October 12, 2010 – Meditation Helps Reduce Fatigue and Risk of Depression in People With Multiple Sclerosis, Clinical Trial Finds1 Swiss.
Researchers evaluated the effects of a mindfulness meditation program on 150 patients with mild to moderately severe multiple sclerosis. All the participants received standard medical treatment while 76 of them also participated in an 8-week mindfulness meditation program.
The results indicate that those who practiced meditation suffered less from depression compared to those who did not. They also had a more positive perception of their quality of life. These results were observable at the end of the trial, as well as 6 months later, although the magnitude of the effect tended to wane. The beneficial effect of meditation was greater in subjects who showed more signs of depression and fatigue at baseline, the study authors note.
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Mindfulness meditation The interest of meditation as a tool of well-being and health has grown significantly thanks to the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn who developed mindfulness meditation. Inspired by the techniques of Zen Buddhism, this meditation technique is based on an attentive awareness of the simple present moment, in an attitude of acceptance without judgment. |
The researchers also report that the subjects who meditated reported suffering less from anxiety than those in the control group, although the physical symptoms associated with the disease did not differ between the two groups.
Remember that depression and fatigue are closely associated with multiple sclerosis and that drugs to treat this disease do not have a noticeable effect on these symptoms.
These results are published in the latest issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. In the same issue, an editorial article2 emphasizes the relevance of interventions aimed at helping patients suffering from multiple sclerosis to overcome the effects of this disease on mental health.
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
1. Grossman P, Kappos L, et al. MS quality of life, depression, and fatigue improve after mindfulness training: a randomized trial. Neurology. 2010 Sep 28; 75 (13): 1141-9.
2. Tavee J, Stone L. Healing the mind: meditation and multiple sclerosis. Neurology. 2010 Sep 28; 75 (13): 1130-1.
