning have a more efficient immune system and are less susceptible to inflammatory diseases.

Parallels can be drawn with Viktor Frankl’s influential book ‘Man’s Search For Meaning‘. In it, he relates his experiences of life in concentration camps during WWII. He believed that finding a meaning to life was crucial to survival in those terrible circumstances. After the war, he continued his work as a psychiatrist with logotherapy (a form of existential analysis) and became convinced that happiness was to be attained by finding meaning and purpose in life.

Exercise Prevents Stress

A lot of us know from experience that exercise is a great stress buster. Elizabeth Gould (Professor of Psychology at Princeton) and her associates have clarified the process. Their research was published in the March issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

Their experiments were performed on mice. The mice were divided into 2 groups:

• Sedentary group: no running wheel
• Active group: free access to a running wheel (mice run about 4 km per day when given a running wheel!)

Six weeks later the mice were exposed to a stressor (cold water). The sedentary group showed an increase in ‘immediate early genes’ (short-lived genes that turn on rapidly when neurons fire). Whereas the active group showed no presence of these genes suggesting no neuronal excitation secondary to the stressor. In the active group, inhibitory neurons were more active and more gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was released in the brain. GABA is a neurotransmitter that calms down neural excitement.

Gould concluded that “the results suggest that running improves anxiety regulation by engaging local inhibitory mechanisms in the ventral hippocampus”. In layman’s terms, this means that exercise prevents stress and anxiety by suppressing brain agitation.

Acupressure Wristband Relieves Nausea

A few days ago Medical News Today reported on how wearing a wristband could affect nausea. Nausea is one of the most debilitating symptoms experienced by people who get migraine. Dr. Zoltan Medgyessy of the Berolina Clinic in Lohne, Germany studied 41 patients who experienced an average of 33.1 migraine days during the previous three months. Their average nausea intensity was 6.2 out of 10. Within less than 30 mins of wearing the wristbands, over 80% of patients experienced a decrease in nausea symptoms and the average estimated nausea intensity dropped to 2.9 out of 10.

The wristband stimulates the acupuncture point Pc6 (Neiguan) which has been used for centuries in Traditional Chinese Medicine to help relieve nausea. Dr. Medgyessy commented “acupressure wristbands are drug-free and that is an important advantage in using this therapy for migraine nausea as they have no risks for interaction with migraine drugs or the side effects commonly experienced with antiemetics, such as dizziness or tiredness”. The wristbands can also be used for nausea from morning sickness, motion sickness, chemotherapy and post-operative nausea.

Meditation Decreases Anxiety

It has been known for ages that meditation can decrease anxiety but until now the brain regions involved in the process have remained a mystery. Fadel Zeidan from the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has recently shed some light on the process. They selected 15 healthy volunteers with no history of meditation or anxiety disorders. The volunteers took four 20 min classes to learn mindfulness meditation. They were taught to focus on breathing and body sensations and non-judgementally assess distracting thoughts and emotions. Anxiety reports and MRI scans were taken before and after the meditation training course. The majority of the subjects displayed a decrease in anxiety of around 40% following meditation. During meditation, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (controls worrying) and anterior cingulate cortex (controls thinking and emotion) were found to be more active and led to decreased anxiety.

Zeidan commented,  “Mindfulness is premised on sustaining attention in the present moment and controlling the way we react to daily thoughts and feelings. Interestingly, the present findings reveal that the brain regions associated with meditation-related anxiety relief are remarkably consistent with the principles of being mindful.” In short, if we focus on our breathing and body sensations in the present, it inhibits our ability to worry about imaginary problems in the future.

Yoga Improves Brain Function More Than Aerobic Exercise

A team of researchers led by Professor Neha Gothe from the University of Illinois recently studied the effects of yoga on mental function. Their subjects performed 3 different sessions:

• A 20-minute Hatha yoga session with progressions from sitting to standing and then lying in a meditative position whilst focussing on breathing
• A 20-minute aerobic work-out on an inclined treadmill with participants working at 60-70% of their maximum heart rate
• A baseline assessment

They found that mental performance after yoga was significantly better for both inhibition and working memory tasks (ie. shorter reaction times, increased accuracy) than after aerobic exercise and after baseline measurements.

Prof Gothe commented that, “The breathing and meditative exercises aim at calming the mind and body and keeping distracting thoughts away while you focus on your body, posture or breath. Maybe these processes translate beyond yoga practice when you try to perform mental tasks or day-to-day activities.”